Thank you Joel. You do not and will not get the recognition you deserve playing with GO.

His presence is so necessary, imagine what our team would look like with just GO as the center… All of a sudden our depth doesn’t feel so great does it? We start to seem a little weak, don’t we? Our entire team hinges on GO playing the center spot well, without Joel. With Joel we are more comfortable, our team has a back bone, and a proven center in the middle. Joel FTW!

If he’s expecting to be passed to he can be a decent scoring threat. I remember when Damon was still on the team they ran the pick and roll quite well together and he had several 15+ point games.

When the offensive system emphasizes outside jump shots however, he is mostly banging away for position and not looking to receive the ball. Joel doesn’t exactly have great reflexes or soft hand so expecting him to catch non-anticipated last-second passes is a bit much.

That up and under for a dunk on Al Jefferson was sweet BTW!

He just looked so active and energetic. I guess most of the Blazers looked good, but he looked like he was doing stuff he didn’t always do.

In an interview on the bald / butt faced truth, he said that he is playing more care free this year, and less tentative. He said last year he was so worried about getting quick fouls that he was holding back a little bit. It’s obvious to me that he’s not only getting more easy buckets created by our guards,, but is hungrier this year too. His buckets are more decisive.

I LOVE JOEL!!!!!!

Joel looks like a whole new player. I sure hope he can keep it up, and I think he will. He and Oden have practically been twins so far, to my untrained eye. If Oden keeps progressing, and Joel keeps playing like this, the Blazer’s could have the best total center production ever.

81% shooting, wow. Talk about good shot selection, and execution. Last year it seemed like he was about 50% on dunk attempts.

is that now with Gregg the other team has to use all of thier biggest and best centers on him, and so Pryz is getting to get to go against smaller bench players, and players who are more apt to help with the penetrator.

…………. Whereas the “book” on Pryz has been Dave’s view, that he’s hopelessly stone-handed and unable to catch a pass, God help you if you throw him one, in reality there is a certain type of pass Joel can catch and finish with the best of them — in the air, face high or so, with him deep and squared to the basket, as opposed to bounce passes in traffic, which are always a catastrophe.

Joel is also good for about 4 ppg on rebounds and putbacks.

Now, for whatever reason, Pryz is getting those two or three extra “good” passes a game, with great results. I think this is directly related to the Oden factor— entry passes to the low post are being preached by the coaches and practiced by the players, and there are more people LOOKING to get the ball low. This is good, good, good as it addresses the #1 weakness of this team, a willingness to accept long jumpshots instead of seeking to get the ball to the rim and cramming it down the gullets of the opposition…

It’s an interesting phenomenon — fewer minutes with MORE offensive production by Joel. I look for the trend to continue.

There is also something to be said about being able to come in rested and not have to worry about fouls. This applies both for Oden and Pryz. I’d like to see a time split in the 60-40 range, skewed no more one-sidedly than that. Further, I think Pryz starting and bringing Oden off the bench is potentially a GENIUS game tactic… Run the opponents’ starting bigs for 7 minutes, let them get a little winded, and THEN in comes the mighty Oden to crush and dominate. That would HAVE to be a tough thing to deal with!

I’m really digging this Age of Oden and the Center Tandem and I hope that he and Joel both stay healthy.

t

has he missed a basket since the GS game?