Why no Przybilla?

[Twith]

I didn't have the fortune of watching any of the game past halftime, but what was the deal with Przybilla being on the bench for at least the last 22 minutes of the game? Bosh was scoring at will, Lamarcus couldn't guard him and couldn't hit anything himself. Was Nate being stubborn or am I missing something. We have one of the best defensive centers in the league. Why play him 20 minutes (in a 2OT game nonetheless) if we're not gonna play him when it counts?

If we get torched by an opposing PF/C and Nate's playing Joel 20 minutes, how many minutes will he get next year with you-know-who is starting?

[Goldbum]

Nate made some bad coaching decisions in this game. He gambled that the other guy would see us through. He was wrong.

[PDXKnight]

Nate made a terrible coaching decision by not playing Joel. They kept running the same freaking pick and roll on us all night long and Nate refused to place defense ahead of offense. I know that nate's coached this team to 16 wins out of the last 18 games but there's always room for some skepticism and he definitely made a big mistake tonight not playing Joel down the stretch. Someone needs to hold up a sign at home games that says "play joel" and maybe coach will get the hint. I know nate wants to run things his way but it's clear that Przybilla needs more burn especially in the closing minutes.

[Mr Odd]

As you all know Ive always pointed out the
flaws of Nates coaching ability. I also said
he has gotten a little better with how he has
played people the past 3 months.. .But its
clear that he still has a loooong way to go.

I dont put the loss totally on Nate, not having
Blake really hurt a lot aswell as the bad call
when the 3pt shot by the Raps was really 2pts,
the one right before Roy hit the 3 to send it to
the 2nd overtime. However I think if Nate would
of put Przy in, that would of took a lot of points
away from the Raps. They attacked the rim non
stop and for the life of me I dont understand how
Nate did not notice that and stop that!! All we can
hope is that Nate can learn from his mistake.. .

This is Nates biggest hole in his coaching ability.. .

[Norm2953]

Sometimes coaches get a brain cramp during games. Hopefully
Nate will watch the films of the game and will see what everyone
sees..

[Norm2953]

Another thought is maybe the Blazers are shopping Frye?

[Mr Odd]

Another thought is maybe the Blazers are shopping Frye?

Well, theres always a chance but I highly doubt it
just for the reasons we want to really try and win
to make the playoffs and also Frye has been doing
very well for the Blazers. He had some bad games
in the start of the season but hes done everything
the team has asked of him & hes been making shots
aswell as rebounding very well as of late. So shopping
him & showcasing him is probably not whats happening.
But you can never say never.. .lol

[mojomarc]

Another thought is maybe the Blazers are shopping Frye?

With the way Nate played Lamarcus, I would think it more likely they were showcasing Aldridge instead of Frye.

That said, I think either very, very unlikely. Its not like either will be moved before the end of this season unless KP changes his mind and allows Oden back early.

[Wizenheimer]

Joel covered Bosh in the 1st and 3rd quarters, and franky, Bosh didn't seem to have any trouble driving by Joel on quite a few occasions.

I'm not inclined to think Joel would have had much success in the 4th Q doing what he didn't do earlier. He would however, have made it more difficult for Toronto to score all those points in the paint.

I was more concerned with Portland's tendancy to switch defenders on every single pick and screen. I know they were doing it to try and not leave perimeter shooters uncovered but it created tons of mismatches that Toronto exploited.

[mojomarc]

Joel covered Bosh in the 1st and 3rd quarters, and franky, Bosh didn't seem to have any trouble driving by Joel on quite a few occasions.

In all the time Joel was in the game at the same time as Bosh, Bosh only scored 8 points, so I think your memoy is off (perhaps remembering a different Bosh performance?). He scored 30 points against the combo of Frye and Aldridge and Outlaw. On top of that, Joel outrebounded Bosh 9-2 while he was in the game. I would, given the offensive emphasis Joel gets relative to Bosh, say that the Blazers got all they wanted and more out of Joel when he was in the game and more. Furthermore, given that Bosh only took a grand total of six shots while Joel was in the game it is clear that the Raps went away from their best weapon when Joel was in the game.

In other words--he should have been on the floor more, he was quite effective in playing Bosh, and in particular he was extremely strong on the boards. Also, we can't forget the troubles that Roy had getting good looks in the fourth, while Joel excels in setting screens to get Roy open and was a recipient on the roll of two Jack assists and one by Roy. In a close game like this, he had all the marks of being a difference maker, and yet he sat.

[Twith]

It seems like everybody but Nate realizes how important Przybilla is to our defense.

He made the comment that we couldn't stop Bosh, but he didn't realize that we DID stop Bosh and he didn't remember how we managed to do it.

[Pinot love]

2x on Goldbum's comments. Nate f'd up by not playing PrzyB enough in this game (@ Tor). Really he doesn't play him enough overall.

[UGotThrilled]

I didnt see the game, but based on what people have been saying, it sounds like if we had played Joel, we may have won the game. However, i was wondering who we would have been taking minutes away from. Do you guys think less minutes to Aldridge would be wise? Or less to Outlaw at the end of the game, when he has usually been so effective? I just think it is important to look at the tradeoffs. Frye has been extremely reliable shooter. Should he have been played less? I have heard a lot of people calling for more playing time for sergio even if it means more losses. Is the same true for Aldridge, Frye, and Outlaw?

[kumquat]

It's at times like these I think Nate has no idea WTF he is doing. Just looking at the stats, joel had the best +/- of the blazers. I didn't get to watch the game, but from previous games Joel is severely underused.

[Wizenheimer]

-= original quote snipped =-



In all the time Joel was in the game at the same time as Bosh, Bosh only scored 8 points, so I think your memoy is off (perhaps remembering a different Bosh performance?). He scored 30 points against the combo of Frye and Aldridge and Outlaw. On top of that, Joel outrebounded Bosh 9-2 while he was in the game. I would, given the offensive emphasis Joel gets relative to Bosh, say that the Blazers got all they wanted and more out of Joel when he was in the game and more. Furthermore, given that Bosh only took a grand total of six shots while Joel was in the game it is clear that the Raps went away from their best weapon when Joel was in the game.

In other words--he should have been on the floor more, he was quite effective in playing Bosh, and in particular he was extremely strong on the boards. Also, we can't forget the troubles that Roy had getting good looks in the fourth, while Joel excels in setting screens to get Roy open and was a recipient on the roll of two Jack assists and one by Roy. In a close game like this, he had all the marks of being a difference maker, and yet he sat.

I don't agree with your evaluation as far a "who" Bosh scored against. In reality, he scored against Brandan Roy a lot, and sometimes against Martell, and a couple of times against Jack. The problem wasn't so much who was on the floor for the blazers, it was that they switched on every pick and every screen, and that ended up with mismatches on nearly every Toronto possession. And the Raps exploited it in the 4th quarter.

With that kind of defensive scheme, pryzbilla would have ended up trying to defend Carter on the perimeter, and that wouldn't of worked either. If you want to make a case that Joel should have played more, then it would had to have been after that defensive scheme was changed. And that sceme was employed (I'm assuming) because Toronto is the best 3pt shooting team in the league.

Not only that, but while everybody is assuming Portland would have won if Joel played more, it's just as possible they wouldn't have been in a position to win if he had. Outlaw and Frye scored 34 points on 15-28 shooting, pulled down 13 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. That's pretty good production, and if Joel had been on the floor and outlaw sitting at the end of regulation...end of game right then, and that's assuming portland would have only trailed by 4 points. Take away points from outlaw and frye, and the gap would have been larger considering how poorly the rest of the team was shooting.

IMO, Mitchell adjusted the Raptors offense in the 4th quarter to take advantage of the mismatches created by Portland's switching defense. Nate didn't make a counter-adjustment to that, either by changing defenses or personell, and could be legitimately criticized for that. But Brandon Roy does miss shots, commit turnovers, and gets beat on defense. Nate's competing with opposing coaches and sometimes they're going to beat him. He hasn't been beaten much in the last 19 games though.

[Charlie78]

I think the criticsm of nate is a little harsh. We have these threads like the raptors and chicago boards have Aldridge threads. We need to remember two things.

One is that Nate is a young coach just like these guys are young players. He is going to make some mistakes from time to time.

Second one of the biggest complaints of nate early was lack of a rotation and consitant minutes for guys. Since the beginning of the streak he has been very consistant about his rotation, subbing guys in and out so they know when they are going to get minutes, which in my opinion is important for young players.

The thing is if he doesnt let these guys learn and play through there mistakes do we start calling him skiles light. He and KP have made a commitment to growing this team. Sometimes that is going to come at the price of victories. I like everyone else was screaming for joel. But who knows maybe he puts in joel and stops switching and the best 3 pt shooting team in the league bombs away on us. Nate made a decision and it didnt work but at least he is being consistant in who plays and when and I think that is admirable. My bigger complaint is why we didnt double down on bosh before the pass to make them swing it, or why for god sakes did noone come down and fill the baseline when parker dunked all in our face.

[Pinot love]

What was most disappointing to me was that Nate never even gave PrzyB a chance in the overtime periods, there was no "let's see how this works for a possession or two". He was being hard-headed. I don't think that's a good sign from a coach with a young team in particular.

[ebott]

I'm wondering if Nate has a plan to limit Joel's playing time. In the past when Joel has been called on to play big minutes (25+) on a regular basis he has gone down with an injury. So I wouldn't be surprised if Nate has put a hard cap of 20 minutes on Joel.

[mojomarc]

I don't agree with your evaluation as far a "who" Bosh scored against. In reality, he scored against Brandan Roy a lot, and sometimes against Martell, and a couple of times against Jack. The problem wasn't so much who was on the floor for the blazers, it was that they switched on every pick and every screen, and that ended up with mismatches on nearly every Toronto possession. And the Raps exploited it in the 4th quarter.

That's all well and good, but you claimed that Bosh blew by Joel a number of times and therefore having Joel on the floor wouldn't have mattered. The fact is that while Joel was on the floor, Bosh only scored a grand total of four baskets, which means that while he was on the floor, regardless of who was guarding Bosh directly (and most of the instances you described were when Joel was not on the floor, as Portland was constantly switching on the screens with Aldridge and Frye matched up against Bosh--another mistake by Nate IMO) Bosh just wasn't scoring while Joel was in there. There was no way he went right around Joel as you described, because he clearly didn't score enough baskets for your description to have been accurate.

With that kind of defensive scheme, pryzbilla would have ended up trying to defend Carter on the perimeter, and that wouldn't of worked either. If you want to make a case that Joel should have played more, then it would had to have been after that defensive scheme was changed. And that sceme was employed (I'm assuming) because Toronto is the best 3pt shooting team in the league.

I don't know what scheme you're suggesting, but the way I look at it with Joel in there you can make Bosh shoot over the top of you while playing in the faces of their guards. You know that if the guard gets to the rim he will be challenged in that case. I'm thinking Joel should have been in there not only for his play on Bosh, but also because Calderon was driving very easily and getting to the rim. At least with Joel in there he gets an elbow to the skull a few times in there, which maybe makes him think twice about driving.

With that kind of defensive scheme, pryzbilla would have ended up trying to defend Carter on the perimeter, and that wouldn't of worked either. If you want to make a case that Joel should have played more, then it would had to have been after that defensive scheme was changed. And that sceme was employed (I'm assuming) because Toronto is the best 3pt shooting team in the league.

While that's an interesting assumption you make, remember that Joel opens up the floor better with his screens than Frye or Aldridge, and his rolls to the hoop were the most effective weapon Portland had early, primarily because no one on Toronto's soft front line wanted to get in front of Joel. That's why he was 4-4--he simply rolled, and no one got in his way. You can bet that despite the fact that Joel isn't normally a weapon that Toronto in the second half would at least have to respect the fact that he was our second leading scorer going into the third quarter. I'm not saying Joel would have went for 25 points here, but I am saying that the pick and roll with either Roy or Jack and Joel worked 100% of the time it was tried so it isn't like we couldn't have gone to it a bit more until Toronto figured out a way to stop it.

In my opinion Nate doesn't use Joel enough when we're playing teams soft in the middle as an offensive weapon. He's not a great outside shooter, but he is both aggressive to the rim and highly efficient when we do go to him, so suggesting that we would have died offensively when LMA was throwing up brick after brick seems a bit too much of an "if ifs and buts were candies and nuts" sort of speculation on your part. At least on a PER basis, Joel should have been in there and the team would have benefitted on both ends of the floor by it compared to Frye or Aldridge playing against Bosh.

[mojomarc]

One is that Nate is a young coach just like these guys are young players. He is going to make some mistakes from time to time.

Come on--Nate is now in his 8th head coaching season, and he was an assistant for three years before that. Yes, he makes mistakes, it isn't due to youth. After all, in the Western Conference George Karl, Don Nelson, Rick Adelman, Mike Dunleavy, Phil Jackson, Greg Popovich and Jerry Sloan are more experienced than Nate, but that still leaves the majority less experienced than him. That makes him a veteran, so let's not use his experience as a crutch. It is simply making excuses for him.

Second one of the biggest complaints of nate early was lack of a rotation and consitant minutes for guys. Since the beginning of the streak he has been very consistant about his rotation, subbing guys in and out so they know when they are going to get minutes, which in my opinion is important for young players.

I don't think that's entirely accurate. I think the criticism is more along the lines that he was inconsistent with some players despite good play (Martell and Sergio) while consistent with others who were playing poorly (Jack). I would like consistency, all things being equal, but I also want Nate to rotate guys out who are having off games. In this case, he should have rotated LMA out and put Przy in some, at least in the second OT when Bosh just started to go off on us (my position and I think the general position of those critical of Nate in this game).