Injuries, Referees, Real Bad D, and Tired Threes
by LaoTzu on Jan 18, 2010 3:01 PM PST
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It would be easy to chalk this one up to injuries: knees, shoulders, backs, ankles, a hamstring. But these Blazers have been winning, anyway. No, the Blazers lost this one to a part of the body you never win without: heart.
Referees
15 fouls on Washington, 23 on Portland. FTs: 25-28 vs 15-16 for the Blazers. That's 10 points. It wasn't all lack of penetration. It was clear that the refs were ready to blow the Wizzle on the Blazers at a moments notice.
Real Bad D
Here's how to beat the Blazers' "defense":
1. Have a player set a pick
2. Watch the Blazers switch
3. Exploit the mismatches
4. Do it! Do it! Do it all night!
It doesn't help when you let them stay in the game off first-half putbacks, but switching every time? That makes it too easy. A coach can go big -- especially with Andre Miller the Refs' whipping boy. Even with him in, it was worth a try.
Tired Threes
3-17. Really? Whatever. The only Blazers making the low post work were Miller and Aldridge. Maybe we should have called their numbers every time down.
Notes
Kudos to Aldridge and Miller.
Kudos to the rebounding edge.
Nate's strategy would have worked if Bayless and Rudy were in stride, but they weren't. So with all the penetration we gave up and lack of rebounding, why not try a big line-up like this to stop the bleeding? They should have tried Webster at SG and Cunningham at the 3 alongside Juwan and LaMarcus.
Even looking at his 8 phat assists, Bayless is not ready to start. The generic scouting report has him figured out: guard shot at rim, collect ball, run it back while JBay jaws at ref. For my money, start Blake alongside Miller next game if Brandon isn't back yet. I would start Rudy, even for limited minutes, but his shot doesn't look right ... yet.
Ugh! Tough one.
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Blazers do not get a "pass"
because Roy is out. That is no excuse for this team anymore, especially against the Wizz kids. Other than that all of the other options, at least I think, apply to that game.
"I don't always read blogs regarding the Trail Blazers
...but when I do... I read Blazers Edge."
- resurrect_ha28
by FiveOhThree-RipCity!! on Jan 18, 2010 3:13 PM PST reply actions
You're welcome. =)
"I don't always read blogs regarding the Trail Blazers
...but when I do... I read Blazers Edge."
- resurrect_ha28
by FiveOhThree-RipCity!! on Jan 18, 2010 6:18 PM PST up reply actions
There should be a "time of day" option
I don’t think it is the only reason, but it should be counted as a factor. The same thing happened last year when the Blazers had play a morning game against an east coast team. They looked terrible that game as well. Thanks NBA.
"I been ridin' the midnight train, got ice water in my veins." -Bob Dylan
"Sasha? That's a sissy name." -Mike Rice
Tru dat. The AM thing seemed to throw us off.
We couldn’t even sleep in and keep our regular schedule like with a 4 PM East Coast start. Still, two players managed to bring game to the breakfast table.
To combat time zone discrimination
The Blazer’s should begin tip-off at 10 pm when they play the wizards in the Rose Garden.
3 pointers. We are taking a lot of them now that we have less low post presence.
We are trying to soften up the middle by shooting threes instead of trying to open up the perimeter by pounding it inside. Games like these are bound to happen when our shot is off. 5-17 or 6-17 I think would have been a whole different ball game.
#10
It is how we can win
I think the three is our best % opportunity to score (40% 3FG = 60% FG) unless we can penetrate to the rim and draw fouls.
"I could almost fall asleep when he's got the ball," Demopoulos said of Roy. "That's how comfortable I feel with him. He always comes through."
excellent
serioulsy “lack of functional defense” .. Word
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
I thought the reffs were messed up for both sides kinda, although we didn't get some
and 1s and other fouls at the basket that shouldve. Still they made some bad calls against the wiz as well.
Nice points. Anyway, the refs really mailed this one in
From what I could see, they really didn’t care to be there. Standard home cooking that the Blazers hardly ever get. Made Jamison looks like an all-star. At least he cared to be there.
I should say that Martell and Blake also had decent games. This one is hard to take the way it went down.
huh?
What about “Missing Brandon Roy” as hurting the Blazers? He’s a duperstar talent and makes the team so much better.
and
“Missing Gilbert Arenas” as helping the Wiz? He’s a gunner with iffy shot selection. The Blazers have been crushing teams like that.
M, period. Fresh, comma.
I think this would fall underneath the "injuries" catagory.
"I don't always read blogs regarding the Trail Blazers
...but when I do... I read Blazers Edge."
- resurrect_ha28
by FiveOhThree-RipCity!! on Jan 18, 2010 6:18 PM PST up reply actions
Missing Brandon goes under the injury column
Yes, “missing” Agent Zero had to help the Whiz. But it is on us to win.
McMillan lacks a low post game plan
With Roy being out, I cringe at what would happen without Miller. Even in a loss at least there’s a coherent strategy with him in the game. The rest of the team can look bewildered out there with him on the bench.
On average the Blazers 3 point shooters are good. With the exception of the first quarter, however, they collectively clanked in this game. Too often good outside shooting has masked the lack of a low post game. And they succeed often enough that no real emphasis is placed on developing one. The sentiment ‘wait till Roy gets back’ ignores this fact also. What happens when the Blazers play a team that’s good enough to take Roy out of his game? Or, like today, when he’s out injured?
Aldridge had some good numbers against the Wizards but both Howard and Pendergraph emanate more ‘inside presence’ than he does. At some point in time Oden will be back, or another reasonably decent inside player will be acquired. Why not implement a low post strategy now and practice it so it won’t be such a strange concept when the front line is back up and running?
Nate's flow generates an outside-in offense
It is difficult with these players. What is making it harder is we have few ready bigs with low post game. Roy and Miller post up, and LMA starts low block extended, but outside that …
I think we need to screen and roll to the rim more. What I don’t like is that the offense is so iso-oriented. We need to make the defenders burn energy chasing us so they have trouble on the other end.
No closers without Roy
Bad 3 point shooting. Lazy Defense. But most of all, nobody to close the game in the last few minutes.
LMA runs away from the ball.
Martell doesnt have much penetration ability
J Bay is inconsistant
Andre Can only get to the rim uncontested so many times.
The rest of our group just doesnt have the talent.
Good try, but the shots werent falling and we had no Roy.
Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses."—David Thompson
Referees seem to go with the flow
If one team is really bad they are less likely to get bailed out by the refs. If the momentum changes often I see the calls change too.
So my opinion is if you don’t like the referees as a player, pick up your play.
"I could almost fall asleep when he's got the ball," Demopoulos said of Roy. "That's how comfortable I feel with him. He always comes through."
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