Suns @ Blazers game thread

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hasoos said:
The offense was ok last night except when the bench was in. The problem was defense, as it has been the last several games. Teams are running on Portland and the Blazers are not getting back. It is as simple as that. This team has never been a running team, and right now it looks to me like they are trying to turn that corner. I don't expect that corner to be turned overnight. I expect them to struggle.

You will also note that Phoenix pulled out their lead in the 2nd half. Good running teams wear you down and open up the lead in the 2nd half when you run out of gas. They know Portland has a lot of players who do not make good decisions in the open court game (Outlaw and Blake being 2 of the major open court boneheads) and they took advantage of it. What do you expect when you play into their hands.

The Blazers played at the tempo PHX was comfortable at and they lost. This is a no brainer. You control the tempo to your comfort level, you win.
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This is only a pre-season game, but I totally get your point. The problem I see is normally the "elite teams" are forcing their opponents to change their play. We seem more like a team that changes our game plan. Of course a good coach makes changes, to optimize their efficiency, but they should only need minor tweaks.
 
Boise Blazer said:
Agreed. When you let a team like the Suns get their 2 strengths (fast breaking and 3 pointers) at ease, then Im not sure how you can except any other result but a loss. With that said Im actually surprised that the game was that close.
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If the Blazers had even played a hint of perimeter defense and cut out even a handful of turnovers and shot better than 66% from the line it wouldn't have just been close it would have been a convincing victory.

improving the defense isn't going to happen overnight, but with Nic resting quite a bit during the pre-season and probably slotted to reenter the starting lineup during the regular season that would seem to help their perimeter defense in particular, you also wonder if part of their problems defensively stem from the fact that you've got (potentially) some big changes to the starting lineup and team defense and cohesion is taking awhile to formulate? Of course, not being able to watch the games makes it impossible to say, but I guess we'll find out soon enough where this team stands when they open the regular season.
 
Nikolokolus said:
A journeyman is Beno Udrih, Chris Duhon or Steve Blake. Miller has been a top ten point guard in the NBA for almost a full decade -- not necessarily an all-star but a very very good player -- as far as you being disappointed in him, what exactly is it about his performances so far that has you so distressed? All of the first hand accounts I've read about his play and just glancing at the boxscore make him sound exactly like the Andre Miller I know from the past ten years; a guy who gets it done and knows how to play the game of basketball.

It's so easy to point the finger at the new guy as a way of explaining away the struggles of Brandon, but since none of us has actually watched the two of them play together, maybe just maybe, we should wait until we can lay eyes on this team before we make up our minds about what's going on with B-Roy.
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To me, a journeyman is a decent player who bounces around the league because he isn't good enough to push a team to the top (or even win a playoff series, in this instance). Andre Miller is on his 5th NBA team in 11 years. Is he a good regular season player? Sure, he's in the top half of PGs. Does he help his teams win in the playoffs? The obvious answer is that he is yet to prove he can lead a team to a playoff win.

I was under the impression that Miller would be distributing the ball to the scorers. Instead, he has the 2nd-most shots on the team through 4 pre-season games, and his assists are basically what we saw last year from Roy/Blake. I keep hearing about how Roy needs to adapt Miller. I'm of the opinion that Miller needs to adapt to the team and stop shooting the ball so damn often. He's been a trainwreck on and off the court so far, and Steve Nash absolutely abused him last night. I hope I can eat my words later this season, but if Miller is going to be hoisting up 15 shots a game and not play defense, I don't see how he makes this team better than last year's team.

As for it being easy to pick on the new player, it isn't as if Miller isn't setting himself up as a target. I'd rather be called a "troll" for criticizing the obvious problems that Miller has brought to the chemistry than be a "good poster" by criticizing Brandon Roy after 4 pre-season games.
 
I wasn't at the game but got some pretty good insight from this thread. The pace of the game is what really grabbed my attention.

There has been plenty of chatter about the Blazers lack of a running game (the whole it's Nate's fault). It sounds like Miller can effectively change the pace of the Blazer's game (which is what a good PG can do). But is that a good thing?

My perception of Roy is he likes a slow down game. He is methodical and grinds out each possession and the team has kind of grown that as a characteristic.

Running is fun to watch and cheer . . . but I had grown to enjoy the "slow pace grind it out each possession" that defined the Blazers last year. I though Oden would fit right into that. Now with Miller, do we hope Roy takes his world class talent to adjust to the team's new strength or do we hope Miller takes his basketball IQ to adjust to a slower pace game?
 
yuyuza1 said:
Video! From bustabucket:

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Nice. That little hook Oden got off in the middle looked so fluid and natural. Probably the first time I've ever said that about anything in Oden's offensive game.
 
I loved that lob by Miller to Aldridge. Oden had his man sealed, and LA recognized it. Called for the pass up top, and it was delivered with pinpoint precision.

The thought of starting Blake instead of a guy that just set up that play and made that pass is laughable.
 
Wow, in that video, about 22 seconds in or so, it could definitely be the angle, but LMA EASILY had the baseline on Amare 2 or 3 times, and didn't take it. He misses opportunities on the block like that a lot, IMO. He seems too worried about getting into his offense on the block that he often fails to react when something is "given" to him.
 
PapaG said:
As for it being easy to pick on the new player, it isn't as if Miller isn't setting himself up as a target. I'd rather be called a "troll" for criticizing the obvious problems that Miller has brought to the chemistry than be a "good poster" by criticizing Brandon Roy after 4 pre-season games.
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Without watching a single game you sure are making an awful lot of assumptions about Andre's impact on team chemistry don't you think.

I'm not saying he definitely isn't the problem, my point is that there's nothing to assume yet except that Brandon has struggled to get it going in the pre-season to this point ... for whatever reason, even with Blake starting in the first pre-season game Brandon had trouble getting it going. He didn't get it going in fanfest either and he and Miller played on different teams.

:dunno:
 
RR7 said:
Wow, in that video, about 22 seconds in or so, it could definitely be the angle, but LMA EASILY had the baseline on Amare 2 or 3 times, and didn't take it. He misses opportunities on the block like that a lot, IMO. He seems too worried about getting into his offense on the block that he often fails to react when something is "given" to him.
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Good catch. I think he picked up his pivot foot on that play as well.
 
maxiep said:
Perhaps Shawn is his father. :dunno:
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lol. Well, given that he's from Seattle and we're talking about Shawn Kemp, the odds aren't that bad.
 
Nikolokolus said:
Without watching a single game you sure are making an awful lot of assumptions about Andre's impact on team chemistry don't you think.

I'm not saying he definitely isn't the problem, my point is that there's nothing to assume yet except that Brandon has struggled to get it going in the pre-season to this point ... for whatever reason, even with Blake starting in the first pre-season game Brandon had trouble getting it going. He didn't get it going in fanfest either and he and Miller played on different teams.

:dunno:
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Not only do I agree, I would take it to another level:

Brandon looked worse playing alongside Blake in the first game than he did last night playing with Miller.

I know I've only seen two games so the sample size is small, but I don't know how anyone could really evaluate on the court chemistry without watching a game.

To say Miller or Roy are without any fault for the minor team struggles this preseason would be burying your head in the sand.
 
HispanicCausinPanic said:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/10/portland_110_phoenix_104_rip_c.html

If you read halfway down in the article, brandon talks about how he felt very comfortable in the way the offense was flowing last night. Like I said earlier, he passed up a lot of shots he would normally take. I believe that is why 4 of our 5 starters #'s looked as impressive as they did.
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I read that and think whatever pace the Blazers play at, Brandon will be OK (at the very least say the right things).

I was just wondering if we want to change the pace the Blazers played at last year? I know I'm in the minority, but I liked the slow down deliberate pace because it was effective for the team and especially Roy.

I know the answer is it doesn't have to be an all or nothing with the pace of the game and they all need to find the team pace that will be the most effective . . . but I think it is an interesting issue (Miller pushing the pace and Brandon's all star years were when the Blazers didn't push the pace.

And all this analysis without watching a game this year . . . I must be brilliant. :D
 
Tince said:
Not only do I agree, I would take it to another level:

Brandon looked worse playing alongside Blake in the first game than he did last night playing with Miller.

I know I've only seen two games so the sample size is small, but I don't know how anyone could really evaluate on the court chemistry without watching a game.

To say Miller or Roy are without any fault for the minor team struggles this preseason would be burying your head in the sand.
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Blasphamy! Logic?! Get out of here with that nonsense.
 
Tince said:
Not only do I agree, I would take it to another level:

Brandon looked worse playing alongside Blake in the first game than he did last night playing with Miller.

I know I've only seen two games so the sample size is small, but I don't know how anyone could really evaluate on the court chemistry without watching a game.

To say Miller or Roy are without any fault for the minor team struggles this preseason would be burying your head in the sand.
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It is hard to comment on court chemistry without seeing a game. All I know is the Blazer had great team chemistry last yar and hope they have it again this year . . . given that the starting line up and distributuion of minutes will be different than last year.

So for me it is a concern, but you're right, without seeing a game it is only a concern for me right now and nothing more.
 
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