In Defense of the Players: Updated with summary

And futhermore…half the time folks don’t even know what they’re talking about anyway. A lot of the type of critiques you are talking about are pretty coarse analysis…

With regards to their performances on the court, however, that’s an entirely different matter. As an example, I occasionally criticize Travis Outlaw for his low basketball IQ and Jerryd Bayless for his me-first attitude at the guard position; however, that doesn’t mean I believe Outlaw is an idiot in general or that Bayless is a selfish person off of the hardwood. Remember, there’s inarguably a distinct difference between judging someone in the NBA as a player versus as a person.

This might be the case due to me being some hardened, mean-spirited grouch, but my first inclination when I read that you gave Steve Blake an “A+” solely for his diligent effort — which, by the way, isn’t at all in question — words like hogwash and poppycock instantly swam through my mind. While it’s fine and dandy Blake tries mighty hard when it comes to improving on the defensive end, that work ethic won’t change his inferior lateral quickness and slow-footedness in comparison to guys like Kirk Hinrich.

I think most players (at least the ones on the Blazers) are their own hardest critics. They know what they are capable of and what is expected of them. And if they are not up to task, Nate and his staff and ultimately KP will be. All these players provide amazing athletic performances.

However, I think fans should have the right to discuss and criticize players for their mistakes compared to their own abilities (e.g. when LMA or Blake have a subpar game one), or compared to other players. And not just let everything pass because they can do things even on a bad day a fan could never do. Elite performers have to accept that they are measured in comparison to other elite performers. This generally shouldn’t take the form of “player x sucks, he is dumb, can’t hit the ocean when falling off a boat at sea and couldn’t guard a glacier from entering the paint”. But we all perceive players and plays differently, and despite all advancements in stats discussing their performances still make following the game and talking about it to other people interesting.

As for fans discussing how to improve the team “externally”, this form of “fantasy basketball” can get out of line and make you revel in lost opportunities, but in its positive form it is a significant part of the game that makes the overall experience of following the NBA more interesting – at least to me. It’s the GM part of the NBA that a lot of fans are also interested in. Sports media has fanned interest in that part of the game by providing 24/7 news, injury reports, rumors, etc.

Let’s maybe focus a bit more on giving the players the respect they deserve, while still discussing what we like or don’t like about the team.

There is a time for criticism and who can help but look at other talented players and wonder, “what if?” But it is important to remember that the guys on the team are human and they will have ups and downs and that is part of the beauty of the game. How much sweeter was the Game 2 win after hitting the brick wall that was Houston in Game 1? How much sweeter will a Game 3 victory be? And since you brought up Blake: that guy was all over Brooks last night. Not to mention the team defense was taken up a few notches.
Thanks for taking the time to post this.

If you’re in the NBA, you’re pretty f’ing good. Period.

We all wish all our players were fast as a cheetah, jumped like a kangaroo, had the work ethic of Tom Edison, the vision of an eagle, a warriors spirit, the gallantry of Lancelot and the wisdom of Solomon. They don’t – - no one does….

I know a guy. His name starts with a B and rhymes with Brandon.

In essence, we apes have evolved to have wacky wiring when it comes to watching basketball games. The negative events of life grab our attention more, and we tend to give them more weight than positive (or neutral) events. It’s all fine and dandy when you’re out in the wild hunting for food, but not so handy when you’re sitting on the couch noticing every freaking mistake [insert player name here] makes.

So yeah, we have unrealistic expectations for our players and we tend to give more weight to someone’s “problems.” Sometimes I think it takes a lot of discipline and practice to notice the positives of a situation, and this is especially true when you’re dealing with something as nuanced as basketball. To be honest, this has been one of my goals for the past season (not focusing on negatives) and it’s made the game much more enjoyable. Thanks, LetsBlaze, for bring the issue up.

Should end up challenging for the record in number of recs, in my opinion.

The fans, bloggers, ect can only preform up to their own standards same as the players so one must assume you can not ask them to do something of which they are not capable( Is this a blogger who knows this too, cares about it more than me, and is doing everything they can to work on their weaknesses and emphasize their strengths?) just a random thought on the state of in defense of the players.

In case it hasn’t been said already, this blog post is only pointing out the negative aspects of our fellow BEdgers and not focusing on the positives that each individual does day in and day out like reccing and saying recced and trying to successfully write “first” even when they are not.

Before you call out every post I guess you have to ask yourself:

Is this a BEdger who knows this too, cares about it more than me, and is doing everything they can to work on their weaknesses and emphasize their strengths?"

And we’re not looking out for the self esteem of our children. These are men who get paid millions of dollars to pay professional basketball.

It’s PERFECTLY within bounds to criticize someone’s game, even if the criticism is outside of the player’s control.

Is Blake doing everything he can to maximize his talents? I am confident that he is.

Did Blake get eviscerated down the stretch last night by the likes of Von Wafer? No question about that either.

Is Blake good enough on D that this team can realistically contend for a title with him at the helm? Remains to be seen. Many whose opinions I respect believe so. I happen to disagree.

That’s not an indictment of Blake as a person, and it doesn’t mean I don’t root for him just as hard. But there’s nothing wrong, as a fan, with expressing your opinion of what aspects about the team can/should/must be improved in order to get to the “next level” (whatever that may be).

You CAN’T play good defense on every play in the NBA. It’s impossible. Naturally guys like CP3 and Parker will torch Blake. People can slow those 2 down, but nobody can actually stop them. When we go back to a game and see that Parker burned Blake on 5 plays, we are seriously overreacting. Roy burned Artest/Battier on at least half a dozen plays last night, and they’re supposed to be the best in the league.

Good offensive players will always make the defensive players look bad. TEAM defense is 10x more important than 1 on 1 defense. Outlaw and Bayless both play decent 1 on 1 defense, but neither one understands the concept of team defense.

This is why Oden is having troubles right now too. He doesn’t understand when to rotate, when to help, when to give up, etc. He will learn, and he is a lot better at this than Outlaw and Bayless already.

Blake on the flip side sucks on the ball, but is pretty good at playing team defense. He screws up a rotation every now and then, but everyone does. Things like boxing out Yao and Artest are just as important on defense as stopping a driver. (Yao had a offensive rebound + dunk if he wasn’t stopped by Blake.)

and he is a great guy on the team. I just think that his perfect fit would be as a backup point playing 20 minutes a game… players need to be put in a position to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. That’s what it all comes down to.

he saves our butt alot, the ultimate role player that can fill in at two positions. He doe what ever Nate needs him to do and it sounds a like he has been the median between Roy and Aldridge. Sure he throws up dumb shots, but no one complains when those go in. It would be a sad day to be a Blazer if the starkville good ole boy got traded

he is always cool and collected (minus game 2). He may not average 25 a night, but he knows no pressure, and has unshakable confidence in his shot (again, recent performances blissfully ignored). He will sink that step-back jumper all night, any night. I wish LA had that confidence every night, even Roy some nights.

I don’t know if they just didn’t agree or started commenting on the comments rather than the post. (of which I’m often guilty).

I regret in hindsight using Steve as an example cause it led to too much discussion about him in particular – - but it did drag out some of the type of commentary that irks me – so it served a purpose that way..

So in summary – or the short version – -
comparing players against themselves to mark their growth/regression/level of effort = good thing

> Because if the answer to that is yes, you are wasting energy accusing someone of being themselves. And if I’m around, I will call you on it each time.

Awesome, dude. Thanks for posting this. – Elgin

“I feel as fans we have to be cautious to not “accuse” a player of being themselves. I’m going to use Steve Blake as an example because I found myself rolling my eyes again as a discussion emerged the other day as to who could/would do whatever better than Steve. It ended with a comment that was like “Hah! Imagine Steve guarding anyone!” WAAAAAAAYYYYYY over the line in my opinion."

lol, i’m the one that said that! and the quote was "imagine Blake d’ing up anybody "… and it was clearly a joke. The conversation was not even about Blake, it was about Hinrich and his defense.

Not that your “WAAAAAAAYYYYYY” overreacting, but don’t jump to conclusions and think that people are maliciously bashing our guys.