JA Adande: "The BLazers are self-mutilating."

by usmcr3049 on Nov 4, 2009 8:53 AM PST

From today's Daily Dime on ESPN:

The Blazers are self-mutilating. Dropping a home game to Anthony's Nuggets by missing two free throws at the end. Letting the Atlanta Hawks outrebound them 46-36. The Hawks are supposed to be younger and more energetic than most teams ... but not the Blazers.

Their No. 1 overall pick from the 2007 draft has 19 personal fouls and 16 field goal attempts. Their offseason free-agent acquisition is shooting 34 percent. They are 2-3, with two home losses.

There are plenty of other teams with losing records. Most of them were supposed to be that way. Utah and New Orleans might be surprises, but most Conventional Wisdom watches had down arrows next to those teams and an up arrow by Portland. The other teams with optimistic outlooks are at least at .500 now, unless you want to include the Clippers. And the Portland Trail Blazers didn't assemble this roster to be compared with the Clippers. That's the neighborhood they've stumbled into. That's the reason for fear.

The Blazers are not looking good right now, and like Dave said in the pregame report, something is going to happen soon, either good or bad, there is a storm approaching.

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"self mutilating" ? bad phrase I wish adande woulda said

“self imploding”

But meh his intent is true. The game last night? Total head scratcher, for serious I was left not dissapointed per usual when the team loses , but legitimately confused, what happened, what just happened?

The Princess of Blazersedge

It just takes an iron fist to keep the riff raff under control and her princess hand is mad strong- Idoltime

by BlazerFan1 on Nov 4, 2009 9:15 AM PST reply actions

oh yeah and this should be a fan shot

The Princess of Blazersedge

It just takes an iron fist to keep the riff raff under control and her princess hand is mad strong- Idoltime

by BlazerFan1 on Nov 4, 2009 9:21 AM PST reply actions 3 recs

I think Kirk Hinrich looks better and better...

…every game now. A “better version of Blake” might be all we need. Greg picks up a lot of dumb fould to be sure, but a majority of them or on helping when a guard pentrates. And stop switching on picks (every player)!.

by Grey Home on Nov 4, 2009 10:31 AM PST reply actions

Play Bayless to stop those guards and get some better min.'s out of Greg!

Quite frankly the point guards have been bad. Put Bayless in for some min.‘s see if he can’t stop or help stop the point guard penetrations.

by prof.mike on Nov 4, 2009 2:03 PM PST up reply actions

i'm on that bandwagon

Especially if Nate continues to play these strange, no defense combos in the backcourt. Miller is a poor defender, Roy is an inconsistent defender (to put it kindly), Fernandez is a poor defender, Blake is a poor defender and Martell looks like an improvement, but hasn’t proven anything. So putting a guy out there who can give problems to players at PG, SG and SF is really appealing.

by atomiccafe on Nov 4, 2009 2:55 PM PST up reply actions

yeah

I argued against the captain because of money. I’d take him over turkey glue though. Also, I liked blake as our point guard. he does have his faults but so do others. A better version of him that can play defense… (if the front office was insistent on spending money)

Miller I was hesitant about, but he’s a decent player. Way back when I said no way because he couldn’t hit three’s and others were talking about his lack of defense. When we did the deal… it was better than turkey glue. We got a good player that would hopefully fit and help the team out and got him for cheap. Downside was a new player being added to our system and no defense and no three pointers… offense was mostly good (particularly to end the year) it was defense, i thought, that needed the work.

I’m not currently feeling miller. Still… i say give it time. 6 more games.

"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 Nov 4, 2009 3:53 PM PST up reply actions

I still think we should trade for Hinrich, even if it costs us Rudy or Batum. We can take the hit to help our perimeter D.

by dario argento on Nov 4, 2009 10:19 PM PST up reply actions

I agree with him, but there's still time to right the ship

That said if you refuse to admit there are serious problems, you can’t begin to solve them.

Blazer Fan

by leeroyjenkins on Nov 4, 2009 11:09 AM PST reply actions

I've been saying "uncomfortable"

They look uncomfortable playing with each other, especially during the Hawks game. It looks like everyone is thinking about what they’re supposed to be doing instead of just playing with their instincts. Maybe it’s because there’s so much depth the players are afraid they’ll get benched so they worry about taking a shot (let’s call it Frye Syndrome) or because their individual styles don’t mesh, but they just don’t look quite right.

Your confusing thesis has captured my attention. Tell me more.

by terryisntbald on Nov 4, 2009 12:34 PM PST reply actions

Terrible phrase indeed!

Keep the faith folks!

"Do me a favor. Put your lip over your head... and swallow." Max Goldman

by clinchmobb on Nov 4, 2009 12:34 PM PST reply actions

Self Mutilation

More like “Self Humiliation”

We are digging ourselves a hole. I hope they don’t let it get too deep.

It’s not time to panic, but it’s time to start playing and coaching and with a real sense of urgency. The Blazers are not good enough to just show up and win without putting in more effort and hustle than other teams. Time to get humble and hungry again.

by JasonT on Nov 4, 2009 1:03 PM PST reply actions