This team needs shooters, period.

[julius]

JVG had a good offense. Although a little plodding.

and you bitch about Nate's offense?

 

[craigehlo]

We need more than shooters, we need guards that can get to the line consistently as well when the shots aren't dropping.

 

[Sinobas]

The team needs a new coaching staff. Sometimes that's all it takes. The 49ers struggled for years under bumbling head coaches, then they hire Jim Harbaugh, and bam, they're in the NFC Championship game.

 

[julius]

The team needs a new coaching staff. Sometimes that's all it takes. The 49ers struggled for years under bumbling head coaches, then they hire Jim Harbaugh, and bam, they're in the NFC Championship game.

I doubt the team will get rid of Mr Blazer. Er, Mr Sonic. And not because he has the Seattle connection, but because he's so "popular".

Maybe he should be given the title of GM and the team gets a new co....wait, no, not GM. that'd be horrible.

3 straight years of 1st and outs usually gets a coach fired. Hell, Rick Adleman and Mike Dunleavy were fired after being FAR more successful than Nate ever has been.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

In the last seven games LMA has averaged 25 PPG with this team shooting sub-30% from three.

o0

 

[jlprk]

The first thing McMillan does when he gets a new shooter on the team is to tell him that shooting isn't important, defense is. When the rookie Webster would make a tough shot in practice and look proud, McMillan would upbrade him, "How's your defense?"

He makes sure they have a lot to think about out there, and he plants inhibitions about certain things like turnovers that they absolutely must not risk. The reason our shooting has been bad for years is that McMillan wants it to be about 5th priority in players' minds.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I could be wrong but I thought in all four of our losses on the road trip that we had as good a shots as the other team, but made less. And I think we might have done better getting someone with a high shooting percentage versus a "guy who creates his own shot" in free agency.

 

[Mediocre Man]

and you bitch about Nate's offense?

Nate's offense is unimaginative. That's what I bitch about. I'd like a faster pace than last, which we are getting this year. However, on the road and when the defense doesn't let Wallace leak out, our offense is stuck int he 50's again.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I could be wrong but I thought in all four of our losses on the road trip that we had as good a shots as the other team, but made less. And I think we might have done better getting someone with a high shooting percentage versus a "guy who creates his own shot" in free agency.

Defenses are designed to give up certain shots. The "good shots" we are given are in reality bad shots for the players on our team.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Defenses are designed to give up certain shots. The "good shots" we are given are in reality bad shots for the players on our team.

That's a good point; I can gripe about the fact that we haven't accumulated good shooters; but i guess since we don't have them we need to design an offense that doesn't need great shooters. And I commented before that I think we could utilize Wallace better by feeding him the ball as he comes around a curl, (not sure about my terminology, I am not a basketball expert) heading for the basket. It also wouldn't hurt if somebody worked in practice on bumping Wallace as he tries to finish. (Maybe HCP could let us know if the new developmental coach who took Bayno's place does this?)

 

[blue32]

Hasn't this been the theme of the blazers the last couple of years? We're a jumpshooting team, and we live and die by our jumpshots.....which in the last couple of years we've been terribly inconsistent.

 

[Nikolokolus]

We can talk about tempo and players and skillset and style and the system, but for me it all comes down to fundamentals. This team sets (mostly) lousy screens, they stand around more than they should and they don't consistently get enough separation from defenders to get clean looks ... and for whatever reason when they do get open looks they tend to brick the shit out of the ball -- particularly when they're on the road.

Right now the Blazers are a little bit talent deficient (at shooting), but they are at least average talents not d-league level talents and I believe that at some point coaching has to be held accountable when this pattern establishes itself and holds -- as it has for multiple years in a row.

 

[Hank The Dwarf]

Hasn't this been the theme of the blazers the last couple of years? We're a jumpshooting team, and we live and die by our jumpshots.....which in the last couple of years we've been terribly inconsistent.

Why would you design an entire offense to get you long jump shots? I've never understood this concept that Nate employs. Good coaches put in systems to get you easy baskets or high percentage shots in the paint... Nates offensive system seems designed to get you long jumpers. You can't win that way.

 

[magnifier661]

We can talk about tempo and players and skillset and style and the system, but for me it all comes down to fundamentals. This team sets (mostly) lousy screens, they stand around more than they should and they don't consistently get enough separation from defenders to get clean looks ... and for whatever reason when they do get open looks they tend to brick the shit out of the ball -- particularly when they're on the road.

Right now the Blazers are a little bit talent deficient (at shooting), but they are at least average talents not d-league level talents and I believe that at some point coaching has to be held accountable when this pattern establishes itself and holds -- as it has for multiple years in a row.

LMA is arguably one of the worst screen setters I have ever seen. That is one facet of his game that makes me laugh. Why the fuck does he even act like he's gonna set one?

 

[Nikolokolus]

LMA is arguably one of the worst screen setters I have ever seen. That is one facet of his game that makes me laugh. Why the fuck does he even act like he's gonna set one?

It comes down to coaching when your whole team doesn't perform this kind of fundamental basketball skill. The only guy on the team that does set a good screen is 39 years old Kurt Thomas and that's because he learned his craft presumably from coaches who know how to teach it.

If the Blazers could do just this one little thing (it's actually not little at all) I predict the offense would suddenly become a lot more efficient as guys get better looks and more separation from defenders.

 

[magnifier661]

It comes down to coaching when your whole team doesn't perform this kind of fundamental basketball skill. The only guy on the team that does set a good screen is 39 years old Kurt Thomas and that's because he learned his craft presumably from coaches who know how to teach it.

If the Blazers could do just this one little thing (it's actually not little at all) I predict the offense would suddenly become a lot more efficient as guys get better looks and more separation from defenders.

Yeah and another thing I haven't seen too much are those double screens. I think that would be so perfect for Batum and Matthews. Also, I see still a lot of watching the play and ISO offense; especially on the road. There isn't a lot of movement on the offensive end. You can pretty much know where the ball is going.

And if I can almost call the plays; then think about experienced coaches, scouting and even the players themselves can see.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Yeah and another thing I haven't seen too much are those double screens. I think that would be so perfect for Batum and Matthews. Also, I see still a lot of watching the play and ISO offense; especially on the road. There isn't a lot of movement on the offensive end. You can pretty much know where the ball is going.

And if I can almost call the plays; then think about experienced coaches, scouting and even the players themselves can see.

Without being insulting, you just called Nate an Assclown.

 

[magnifier661]

Without being insulting, you just called Nate an Assclown.

So it seems...

 

[jlprk]

It comes down to coaching when your whole team doesn't perform this kind of fundamental basketball skill. The only guy on the team that does set a good screen is 39 years old Kurt Thomas and that's because he learned his craft presumably from coaches who know how to teach it.

If the Blazers could do just this one little thing (it's actually not little at all) I predict the offense would suddenly become a lot more efficient as guys get better looks and more separation from defenders.

That's what I've been saying since before I even came to this board. The versatile, knowledgeable players on the team are the ones who were coached by a different NBA coach before they came here. The most limited ones have only had McMillan as a coach.

I even redefined "experience" away from years in the league, to a new definition of, the number of NBA coaches or systems in which a player has had to learn. I said that a Blazer with, say, 5 years of nothing but McMillan (e.g. Webster) is less experienced than a Blazer with 4 years in the league, but this is his 3rd team.

Another chestnut I like to push is that the best player on the team is always the newest one, the one who hasn't learned McMillan's system yet. In his 2nd year here he'll be worse, in his 3rd, even worse.

So I disagree with the thread title. We could have a young Jerry West and McMillan would have him thinking of shooting as 5th priority.