What did Nate know on the day of the game that he didn’t know the previous week? It almost smacks of Nate being a victim of a Phil Jackson mind game, except Jackson never said a word.

post. But clearly it will not be necessary.

I wanted to vote for all options. I think this was bad bad bad decision making that revealed several issues.

1. nate does not have confidence in the endorsement of his star (broy doesnt aimlessly <3 rookie players just because )
2. Nate bloody murdered Nic’s confidence in his self and his coach. Rebuilding that will be tough.
3. Nate revealed his lack of confidence in his own decision making.
4. Nate is the Head Coach and although he sucked it big time I have no doubt KP cursed him out solid .

Sophia

One game, he’s been known to adjust to what works. If Sergio plays well and helps the team, he’ll get more minutes. If starting Outlaw doesn’t mesh well, he’ll go back to the bench. I think Nate will eventually find the best lineups.

Everyone bitches about poor fast break. Get Sergio in there, we will get it running good & quick.

I was surprised to see him get so little burn with the second team, honestly.

I was more astonished by how flat the team played. GO in there was almost a negative compared with how the team was playing through the good runs last year, and at the end of last season.

One game does not a season make, though. Turn it around tomorrow night!

I’ve often thought he is too unwilling to adapt on the fly. His support of Blake as his starter because he’s steady ( meaning he can’t or won’t shoot ) and he runs the offence ( meaning he doesn’t turn the ball over, so therefore won’t take any risks) , is a good example. The team is back to where they where the last couple of years now, with a center and a point who don’t score, so teams can double Roy and LA at will. Friday will be a big test for this team and Nate may need to get creative or it will be a replay of the L*ker game. I for one, like Bayless v.s. Parker a lot better than Blake.

I am with ya on this prez….. Go confidently with Nic…as previously stated and announced….then, if things don’t shake…then go with a substitution with Travis…I think there would have been more movement on offense…slashing, rebounds etc… and the defense would have improved. We got blown out anyways…I doubt Nic starting would have changed that….Now what do we do? Do we start Nic tonight and the yank him…if he is not confident? This is definitely a learning experience…just not sure if it was positive.

At the end of the day, the lasting image of that game (other than the whole Oden grimmacing in pain thing) was the L@kers seemed to swarm the ball for the first 3 quarters. They were everywhere. We hoisted forced shots at the end of the shot clock.

I was surprised by the timing and the decision to sit Nic as well as Sergio’s playing time (usually I’m on eggshells when he’s in the game… but I actually was wondering where he was).

I don’t think any choice Nate could have made differently would’ve altered the outcome.

1. Poor prep
2. Lack of reaction to Laker “D”( which was the main reason we looked so bad)
3. No game time adjustments
4, Nate got locked up emotionally in the hype and never returned to earth

The 4 pole choices are merely an afterthought or a product of burying your head in the sand and hoping for the best….very , very, very, unprofessional and total lack of structure and organization….The whole team and coaching staff should be embarrassed by this episode (hopefully just one episode)….their promise to us should be….We stunk and we owe everyone an apology for this poor showing and….this will never happen again (this meaning this type of approach will never happen again…..

They shot 9/27 and most all of Brandon points were made in garbage time.

I would guess Nate pulled Sergio because of his lack of defense.

That would also explain why he went with Jerryd in the 4th.

if you call..getting in the guys jock at mid court …and then running along side him to the hoop is better “d”…then ok…..but his ball handling skills are not even close to sergio’s.

I did like the way bayless knocks that ball off his foot….

I mean seriously, almost every single game…he’s got a stat of like 0.9 balls bouncing off foot per game.

SERGIO IS GETTING HOSED HERE…..

if anyone didn’t notice we were getting our Butts handed too us, and instead of trying to score more points we put in a “defensive” pg?…..WE NEEDED POINTS!!!! (I don’t wanna hear about how bayless get’s to the line, cuz I saw him get manhandled in the paint, with all sorts of body contact, but he could sell the call)

Nate just hates on sergio. I’m convinced. :0 (not really but still, he needs to get more floor time)

;)

This post was tailor made for him..

Sophia

We just didn’t look like we belong on the same court with the L*kers the other night. I think a major part of it (67 had some good thoughts in his comment) was that the approach the pre-season needs to change. Pre-season should be used to get everybody on the same page, up to game speed, and into game shape. Instead, the approach seems to be, let’s not play our starters because we don’t want them hurt.
I can understand the fear, I just don’t think you can play that way and be successful early in the season. When you consider we were going to have 2 rookie starters, that starting group needs time to get accustomed to each other.

So not only did we fail in that (partly due to injuries), but we ended up changing the lineup the day of the game. The Blazers didn’t look ready, while the L*kers looked like a well-oiled machine.

Add that to our lack of adjusting to the defense, and settling for many poor shots, and it was a disaster. The L*kers shot above average, and we shot below average, so that obviously factors in as well.

is to give things time to develop, players time to grow, not rush into trade talk and so forth.

But the last minute decision on Batum/Travis was just so bad on so many levels I have to admit it’s got me looking at Nate a lot more critically. I’m not screaming for heads on a stick, but this decision was, to me, a red flag. It means stop and pay close attention.

I think it’s funny there are people that exist who think starting Batum and bringing Outaw off the bench would’ve made a bit of difference against the Lakers. Where’s the sanity?

I’m certainly not. Blazers were gonna lose that game either way. What I hear people saying is that the last minute change felt like Nate was panicking, undid two weeks of practice, and may have screwed up the confidence of more than one player, and left B Roy out on an island looking stoopid for backing Nate’s play the whole previous week.

bayless is a talent, but since hes on the rookie pay scale he is under contract for 2 years with a team option for more i think, sergio has worked hard all summer on all the things which were considered weaknesses, plus i think this is the last year of his current contract?

they gotta give him a chance or else we will have wasted years of his nba career, and thrown away a few million as well. even a consistent 15-20 mins per game, maybe more or less depending on how hes going is better than the inconsistency of last season.

i think he honestly represents the up tempo game we sorely need, perhaps not amongst the starters, but for the 2nd unit where that type of speed against tired starters or cold reserves would positively impact the game.

just my 2c

I think Nate saw this as an opportunity to show the national audience including coaches and execs that Outlaw is a starter and wanted to bump up Outlaw’s trade value. We all knew that Jack was the next guy to go and guess what…he went. Now we all have the feeling that Outlaw doesn’t fit in the championship picture and guess what…he’s next.

It would not have helped his trade value to come off the bench behind young rookie from France who looked TERRIBLE in summer league. Travis is going in to his 6th year, other teams saw that game and trust me, KP will be reminding them of games like this when Outlaw and Raef are on the block in early 2009.