Well, Coach McMuffin really crapped the bed tonight

[alex42083]

Frye is 100 times more useful than Diogu..............

Channing did not look good tonight.. he just jacked up 22 footers, just inside the three-point line. His first shot was a 3-pointer. He shot 3 3-pointers and was 0-7. When his shot isn't falling, it's tough to watch him in there.

It's one game, though.. I don't want to panic or anything, but Channing needs to step his game up when he's in there.

 

[B-Roy]

Channing did not look good tonight.. he just jacked up 22 footers, just inside the three-point line. His first shot was a 3-pointer. He shot 3 3-pointers and was 0-7. When his shot isn't falling, it's tough to watch him in there.

It's one game, though.. I don't want to panic or anything, but Channing needs to step his game up when he's in there.

You're right, it's one game. But from both their play in the preseason, Channing was much better and useful. We were just completely outplayed by the Lakers tonight.

 

[rocketeer]

i think everyone is overreacting to one game. sure there has been a ton of buildup to this but it was just one game. the only thing of real significance coming out of it is whether oden is going to be healthy or not. nothing else that happened in this game really changes anything.

i think there were pretty much two possibilities going into this game. either the blazers were going to be hyped up and play a great game and have a very good chance at winning the game or they were going to come out nervous and as long as the lakers played solid, they weren't going to have much of a chance. it's pretty obvious which one happened.

I really hate this argument. If the guys were taking good shots, then yes you just chalk it up to missed shots. But the team consistently lacked ball movement, didn't push the ball, etc. If that happens over the course of four quarters, either the coach didn't see it and therefore didn't suggest adjustments, or he can't communicate well enough with the players to get the message across to adjust the game plan.

Either way, it's not a glowing endorsement of Nate.

-Pop

roy driving to the lane on a good play and then leaving it short at the rim isn't the coaches fault. good ball movement creating open 3s, but those 3s not going in isn't the coaches fault. and there were plenty of those especially in the first half of the game.

 

[rocketeer]

SOOO frustrating... Travis is NOT a starter, and I'll be surprised if he starts on Friday.
We played the end of the preseason with Batum starting, Roy has his endorsement, and so we change it RIGHT ON GAME DAY. WTF!

And I was surprised to see Sergio with the hook already. This wreaked desperation in the second half, and went away completely what we tried to establish in the preseason.
Nate needs to stop panicking, and just go with the guys that he saw throughout the whole training camp.

It's like we went completely away from what we learned from the past month.

And Frye stinks. Give his minutes to Diogu.

nate needs to stop panicking, no wait, give all of frye's minutes to diogu.

you meant that as a joke right?

 

[rocketeer]

oh and for everyone complaining about sergio not getting enough minutes, doesn't it at least kinda make sense?

first off, he was terrible out there. he was bad in his time on the court, granted there wasn't exactly a large sample size. and then with the game seemingly being out of hand(until the blazers almost closed the gap enough to make it competitive), doesn't it make sense to get bayless out there in some real game situations with roy and rudy?

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

doesn't it make sense to get bayless out there in some real game situations with roy and rudy?

absolutely.

 

[bemac]

I think it's fucking hilarious how were only one game in and people are already drawing all of these broad conclusions about Nate's fitness to coach this team

Last I looked, Nate has been doing the same job the past few years, and has yet to show any understanding of offense. The really sad thing, is that he preaches defense, and people praise him for his defensive coaching. Not sure if anyone watched the game, but Portland's defensive intensity was a joke compared to Phil Jackson's Lakers. Of course, Lakers made a commitment in the off season to up their defense, but they actually succeeded.

Believe me, the Sergio love pales in comparison to the Sergio hate....Which starts with Nate.

 

[MARIS61]

I can't remember how many point blank layups that Brandon missed, let alone wide open looks from Blake, Aldridge, and a few hooks Oden threw up from within 5 feet of the hoop.

Either way, I think it's fucking hilarious how were only one game in and people are already drawing all of these broad conclusions about Nate's fitness to coach this team, players ability to play, and the complete overreaction to what amounted to a bad loss against last season's Western Conference champs, who were playing pretty damn good defense, denying players their open looks.

I thought we might at least get through 5 or 6 losses in this rough patch before the calls for Nate's head would start, I guess I was wrong.

It's not 1 game, it's quite a few seasons now so it's pretty much what was expected.

The last time this team had a consistently effective offense a guy named Dunleavy was coaching them.

It wouldn't be so bad if we were the best defensive team around but we're one of the worst at that too.

Someone tell me again, what is it that Nate gets paid for?

 

[MARIS61]

oh and for everyone complaining about sergio not getting enough minutes, doesn't it at least kinda make sense?

first off, he was terrible out there. he was bad in his time on the court, granted there wasn't exactly a large sample size. and then with the game seemingly being out of hand(until the blazers almost closed the gap enough to make it competitive), doesn't it make sense to get bayless out there in some real game situations with roy and rudy?

3 SG's together?

No, it's a stupid idea that has failed throughout the history of the league.

 

[bemac]

doesn't it make sense to get bayless out there in some real game situations with roy and rudy?

Yes, if Bayless showed any signs of being ready to play point guard....Unfortunately, he doesn't. I assure you, the way Nate handles Sergio, he will never develop. I hope to hell the guy get's let loose, and finds himself playing for a coach who understands offense....Offensive plays, player movement and ball movement. It's only then we will know just how good Sergio is.

 

[rocketeer]

Last I looked, Nate has been doing the same job the past few years, and has yet to show any understanding of offense. The really sad thing, is that he preaches defense, and people praise him for his defensive coaching. Not sure if anyone watched the game, but Portland's defensive intensity was a joke compared to Phil Jackson's Lakers. Of course, Lakers made a commitment in the off season to up their defense, but they actually succeeded.

i think you were listening a little too much to the announcers and not watching enough of the game. the lakers didn't play great defense. they weren't making mistakes all over the place or anything. they(they being the lakers) played solid defense but nothing more. the simple fact was the blazers weren't knocking down shots, even open ones. phil jackson even said it himself that the blazers were missing a lot of shots and that a big portion of those had nothing to do with the defense the lakers were playing.

my favorite was on one possession where the blazers took(and missed) two wide open 3s after moving the ball around and all the announcers could talk about was how the lakers were swarming to the ball and not giving up any good shots(even though they gave up two great shots on the possession they were discussing).

not to take anything away from the lakers though. they played a decent game(and are capable of playing much better).

 

[MARIS61]

I don't think much of Jackson, but if these 2 teams switched coaches 2 months ago, the Blazers would have won this game.

 

[bemac]

There was a reason we couldn't get a pass into the lane....I would suspect the Lakers had something to do with that. Of course, Nate has something to do with that as well.

 

[rocketeer]

There was a reason we couldn't get a pass into the lane....I would suspect the Lakers had something to do with that. Of course, Nate has something to do with that as well.

knocking down the wide open jump shots that the lakers were giving up would have opened up the lane a lot more.

 

[KingSpeed]

How do you go from starting Nicolas Batum to not even getting him into the game in the span of one day? As a result, our first team offense suffered because Travis "Black Hole" Outlaw was in there.

You have GOT to kidding me. Everyone on the team was getting shots, but Outlaw was the only one who could MAKE them. Outlaw wasn't the problem. He was our saving grace.

 

[KingSpeed]

We played badly, not because of Nate, but because the Lakers played GREAT GREAT defense. And Outlaw is one of only two players on our team who can still score when the pressure is that tight. That is why Outlaw hit so many big shots in the fourth quarter last season.

 

[Haakzilla]

Look at the bright side, it's over with.

^thank "God"!!!

 

[THE HCP]

LA and Brandon missed a lot of wide open shots.

 

[DUB]

Why McMuffin?

Why not McNugget, or McFlurry, or McRib?

 

[roydezlaw]

Why McMuffin?

Why not McNugget, or McFlurry, or McRib?

I'm sure he feels McMuffin is more derogatory. He's a long standing Nate basher.

 

[Tortimer]

You have GOT to kidding me. Everyone on the team was getting shots, but Outlaw was the only one who could MAKE them. Outlaw wasn't the problem. He was our saving grace.

I think Outlaw played ok after a real tentative start but really Rudy is the only Blazer that played well tonight. He was active and trying to get the team back into the game. He was all over the place trying to make steals. He ws by far the best Blazer on the floor tonight. I wouldn't pick on Outlaw as being our problem tonight that was everyone else except Rudy and maybe Joel.

 

[craigehlo]

knocking down the wide open jump shots that the lakers were giving up would have opened up the lane a lot more.

Amen.

Making shots builds confidence too. We look like the same streak shooting team we've been for most of this decade.

 

[Blazerfan22]

To me it seemed Nate lacked no emotion. Nate's looks on the bench is how this team played very "Blah". He needs to show more energy to keep his team fired up. Heck even Phil Jackson showed some emotion and they were kicking are ass all night. Not only do the players need to step it up but also the coach.

 

[blue32]

To be honest, I've never really cared for Nate's rotations; I dont think he plays his star players nearly enough, compared to other teams that go to the playoffs regularly.

 

[MARIS61]

oh and for everyone complaining about sergio not getting enough minutes, doesn't it at least kinda make sense?

first off, he was terrible out there. he was bad in his time on the court, granted there wasn't exactly a large sample size. and then with the game seemingly being out of hand(until the blazers almost closed the gap enough to make it competitive), doesn't it make sense to get bayless out there in some real game situations with roy and rudy?

First off, what game were you watching.

Sergio was the only player all night that I saw pushing the ball, directing players, actually talking out there.

He was the only player who didn't step aside to let Farmar drive past him. He made him pay for it with hard contact.

He stopped the bleeding and we played nearly even with the Rapers for 5 minutes.

Both Blake and Roy looked uncharacteristically horrible out there, like Jarrett Jack clones. Walking the ball up, dribbling in place until the clock ran out dozens of times. Neither directed their teammates at all nor did they create anything on their own.

And the idea of playing all 3 SG's is stupid, stupid, stupid.

All it does is let loose the opposing PG and SF to score at will.