ball movement

by homerandflanders on Apr 26, 2009 10:22 PM PDT Comment 22 comments

maybe its been present all season and i am just noticing it more now that the Blazers are losing. maybe is has to do with sergio not playing and there not being any sergio-rudy alley oops and stuff.

But whats killed me about the Blazers this series has been the complete lack of ball movement. The way the Rockets work the ball around the perimeter allowing Yao to set and repost is a joy to watch. Blazer possessions usually consist of Steve or BRoy dribbling for 15 seconds, and then whomever they pass it to chucking up a shot.

Rudy and Trout shoot the ball just about every time they catch the ball. I am really hard on Trout, but I have to point this out. I just watched the 2nd half again, I counted the number of times he passed the ball. Not assists. Literally, the number of times he caught it and just passed it to a teammate. 3. He passed the ball 3 times in the 2nd half, while going 1-6 from the floor with a turnover. 3 passes from our 3rd leading scorer in the 2nd half of the most important game of the season. Not a good sign for the offense.

Rudy was almost as bad, although I do notice him looking inside a lot more than Trout. (Actually Rudy does probably a better job than anyone of looking for Greg on the inside).

A few other thoughts on the game: BROY did not box out Kyle Lowry on the possession Lowry got the offensive rebound and was fouled by Blake. It was a long rebound, and Lowry made a nice play, but BRoy has to box him out. He just stood and watched. LA did not box out Landry one time on the rebound to the far side. Landry's other offensive rebound late was impressive, where LA actually did box him out but the rebound went long and Landry beat LA and BRoy to the ball.

The more I watch the more it occurs to me that the Rockets are just a really really tough matchup. Our centers are great against every center in the NBA......except Yao. As a result, LA has to help out soooo much, and their 4 guys are just absolutely killing us.

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100% Agreed.

The Blazers’ are unstoppable when they move the ball. By far, I’ve screamed the phrase “Pass the ball!” far more than any other in this series.

by dropsies on Apr 26, 2009 10:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

But do you notice when we move the ball

there’s a Rocket defender just a few steps away ready to put up a fight?

The Rockets defend.

Just like the Celtics did last year when they made the L*kers look pathetic.

by levelhed on Apr 26, 2009 10:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

agreed

the main reason for the lack of ball movement is the lack of pt for the spaniards. not only does rudy spread the floor, but sergio’s constant ball movement and great passing/scoring ability keeps attracts a lot of attention from other players, not just his own man. and the best part of good ball movement for the blazers is that it drain the other teams energy without a lot of their own energy being wasted. hopefully nate realizes his mistakes and learns how to do better subs.

by jontwin on Apr 26, 2009 10:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

it's been a problem all season

How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009

by douglast on Apr 26, 2009 10:58 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I was going to make a post on this

Forgive the long comment!

There was a timeout, I think it was in the first half. And it was just after Brandon had attempted a futile drive to the basket. Or there was a one-pass to LMA for a 20’ jumpshot. In any case, we came out of the timeout and consciously reversed the ball with 4 consecutive passes and the series ended with Travis hitting a 3 from the corner (I think). I am certain that we scored. That was the only time in all 4 games in this series that we worked the ball around the entire perimeter. It made me cheer. But it didn’t happen again.

Anyway, my take on this, is that Nate is conscious of trying to introduce this element, but he and the rest of the team psychologically depend on the static post-up of Brandon and LMA.

It is why I think this match-up with Houston is actually a blessing in disguise because they are a defense that requires you to play team offense, which is the next level for the Blazers, and yes, for Nate to get to. Nate is a control guy. And he is very conservative offensively. And that has been effective. But it leaves us with this weakness that Houston makes really glaring.

The Brandon iso play is not going to win games against Houston, or any really competitive Western Conference powerhouse. Because they will pack the paint. But especially Houston with Yao.

And the Blazers have slowly adjusted to this. They are creating opportunities for Brandon to dish off the drive. Not just kick out for the three like we’ve seen earlier this season. But back out to the key. It was beginning to work for us. Sadly, and somewhat inexplicably we returned to the iso play with about 8 minutes left in the game and the momentum and the lead. 4 minutes later, we were trailing and the momentum had shifted back.

You know who gets a lot of missed opportunities for assists is LaMarcus. He really stalls the passing of this team. They run a screen with Steve and LMA where LaMarcus ends up with the ball in his hands at the top of the key with some breathing room. He does the same thing everytime in this situation. He squares up to the basket and brings the ball down to his waist as if to consider a pump fake. Then he either shoots the ball, or looks for one of the guards behind him to give it back to. This makes me crazy. Because if he looked cross court to the weakside, he would see that whoever is guarding our wing has collapsed in to shadow him. He needs to learn how to catch and shoot. And how to catch and pass. It feels like all of the work that Steve has done to create some opening for him, he squanders by taking that long pause. It’s not like he’s got some kind of incredible post positiion that he has worked for. He’s at the top of the key!

I hate to point the finger on this, but I just want to see the guys who habitually pause when they receive the pass to work on getting it out of their hands instantly (like you see Rudy do) and also work on the catch and shoot. LaMarcus particularly, but also Travis and Channing and to some extent Brandon (although he is adaptable and a special case anyway) have done this for so long they are not able to get rid of the ball quickly when they get it. I am not saying they should do this everytime, but they shouldn’t stall the ball movement every time either.

I think this is one of those skills that comes from a fundamental level. Just do drills. Catch and shoot. Catch and pass. Catch and shoot. You see Rudy has trained this way and now it is part of his game.

Anticipation. Discipline. Vision. What makes for great passing. We can have it. I hope it is a focus of these guys in the coming months.

by Blazin' on Apr 26, 2009 11:09 PM PDT reply actions 2 recs

great point

by jontwin on Apr 26, 2009 11:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rec,

LMA does do that, thanks for pointing that out, first time I really realized that.

by lethaldose on Apr 27, 2009 12:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rudy is good at the catch-and-pass because he is always looking for passing opportunities even when he doesn't have the ball

I have even seen him calling for the ball, and then immediately doing a touch pass in to the post when the ball gets to him. Since he usually has an idea of what he is going to do even before he gets ball, he does not need to pause and assess the situation after receiving the ball.

by trk on Apr 27, 2009 12:14 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

yes Yes YES!

The way you can beat a smothering defense like Houston’s is to get quick and decisive player movement off the ball and quick and decisive passes to those cutters. If you hesitate, you’re allowing the defenders time to get into position and deny position or deny the pass. Portland needs to become much better at this. Fewer iso plays, more movement. It’s a TEAM game.

Open to playing some ping pong (uh - table tennis) with anyone who's interested. cdd37@yahoo.com

by TTRocks on Apr 27, 2009 8:35 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Much credit to the Rockets defense

We were the #1 offense all year, but the Rockets have rendered us inefficient by keeping us off the O-glass and limiting Brandon’s 1v1 game. In most other matchups, our current offense would have been fine and D would have been the issue. Against Houston, we’re finding out that we still do need to improve on offense.

by jksnake99 on Apr 26, 2009 11:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I think one bright point would be our D has been better than expected.

We had alot of possessions at the end of this game that we just couldn’t convert. We were getting stops but couldn’t capitalize.

by lethaldose on Apr 27, 2009 12:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We have been relying on Brandon's 1-on-1 game more in this series than we normally do

It seems to be a bad habit of the Blazers, that if they are struggling offensively they use Roy iso plays as their fall-back plan. Sometimes that works, but in this series we are playing against a team that is unusually well prepared to stop Roy. Running an efficient offense against Houston’s defense requires a team effort, but instead of responding the the challenge with more ball movement the Blazers are going in the opposite direction. It is like the main scorers (Roy especially, but also to some extent Outlaw and Aldridge) think they need to step up and start scoring instead of quickly moving the ball around and creating opportunities for others.

by trk on Apr 27, 2009 12:26 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

exactly

that’s what i mean by depending on the iso psychologically. It’s where the experience and discipline come in to run the play that is less comfortable when under more stress.

by Blazin' on Apr 27, 2009 12:30 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

we can be the "#1 offense"

all we want throughout the reg season, but its not the same in playoffs. you aren’t allowed to have open shot’s nearly as much, its more physical and pressure D. not to mention our “best three point shooting” is actually contested in the playoffs, so we cant rely on it to win games.

we have a major lack of away from ball screens and movement because we are a three point shooting team. with as many people as we have that just wait for a pass to shoot… nobody moves, causing brandon or … sadly.. trout to play iso.

and as much as i love him, until batum learns to at least take 4 or 5 shots a game while going for layups as well as just sitting in the corner, he should not be starting.

this isn’t me being down on us because were down 3 to 1… these have been my thoughts all season. many more, but i will just look like i’m ragging on the blazers when in reality, these are just observations that i wish would be addressed even a little bit.

by Obsidian on Apr 27, 2009 1:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's not just you

I’ve been talking about this during the season, in fact I’ve used the “that won’t work in the playoffs” many times.

It’s not just about certain plays, it’s the mentality and playing to our strengths

Nate should know his players.

When Outlaw is cold he shouldn’t play 30min.
Sergio is a great “microwave” player, and if used wisely to change the pace of the game he makes a huge difference, that’s why he has to come off the bench, if you need someone to defend and wait in case he’s open to shoot a three just trade him (oh, wait, he lost all his trade value by being forced to play to his weaknesses).

We’re young! Athletic! Fast! And we’re playing aginst the Rockets! Yao! Battier playing SG! Just run! they can’t defend us if we run and pass the ball! It’s just that easy! If Przybilla can’t guard Yao just play a small lineup and let them get tired chasing us!

This is the playoffs, here a “motivator” isn’t enough, a gameplan is needed, being smart and adapting to the situations is what gets things done, and Nate is no chess player.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

by DaniBCN on Apr 27, 2009 8:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

"you need to trust your teammates on both ends of the floor to win"

-Rick Adelman in post-game interview. I think that Nate will figure this out. I hope so anyway. After seeing him get 54 wins out of this team, I am inclined to have more faith in him. Maybe it just takes time.

This is the same conversation we started the season with about offensive philosophy and tempo. Remember? Maybe we were on to something!

by Blazin' on Apr 27, 2009 9:47 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, I remember

and I keep feeling the same way, and it’s quite frustrating.

I don’t want to give up hope, maybe next season things will change if we trade for a PG, but something special has to happen so I can trust Nate again.

I was raised with european basketball, and I can’t help it.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

by DaniBCN on Apr 27, 2009 10:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Player movement

Another play in particular stood out to me. In the second half, Rudy got a pic from LMA at about the top elbow. Both defends collapsed on Rudy and LMA popped to the baseline for an open jumped. My question is why doesn’t he go to the hoop there? Why doesn’t ANYONE go to the hoop when Rudy catches the ball. He will find people on those plays for layups/dunks. Instead, LMA missed a baseline jumper.

I dunno. I still think it comes back to Nate being an average coack, with some ridiculous talent.

by Zaig on Apr 27, 2009 9:37 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs