Outlaw takes blame for loss

by ucatchtrout on Dec 10, 2008 6:11 PM PST

T. Outlaw fessed up to the press and took the blame for the fouled up play at the end of the game which resulted in a shot clock violation. When asked about the play Nate was willing to tell reporters only that it wasn't executed properly. Outlaw threw himself under the bus and accepted responsibility for not cutting to the ball the way he had been instructed to do.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/12/blazers_slip_down_stretch_agai.html#more"

I admire Travis for his accountability. He made a mistake. He owned it.

But the loss shouldn't fall completely on his shoulders. The fact we blew an 8 point lead in less than two minutes was not something he alone was responsible for. I'm a fan of our coach, but I do question some of the choices he made during the last minute and fifty seconds of the game.

1. In retrospect from the comfort of my couch its easy to see that pulling the guy who had the hot hand (Sergio) in running the offense and inserting Steve Blake stalled the offense. As did changing the offensive plan to Brandon Roy ISO. Brandon didn't execute at the foul line, and that resulted in a 8 point lead turning into a two point lead with just thirty seconds to go. That of course left us just one more screwed up posession and a Turkoglu 3 pointer away from a loss.

2. When the only plays you run at the end of the game are Brandon Roy ISO's other teams ARE going to figure it out, and they are going to come up with ways to stop it. Time to mix things up a bit, our offensive strategy is becoming predictable and thus vulerable to being shut down.

3. The zone defense Portland had been using to neutralize Dwight Oden was broken down by the Magic. They scored at will at the end of the game and there were no adjustments made. From the comfort of my couch its easy for me to say that a move back to a man to man D would have made a difference.

Losing a game this way bugs me. But the one catchphrase you always hear analysts say about games like this is that the next game is never far away. So tomorrow night we travel to Utah to play Jerry Sloans Jazz. Sloan just this week won his thousandth game as a head coach. Even though it was announced today Carlos Boozer isn't expected to play, Paul Milsap has been playing very well in his absence. Along with the suitcases and the jerseys we better bring our A Game if we expect to beat the Jazz in Salt Lake.

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"In retrospect from the comfort of my couch..."

Nice line. I need to remember this. I am very bugged by this game, and this is the first time I have been here in almost 24 hrs. It’s just a game, but I was ticked. I think we have been spoiled lately. When we went up 6, I thought, “Oh, this is in the bag.” I was absolutely shocked at Heido’s banked in three. I still think we could beat them if it were a five game series.

My favorite teams are the Blazers and any team that is playing the Lakers.

by OCBlazerFan1 on Dec 10, 2008 6:25 PM PST reply actions

yep

This loss is not on Travis. Its on the Blazers. Nate, Roy, Rudy, Blake, Outlaw (not in that order)… they all played a part in blowing that 8 point lead. Period.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on Dec 10, 2008 6:27 PM PST reply actions

Very good commentary

In truth I kinda forgot about Outlaw’s late game screw up. I did remember all of Roy’s missed free throws, and when I’ve talked to people all day long I’ve been saying that its tough to blame him, because other than the free throws his game was great.
You are right about other teams figuring out the Roy iso, as Orlando doubled him late and realy screwed up Portlands game play.
I think Sergio played real well all game however I’m not upset that they put in Steve because he is so clutch late in the game usualy.
One thing I could not understand was why we had Travis in for so long late in the game, because if we don’t need him to score he shouldnt be in the game, and when Sergio, Rudy, ROy and LA were all scoring Outlaws guy (lewis for much of the game) was making us pay. I think we should have given Batum more play when we werent in need for instant offense.

all in all, it was a tough loss, both teams played hard, and Orlando hit big shot after big shot. & I just hope that this game doesnt send us on a downward spiral. I guess we’ll learn a lot about this team on the way that they bounce back.

Being a Blazer fan is fun!

by Blazermaniac77 on Dec 10, 2008 6:27 PM PST reply actions

You can't win 'em all

But Mike Rice was repeatedly pointing to Trout blunders down the stretch—especially on defense. As blazermaniac77 says, if you don’t need offense, why have Travis in there in crunch time? Not that he doesn’t sometimes block shots and get key rebounds. But he’s also prone to blunders.

Having said that, I also questioned sticking with the zone. True, it was helping keep Howard in check. But the threes were killing the Blazers, and with so little time left why not go to Hack-a-Howard? Most times, that’s going to result in only a one-point possession for the Magic.

But credit the Magic: they did shoot lights out. Sometimes the ball must doesn’t bounce your way. On to Salt Lake!

"If [Roy & Aldridge] walked around in fur coats, with a bunch of glamour & glitz, we'd have a bunch of guys wearing fur coats. But they don't. They're just good guys who want to win and know how to play the right way." --Kevin Pritchard

by hurryup09 on Dec 10, 2008 6:39 PM PST reply actions

Where was Pryz???

I still haven’t been able to figure out why the Vanilla Gorilla wasn’t in the last 8 minutes of the game. He was scoring points, working well with the team on Offense and dominating the boards. He only had one foul, so there was really no reason to pull him out… I’m just pissed he wasn’t in there towards the end. I understand pulling him out in the final 2 or 3 minutes because of the foul shot liability, but 8 minutes to go?? This was a huge mistake on Nate’s part.

Give the big man some love!!

by drexlerdreamer on Dec 10, 2008 8:04 PM PST reply actions

Portland was +6 without Joel in the 4th until the 9-0 run

The 9-0 run was caused by 3 three balls (one of which Joel was in the game for). This had nothing to do with Joel not being in the game.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on Dec 10, 2008 8:13 PM PST up reply actions

Everything to do with Batum & Sergio NOT being in the game.

by TheGreatDane17 on Dec 10, 2008 9:19 PM PST up reply actions

Batum?

Batum has been awful the last 5 games. Sergio may have been able to help us, but Nate went with his crunch time crew. They’ve won us a lot of games.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on Dec 10, 2008 9:50 PM PST up reply actions

batum doesnt seem ready to shoot in pressure situations

much less go to the FT line. i like him, he’ll be fine, but he’s got a long way to go. his defense has been suffering as well.

ignacio

by ignacio on Dec 10, 2008 11:19 PM PST up reply actions

Roy Freethrows

Roy has made a huge efforts in improving his freethrow and three point games. The Magic game illistrated(mispelled i know) how it is stilla work in progress. I still believe, GO ZERS!!!

by blazerbeliever97504 on Dec 10, 2008 9:41 PM PST reply actions