Offense or Defense--lets see...

In my previous post today, http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/11/1/1110144/defense-or-offense-you-decide I stated that Blake, Miller and Andre, (lol) Outlaw were 3 areas that needed improvement for us to win. Technically 2 of the 3 things happened tonite.

Finally one of our PG's got his mojo back and started hitting 2's and 3's from everywhere. That PG was Steve Blake. He was #1 on my list of get it going! Well he did that tonight going 6-9fg for 18 points and 4-5 for 3's,plus 3rebs,3ast, and a steal all with one turnover in 30 minutes of action. Steves only bad stat was 5 fouls. We need atleast one PG to be hot everygame or it makes the game harder on everyone else. Andre Miller had another subpar performance as far as im concerned. For a guy who wants to be the starter, his play has not proved he deserves that position. His lackluster 20 minutes on the court produced 4 points, 3 rebs, zero assist, zero steals, 1 turnover and 4 fouls. Not starting type of stats. Now the other part that proved my earlier point was was a tall, skinny, Mississippian named Travis Outlaw. He finally had a decent game tonite with a line of 12 points, 6 rebs, 1 steal, 1 block. He did have 3 turnovers, but over all a good game, he filled his role.

Our role players have to get it going everynight. In some ways they have more pressure than our stars. A star player is a star player because he can get the job done nightly and everyone knows it. You never know which of your role players will be hot or cold and so if they are all cold, you better have a big lead or your stars have to try to do it all. You simply cant win every game this way. We need to see atleast 4 - 5 players in double figures every night, just to compete. And we need that on a consistent basis if we are going to make a run in the playoffs.

Another key for me was trying to establish some post presence. We did that tonight. LMA went to the rack with the ball almost everytime he got it. They fed Greg his touches as well and he managed to not let anyone down. Greg still had 3 turnovers but overall another great game by the big fella. Only 4 fouls in 29 minute aint bad either. Last year I dont know if Go played 29 minutes in any game.

Okay I gotta cut this short. Im smellin dinner and the kids are askin what I want to drink with my grub. It was a decent game tonite. A great result in getting a "w" on the road. Anyways, have a good night yall.

Peace,

Cavejunctionblazer