Don’t care if Andre is better than Kirk….Blake with defense is what we needed.

I like Andre as a player but defense was one of the main reasons he was often dismissed as an option over the summer.

problems getting him touches now that Oden and Miller are getting the ball, how would this work with Durant? It wouldn’t. We’d have to dump Aldridge just so Durant could score. Off topic a bit but I’m just glad we don’t have any chuckers on our team other than Outlaw.

a real defender or he just dont fit in this equation at all

It is true that BRoy didn’t make his shots or they were different types then normal, but the scoring of Oden, Martell and Andre more then made up the different in BRoy’s shooting. It was the turn-overs, missed free throws, no outside shooting to open up the middle and poor Defense that beat us.

I agree with Dave that BRoy is the franchise player and will remain the # 1 option and we need to let his style of play continue. If Andre is taking up BRoy’s space then why not go back to Steve and BRoy, Put Andre and Greg with the second unit since Greg is also taking shots away from BRoy.

I am talking of just right now, changing 3/5th of your starting 5. is a enormous step and will take time. I know I sound like a broken record on this subject, but Andre can help develop Greg with the second unit as well as the first. Although, I believe that Greg should get playing time with both BRoy and LMA. I couldn’t see but it sounded like the high, low post of LMA and Greg was awesome. Anyway, this big of a change in offense needs to be introduced much slower.

hg

I won’t be worried about merging Andre into the starting 5 until we’re ten games deep and Roy is still playing piss-poor.

Like a quarterback and his receivers, it takes a while sometimes for players to get on the same page. Roy and Miller will mesh, they just need to spend more time together on the court.

After all, that’s what preseason is for, right?

the season starts in two weeks. why not talk about what we’ve got?

oden is playing rather nicely…. blazers aren’t playing defense… blazers are losing.

Can I now claim that I’m right and defense was more important than the big GeOh?

i do so like being right.

Roy + Miller can definitely work offensively, but the bigger question is how to manage rotations if they are playing a lot together. Miller and Roy have the skills and savvy to, at the very least, not be terrible together. I fear Blake and Fernandez are significantly more limited. A line-up of Blake, Fernandez, Webster/Outlaw, Aldridge/Outlaw, Pryzbilla are very unlikely to work.

Miller + Roy on defense doesn’t seem perfect, but my gut tells me that the Blazers’ defense problems are still more about coaching, communication, and team defense “synergy” than individual talents or effort…. Well, maybe I’m not sure about effort. Aldridge and Roy coast an awful lot on defense for guys that are under 25 and 24 years old and claim to want to win a championship. If Roy and Aldridge brought Kobe/Garnett level intensity to their defensive efforts, I’d feel very good about the Blazers chances. As it is, I’m starting to get nervous about this season.

Why some much concern for Roy’s points? The team scored over 100 pts last night. Roy took 13 shots and didn’t play his full minutes. I would prefer Oden dominating the middle and Miller getting him the ball. Remember Nate’s offensive scheme against Houston? With Miller on the floor you can’t triple team Roy. Miller will drive and dish. What’s so bad about a pt. guard who can do other things besides walk the ball up the floor and hand the ball off? If Roy wants to win, regardless of his touches, he could start by leading his team on defense. Given the RAMBO scenario, Roy no longer needs to save energy for his offense and should start playing like an NBA champion: Dominate the game in the facet the team needs you the most. He’s the Blazers all-star, time to become a Championship all-star.

Once his head is in the game he turns on like a switch. It was just a pre season game. There is nothing to get worried over. Once things get going, so will he.

Brandon:

This is the best flow we’ve had offensively through four games. But we still weren’t very good on (defense) and a lot of that was tempo.

LaMarcus:

I always said that playing with (Miller) and Brandon in the same lineup was going to take time to figure out, and I think every game it’s getting better. Tonight we kind of built some chemistry together and I think we’ll keep getting better.

also from LaMarcus:

Preseason (exists) to get better and I think we didn’t win and we didn’t play the defense we wanted to, but chemistry-wise, we’re getting better. We can watch film on our defense and get better at that.

full article here

were last year with the addition of ALM, the return of Webster, increased touches for G.O, and the improvement of Batum. As much fun as it is to watch Brandon score 50+ on teams, his necessity to do that doesn’t make a title team.

It’s good that Brandon is an established All-Star now because as this team’s offensive load begins to balance out, he’ll be putting up smaller #’s which could effect future All Star considerations because of playing in a smaller market.

may have hindered our pre season development if the real starters are going to be RAMWO (or RAMBO). Everyone buying into the “play for your position” may reward the second unit guys for working hard, but the original first unit guys are faced with “demotion”, plus readjusting to an entirely new, less talented lineup. Kind of delayed dissappointment (if not sense of betrayal). Obviously the second unit was walked over last night. It is a major adjustment for everyone to accept a new role, especially when coupled with dissapointment over “demotion”. A new unit chemistry has to be established and developed for the second unit to be effective again.
These lineup issues are challenging, but not dull.

I really can’t believe that Oden and Miller will not be starting. Both have outplayed their competition at their respective positions. Not starting two of your best players is lunacy. Idea: try to get a lead by starting out with your best guys, then finish the game in the lead by ending with your best players. There is no platoon subbing, i.e. 5 players at a time, so this whole “second unit” idea should be tempered by match ups and game situations. I know I am not the only person frustrated by Nate’s scripted substitutions. It’s like coloring by numbers.

I don’t like Nate’s decision to start Blake & Przy over Miller & Oden—not on any level. I predict that Roy will continue to struggle in the Denver game and vs Houston. Now you’ll have TWO units that are struggling, and a pair of very important, very unhappy players in GO & Dre—who were told that the guys who played the best in training camp and the preseason would start.

If this move was done, even in part, to appease the team’s star, that’s a mistake. Nate needs to build this team with an eye to winning playoff games, not making Brandon Roy happy. Even winning regular season games is not the ultimate goal. Look at that Mavericks team that won 62 games (or was it more?) and got bounced in the first round.

A Brandon Roy-dominated Blazers team won’t contend for a championship. Not even Kobe was good enough to win dominating the ball all game long. The Blazers need more weapons—most importantly, a credibly low-post threat. How is that going to happen with Greg Oden coming off the bench?

I hope that you’re correct.

If Miller has to start, you better have Webster in there with him. The rambo unit has a serious lack of outside shooting, and that will hinder Roy, Aldridge and Oden. I think you have to start Blake, Roy, Batum, Aldridge and Oden. The 2nd unit is full of shooters which will open up the floor for Dre to do what he does best, attack the hoop and get others involved. Miller is a much better scorer than Blake, his existence in the starting lineup becomes a bit redundent. You put your two best players at attacking the hoop in the starting lineup, and leave a serious lack of playmakers coming off the bench. I am now firmly in the start Blake camp, it is the optimal way to balance the 1st and 2nd units…