Giving Travis Some Credit

First of all I understand that Travis is not alway the best at making decisions with the ball and he normally ends up shooting a contested fadeaway jumper. That being said, I think sometimes people look too hard into those shots. As we all know, Travis has the unique ability to make some insanely contested fadeaway shots. Although his shot it isn't always a good one, he can create his own shot. By my observations, something close to half of his bad contested shots come when there is little time left on the clock. It's frustrating to see your team put up bad shots that don't have much chance to go in but I believe that those shots are more a product of the teams struggles to get a good shot then Travis being a ball hog. It seems like its part of the plan... pass it to Travis if things aren't working out. There have been countless times when I have seen the second unit pass the ball around for 20 seconds and then pass to Travis and he puts up the bad shot. This is definitely not always the case. I just felt that people sometimes overlook this aspect.

about 3 years ago AndrewJ 8 comments 0 recs |

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I am a Trout defender most of the time

And I agree strongly with what you are saying.
I think what people have a problem with now are his mistakes of still dribbliing toward his defender & then taking a shot. He used to do it a lot more so people got used to it. If he does anything similar they jump on it.
Me, I see him as a backup who would be reasonable for spelling starters minutes in the playoffs. If he isn’t happy with that, maybe he should switch teams. Or he could be a sixth man with a ring? I dunno…
Either way I wanna see more hustle to help others on the team ala Rudy…
And Rudy has already proved he is an insanely good sixth man… as a rookie!

No way I trade him anytime soon. That man is gold from beyond the arc. We have won many close games because his 3 balls kept us in.
And it wasn’t just that he made them, it’s that he did it efficiently.

by staylost on Dec 4, 2008 5:43 PM PST reply actions

travis should be used as a 3 point specialist

like rudy. portland has only seen the tip of the iceberg with rudy so far…we havent really seen him drive to the basket, or his awesome midrange game much bc coach has used him primarily as a 3 point threat. maybe trout should play a similar role to rudy.

Honor Terry Porter

by Philthyanimal on Dec 4, 2008 10:30 PM PST up reply actions

I love Travis

by Stegie33 on Dec 4, 2008 10:09 PM PST reply actions

one aspect often overlooked

is that in tight games or even just late in the shot clock a lot of players run away from the ball.

ignacio

by ignacio on Dec 5, 2008 5:01 AM PST reply actions

If you check out Timbo's team stats so far, you will see that in fact Travis scores at the same rate as Rudy (except FTs)

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/12/4/680242/blazer-team-stats-through

Only he is called a “chucker” for trying and all too often missing his signature highly contested jumpers in motion or after a turnaround, while Rudy still misses quite a few long but open shots (I think both are doing well but can still improve). If Travis could learn to choose his shots more wisely and also go more to the basket (a guy as athletic as him would draw tons of fouls) he would be an even better scorer.

by Norsktroll on Dec 5, 2008 5:03 AM PST reply actions

P.S.: Ideally, I could imagine Travis as a Josh Smith type with a little less explosiveness but a much smoother outside shot.

by Norsktroll on Dec 5, 2008 5:04 AM PST up reply actions

yeah

i think if can improve his on ball d he may be a Josh Smith/AK47 type player with a 3pt shot. He already is pretty good as help d, coming over and blocking shots, and it is not that far of a stretch.

"Damn the Blazers. Damn them to hell. They are working the rest of the league like a speed bag." - Bill Simmons 6/26/08

by SpyderRyder on Dec 5, 2008 11:16 AM PST up reply actions