08-09 defense?
by PippenAintEasy on Jul 1, 2008 8:40 PM PDT
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PrintYou all know the roster. You all know the potential. And you all know the Oden factor.
I would like to know why someone might think that this team wont be as dominant defensively as the Celtics were last year... Thus making a playoff run reasonable for the 08-09 season...
What the Blaze are working with:
-A potential Defensive player of the year in Oden
-Length at the 4 in Aldridge
-Joel 'ghost-face'-billa coming off the bench
-The best fast-break defender in the league (Roy)
-Possibilities defending the point-- rudy and/or JB can check
-Ridding themselves of the most worthless player on the team in the best move of the off-season (jarret Jack)
Maybe its unrealistic to say they will give up under 90 points per game, but with the list above contributing to less zone next year, I see the Blazers being just as good on defense as they are on offense.
Potential problems:
-Roy will miss his annual 20 games
-Oden has a history of injuries
-A couple of rooks defending the NBA's elite PG's
-Not a lot of grit at the 3
I hate when fans get too high on their team's potential, but I really feel that Portland will be recognized as one of the better defensive teams in the NBA, and for sure in the West.
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How was Jack the most worthless player on the team?
Most worthless….does that even make sense?
President of the Petteri Koponen fan club.
Whaddya mean, "Pippen ain't easy?"
Sorry, I just love jumping on the pile.
"I woke up this morning, Barbosa and eggs in my bed." --BlueBooYay
because, pippen aint easy
but hes neccessaraayyyyy.
by PippenAintEasy on Jul 2, 2008 12:35 AM PDT up reply actions
You missed the press conference? Hmmmmmm
I'm a little confused by your tactics
by oderiferous emanations 74 on Jul 1, 2008 10:36 PM PDT up reply actions
you must not tune into blazer games too often
Every time I saw him defending the break by himself against 2 other players, he would get the job done with a block or force a bad shot at the least. He never gives up an easy bucket, he anticipates with the best of them, and he is deceivingly quick (every blazer knows this).
I am aware that my statements are bold, but it was just to get the readers attention (obviously wont be as good defensively as celtics)
by PippenAintEasy on Jul 2, 2008 12:06 AM PDT up reply actions
Sadly, it was plain as day that Roy was always the only guy back.
It’s too bad it often resulted in a missed shot followed by a rebound-dunk since no other Blazer bothered to trail the play.
agreed- great handle
The JJ comment is pretty far off. In fact, Jack was absolutely a floor leader in the zone D situations last year, which had a lot to do with our streak.
When you understand that Jack was not worthless, Grasshopper, then you will truly understand basketball.
I hated jack so much
Maybe I should clarify, Jack was the most worthless player on the team who took up minutes. Mcbob was fine because he didn’t take anyones time.
Jack had one good game, at Chicago, other than that he was: pouty, unclutch, and a turnover machine. All things I hate about NBA players. Look at his face, hes a little baby. And he is small. I know he was a locker-room favorite, but the roster is filled with locker-room guys.
Jack was worthless. Marginal at best. Hate him.
by PippenAintEasy on Jul 2, 2008 12:14 AM PDT up reply actions
Whose time did Jarret take up?
Sergio? lol. He played out of position as a backup 2 guard. Pouty, uncluth torunover machine… man you are going to HATE Bayless. He’s smaller and way way WAY more pouty.
by Disgruntled Jarret Jack Fan on Jul 2, 2008 5:53 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, there's no reason to hate Jarrett.
Jarrett had his flaws, but he was still the best option. Personally, I would have liked it if some of Jack’s minutes shifted to Blake, but Jack was the only guy at the backup guard positions last season with Sergio’s huge down year.
he took up my time
I spent hours and hours last season having to watch him fumble around at the end of games…
Did you honestly not see any of the final 2 minute turnovers he had. You could set your watch to it.
by PippenAintEasy on Jul 2, 2008 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions
Funny
I tend to hate players based on their character more than how they play or how good they are if they gave there all for my beloved team. He was the only aggressive, attack first player on the team.
Duckworth traveled on his move over and over and it drove me nuts but I don’t hate him.
But if hating Jack is your thing and you’re content with that, whatev. My question is, who will you stick in your hate sandwich now that he’s gone?
well there are a couple candidates for my hate sandwhich
The obvious one is webster. He has the potential to be someone that really grinds my gears.
My wildcard is frye. He is weaker than I am, but towards the end of the season he started playing with a little passion and tenacity, so he might not make a good fit for my hate sandwhich.
The 3rd is you.
by PippenAintEasy on Jul 2, 2008 2:43 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
This Seemed to Be Going Downhill Fast..
but the last sentence cracked me up.
@Blazersaurus – I don’t think only hating players for their character is necessarily taking the “high road”, though. When you do that, you’re basically just disliking people for what you’ve heard about them or could glean from interviews, etc. Unless you have a lot more access to the Blazers than most people here, you probably have spent very little to any time with NBA players at large, so to say you “hate players based on their character” seems a bit harsh.
I see Pip disliking a player based not on speculation of off-court personality but what he’s witnessed with his own eyes as on-court basketball ability. Given that Jack’s a basketball player and this is a basketball fan Web site, it seems more appropriate to “hate” a player based on his ability to play, right?
"Well, Travis just showed us that we can go to Travis Outlaw." - Nate McMillan
Ghostface 'Billa
Gets big thumbs up in my opinion.
"Well, Travis just showed us that we can go to Travis Outlaw." - Nate McMillan
Points per game
Will be a function of pace. This iteration of the Blazers seems poised to run a lot more than last years. Rudy, JB, and Oden all seem like parts of a fast-breaking offense. That would lead to more points by us, but more possessions by both teams throughout the game.
I do think our defense will be improved, if not on the perimeter than certainly in the interior. I think the biggest upgrade won’t be in Starting Center, since Joel was really pretty good, and Oden will take time to be great. The biggest upgrade will be Back-Up center, since Joel is a huge upgrade over Channing, who should be a good back-up 4.
If you look at our bench of:
Bayless
Rudy
Outlaw
Channing
Joel
It really resembles a starting line-up. That could be Memphis or Charlotte or something. They wouldn’t win a ton of games, but that actually has the type of cohesiveness you might see in a good defensive unit. The last team to have a good cohesive defensive bench unit? The Celtics, who just some trophy or something.
Kevin Pritchard is a 4.0 Draft Day Student
bad post
I’m missing some words, such as “won” in the last sentence, and I spell things wrong and miss punctuation. I should /ban myself.
Kevin Pritchard is a 4.0 Draft Day Student
You forgot FOUL Trouble
As dominant as I think GO will be on D and the boards, he will
have problems with fouls. Look at his history at OSU and during last
years summer league (I know it was 10 fouls & rookie refs). You know
veterans will test him and guards will try to get to his chest. Inevitable.
Most importantly he has already stated he’s going to try to block everything.
I found this site off O-live about two years ago and due to excitement over
the 2006 draft of BRoy and Smooth started frequenting the site.
When the Blazers won the lottery last year, I was quite juiced to get a
dominant physical center like GO. Having watched him quite a bit at
OSU, I thought we had a chance to have a young Shaq like O and a Bill
Russell dominance of the Paint. Unfortunatly it got me labeled a G_ _ f
by a previously Large poster from NYC. Nothing could be further from
the truth, as I love BRoy’s all around talent, leadership and unselfish
play.(Stay Humble indeed) As far as Smooth, that long lanky stride,
“TOR” silky smooth jumper and the length on the Shake and fade to
the baseline is sweet. Couple that with his increased strength and
emering post game (roll to the righty hook will be a weapon), he might
be my favorite player, but GO is going to be a MONSTER. Stay healthy,
battle Pryz in practice and stay out of foul trouble and . . .
ROY, DPY & . . . MVP ? Ring bearer ? Certainly !
IF COINCAST/ CHARTER/ ? DON’T DO A DEAL, I’M . . . ?
It's GO time !
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