Blazers Drop Out Of Top-15 In Some NBA Power Rankings
by Ben Golliver on Feb 13, 2012 7:55 PM PST
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PrintApologies for the delay on this. Got sidetracked looking at LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Clyde Drexler earlier Monday.
The 15-13 Portland Trail Blazers went 1-3 last week, remaining No. 4 in the Northwest Division while dropping from No. 6 to No. 9 in the Western Conference. Here's this week's Power Rankings round-up. Last week's rankings, if available, appear in parentheses.
Marc Stein, ESPN.com: Blazers are No. 14 (No. 10)
The NBA's admission that it got the late goaltending call wrong in last Monday's heartbreaking home loss to the Thunder was so galling because the Blazers' late-game woes are only deepening. They're 1-9 now in games decided by five points or fewer ... 0-6 when the margin is three points or fewer.
John Hollinger, ESPN.com: Blazers are No. 5 (2)
John Schuhmann, NBA.com: Blazers are No. 15 (No. 14)
The Blazers won the first game of the season by four points. Since then, they're 0-9 in games decided by five points or less, including heartbreaking losses to the Thunder and Mavs last week. With the league's fifth-best point differential, they're a lot better than their record (which is 16th best) says they are.
David Aldridge, NBA.com: Blazers not in top-15 (No. 14)
Chris Sheridan, SheridanHoops.com: Blazers are No. 14 (No. 13)
Should have had a 2-2 week, but erroneous goaltending call cost them victory over OKC (a call that could ultimately cost them a playoff berth in crowded West race).
Kurt Helin, ProBasketballTalk.com: Blazers are No. 16 (13)
Two losses at home last week, they had had just one all season before that. They keep losing a lot of close games, and you expect that scale to balance out at some point.
Tom Ziller, SBNation.com: Blazers are No. 18 (No. 9)
It would be a much happier Valentine's Day potluck in Tualatin if Raymond Felton and Marcus Camby hadn't eaten all of the cupcakes.
Jeff Sagarin, USA Today: Blazers are No. 10 (No. 10)
John Hollinger of ESPN.com's advanced stat team rankings...
- No. 12 in Offensive Efficiency (same as last week)
- No. 4 in Defensive Efficiency ( same as last week)
- No. 9 in Pace (down from No. 6 last week)
- No. 16 in Rebound Rate (down from No. 9)
- Raymond Felton -- No. 45 among point guards
- Wesley Matthews -- No. 32 among shooting guards
- Jamal Crawford -- No. 13 among shooting guards
- Gerald Wallace -- No. 19 among small forwards
- Nicolas Batum -- No. 7 among small forwards
- LaMarcus Aldridge -- No. 2 among power forwards
- Marcus Camby -- No. 32 among centers
- Kurt Thomas -- No. 43 among centers
Blazers All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge is currently No. 16 in the NBA in dunks with 28, according to the CBSSports.com Dunk-O-Meter.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
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That picture of Felton-
the worst shooting form I’ve ever seen!
by kuhnsmith on Feb 13, 2012 7:59 PM PST reply actions 5 recs
unless he is shooting at the floor hahah
might as well try that couldnt be any worse lol! i do expect felton to step it up and i think he will!
its a sneaky pass, (peek-a-boo, semi no-look)
unfortunately, he fools everybody, including the recipient.
Felton must have seen a cupcake in the stands
Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Vladimir Stepania, Ha(ha you suck) Seung Jin, Travis Diener and Erick Barkley
by blazethenugs on Feb 13, 2012 10:19 PM PST up reply actions
the next time someone hands Felton a cupcake
he should just smash against the nearest backboard, as opposed to posing lovingly admiring it.
Based on those PER rankings...
We start-
Camby or Thomas at center
Aldredge at PF
Batum at SF
Crawford at SG
And no one at PG
armon johnson has a PER of 20.82
http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/4279/armon-johnson
PGOTF!!
"Wide, girthy. Just like a Rhino. Sometimes my horns are visible."
You don't always start all your best players
You need something coming off the bench also.
I guess that was mostly in response
to all the people wanting Batum to start over Wallace.
I'd like to see Elliot Williams get some playing time
Young players need minutes to develop and we need help bad at SG. Crawford is a decent combo guard of the bench, but starting him doesn’t help. Batum is still more suited to SF because his handles just aren’t that good.
More generally, I think Nate needs to think outside the box (and SYNERGIZE and shift his paradigm) to find solutions to the team’s woes. Other coach’s have had results by taking some risks, benching players who aren’t performing and getting young guys on the floor. I’d like to see Nate mix it up. If that means Batum at SG, great. If that means benching Wes and playing E-Will, great.
#7
Excellent post Magnum!
Nate has struggled within himself regarding the " Sarge within" and has tried a different approach. The DNA of Nate can not change who he is and he may be doing the best he can with this group of players? There is rising pressure from fans now so this should get interesting unless we go on a winning streak!
by Idahoblazerfan on Feb 14, 2012 7:16 AM PST up reply actions
Thank gawd Chris Sheridan is wrong.
Have a back-to-back-to-back this week ending against the Clippers, then another B-to-B-to-B next week vs. Lakers, Spurs, Nuggets. Yikes.
The Lakers and Spurs games are back to backs on the 20th and the 21st. The Nuggets game is on the 29th after the ASG.
#52--------I believe in Greg Oden
aw man. I was hoping to use the B2B2B as an excuse in the Nugs game!
now I’m going to have to redo my list of excuses!
that would be horrible...actually that should be illegal. I actually looked up the schedule
just in case I was wrong…it is mighty close though. It will be a miracle if LMA lasts through that.
The Lakers will also be on a back to back with us and the Spurs will be on a back to back also.
Lakers play Phoenix the night before in Phoenix, then at home to play us. Spurs play Utah the night before then play us, have a night off then play in Denver.
The Clippers are going to be on a 2nd (vs 3rd night) of a back to back. Play the Wizards at home on the 15th.
GSW however have no back to backs in that time frame. Play Phoenix at home tonight then play the Blazers on the 15th. They did also play at home against Houston last night. They have played 24 games so far this season..including tonight!!!!!! The Bulls have played 30 games.
Too bad the Blazers can’t catch THEM on the 3rd night of a b2b2b.
There is obviously problems with the team.
Next game, we will see what they do in response. Who is going to bring it? My guess is Wes$ and Felton.
it's a fire sale
and I hear they’re taking pennies on the dollar.
"If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind."
by thankyouforblaze on Feb 13, 2012 9:04 PM PST up reply actions
portland goes three and 0
on the b2b2b i just got a feeling!! the clips lay an egg in that last game aldridge kills em has 44 and 15 and it cheers all these angry blazer fans up!
have to check and see what the opposing team's schedules are for those games.
Clippers have had a relatively pretty easy schedule so far this year..like 4-5 games less games played than other teams.
Wha... what?!?
Nicolas Batum — No. 7 among small forwards
Let’s take a look at that list, shall we?
1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Carmello Anthony
4. Danilo Gallinari
5. Paul Pierce
6. Andre Iguodala
7. Nicolas Batum
…
20. Gerald Wallace
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they're not.
that is sooo obviously what Nate is telling Nick....
“You are playing in the NBA now Nick..NOT for some FRANCE team.”
Fair. I'm not trying to throw Gerald under the bus.
I loves me some Crash and feel like he’s really important to the team. But I thought the gap in PER was worth noting as part of the overall Batum debate.
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they're not.
by conspirator5 on Feb 14, 2012 10:08 AM PST up reply actions
Anyone hear Nate's remarks after practice today?
I just heard some of them and he sounds like he has been told by MANY that perhaps Batum should start!!!
Maybe Batum will start when the Blazers have a new head coach…one day…
Ya
then our bench can be even worse then it already is. Sounds like a winning idea to me!
Balancing out the minutes distribution is the big thing
I like the idea of starting Nic, simply because he’s our best shooter and has been amazingly efficient this season. But the big thing is getting Jamal some of Felton’s minutes and getting Nic some of Wesley’s minutes.
It’s not that Jamal is well suited to playing the point, or that Nic is well suited to play the 2, it’s just a matter of getting our best players on the floor.
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
And what I meant to say is, it doesn't matter if those minutes come off the bench or in the starting unit.
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
"in case he bolts as a free agent this summer." Right..or the Blazers just say: "bye"
This is from Bleacher Report..so consider the source…just suggestions for every team in the league re: trades to make. The only reason I am including it, is that they talk about the point guard position.
Plus, it’s not like they are really going to miss Beaubois. If they get their way and Deron Williams comes to Dallas, his minutes would become even more scarce, if that’s possible.
Beaubois would provide the Trail Blazers with a backup for Felton and a little insurance in case he bolts as a free agent this summer. If he can finally find some consistent minutes outside of Dallas, maybe he will finally be able to live up to his potential.
The same article also suggests that Denver get Collison and trade Andre to the Pacers.
Miller would provide the Pacers with the All-Star-caliber point guard that is missing in their lineup. Indiana has been playing great, and Miller might be the guy to put them amongst the elite in the East.
Knew I liked Miller. Actually would like to see him go to a team that will win the NBA championship. That would be a nice reward for him.
As nice as he can be
He’s more of a combo guard (despite his size) than a true pg. He would have trouble controlling the tempo, finding the good teammate etc. Think about bayless, and rodrigue is not always focus on defense.
The funny part being that nic started his career in Le Mans and rodrigue started his career with their archrival, Cholet. But players like to play with each other so no big deal here ^^
If you insist on bringing another frenchie here, the best fit would be seraphin here obviously. Or draft jaiteh which could become a real beast (even if some will talk about gobert, but he is much more skinny and has less upsides imo).
Another player who could provide some spark being fournier (he played in the hoop summit last year) who is pretty good off the dribble and can create his shot. I know a few franchise have eyes on him, i wonder if it’s the case for Portland (but i don’t think many here would like another euro, even if there’s only one left in the team and that it did not really improve anything obviously).
Well, soon we will be thinking about what free agents are available this summer,
and what hidden gem we can find with our draft pick. Add to this possible trades! And who might be a good new coach!
ignacio
I still say Felton isn't in shape.
When was the last time a PG ate his way out of the league?
by Nick Van Excellent on Feb 13, 2012 10:09 PM PST reply actions
felton looks RIPPED in that pic, to bad that its an illusion just like
like Oprah Winfreys skinny waistline
Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Vladimir Stepania, Ha(ha you suck) Seung Jin, Travis Diener and Erick Barkley
by blazethenugs on Feb 13, 2012 10:24 PM PST up reply actions
24 minutes per game?
Gerald Wallace — No. 19 among small forwards
Nicolas Batum — No. 7 among small forwards
We need a few minutes of small ball or a rest Aldridge lineup
Like either:
PG, Wes/Jamal, Nic, Wallace, Aldridge
or:
PG, Wes/Jamal, Nic, Wallace, Camby
Wallace is a guy you play 30+. Nic is a guy that needs 30+. Why not grab an extra 8 to 10 minutes for them by changing things up. Should work ok against a lot of teams and Gerald really looks better as a 4 anyway.
Nic and Wallace also gives us a better fast break lineup and usually seem to play well together.
First one is small ball heavy on scoring. Second one might buy Aldridge another 5 minutes of rest aside from the bench rotation.
Ugh
I hate playing Crash out of position. That latter lineup would get killed, by the way. No interior game whatsoever.
by vitaminx on Feb 14, 2012 1:36 AM PST via Android app up reply actions
it would be fine for a few minutes against most teams
not something you do with Dwight on the floor. Crash looks better at the 4 to me. He isn’t really shooting well enough to be a wing and we could use an extra few minutes with more shooting on the floor. Playing 5 more minutes at the 4 isn’t going to kill him.
Nicolas Batum is #7 among SF in PER...
I’m assuming that Lebron and KD are 1 & 2. Can we get some more shots for him?
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.
Nate doesn't want to be bothered with meddlesome facts and statistics.
Why Batum hasn’t been starting the last few weeks when it became obvious to everyone he is better than the guys in front of him is some kinda crazy mystery.
Tell me again why we traded Miller?
by RenoBlazerFan on Feb 14, 2012 4:17 PM PST up reply actions
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