1. I'm satisfied with not running this year, but I'm not all that satisfied with our offense.  I would like to see more off-the-ball movement, more back-door cuts, more off-the-ball screens.
   
2. I don't think we have the capability to run this year, so we certainly don't have the commitment.
   
3. With a rebounding/shot-blocking machine like Oden, and with his and LMA's footspeed, we will certainly have the capability to run more, and we should.  Guys can leak out on the break, and those two can beat their man down-court.  Even if we aren't a running team, we should still look for the easy-basket opportunities that come from pushing the ball and hustling down court.  We shouldn't have to worry about fatigue, either, with the depth we have.

Nate has talked about running on repeated occasions, but it never happens.  Aldridge, Outlaw, Webster, Rodriguez are all guys who can run.  Brandon Roy and Blake should be able to run.  Oden is going to be a massive matchup problem if he gets to run.

I think next year we should have a hierarchy of decisions.  First, make sure you secure the ball.  Look to run.  If you can't finish at first back it out and take a look at who is on Aldridge or Oden on the block based on running (Dwight Howard and a younger Shaq both are good examples of this).  If there is not a mis-match then run Nate's offense.

1. The offense hasn't been satisfying this year, because it's so... predictable. We're lucky to have a bunch of capable jumpshooters. Otherwise...
   
2. This team definitely has the capability to run. Have you seen our roster? Most of them are extremely athletic that just seemed constrained within a leash.
   
3. I believe it'll apply as everything else sharpens. It seems that Nate is trying to "perfect" the teams half-court offense, and without Oden this year, it just ain't happening. I think the first step is to actually getting easy buckets on half-court offense, before getting into fast-breaking.

A lot of the preseason talk about wanting to run more, was not just about fast breaking, we were never going to be a fast breaking team once Oden went down. It was about pushing the tempo, and the last game was a good show of that. Steve and Sergio both did a good job of pushing the tempo of the game, getting early offense for LMA down on the block with good post position. Those are easy points that LMA should/will convert 75% of the time. What I hate to see, is Jack or any point, walk the ball up the court and as the camera pans over, seeing 5 defenders set and in position to guard against whatever the Blazers do. When this happens, the team does one of two things; 1. Shoots a jumpshot, or 2. turns the ball over.

In the last 5 or 6 games, Nate may have made a change, or maybe it is just the mature of LMA, but he has run consistantly more, getting to the low block early in the offensive set, and the point guard has run the ball up court, and got him the ball where he can do some serious damage. Everytime this has happened, good things for the Blazers have resulted. If you watch a team like the Warriors, they do this all the time, with any player they get down the court with. The quick post up, should be the bread and butter of this team when LMA is on the floor, and ROY should do it as well.

I don't think this team has the committment to run this year. Be that from Nate holding them back after the first few games of high turnovers or from their own wish not to turn it over. Personally I don't view all turn overs as equal. If a player just throws it away, ala what many fans have complained about when they watch Jack, then that player might deserve a benching. But if it is a turnover that comes out of agressive play, like the ally-op turnover discribed above, then I can live with that. Just like in the MIN game, Steve had 1 or 2 turnovers, where he was trying to push the tempo and get the ball ahead to an open team mate, those are agressive turnovers, and the player should be praised for trying to push it for the easy basket.

As far as the future, I see Oden helping us run a bit more. Blocks and rebounds are the key to running, and he should be able to do that for this team. I watched the replay of the 07 NCAA championship game on Saturday, in that game you could see the real Greg Oden. He was a rebounding machine, and a road block to whoever came inside. If his team was able to recover more of his blocks they would have been much closer throughout that game. Seeing him do his thing on the court, just gave me goose bumps when thinking about next year. So  yes, we will run more next year, we still will not be a GSW, or PHX fast breaking team, but we will be out on the break more, and we will run for early offense more than we are able to this year.

I do not think this team as constructed is capable of running now because they struggle to rebound and they don't seem to want to run.  Perhaps being young players they are putting so much mental energy into defending that it takes more time to make the transition to offense.  In other words perhaps running requires a comfort level they have not yet achieved.  Another possibility, I recall Brandon saying his game is more suited for the half-court and this year's team is taylored to optimize his strengths.  If that remains the case you have to wonder about this team of Blazers ever being a running team.

In the December and January portions of the schedule when the Blazers second unit was producing well it was entertaining to think that someday this team will have enough depth to include major minutes for nine or ten players.  Ideally that would include a change of pace that opposing teams would find a difficult adjustment.

The Blazers of the 90s could run all season and it was fun to watch, but I don't think the current team needs to try recreating that style to be successful with the fans.  The big knock on that team was the struggle to execute in the half-court which became more crucial as the playoffs progressed.  I like watching half-court basketball when the ball and the players move.  The current Blazers have shown a penchant for doing that successfully.  They should stick with the style that works.

I think we lack a dominate rebounding capability that limits our running. I also see little commitment with only Sergio being the ideal running PG and Jack and Blake not so capable. The other capability issue is the inexperience of the team leading, as you say, to earlier games with high number of turnovers. I think it is more important that these young players learn to value every possession and the running can come later.

Presumably Oden brings better rebounding for us improving our ability to run with better outlet passes. We will have at least two new rotation players next year and likely still will need to drill fundamentals and possession security before we can run as a style. We also need a PG that can get us there. Kason Kidd converts us to a running team the first week. We are not getting Jason Kidd (or Chris Paul) so we better hope for that 3rd year leap forward by Sergio if you want to run. Our offense does not need to change, however, because adding a post scorer (GO) gives us far better options for high % shots as double teams are required. I agree with the comments about playoff style being nearly all half-court so the slower style during the season is probably better. I am very satisfied with the team's progress this year.

No, I'm not satisfied, and I think we should be running more.  I don't think it has to be an either/or choice.  I'd like to see better passes for fast breaks AND better passes in the half-court offense.  I'd like to see Joel making more outlet passes, but someone has to be there to take the pass.  More of the time Joel hands off the ball to Jack or Roy who walk the ball up the court.  And, I'd like to see some fast breaks off steals.

 Do you think this year's team has the capability and commitment to run?

There is some capability to run but almost no commitment to run.  One of my favorite posters of the 90s was Clyde, Terry, and Buck running with the caption, "Uh, Oh!"  The Championship team was a running team, but the current Blazers (and Coach) are not committed to run.  What's the big deal about how fast LMA can run a conditioning drill if we don't run during the game?

 Do you see this changing in the near future?  Does it need to?  If it turns out to be better for the Oden-Roy-Aldridge trio to play a more controlled game are you willing to go with that?

I'm not convinced that Oden is going to get that many more rebounds on a per-minute basis than Joel gets.  Plus, if the rest of the team doesn't run, there isn't much point to firing outlet passes.  Jack seems incapable of running fast breaks; Roy rarely runs them as he has to pace himself to play 40+ minutes a game.  Sergio will run, but his teammates won't and often will not catch the pass to finish.

Am I willing to go with a more controlled game?  What choice do I have if I want to be a Blazer fan?  I think an opportunity running game is a lot more fun to watch and can be equally successful when coupled with a crisp-passing half-court game.  If we go back to a Z-Bo-type toss the ball into the post and stand around game and close with Roy going one-on-one, I won't be happy, but I probably remain a Blazer fan.

Although we only scored 12 points on fastbreaks against Minny, wasn't that fun?  Plus, we passed great to end up with 32 assists.  So, let's both run and run a crisp half-cout offense.