Quick: Blazers To Bench Raymond Felton For Jamal Crawford
Jason Quick of The Oregonian reports that Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan will use a new starting lineup on Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
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Jamal Crawford will replace Raymond Felton as the Trail Blazers starting point guard for tonight’s game against San Antonio, The Oregonian has learned.
McMillan was unavailable for comment Tuesday morning.
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Felton's recent struggles have been, uh, well-documented.
Update: Here's Felton's response from Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
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"He (Nate McMillan) called me this morning and told me we got to have consistency from that position and that a 7-point quarter was unacceptable," Felton told CSNNW.com. "I'm not just going to blame myself for that first quarter. We're a team. We win together, we lose together."
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-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
3 months ago
Ben Golliver
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His stock is worthless anyway,
the only thing a team would be trading for Felton for is a salary dump.
I dunno, his recent average night might be enough for some teams to think coaching was the problem.
Just trying to be optimistic!
Doers & Makers > Movers & Shakers
by Adam Randall on Feb 21, 2012 11:38 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
im beginning to think coaching is the problem
This is feline worst year of his career
by blazers12 on Feb 21, 2012 11:42 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
autocorrect is stupid
‘Felton’
by blazers12 on Feb 21, 2012 11:43 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Couldn't be the coaching. Nate is the best!
by kuhnsmith on Feb 21, 2012 12:43 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
I've never heard that on this site except in sarcasm, so I'm not sure who you're trying to argue against
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Feb 21, 2012 12:45 PM PST up reply actions
going to disagree
Nate isn’t “the best” or even among the best. I understand and appreciate your support for him though.
by poorwebguy on Feb 21, 2012 12:49 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
this is so much better than my response!
props man, well played
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Feb 21, 2012 12:56 PM PST up reply actions
Sure, sure.
Time for BEdgers to start putting together those tantalizing Felton, Babbitt, Williams, Johnson, plus a second round pick, for Jeremy Lin packages.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:30 PM PST up reply actions
not really sure this a good thing
jamal at PG with the ball in his hands even more is daunting.
PHILLY!
by CleBlazer on Feb 21, 2012 11:21 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
agreed
I thought Nic at the 2 was a fine adjustment and we should have taken a little bit longer look at that with Felton at the point before making this move.
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Feb 21, 2012 11:24 AM PST up reply actions
nate seems determined to cut down nic's production with jamal @ PG
;-)
ugh. that’s not as sarcastic as i had hoped it would be.
PHILLY!
by CleBlazer on Feb 21, 2012 11:28 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Maybe with more minutes hell pass a bit
by blazers12 on Feb 21, 2012 11:28 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
I think so, his role for the last couple years has been instant offense off the bench
His job was to come in and throw up shots. He’s seems smart and has a ton of game. He should be able to adjust
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
only thing worse
Than pg musical chairs is Quick thinking he knows anything about basketball.
just win baby !
by FrenchieFan on Feb 21, 2012 12:21 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Ya think
I think dribblng the ball beetween The legs and waisting away the shotclock is what a point is supposed to do,Right? That being the case, this is the right decision.
I know that ray had a "good" game against atlanta, but after a 7 point quarter, this is the right move. Point guards job is to setup the offense.
And a good game for felton was what a nba starting point guard should average. Sorry Ray, but you blew your shot
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
by svlittle on Feb 21, 2012 11:28 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Felton could not play last night against the worst Point Guards in the league
Imagine him getting hosed against Tony Parker tonight. Blazers need help fast. Ridnour, Gragic, Flynn, DJ, Sessions, anyone but Felton please.
by tyeforshee on Feb 21, 2012 11:30 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
SECOND WORST
Felton is the worst point guard
by ZenGarden on Feb 21, 2012 1:07 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
based on PER
Felton (10.56) is actually a little ahead of both Steve Blake (9.57) and Derek Fisher (8.33)
"Luke is our go-to Chalupa man," Matthews said. "Designated."
I actually had to look the current PER up
because I wouldn’t find it hard to believe that Felton had slipped all the way to the bottom of the barrel lol
"Luke is our go-to Chalupa man," Matthews said. "Designated."
Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
This is not going to end well. Crawford is not happy playing out of position, could become a problem. Felton will become a problem. Time to either blow up the team, or blow up the coaching staff.
by oregon_fan on Feb 21, 2012 11:34 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
I think Crawford was even less happy when he played 13 minutes in the game against
Atlanta. Am sure that he’s agreed to this or it wouldn’t be happening.
Nate sits him down and shows him film for over an hour…point guard footage.
Then proceeds to play him 13 minutes at the 2…not sure as I didn’t follow that game..but am assuming since Felton and Nolan played significant minutes.
Crawford attempts one shot.
WTB Steve Nash.
"It feels good to give the fans Taco Bell."
- Luke Babbitt, 1/23/2012
by halo_on on Feb 21, 2012 11:37 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Yes please!
Doers & Makers > Movers & Shakers
by Adam Randall on Feb 21, 2012 11:39 AM PST up reply actions
Only if he can be had without giving up Batum.
Otherwise, it’s not worth it. Would Phoenix do it Felton and Crawford?
sadly impossible
Suns management says they won’t trade nash unless he requests it, he says he absolutely won’t request it. That’s even ignoring that I can’t even imagine a package that works for both us and them
"We Believe" - Rudy Fernandez
Suns management says blah, blah, blah...
They’d trade him if they thought it would better them team. Period. End of story.
LaMarshmallow - Distant Memory.
someone please fire nate
I’ve been a nate guy for a while but he seems to bring out the worst in players. Makes them afraid of mistakes etc.
by blazers12 on Feb 21, 2012 11:38 AM PST via mobile reply actions 1 recs
This is a myth.
First, name one player that struggled here and had success else where. Dre and Rudy are putting up similar numbers in a wide open offense. Bayless has a hard time getting time in toronto, Outlaw is barley in the league, sergio is out of it, ZBO’s on court performance was never a problem in portland and he was ran out of bad new york and clipper teams before finding a home in memphis.
Second, Ray really hasn’t been successful in other stops except in Mike D’s point guard friendly offense that looks the other way about turnovers. He had average numbers on a bad bobcats team and it didn’t take long for him to find the end of Karl’s bench.
I’m not saying Nate is a great coach but you can’t put Ray coming out of shape and the inability to gain chemistry with the best post up player in the nba on nate
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
by svlittle on Feb 21, 2012 12:14 PM PST up reply actions 5 recs
Channing Frye
"Luke is our go-to Chalupa man," Matthews said. "Designated."
by Vorlauf on Feb 21, 2012 12:23 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Channing's success in Phoenix came at the 3pt line
at a time when Blake, Roy, Martel, and Outlaw were the ones taking those shots, wasn’t what we needed from him. Also remember, at that time the biggest criticism of LMA was spending too much time taking jump shots, so it’s not like we needed another big doing the same. That wasn’t a coaching problem as much as it was not the right fit for our system at that time.
Also notice that Frye has come back to earth quite a bit.
Won't argue against any of your points.
Just naming
one player that struggled here and had success else where.
"Luke is our go-to Chalupa man," Matthews said. "Designated."
by Vorlauf on Feb 21, 2012 12:32 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
?
Blake’s no more successful than he was with us
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
Jack just now was able to get back a starting job
And by default too. There isn’t alot of options on that roster, got to feel bad for Monty. Took the job with paul and David West, a year later Jack and Landry are his two best players
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
Maybe he will replace Nate next year
wouldn’t that be interesting.
word.
and the inability to gain chemistry with the best post up player in the nba on nate
If Felton wanted to immediately improve his stats, he’d stop dribbling and just give the ball to LMA every time down the floor. Even LMA’s worst shots go in at near 50%.
by superfly05 on Feb 21, 2012 12:23 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
yep. Just learn how to get the All-Star shots
instead of bouncing passes off his ankles.
by poorwebguy on Feb 21, 2012 12:31 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
You have to give him some credit
he has expanded his repertoire and now bounces the ball off of other players’ feet as well.
"Luke is our go-to Chalupa man," Matthews said. "Designated."
by Vorlauf on Feb 21, 2012 12:33 PM PST up reply actions 5 recs
Rec
His patent Raymond of the Leg as expanded to the teamates. :)
Very funny
by DonttrashCrash on Feb 21, 2012 1:23 PM PST up reply actions
Dre was the master of the Lob, Ray's the master of bullet passes in traffic at ankles
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
by svlittle on Feb 21, 2012 2:16 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I remember how much LA would stick up for Dre and talk about how much easier he would make scoring for him.
Even earlier this year LA talked about how great Miller was for bigs. I can’t remember him or the rest of the team speaking up for Ray. Seems like Aldridge is working harder then ever for his points.
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
by svlittle on Feb 21, 2012 2:15 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Not only is he working harder
but it seems like much more of them are back to the pre-2010 pick n pop 16 foot jumper variety, because no one can seem to get him the ball in the post. Thank god LMA is the best shooting big in the league (sorry Dirk, not this year), but I sure miss the lob dunks. You can’t tell me it’s just better scouting and tougher defense.
And when he does get it, on the block he has about five seconds to go to work
It’s a shame to, because when he does get it low with time to work he’ about impossible to stop. He’s got a good array of moves going left or right
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
We could also point at the guys that had better success before they got to Portland
Wallace, Felton, Miller, Matthews, Crawford.
The All I Saw Was Green Blog, that's it I'm telling SBN legal
Matthews is debatable and everyone else but Felton
on the downhill slide. Shooting is down league wide as well so it’s hard to say what Felton and Jamal would be doing on another team. Felton also came into the season out of shape in a shortened season. Not usually a sound strategy for a contract year.
It’s a good point for sure. I’m just not sure this kind of season makes it a strong point.
by poorwebguy on Feb 21, 2012 12:35 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Let's see
Wallace on the down side of his career, he has lost some of his athleticism which you can see by his lower rebounds rate and the amount of his shots that get blocked, not to mention the amount of layups he misses.
Felton came in fat, and just looks awful even though we started playing a pace that benefits his style.
Miller put up the same numbers here as he has everywhere else, so your wrong on this point.
Matthews was better last year then his first year in Utah, I dont know whats happened to him this year but your argument dosent stand with him
Crawford is a streaky shooter, if you look at his past years his number that he’s putting up now shouldnt surprise anyone.
So sorry, your point really dosent apply with any of these player execpt Felton, but his problem isnt Nate.
by ggassen85 on Feb 21, 2012 12:40 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Wallace, Miller, Matthews, and Crawford?
Felton is the only one of that group that I think there is a strong case for, and he came in fat, that’s no longer in question
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Feb 21, 2012 12:47 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Wallace and Matthews are players that thrive on good point guard play. Hard working players that don't have the handle to get their own shot. Which is my theory on why their struggling. Last year with Dre, Matthews had an amazing year.
Remember too that Crash had a similar start in charlotte last year and after he got here his scoring went back up with a better fg% then ever. He also spent most his career on teams he was by far the best offensive option and had to carry teams. I don’t know if you followed Jamal through his career but he has always been like this. Can’t miss one night,.can’t buy one the next. There’s a reason why a guy with no off court issues who has dropped 50 for 3 different teams and can’t find a starting job. He also is averaging more assists.
And with dre, I don’t know how you have him anywhere near this list. I don’t know what more you want from a 36 year old point guard who can’ t run, jump or shoot. He had a great run here, even dropping 50 on a good dallas team
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
Great points..
Travis Outlaw played the best basketball of his career while here. Blake was solid here too. In fact, i’d go the other way and say Nate gets the most out of a lot of the guys that have played under him. I don’t think Nate is great, but he is certainly not responsible for Felton’s crappy play. There’s no excuse for Felton to come into camp that out of shape, lockout or not. He’s a pro athlete! It’s his job to stay in shape! Another thing, how can Ray shoot so poorly?!?! It’s not like he isn’t getting good shots. Nobody guards him on the perimeter. Teams are begging him to shoot. I was a fan of the Dre for Felton trade initially because Ray is young and had the best run of his career last season in NY, but man was I wrong on this trade. How good would we be if we had Dre now? I bet we’d have at least another 3 to 5 wins with him.
Yeah I can definitely.think of a couple games we probably would of won with Dre
Clipper game comes instantly to mind
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
I think the bigger problem is the players that the GMs have been getting for Nate.
Look at all the bad drafts. Other than Roy, Aldridge and Batum, the rest of the guys have been borderline to just plain awful. As for the other moves, Crawford and Wallace are on the downhill slope, Matthews is an undrafted player, and Felton is well, fat. There has also been an incredible number of injuries to said guys drafted by the GM. If not for that, I think the Blazers might have done very well in the playoffs by now. I do think that both the team and the fans could use a new coach, but certainly Nate is not 100% to blame for this fiasco.
About time.
Even though Crawford is playing out of position and isn’t an ideal PG, he’s still an upgrade over Feltdown.
"Nicolas! You're the strongest boy in the world!"
by ericking on Feb 21, 2012 11:38 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Crawford had 8 assists in the night Batum hit 9 3pters.
Let’s hope he remembers that.
Doers & Makers > Movers & Shakers
he probably will
I like Crawford. I know many do not, but the guy does make an effort to do what he is told to do.
He is not a good defender, (neither are many shooters) but am guessing Batum will defend Parker.
The sky is falling the sky is falling
Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. But its obvious felton isn’t playing well. Lets see what happens before we have a full on freak out. Crawford has at times looked like a decent distributor. I think he gets himself in trouble when he has to go from scorer to distributor mid game. If he knows from the jump that the team needs him to be the set up guy, I think he might play pretty decent game and a decent game is about the best we’ve had in quite awhile
by lostkauze on Feb 21, 2012 11:42 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
I wonder what goes on in Nate's head
“Let’s see, I have a starting PG who is an inconsistent shooter and is turnover prone. I know! I will replace him with someone who is an inconsistent shooter and is turnover prone.” Brilliant
Too bad NatRoy ran Miller out of town. Trading a valuable asset for essentially nothing when Felton leaves. With Vulcans like these, who needs enemies
Great point
He should have replaced him with one of the inexperienced inconsistent shooting and turnover prone point guards that are sitting on the bench.
by Batumshakalaka on Feb 21, 2012 2:30 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Maybe we'll see a little more point forward from Nic
Either way, this puts our five best players on the court, should free up the paint for crash and LA. Our two best shooters and two best paint scorers on the court at the same time
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
Batum playing point-forward is what I'd like to see.
"Nicolas! You're the strongest boy in the world!"
by ericking on Feb 21, 2012 11:48 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
he did play more of that last night.
Hence his 5 assists
by tyeforshee on Feb 21, 2012 11:49 AM PST up reply actions 2 recs
Ah, didn't catch the game last night.
That’s great to hear, though.
"Nicolas! You're the strongest boy in the world!"
We need Crawford's offense in the starting lineup.
A week ago I would have preferred him to replace Wes at the 2. I hope we see Felton as the sixth man come in and replace Camby to form imo our best offensive lineup.
by Oden Mad, Oden Smash! on Feb 21, 2012 12:13 PM PST up reply actions
The way I look at is:
Jamal has about a 7 percentage point advantage on Felton in TO%, a 5 percentage point advantage in TS%, and gives up little if anything defensively. He also fouls a little less and rebounds a little more than Felton, but those differences are negligible. Even though Crawford is a below average player, he’s considerably better than Felton in some key areas.
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
This team is soaring!
If anything we’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg!
"Wide, girthy. Just like a Rhino. Sometimes my horns are visible."
by YoniRap on Feb 21, 2012 12:13 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Felton and Nate
seem to have had a communication breakdown.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:50 PM PST up reply actions 3 recs
Good times, bad times,
you Nate’s had his share, but when he locked horns and drew Felton’s scorns, nobody seemed to care.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:53 PM PST up reply actions 5 recs
Offense has been dazed and confused for so long it's not true, wanted a point guard
never bargained for these two. Lot’s o’ people talking, few of them know, my coaching deal is headed below.
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
by HailOden! on Feb 21, 2012 1:07 PM PST up reply actions 5 recs
Paul, I'm gonna leave you
Paul, You know I’m gonna leave you
Leave you when the summer comes along…
"Wide, girthy. Just like a Rhino. Sometimes my horns are visible."
Nate is doing the best with what management gave him
It really is not Nate’s fault that the Blazers traded Andre Miller and Rudy away. It is not Nate’s fault Brandon Roy Retired and that Oden will never play. Nate was given a broken roster and was told to “fix” it. How can people fault Nate for that?
by tyeforshee on Feb 21, 2012 11:50 AM PST reply actions 3 recs
Nate had to give the nod to the Miller/Felton trade...IMO.
Nate always did what Brandon wanted. Regardless…after all Brandon was 25 and knew best what the team needed.
by Natsthecat on Feb 21, 2012 11:51 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
No way.
I seem to remember Brandon beefing about coming off the bench wen he returned last year.
by The Penguin on Feb 21, 2012 11:55 AM PST up reply actions
and Nate was going to put Brandon in the starting line up this year....
before seeing him play in training camp…
by Natsthecat on Feb 21, 2012 12:33 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
damn right.
if he had looked like 75% of the old brandon, he’d have been an improvement over wes so far… he didn’t. nate didn’t. all speculation.
by The Penguin on Feb 21, 2012 12:39 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
I doubt it, but even so
There’s no way Nate could have known Felton would suck this bad.
And to blame Felton’s problems on coaching (as Felton did) is ridiculous. He dribbles off his foot several times PER GAME! Luckily we recover some of them ourselves, so they’re not all turnovers. He routinely throws passes at guys feet or over their head, like the one last night that went right between Wallace’s legs and out of bounds, or right over Nic’s head and out of bounds. Felton has just played consistently bad. Maybe that feeds on itself, but you can’t say Nate didn’t give him a chance to play out of his funk.
I’ll tell you what I’d do if I was Nate: focus some attention back on the front office. I’d do that by giving Nolan Smith the start, bring Crawford off the bench at the 2 (like he’s supposed to be), give Babbitt, Williams and Johnson a bunch more run and see what happens. It’s not like we’re winning games anyway, so he might as well shine a light on the tools he has to work with.
Totally agree with you about what you would do
Unfortunately you are much wiser and less stubborn than Nate. How Nsmith is NOT starting boggles my mind, because when you literally have the worst starting PG in the NBA continuing to start, THAT is the coach’s fault.
Probably, but it's like he said
If he’s gonna go down, he’s gonna go down his way. I’m paraphrasing, of course, but he’s trying to maintain his relentless, tough-guy image. It’ll help his bottom line in his next deal, wherever that may be.
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
Need a GM
Nate is a coach…not a GM. The Miller/Felton trade falls squarely on the shoulders of a front office that’s trying to share decision making with guys that shouldn’t have that much say.
That being said, I can see why the FO would give Ray a shot. In hindsight, though, it looks like a huge gamble.
by poorwebguy on Feb 21, 2012 12:21 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
well, we honestly don't know this
It really is not Nate’s fault that the Blazers traded Andre Miller … away
There’s plenty of arguments to be made that Nate could plausibly have been pushing to ship Miller off, for a variety of reasons.
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
Anyone else feel like something went down at halftime between nate and ray?
Ray never really saw the court again after the half.guess a tarheel and wolf can’t get along after all
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
It's a sad day when I want steve blake back.
Disclaimer: There is a high chance this comment contains sarcasm, so please just chill out, relax, and have a nice l@ker hating day.
His only two skills, hit wide open kickouts and holding onto the ball is a lost concept to sweet baby ray
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
by svlittle on Feb 21, 2012 12:18 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
blakey would probably have a much higher PER here
hitting all the pass-backs from LMA
by ZenGarden on Feb 21, 2012 1:23 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
It blows my mind
that people can blame Nate for Feltons fattnes and awful play. The only person to blame for Feltons awful play is Felton.
Nate also didnt waste a 1st Rd pick
on Nolan Smith who was probably going to be picked in the 2nd round (and Nolan in no way looks like an NBA PG, he’ s just another combo guard).
Nolan is a combo guard.
I don’t know anybody who thought otherwise. Combo guards just need shots. Nolan’s problem is that all the shots are already accounted for. I have no reservations saying that Nolan would do just fine paired with another competent ball handler and given 8+ shots.
by Oden Mad, Oden Smash! on Feb 21, 2012 12:16 PM PST up reply actions
Well technically, Nate is supposedly now part of the team that makes decisions on draft selections and trades
Who knows what his role was here though.
It's not a realistic sample to assess Nolan.
Nolan is doing his best to fit in right now when he does get in for a couple minutes every other game. He’s not playing his game. Not that that’s wrong, it’s just absurd to come to some sort of conclusion on him at this point. The guy is a baller.
Actually
Nate was the big man in the room on draft night. The idea that buchanan picked and traded these guys without Nates directive is fooling themselves. This is Nates team, this is what he wanted. A vet team without miller. This is why he is reacting so poorly to the media and the batum situation, his choices are back firing. Even sitting batum as 7th man was a mistake he was forced to correct. This is an issue of not having a gm. Nates does NOT know talent.
by Cabbol on Feb 21, 2012 12:45 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Nate knows talent better than anyone on a blog.
I hate to appeal to authority but come on man.
by Oden Mad, Oden Smash! on Feb 21, 2012 12:54 PM PST up reply actions
Really
So why again was your second best player the 7th man a few weeks ago?
by Cabbol on Feb 21, 2012 12:57 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
lol Cabbol
do you have any inside sources that told you Nate was the big man on draft night? I haven’t heard that anywhere, I would really like to know how you came to this conclusion. Providing some concrete evidence would be nice.
by ggassen85 on Feb 21, 2012 1:02 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
The sad fact is that if the team's draft picks had been made by a vote of BE readers on draft night the last four years
the team would be better today than with the “experts” picking.
I think quality talent evaluation in the NBA is actually pretty rare.
by raoulduke on Feb 21, 2012 1:32 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
I wanna argue with this, but I don't think I can
we’d have Dejuan Blair, that’s for sure
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Feb 21, 2012 1:57 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Blair and Faried may be doing fine in their respective situations.
They would play no minutes here. Blair next to LMA would be the worst defense ever.
by Oden Mad, Oden Smash! on Feb 21, 2012 2:12 PM PST up reply actions
still a better pick than Pendy
assets are assets
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Feb 21, 2012 2:17 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I would bet good money
that his knees would have exploded had Portland drafted Blair.
But if it would have been over the past 6 years.
we would have the Stash instead of LA. and we’d have had a top 3 pick every year since then.
dinasour type of guys choir boys
now you're giving revisionist history to the hivemind.
portland wanted the stash, had no idea who LA was, and all but 3 or 4 vocal people wanted Durant at the time.
if Bedge was the GM, we wouldn’t have even traded ZBo away, he would have been straight up sent home for the rest of his contract. get paid to to sit there and just think about what you’ve done young man.
dinasour type of guys choir boys
by mittsabishy on Feb 21, 2012 2:51 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
The assumptions people make ....
about things they know absolutely nothing about never ceases to amaze me.
by Lance Uppercut on Feb 21, 2012 2:22 PM PST up reply actions
the jump from disliking Nate's offense and defensive rotations, to assuming he singlehandedly drafted babbit is evidently a small one.
i’m waiting for him to get blamed for the portion size at the qdoba stand next.
dinasour type of guys choir boys
by mittsabishy on Feb 21, 2012 2:44 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
my communications bill went up by 20% for the same usage
I’m incensed! I wish I could call Nate up and give him a piece of my mind.
Greg's knees are Nate's fault
And Iverson’s money problems
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
Nate
Systems needs shooters. That’s what we drafted. I’m not saying he is the only one making choices, but you better believe the sarge is getting what he wants now with the light weights in the corporate office. This is his team and is last shot. Nate is gone by year end. New gm will start fresh with his own hire and lots of cap space.
What I don't get, at all
As a coach how do you end up playing your starters heavy minutes, in a game where you trailed by as much as 30, 22 at halftime. This is exactly the type of game where a coach pulls his starters, lets them rest and lets it sink in, and see what the young guys can do.
What does it take to get guys like Rhino, Smith and Ewill some non yo-yo minutes? How bad does everyone else have to be, how dire the situation before these guys ever get a chance?
They were within 10 points
well into the 4th, thats why. They could of got closer, but of course our guards started turning the ball over!
Hell,
Mike Brown took out his starters after the Blazers did!
And Wallace still can't make a lay-up.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:38 PM PST up reply actions
His miss going down the stretch led to the fast break
that blew it back open for the Lakers.
That typified the season for me. A season of missed lay-ins and bad passes.
It’s not all Wallace’s fault they needed a perfect, heroic effort to get closer though.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:46 PM PST up reply actions
I'm not saying that wasn't an inopportune time to miss
but he’s not responsible for the missed lay-ups. That one is definitely on the guards.
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
Too bad we couldn't sign Berea.
That’s a dude who can make a damn lay-in.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:51 PM PST up reply actions
But we already had a log-jam in the backcourt....
Oops. I also need to clarify my comment above about the guards. Marcus Camby, somewhat surprisingly, is also a big culprit of the at-rim (mainly lay ups, in his case) misses. He’s #6 on the team in attempts, and only hitting them at a 46% rate.
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
maybe we can trade wesley for him
and then barea can also block wesley when he’s fastbreaking…
by ZenGarden on Feb 21, 2012 1:27 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
HAHAHAHAHA
he’s getting better, at least the Blazers weren’t on a 3 on 1 fast break when Teauge got him
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
That's because he's #10 in the NBA in total at-rim attempts
He’s finishing at-rim attempts a rate comparable to Wade, Love, Westbrook, Tyreke Evans, and Rudy Gay…only he’s doing it with a busted up finger an an inability to dunk.
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
by HailOden! on Feb 21, 2012 1:01 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Statistically he's an average finisher and the Blazers have an average won/loss record.
If you want a better than average record, you need better than average players. Not sure Wallace is better than average at this point.
by raoulduke on Feb 21, 2012 1:33 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
He listed some of the best players in the NBA
and you conclude he is average?
by Oden Mad, Oden Smash! on Feb 21, 2012 2:13 PM PST up reply actions
That's kind of an overly simple way of looking at it
Defenses key in on a guy’s bread-and-butter move. So his ability to hit an average percentage on almost 6 at-rim attempts per game (league average is about 2), while getting a well above-average FT rate (.37 FTA/FGA vs .29 league average) is pretty good. Not star level, but much better than average.
And he’s doing that with a banged up finger on his shooting/dribbling/finishing hand.
Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
That still makes him an average finisher...
He just takes more shots than most. And he gets less than 1 more free throw per 10 field goal attempts than the rest of the league. That’s not eye-popping either. As for the rest of his offense, it is all below league average. His offense is clearly not the strong part of his game.
#7
You are misrepresenting the numbers.
Gerald has the third highest field goal percentage and is in the top 10 for assists and offensive rebounds at his position. Yes, Gerald takes more shots than most around the rim, second behind LeBron for small forwards and converts those attempts at the average rate. Despite that “inefficiency” Gerald also ranks second in makes at shots around the rim. You know what? The Blazers need those shots around the rim! Gerald is also easily a top-5 defender at his position as well. Where do you get off on calling the guy average?
by Oden Mad, Oden Smash! on Feb 22, 2012 4:27 AM PST up reply actions
Go read it again...
Considering the context of the conversation was about finishing…as in, finishing at the rim, he’s average. And I was not misrepresenting the numbers. After last nights game, he is now below average shooting (62.6%, league average is 63.2%) from shots 3ft and in (he was barely above prior to last night). As for the rest of his shooting, go look at his percentages outside of 3ft. They are all below league average save for shots taken between 16-23 ft (37%, league average 34.9%).
That’s where I get off calling him average…
#7
Statistically he’s an average finisher and the Blazers have an average won/loss record.
If you want a better than average record, you need better than average players. Not sure Wallace is better than average at this point.
by Oden Mad, Oden Smash! on Feb 22, 2012 5:04 PM PST up reply actions
the blazers always do that
look at the Orlando game…they’ll come back because the other team stops caring. The blazers do it all the time too, except they always manage to actually lose the big lead.
because your team doesn't earn a damn night off by starting out down 37-7!
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Feb 21, 2012 12:11 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
this!
who cares about tomorrow. Let the Spurs have the game. first quarter was an embarrassment.
Haaha. Nice.
I’m going to tonight’s game though, so I hope they’re not too pooped to run the Spurs out of the gym.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:39 PM PST up reply actions
I think I'm more disappointed
in Wallace then any other Blazer this year. I really expected a lot from him.
this was supposed to be in response
to one of your other posts, and I even clicked post on that specific post, BE is being weird for more lately?
he's playing with a torn finger ligament. It will not heal until off season.
Adrenaline does help lessen pain. Hence…Wallace was able to play well in OKC…pumped up to win in an arena where the Blazers lose..after the horrible game against the Wizards….
He can’t get any local injections as this would numb his shooting hand…right?
I think Wallace is playing in pain.
Fair enough.
Isn’t every NBA player dinged up by now, though? It’s a brutal season.
Parker and Duncan are in mint condition, of course, as we all predicted;)
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:48 PM PST up reply actions
I don't really care
That might sound bad I don’t know, but I expected Wallace to have one of the best years of his later career this year, if not the best year of his career period, he is FAR from that. Blame it on what ever you want, I’m still disappointed in his on court performance.
I know, but 37-7 is so out of the ordinary that you can't just let it slide
who knows what the carry over could have been if that’s the last basketball our primary players played prior to tonight. We fought all the way back to 10 and had a few chances to get it within single digits. You don’t feel good about the game, but at least you feel good about something. At least you weren’t completely inept and lifeless
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Feb 21, 2012 12:55 PM PST up reply actions
And yet I don't feel better.
We played half of the game completely inept and lifeless. The Lakers were on the back end of a back to back, not us. Neat that we clawed back, but we know we don’t win close games this year. We can’t afford to lay back and then try to steal it in the end. It’s not working and we’re quickly running out of time to fix it. I don’t want to be a total chicken little, but it’s starting to look like there is a pretty serious motivation problem on this squad and we’re one game away from the all start break. It’s starting to feel like we’re using the old “every now and then you have a bad game like that” much more often than “every now and then.” Seems like the players are a little too comfortable with punting, but that’s just what if feels like from my couch. Clock’s ticking.
it's not about us feeling better, it's about the players showing some pride and fighting back
that’s a mentality thing. Their minutes may have been a little heavy, but I don’t go down 37-7, accept defeat, and just mail it in
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
Common sense>Pride
Look, we’re down 30 IN LA, 22 at half, with a game the next night against a very good Spurs team. Common sense says, lets see how the starters respond to a benching and see what energy the young guys bring, if not to just let them play. Heck, even put a young guy like EWill at SG for extended minutes with different lineups to play around and learn something.
To me, the starters didn’t deserve those minutes. Why do we even have 10+ players on this team anyways if they don’t see the court under the most appropriate circumstances?
pride is apparently a major issue for us
You represent the city of Portland and the Blazers organization. You’re getting paid tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to prepare for and play this one single game.
Pride is actually the last line of defense for integrity. Personal responsibility should have kicked in much freaking earlier.
by poorwebguy on Feb 21, 2012 2:33 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
If you're still convincing me that's a good reason to for Nate not to pull them, no need. I'm convinced.
I agree, and that’s kind of what I’m saying. Allowing a team on the second of a back to back to outscore you 37-7 is really bad. And don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they showed some pride and fought back and didn’t mail in the second half. I’m just saying they didn’t show all that much pride and kind of mailed it in the first half. If it takes a quarter or two to warm up our “pride” legs, we’re gonna be toast either way.
I believe Nate has a never give up mentality.
If I remember correctly he was actually praised for it his first year here when the team still didn’t win a lot of games.
by Jeremy Wonderly on Feb 21, 2012 12:24 PM PST up reply actions
If he took them out he would of been criticized.for throwing in the towel to early
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
lets hope wallace and Wes come to play because if they do it makes it that much easier for jamal to pass up looks and simply distribute if they are struggling hes got to look to score more.
This switch doesnt mean that Felton wont play he actually gets to get a bit of a run against the opposing teams second unit and that can hopefully get his confidence backup .
Crawford will NEVER be a 38 mpg player at the point guard position but he can give us 18-20 minutes or so there with the starters and teh rest off the ball which is basically what he used to do in Atlanta
The important thing to take from this
Is that the team not showing up for the Lakers on national TV, and not showing up on the road this year (to a tune of a 15 point differential) is Felton’s fault, and not McMillan’s.
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Feb 21, 2012 12:08 PM PST reply actions
Exactly right. Wallace is horrible on the road.
His recent up-take in 3 point makes is fool’s gold too, if there ever was any.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:37 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I can live with Crash on off nights cause he's out there playing D, fighting for boards and diving for loose balls
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
I think you’re absolutely right.
The move that should happen is Wallace to the bench. Part of the problem is that you’ve had Camby, Wallace, and Felton (none of whom can shoot) all playing together. So, once Aldridge passes it, there is only one guy on the floor who you actually want to shoot the ball. That’s put a lot of pressure on Matthews, and now Batum. I think the better group would be Camby, Aldridge, Batum, Matthews, and Felton. That is the most cohesive group the team has. Matthews and Batum play well together (as they are both scorers who are willing passers) while Wallace for the most part is just playing by himself out there no matter who he’s playing with. The problem of course is they went out and got Wallace in the first place, and now have realized that mistake and are trying to deal him. Putting him to the bench may lower his worth.. Of course, 2-7, with 1 rebound on national television will also lower it.
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Feb 21, 2012 12:54 PM PST up reply actions 4 recs
this actually makes so much sense
that there is no way Nate does it
general road struggles can certainly be attributed to Nate
Felton’s poor play should be attributed to Felton
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Feb 21, 2012 12:12 PM PST up reply actions
it's no one persons "fault"
what exactly do you think nate can do differently, or could have done differently to win more road games?
by The Penguin on Feb 21, 2012 12:19 PM PST up reply actions
Put Camby in
for end of game free throws to grab a rebound.
nate routinely make these kind of subs late in games.
that he didn’t do it that one time you are thinking of makes me think there was a reason, based on the fact that he usually would. it’s possible that he spaced out, but less likely, IMO. i guess I just trust him.
by The Penguin on Feb 21, 2012 12:51 PM PST up reply actions
I'm not a Nater hater at all
I actually would like Nate to stay in Portland, I was just giving an example so a question you asked.
Nate could
Play guys in their position. Stop playing 2’s at the 1, and stop playing 3’s at the 4.
Stop going small all the time at the end of games and losing them because you gave up 3 offensive rebounds in the final two minutes.
Stop playing Felton along with Crawford and calling plays where Crawford starts with the ball in his hands.
Stop playing Felton along with Crawford at the end of games because it debilitates the defense.
Put two scorers on the floor with Aldridge instead of just one.
Hold players accountable for poor play by reducing their minutes.
Realize that you have had a 20 point a night scorer on the bench for four years.
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Feb 21, 2012 1:20 PM PST up reply actions
Nic hasn't been a 20pt per night scorer for 4 years or even on the bench for that time
He started 67 games last season at 12 ppg and played about 32 mpg. He started 79 games in his first season here at under 6 ppg.
Nic has started way more games than he’s come into as a reserve.
Most of these adjustments you mentioned are the only things that have kept us competitive.
by poorwebguy on Feb 21, 2012 1:30 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
How many times he has started is irrelevant
He’s finally getting the consistent minutes with the ball in his hands and is about a 16-17 ppg player with upside when that happens.
read it as a reply to the above comment
Realize that you have had a 20 point a night scorer on the bench for four years.
Who was that talking about if not Nic?
Nic may be taking the next step in his career this season but, for whatever reason, he wasn’t quite ready to make the leap last season while averaging 32 minutes per game. He gets the ball in his hands more now because he’s aggressively getting into scoring positions.
"didn't execute"
Didn’t get into their set (Crawford dribbling the ball until he shoots it) fast enough.
Haha
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Feb 21, 2012 5:07 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Gawd.
your suggestions contradict each other. Play guys in their position, BUT bench guys who are playing poorly. Should we go with 4 guys, rather than slide Gerald over to PF?
Nate can’t make basketball players. Nate can’t make outside shots fall. Nate was dealt a crap hand this year. B-Roy… gone. Rudy… gone. Miller… gone. That’s a lot of guard minutes to turn over in one year, and when a guy comes in and plays as poorly as Ray has, it’s a BIG freaking deal. the kind of big deal that has cost us many games.
Our team has a lot of tweeners. That’s the way it is. be frustrated about it, but be frustrated with the right people. We need a GM to flip this roster and we don’t have one.
Stop playing Aldridge into the second quarter
if you’re not going to run any plays for him during the last five minutes of his first shift.
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Feb 21, 2012 3:40 PM PST up reply actions
I could say win a playoff series...
How about, compete in a playoff series, and not get blown out in three of the four loses each year?
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Feb 21, 2012 5:01 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Be a better judge of talent
Than deciding that Armon Johnson has surpassed Jerryd Bayless, then trading Bayless for a draft pick (that you later gave to Charlotte for Wallace) only to find out a week later that Johnson can’t dribble to his left.
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Feb 21, 2012 5:18 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
you give nate a lot of blame/credit
for trading players. i thought that was the GM working with LM and PA.
Nate can make Basketball players
He actually already has, check out ASU.
Haha
A nice assist anyway.
by heybabydrinkyourmilk on Feb 21, 2012 6:01 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
mix of. oversimplified again
That Nate can’t get these guys to play hard on the road is a very bad sign. That these guys claim to support their coach and still can’t show up in the first half on the road is an even worse sign.
That Ray doesn’t even look like a starter when he’s pressured is completely appalling.
The Blazers played well in Crawford's only other start.
He just got outplayed by Scott Foster. So I guess what I’m saying is: prepare for a well-played game that leads to an utterly soul-ripping loss—as opposed to, when Raymond starts, a brutally played game that results in a confusing and apathetic loss.
you had me thinking who was scott foster for a moment lol
by Willie Beamon on Feb 21, 2012 12:18 PM PST up reply actions
You shouldn't even know who Scott Foster is
but sadly this isn’t true
"What began as a credible protest against bank bailouts, crony capitalism and the like has, in large measure, been hijacked by crazies and criminals,"
by 92wastheyear on Feb 21, 2012 12:23 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Scott Foster ---- Australian for incompetent.
Who's that tromping across my bedge?
by Troll Blazer on Feb 21, 2012 2:25 PM PST up reply actions
I hope this means that
EWill gets some steady minutes. That guy hasn’t even made a mistake on the court yet, I know I’m not in practice but from what I have had the opportunity to see he looks ready.
Nic is going to spend time on Tony Parker, anyways.
Felton’s jaunts to the paint are practically worthless, not that many of our players have the hands to catch a pass anyways. Crawford isn’t a point guard, making the insult to Felton’s benching even worse. We’ll see what he’s made of tonight, I guess.
I like Crawford/LMA on the strong side though. It hasn’t been pretty consistently this season but it seems like the only combination that can make the Blazers a passable offensive team. We saw last night what happens when Nic is forced to endure ball pressure. He ends up backed up to the half court line looking for someone to dish it to.
The playmaking on this team is a thing of ugly.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:34 PM PST reply actions
Good observation and one I made as well last night...
not that many of our players have the hands to catch a pass anyways
I put several of Felton’s turnovers on his teammates last night. It’s a two way deal; Felton has to know where his teammates want the ball but they also have to know where and when he’s going to deliver it. Last night I saw assists blown by Wallace, Batum, and LA because they couldn’t catch the pass. I’m not saying Felton doesn’t blow some passes but it’s not all on him.
For Nate to say to his starting point guard that a 7 point quarter is unacceptable is wrong when you got guys missing like they were last night in the first. There was some flat out blown shots especially by LA and Batum…
#7
by clinchmobb on Feb 21, 2012 12:59 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I have to disagree there
While I was screaming at the tv for someone to catch the dang ball, I also couldn’t miss the fact that Felton was really wild with his passes, most of them deserved to be turnovers. They were too fast, too high, through too much traffic, or at someones feet. Add to that that Felton, along with Wes, have decided to see who can take the worst looking shot of the night, and his playing time should be drastically reduced. The only good shot Felton took last night was the first one of the game.
Crawford is not the answer at the point, so I would rather Nate continue to start Felton, but give Nolan more time to see the court in the hopes that he can contribute in his rookie year, like some other 4 year college players have been able to do. And I would love to see Williams get some more court time as well in place of Wes, at this point how much worse can these two young players be?
Ben II Blazersedge.com || New to Blazers' Edge?
While I was screaming at the tv for someone to catch the dang ball, I also couldn’t miss the fact that Felton was really wild with his passes, most of them deserved to be turnovers. They were too fast, too high, through too much traffic, or at someones feet.
Seconded. They were rushed, not pinpointed, and way too fast. Sometimes the guys can catch them, but no luck last night.
I'm not defending Felton's overall play by any means but go watch it again...
Not all of the turnovers attributed to Felton on the stat sheet were his fault. There were some bad one’s, fast ones, high ones, low ones but LA was fumbling everything last night, Wallace missed one at head height on the fast break, and Batum, too. Like I said, it’s a two way game knowing appropriate spacing and delivery and where guys want it and want to deliver it.
#7
Because they are not wearing baseball mitts....
not that many of our players have the hands to catch a pass anyways.
Of course, you can't catch a pass
when there are three Lakers standing in the paint, deflecting every little interior pass. Not that our guys are going to stop tying to throw that grapefruit through the eye of a needle, mind you, especially in crunch time. What’s more frustrating to watch than that? Closeups of Andy Pettit’s nostrils are less frustrating to watch than that.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:43 PM PST up reply actions
lol yeah we've been trying to "thread the needle"
with some freakishly ugly passing
Its a reasonable “change for changes” sake move. Crawford’s a perfectly fine bench scorer, but certainly a far less than great option as starting PG. However, Felton’s been so awful its hard to blame Nate for this.
Not likely to fix much of anything, but a reasonable move.
I Don't Think the Bench is the best place for Felton.
It’s not buried far enough from actual game minutes. What has been said about his value in a D’Antoni system and how that compares to a team who actually cares about turnovers is valid. Move the guy now.
Felton and an Oden highlight reel to Phoenix for Steve Nash please.
You might need to--ahem--
sweeten that deal for Phoenix a tad.
If I were a season ticket holder in PHX, and they trotted Nash out for Felton, I’d riot right there on the spot.
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:55 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
quit pinning all of this on Nate!!
look at who he has to play at the PG spot on his roster! I agree with this move.
A displaced Sonics fan that has somehow emerged as a Blazers fan (and loves it).
by anitachampionship on Feb 21, 2012 12:52 PM PST reply actions
When a team stinks this much, especially when the coach has a say in the roster construction, criticism is inevitable
Arguably warranted too, but I’m really not sure to what extent it’s warranted. It’s the hard part of discussing a job that is often invisible.
"Well said, my dear."
“I, too, tire of these naysayers and ‘what-if’ traffickers. Nay, this roster is unsinkable.”
Come on, let's all hug it out.
by Hipster Olympic Team! on Feb 21, 2012 12:57 PM PST up reply actions
I have no problem with this move
Which is partially because I commented in a similar fashion in a GDT a while back. This doesn’t magically fix anything, but Jamal is an experienced veteran, and should be able to adjust his game a bit at Nate’s request.
And really, it’s hard to be worse than Ray has been recently. I don’t think this will magically make us great, but it was time to make the change to see how it goes.
Comparisons for what it's worth:
Crawford:
pts14.1…ast3.8…rb1.9…to2.1… PER16.24
Felton:
pts10.0…ast6.3…rb2.2…to2.9… PER10.56
Month of February
Crawford
15.7 pts
42% twos
38% threes
4.4 assists
28 mpg
by Willie Beamon on Feb 21, 2012 1:22 PM PST up reply actions
easily our best guard
unless you count Nic. Looks like Jamal is rounding into shape.
oh man, it's crazy that statement is true
Felton and Wes don’t even factor in the conversation
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
Wes is finally starting to show signs
but I completely agree with a comment somewhere above. Wesley and Wallace need a good PG to be effective. They both need space and a guy that can set them up.
let's hope this move somehow improves ray over time.
A displaced Sonics fan that has somehow emerged as a Blazers fan (and loves it).
by anitachampionship on Feb 21, 2012 1:22 PM PST up reply actions
Who knows what will happen?
The team definitely needs an identity or something to coalesce around. I’m not a big fan of Crawford, but something may come out of this. Hopefully he develops a better connection with LMA. It’s worth a shot.
What's Aaron Brooks doing these days?
He might be gettable and an upgrade until we figure out who plays PG for this team. It seems like Blazers have been searching for a decent PG for years, and when they got one — Andre Miller — they traded him for another headache who happened to shoot 40% from 3 for a partial season…. I remember Brooks torching us in that playoffs series 3 years ago.
Still in China I believe
I think his team is doing well so he may not be back for another month or so.
"Luke is our go-to Chalupa man," Matthews said. "Designated."
Ugh, we don't have a point guard.
This is ugly. A point guard who likes to dribble into trouble and cough up the rock or a point guard who likes to pound the rock and then jack up a contested jumper. Sadly, as bad as Ray’s been, you eventually have to try something, even if it’s wrong.
Jamal and Nic
I like this backcourt set up. Jamal likely never thought he would start at PG when they were courting him in the offseason. This move has to happen. Does this mean Nolan gets no run now.?? You got to play that kid to know what you have.
i think nate should start at PG. i bet he can still ball.
A displaced Sonics fan that has somehow emerged as a Blazers fan (and loves it).
by anitachampionship on Feb 21, 2012 1:22 PM PST reply actions
You're not familiar with Dan Dickau?
Player development assistant who played for the Blazers a couple years ago? He’d be an upgrade over what we got now and he’s not that old (33)…
#7
Wait, so now Felton was solely responsible for that 7 point quarter?
Good god, it wasn’t the entire team bricking jumpers that I forced myself to watch last night?
by howlingfantods on Feb 21, 2012 1:25 PM PST reply actions 2 recs
That what I saw...
and turnovers attributed to Felton that went right through the hands of Wallace, Batum, and LA…
Not that Felton’s been great but this feels like an over-reaction. I think Nate should have just left the line-up as is going into the All-Star break and hope the rest allows theme to recoup mentally and physically. Now you have a pissed off Felton and everyone else wondering where it all will go from here.
#7
by clinchmobb on Feb 21, 2012 1:30 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
I'm also surprised Nate made this call the last game before the All-Star break
Perhaps he was concerned about team morale over the break if Ray played poorly and they lost again.
All-Star break seems to be the most appropriate time to 'clear one's head'...
morale or no morale…
#7
eh, I definitely don't have an answer here.
I do think there’s something weird about Nate’s coaching—guys losing confidence in their game the more they play under Nate seems to be a pretty consistent theme. Ray having just such a terrible season after many years of consistent (although somewhat below average) play for so many coaches and so many different systems is extremely odd. And considering the ways that Ray’s acting out, it does seem to be centered around Nate.
by howlingfantods on Feb 21, 2012 1:38 PM PST up reply actions
Ray having just such a terrible season after many years of consistent (although somewhat below average) play for so many coaches and so many different systems is extremely odd.
This appears to be the case with many players this season. Coming into the shortened season out of shape probably didn’t help things any. To me, there is more evidence that Ray’s confidence self destructed while trying to play his way back into shape then there is that Nate is driving him to depression.
If anything Nate gave Ray more than enough rope to hang himself with. Let him show his skills on the bench if he wants the starter spot back. I have a feeling Jamal won’t be able to hold onto it much better.
by poorwebguy on Feb 21, 2012 1:45 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I'm not buying the "out of shape" hypothesis.
If that was the main cause, I’d think he’d be getting better as the season progresses, much the same way other guys who came in out of shape have, like Dirk. But he’s been getting worse and worse.
Plus he just looks pretty much the same now as he did last year. He did look a little soft around the edges at the start of the year compared to prior years but not anymore.
I dunno. I find the whole Nate coaching thing kind of mystifying. Some players develop from the get go (BRoy mostly), some plateau or regress mildly for years before suddenly making a leap (LMA last season, possibly Nic this season), others get worse and worse the more years they play for him to the point where they look like they’ve lost all confidence in their ability (Sergio, Rudy, Felton).
It sometimes looks to me like his style might be to only dispense whatever good he dispenses to a couple of players at a time while neglecting some and scapegoating a few others. But it’s hard to tell as a fan. I sure wish we had a good GM who evaluated stuff like this.
by howlingfantods on Feb 21, 2012 2:09 PM PST up reply actions
most of this I attribute to terrible drafting and a lack of talent
but Nate might be a little rough on the younger guys. Probably scares the crap out of them. I can’t cut Ray slack on that because he’s not a kid anymore. Needs to grow a pair. He’s supposed to be a seasoned professional.
Completely agree on the GM thing. This whole decision by counsel thing isn’t working out. I do wonder how effective a GM would be allowed to be under PA’s ownership though. Might end up as more of the same.
The GM situation seems to be the right thing.
PA wants a say. Nate wants a say. Chad is willing to do the legwork.
by Oden Mad, Oden Smash! on Feb 21, 2012 2:19 PM PST up reply actions
Felton's already lost 13+ lbs this season just as a result of games
which seems like a very high # for a pro athlete to shed. I think he looks in better shape to me, less shots off front iron at least. He’s still not making great decisions
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
a lot of his poor decisionmaking is coming from how much he's lost confidence.
I think a year ago, when he was streaking for a layup on the break, and the trailer was semi-covered, he would’ve gone up for the layup instead of firing a bullet through GW’s hands like he’s doing now.
So much of the NBA game is about confidence. I’ve seen players lose their confidence and completely lose their ability to perform—nick anderson, charles smith, andris biedrins…. Felton looks to me like another casualty.
by howlingfantods on Feb 21, 2012 2:36 PM PST up reply actions
coming into the season in shape probably would have helped
could very well be that Ray is in an anti-confidence vortex that he won’t be able to get over. Playing from the bench should be less pressure though so I understand the move. Letting him keep the starting spot hasn’t worked all that well.
The fact that his play hasn't improved any is more proof that his weight had nothing to do with it
Regardless of if he came into the season with a couple extra pounds or not.
he has in fact improved
check our the January/February splits. It’s just terrible still.
you can't tell me with a straight face that his weight had nothing to do with it
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
I won’t say it had nothing to do with his early play, but I’d wager we’d be hearing ALOT less about his “weight issues” if it wasn’t for that cupcake picture. The fact that he’s been consistently terrible the entire season lead me to believe the knocks on his weight were overstated to begin with, not to mention they’ve been irrelevant for awhile now.
he was ranked as one of the most likely players to get fat over the lockout
and come into camp out of shape. I protested that notion strongly. But that notion was independent of cupcake-gate and turned out to be correct.
When the season is over compare Ray at the end of the season to Ray at the start of the season and I think you’ll find a stark contrast
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
he was definitely pudgy when he showed up for the season
but I’m not sure that accounts for his inability to hit jump shots. Ray’s always come into seasons a little soft around the edges, and he’s never been as terrible as he’s been this season.
He looked quick and aggressive in the first couple of weeks. Much more confident in his play, even though his jumper wasn’t falling. Now he’s a mess who looks like he’s constantly second guessing every move.
by howlingfantods on Feb 22, 2012 4:18 PM PST up reply actions
It is pretty mystifying
For all the talk of how great Nate is at “developing young players”, I’ve never seen it. The guys who have seemed to play best for Nate (relative to the rest of their careers), have seemed to be hard-working vet journeymen who don’t seem to need much guidance. Guys like Steve Blake, James Jones, Joel Przybilla, and even Juan Dixon (to go way back to the dark ages) all played much better under Nate than they have elsewhere.
Sure, you have Brandon, LaMarcus, and to a lesser extent Nic, but it seems pretty clear that Brandon was going to succeed no matter who was coaching, and I’m not sure what to make of LaMarcus, considering he was considered a pretty solid prospect, especially defensively, and he just looked completely and utterly mediocre for a solid 4.5 years (and I hate the “Roy held him back argument”, how much did Durant hold Westbrook back, or Shaq/Kobe). And of course, we now seem to be seeing something similar happen on a lesser scale with Nic.
Obviously we can’t prove any sort of counterfactual, but it certainly seems to be the BE consensus that these guys’ success is due to Nate’s guidance, but given how long it’s taken them to develop into their current selves, I’m not sure how to quantify Nate’s effect on their development, be it positive, negative, or neutral. I certainly don’t think LaMarcus’s success should be any great feather in Nate’s “player development” cap given how long it took to get to this point.
As to the rest of the youngsters, I think it’s murky, but who knows? It’s definitely possible that our FO is exceedingly awful and none of Webster, Bayless, Sergio, Rudy, Babbitt, Armon, or Dante had a chance to be more than a fringe rotation guy (and given the importance of a player’s first few years for his development, their collective lack of later success doesn’t bother me too much there), but who knows? If player development were truly a strength, I’d expect us to turn at least one of them into a solid 7th-ish man.
I wouldn’t say it’s enough evidence for me to consider it a weakness, but, it’s enough that I, personally, can’t consider Nate’s ability to coach young players a strength.
I'm not sure Nate is even average at developing young talent
It seems like he’s ok at developing players with great talent though. Roy and Aldridge have done more than fine. Oden was on a serious upswing before injury trouble. Nic isn’t doing so bad at all in his 4th season…though he played Euro league.
Some of us forget these guys were technically drafted even if we had to trade for them.
A lot of player development is on other members of the coaching staff and the players themselves too. We look at minutes in game and freak out butt much of this stuff would get hashed out in practices and training camp in a normal season.
Yeah, a lot of Outlaw's success here
was attributed primarily to Monty in multiple stories, but given Nate’s responsibility for the coaching staff, at some point he’s responsible for their actions. He’s not only picking his assistants, but he’s overseeing and managing them on a day to day basis. Ultimately, I’m just not sure it makes much of a difference to parse out the effect of Nate vs. Bickerstaff, or that level of granularity.
good point about Monty
I think he definitely helped
lot of shooting woes starting this season
numbers are starting to pick up but it was most certainly there
it does seem like an over reaction....
by someone who’s trying to keep his job. But what can he do? He’s not the one who’s turning the ball over and missing WIDE OPEN jumpers.
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.
its aint even about the the quarter Nate was ready to make a change two games ago but gave felton more chance . His play against LA showed that the previous game against the hawks was a fluke
heck everyone was sure jamal was gonna start after the Clipps game simply put at some point the people who are playing well get minutes and the ones who are not dont .
Next up on the hit list is Gerald Wallace if he doesnt get his act together Wes is gonna be back in the lineup and Nic will be at SF and Wallace and Felton will be on the bench .
To add different perspective last year this wouldve been like Dre playing bad from the start of the season until after the new year
This is a condensed season its nearly halfway over . You simply cant wait 20 more games for Felton to get it together and if you have someone else playing better you have to play them .
The same for Wallace we dont have TIME to wait we are 3 1/2 games out of the 4th spot we cant afford to slip any further behind we need to come out of the all star break ready to go and we need this win to start off right
by Willie Beamon on Feb 21, 2012 1:38 PM PST up reply actions
Point guards and Qb's are responsible for the teams offense.
It might not be fair that a Qb takes heat if his recievers can’t get open or his line can’t hold their blocks, but it’s the way it is. Both positions get to much credit for losses and to much for wins. What irrates me about Ray is he is always deflecting blame and takes no responsbilty. He wasn’t playing good because Nate didn’t trust him, wizard guards couldn’t be guarded, reporters take his quotes out of context, Karl screwed him by going with Lawson, Bobcats did him dirty by going with DJ and not resigning him. Be a Pro
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
“I’m not just going to blame myself for that first quarter. We’re a team. We win together, we lose together.”
First of all, he’s totally right about the team. They all stunk out there. That was a complete team stinking up the court last night.
That being said, it really doesn’t help my opinion of him. Come on Ray, you had 4 turnovers before you got yanked. And you’re the PG, it’s your job to be the general on the court, and help right the ship when it’s listing. I get when you say “I’m not just going to blame myself”, it means you do blame yourself in part, but come on, take responsibility. Explain what you realize you’re doing wrong. Explain you understand why you got benched, like Wesley did just a few days ago. These kinds of comments are what leads to booing.
It seems to be a trend in his interviews where he really just wants to show confidence and not admit errors. Sometimes it’s good to say, “Well, I’ve been screwing up. I’ll fix it”.
by Timmay! on Feb 21, 2012 1:31 PM PST reply actions 4 recs
He also seems to have cuddled up to that blogger for CSNNW too
"What began as a credible protest against bank bailouts, crony capitalism and the like has, in large measure, been hijacked by crazies and criminals,"
by 92wastheyear on Feb 21, 2012 3:40 PM PST up reply actions
I think what we have here
is a coach who is trying to handle his team…
The tensions are so high because the stakes are so low!
by tylercomp on Feb 21, 2012 1:37 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Do you know what's sad?
I didn’t think he did all that bad last night. That’s how low my expectations of him are now.
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.
I'm with you here.
LMA and Wes disappointed me the most last night.
by Oden Mad, Oden Smash! on Feb 21, 2012 2:20 PM PST up reply actions
Great.
We have one PG and he’s not even good enough to start! It was inevitable that our starting backcourt get benched. They were getting outplayed nightly. Anyone got Patty Mills’ phone number??
I'd much rather give Nolan minutes than see Patty on the floor.
Patty’s a known commodity, while Smith is a smart and gritty 4 year rookie out of Duke… He could actually turn into something for us if he gets the minutes. I don’t see that happening with Patty. Ever.
Unbelievable. Fire Nate
No way was that 1st quarter Felton’s fault. Blaming him is inaccurate and stupid. Two of his turnovers were on LMA and Wallace for bad cuts/mishandling passes.
Raymond felton in the month of february
9.5 ppg
39% twos
29% threes
5.5 asists
3.0 turnovers
1 fta per game
31 mpg
Do you really think it was about just one quarter ?
by Willie Beamon on Feb 21, 2012 2:01 PM PST up reply actions 4 recs
The one FTA/game is the most disturbing stat in regards to effort.
Players in shooting slumps should be finding ways to score in other ways – and getting to the line is the easiest.
ouch!
that’s actually an improvement from January.
Nate wants leadership out of his PG more than anything...
…and Felton’s hang dog body language, inept dribbling/passing and brick laying can affect everyone. Not a lot of front running teams have a slumping PG. At least the guy’s have confidence in JC as far as offense goes. No, he doesn’t have passing wizardry but there is not one damn player on the team who really does outside of Camby and that’s fairly infrequent. Nate gave up passing (Miller) for a thought-to-be better shooter/scorer in Felton. Fail.
In fairness to Ray,
he did have 43% of Blazers points when it was 37-7.
by BlazerDavid on Feb 21, 2012 1:57 PM PST reply actions 2 recs
I hope we play Nolan, Armon, and E-Will more
Jamal is not a PG, and we need someone to step up and fill that spot.
"Wide, girthy. Just like a Rhino. Sometimes my horns are visible."
I WANNA SEE SOME EWILL
MONSTER DDDDUUUUUNNNNKKKKKKKSSSSSSSS
The tensions are so high because the stakes are so low!
In honor of Ray tonight...
Jamal will miss wide open jumpers.
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.
And try to split two defenders with an ankle pass to Kurt thomas
No one in the world can beat me at RBI baseball 3(nes).
Nate is probably just pissed because the wrong kind of records are getting set under his watch
Think team USA will invite him back?
The tensions are so high because the stakes are so low!
it's crazy because we were setting the good kinds of records at the start of the season
as for team USA, I doubt starting this season 17-16 would change that
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
I hope we trade Ray
Fueled by the fire of failure he goes on to become a great point guard garnering multiple championships. He then comes back to coach the Blazers in 2031 and immediately benches our starting point guards whilst offering them delicious fattening snacks. Starts a shooting guard in place of the old point and losses a bunch of games… oh and he gets our current GM fired… thats what I hope happens ….
The tensions are so high because the stakes are so low!
Not a chance...
Blazers won’t have a GM by then.
Who's that tromping across my bedge?
by Troll Blazer on Feb 21, 2012 2:55 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I'm on the Nate hate train as much as anyone. I think he's part of Felton's issues.
That being said, they’re both issues. Ray is at best a mediocre point guard and he’s nowhere near at best. Nate is a bad coach who doesn’t get the best out of his players and is more of an obstacle for his players rather then a help. I’d personally get rid of Nate and see how Felton does under someone else before ditching him aswell, but seriously, we need to get rid of them both if possible.
Come on Jpar, tell us how you really feel!
Nate is a bad coach who doesn’t get the best out of his players and is more of an obstacle for his players rather then a help.
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
Hollinger’s PER rankings.
- Aldridge
- Batum
- Crawford
- Smith
- Wallace
- Camby
- Matthews
- Felton
"It feels good to give the fans Taco Bell."
- Luke Babbitt, 1/23/2012
Stupid internet. Anyway, Felton was #257 in the NBA.
"It feels good to give the fans Taco Bell."
- Luke Babbitt, 1/23/2012
Smith over Wallace and Camby? laughable
by billyrybates on Feb 21, 2012 3:13 PM PST up reply actions
probably Craig Smith
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
The timing of this is odd to me
That seven-point quarter WASN’T all Felton’s fault. Far from it, I felt. He wasn’t even on the floor much of the time. And the game before, Felton played well.
Yes, Crawford lit it up in garbage time. But that kind of shoot-first point guard play won’t help the team on a consistent basis. When his jumpers aren’t falling, Crawford is even less effective than Felton has been.
Nate has to realize all of this. He must just be desperate.
I still believe in Greg Oden. The Blazers' medical staff? Not so much.
I'd change my handle to "bringback'09," but I'm too lazy.
Glad someone else agrees that it wasn't all Felton's fault...
Guys gotta hit the wide open shots and catch the zippy passes. The look Batum gave when he finally hit the and-one bucket said it all. I think Batum even said after the game that he’d never been a part of something like that…
I just feel the timing is poor for a changing of the guard…Wait until after the All-Star break and let guys get a break with a clear head and not worrying about the line-up changes. This just gives them one more thing to think/worry about and it also divides the locker room. We don’t know the dynamics entirely but it’s pretty clear there are those that side with Nate and those that don’t. This just plays into that…
I am still waiting for some chairs to be thrown and some veterans to speak up and try to straighten out the situation. No one seems to care much which might be because most these guys are on expiring contracts and don’t want to tip the boat…Felton, on the other hand, doesn’t care about tipping the boat anymore since he’s been the guy targeted (appropriately) by the media and the coach for poor play…
#7
I cant believe people think it was because of the 7 point quarter
9.5 ppg
39% twos
29% threes
5.5 asists
3.0 turnovers
1 fta per game
31 mpg
thats the month of September for felton
You can attribute the lakers game as a team stinker but the fact is that Felton has been stinking it up way before the Lakers game . Most people actually thought Nate was gonna bench him after the Clippers game .
by Willie Beamon on Feb 21, 2012 4:58 PM PST up reply actions
Yeah, it's just an excuse for something that should have been long time in coming.
I was starting to wonder who Felton had to shoot to get out of the starting lineup. Playing awful and throwing the coach under the bus certainly didn’t work.
The cake was a lie.
* that should say February lol
And Nate has seemingly gone above and beyond with Felton considering the condensed season . Its a bit over 30 games to go before the season is over.
by Willie Beamon on Feb 21, 2012 6:13 PM PST up reply actions
No question, Felton has been terrible--even considering the difficulty of being a new point guard on a team that didn't get a training camp.
Bad is bad, and Felton’s previous complaint that Nate was to blame didn’t hold water. He’s been given much more playing time than people playing that badly normally get. The obvious reason: there’s no decent alternative.
But that lack of an alternative is my point. Crawford is a nice instant offense guy, but having him run the team is going to be out of the frying pan and into the fire. If Nate actually pointed to the 7-point quarter as the trigger for this move, that’s illogical. It wasn’t Felton’s fault. And he HAD played well the game before—better than Crawford is probably capable of at point guard. That’s why I say the timing of this seems odd to me.
I guess that when your team scores 7 points in a quarter in a nationally televised game, you have to do SOMETHING. I just hope Nate didn’t finally lose patience at precisely the wrong time.
I still believe in Greg Oden. The Blazers' medical staff? Not so much.
I'd change my handle to "bringback'09," but I'm too lazy.
Good old crazy making Nate.
So Felton’s shot finally starts to come around, 3 for 4 and 2 for 2 from three and overall continuing improvement on his shot over the last couple games. But now is the time he gets benched because he had 4 turnovers. But he is benched for the guy that had 3 turnovers, shot under 50 percent, and can’t play the point to save his life.
This makes as much sense as starting Nic finally after he let the team down out of refusal to shoot. But a couple games prior he hit 9 threes which is a point a sane person would have started him.
Matthews starts hitting his shot consistently over the last week and a half, but he goes to the bench while Wallace keeps his starting position.
Craig Smith plays every other third game despite his consistent play when he gets in there.
I HAVE NO IDEA HOW PLAYERS DON’T LOOSE IT ON NATE ON A REGULAR BASIS
Yes!
I still believe in Greg Oden. The Blazers' medical staff? Not so much.
I'd change my handle to "bringback'09," but I'm too lazy.
Oops: I was referring to gunball's comment, not this oddly timed demotion of Felton
I still believe in Greg Oden. The Blazers' medical staff? Not so much.
I'd change my handle to "bringback'09," but I'm too lazy.
Any questions about nates decision after this spurs game?
A displaced Sonics fan that has somehow emerged as a Blazers fan (and loves it).
by anitachampionship on Feb 21, 2012 10:02 PM PST via mobile reply actions
haha, you still can't knock jamal's play and the spark felton provided off of the bench.
A displaced Sonics fan that has somehow emerged as a Blazers fan (and loves it).
by anitachampionship on Feb 22, 2012 11:42 AM PST up reply actions
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