1st loss due to Batum's injury

by batumball on Oct 30, 2009 6:50 AM PDT

This was an important home game and superstar vs superstar, Anthony was clearly superior, I believe a healthy Batum with his defense would have changed the outcome. Perhaps more of a "team" approach to the 4th quarter and keeping open the scoring options of a redhot Fernandez and a strong Webster game would have made the TB a more serious threat in the final seconds than placing the outcome solely on the Natural's shoulders alone.

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Disagree

Both Webster and Roy did a pretty solid job on Melo. His stat line doesn’t really reflect that because there were a lot of ticky tack fouls and so they had to start playing off him more. The real root of the loss is that we only shot 35% from the floor. I put some blame on officials in that they would not let the game ever get a flow going for either team, so at least that was “even”. (I think it favors Denver more as we were fresh and could have run them in to the ground, but there was 1.25 fouls called every minute. That is just sick)

Batum cannot keep the flow of the game moving. Martel was flat awesome and had a couple of the best plays in that game.

by BanDenjamin on Oct 30, 2009 7:05 AM PDT reply actions

Possibly although I have my doubts young Nic Batum, as great as he is, could stop Carmelo when he's hot

Carmelo is after all one of, if not THE, best scorers on this planet.

I would’ve probably doubled and made the other non-scoring scrubs on that team beat me, but that’s just me.

Blazer Fan

by leeroyjenkins on Oct 30, 2009 7:09 AM PDT reply actions

completely disagree

anthony would have owned batum in the post. Webster was the best player on the court much of the time he was out there and played stellar defense.

Bring back the Uncle Cliffy!

by hawkblogger on Oct 30, 2009 8:02 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Agreed. Many a poster would have pointed to Melo's numbers to argue otherwise.

If it were Outlaw or some other out-of-favor player. They made it tough on Melo, but he was just better. Martell’s been playing great thus far.

by Benjamanic on Nov 4, 2009 6:58 PM PST up reply actions

Well, let's look at Popcorn Machine and see what that says...

http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20091029&game=DENPOR

Hmmmm, the only thing that tells me is that Nate lost his mind in the 4th Quarter. Yikes.

"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal

by timbo on Oct 30, 2009 8:39 AM PDT reply actions

Although I thought

The worst line up was Blake, Aldridge, Howard, Fernandez, Outlaw.
They had no defense, no post presence and nobody who could create off the dribble. I would beg Nate to never play this lineup again.

by boppitywop on Oct 30, 2009 9:44 AM PDT up reply actions

having Batum along with Webster would have been great,

but I don’t think Batum alone would’ve made a big difference. Carmelo was just hot. Our guys did a great job on him, not much more you can do.

by bustabucket on Oct 30, 2009 8:41 AM PDT reply actions

Completely agree.

Batum would’ve kept carmelo out of his comfort zone.

That would’ve been big for stretches of the game where it was pretty much Rudy vs. Carmelo.

There tons of other problems on the team that need fixed, but the simple fact is with Batum we win, without him we lose.

*Unless KP has a secret plan that makes this statement incorrect.
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by staylost on Oct 30, 2009 9:00 AM PDT reply actions

I don't remember Rudy ever being on Melo

It was mostly Webster and Roy defending Melo, with Outlaw and Miller also getting switched onto him for a couple possessions. Rudy was mostly matched up against Ty Lawson.

by trk on Oct 30, 2009 11:31 AM PDT up reply actions

I meant of offense. Rudy would score, Carmelo would score...

If Rudy had continued to score, we had just had whoever was on Anthony out and Batum in their place, this game is ours.

*Unless KP has a secret plan that makes this statement incorrect.
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by staylost on Oct 30, 2009 11:34 AM PDT up reply actions

I can't say

as I wasn’t able to watch. My gut tells me this was a team effort and more rust and lack of a groove than anything else. The game played about how i feared it would after watching the season opener. I think that even with Batum, we’d have issues because the team doesn’t seem to be syncing.

"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.

But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html

"I told Pau the Lakers never win here in Portland; I think it's great." -- Rudy Fernandez

by ratbastird on Oct 30, 2009 9:03 AM PDT reply actions

There were time when Marty was really bothering Melo, and times where he got burned.

I think given the chance this year to consistently guard the other teams best player, watching tapes, and work from the coaches Marty could become a very good defender.

We didn’t lose last nights game from defense.We lost it due to horrible outside shooting, hustle plays ( I swear there were at least 5 loose ball on the floor plays that Denver always came up with ), missed lay-ups ( they weren’t missing their lay-ups ), and Melo getting hot. He was hitting from everywhere. I don’t think he missed a single shot in the 4th. He was chucking up long distance 2’s from everywhere with a hand in his face and still connected. I don’t know that Batum would have made a difference.

by dario argento on Oct 30, 2009 9:41 AM PDT reply actions

I agree its frustrating when a guy goes off like Melo did

and usually I’d be right there with you blaming our lack of defensive effort. In this case, I came away with admiration for Melo’s offensive skills and how disciplined he was. All night he repeatedly sought the ball 15 feet out between the baseline and the pinch post extended. Marty fought him hard to deny the ball there, but Melo is really strong and crafty. Once he caught the ball where he wanted it, we were in trouble, cause he is too skilled, with a deadly J and great jab step and one dribble drive to the basket.

By the way, I thought Marty did a better job denying Melo catches in his favorite spots than Brandon did, but Brandon may have been worried about fouls, and we all know he has other responsibilites in the 4th qtr. Maybe we could have doubled as soon as he caught it, but when he’s catching it so close to the basket on the wing, it makes those kind of rotations tricky. I suspect that’s one of the reasons Denver is trying to get him catches there.

Ultimately, I agree with other posts that place the blame on low shooting % and turnovers. With new personell and differing offensive emphasis it may be a while before that is sorted out.

by JMoon on Oct 30, 2009 10:38 AM PDT reply actions