RealGM

Anyone have any ideas in why Przy sits on
the bench when hes needed badly, aswell as
Blake not being played when its clear he moves
the ball around so good and can hit that 3 ball????

Its just confusing to me.. .Out-rebounded yet again
and Przy sits on the bench having played only 19mins
but yet pulling down 8 rebounds. Other game it was 17
mins & he grabbed 9 rebounds, just think, 30mins, 14rbs?

I dunno, maybe Nate is trying to get the others to board more.

Przy sat because our defense was pretty good on Dwight, but our offense was bad. I'm not sure why Blake didn't get some burn, though. His quickness may have helped break down the Magic offense a bit, leaving more shots for Roy.

I'm with you odd. Blake and Joel should play more and taking away their minutes isn't going to help the blazers' chances of winning. Nate's substitution pattern does us in again.

I don't think Pyzbilla is that great on the floor when the Blazers are trying to make up a 10 point deficit with less the a quarter to go.

And it was portland's mid-range and perimeter defense that was slow tonight, Joel won't help that much.

The rebounding number is deceptive. Portland got 12 offensive rebounds to match orlando which isn't bad. However, Portland missed 53 shots while Orlando only missed 40...that's the rebounding difference right there. A team shoots as poorly as portland did, and the opponent is going to get a lot of rebounds. It's not an indication of getting beat-up on the boards but of shot selection and just plain karma.

On the positive side, portland didn't give up any offensive rebounds on missed free throws and Orlando missed a bunch.

But if the Blazers could board then we probably
wouldnt be down 10 points. Thats my point.. .
Joel is our only bigman and should be played
more. Atleast play him around 26mins or so.. .

Oden2 wrote:I'm with you odd. Blake and Joel should play more and taking away their minutes isn't going to help the blazers' chances of winning. Nate's substitution pattern does us in again.

bunk...portland was 'done-in' by a little better team that was playing at home and had 3 days off to rest and prepare for a team playing the 2nd of a back-too-back.

Portland settled for tons of jump shots and I'm certain the coaches were telling them to attack the basket more then they did. Meanwhile, they were slow and sloppy on their defensive rotations, and I'm certain the coaches tried to have them clean that up.

The coaches didn't tell LMA to shoot 6-21, or Joel to shoot 0-4 including a 15 foot jump shot...as if, sheeeesh.

sometimes teams get beat and it's nobody's fault.

Mr Odd wrote:But if the Blazers could board then we probably
wouldnt be down 10 points. Thats my point.. .
Joel is our only bigman and should be played
more. Atleast play him around 26mins or so.. .

your point about Joel being the only big man isn't correct

so then it's time to start talking about trading the starting 7' PF for one who can rebound, because when you a have a 7' athletic big on the floor and you're getting whacked all the time on the glass...he's not doing his job.

Unless of course he hasn't even played 100 NBA games yet and is still developing along with his young teammates.

Rebounds did not cost portland this game. 40% shooting did, and Joel wasn't going to help that.

Wizenheimer wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



bunk...portland was 'done-in' by a little better team that was playing at home and had 3 days off to rest and prepare for a team playing the 2nd of a back-too-back.

Portland settled for tons of jump shots and I'm certain the coaches were telling them to attack the basket more then they did. Meanwhile, they were slow and sloppy on their defensive rotations, and I'm certain the coaches tried to have them clean that up.

The coaches didn't tell LMA to shoot 6-21, or Joel to shoot 0-4 including a 15 foot jump shot...as if, sheeeesh.

sometimes teams get beat and it's nobody's fault.

The players didn't play very intelligently but McMillan obviously didn't stress the importance of shooting shots on the inside enough.

Also, talent doesn't mean the Blazers should have fallen down by 21 to begin with and IMO, should have come into this game with a more well prepared gameplan. McMillan didn't prepare the Blazers for this team and it resulted in a loss. Roy can't win them all for the Blazers, he needs some help from Nate McMillan.

We weren't getting beat on the glass. We were losing due to Bogans, Evans, and Hedo launching treys on us. There is a reason why Dwight had such a bad game. LA's defense on him was really well done. Joel is an offensive liability flat out and Jarrett is better at attacking the hoop than Steve is.
The only thing Nate did wrong tonight was he didn't send Raef in there to hack-a-Dwight.

Oden2 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



The players didn't play very intelligently but McMillan obviously didn't stress the importance of shooting shots on the inside enough.

Also, talent doesn't mean the Blazers should have fallen down by 21 to begin with and IMO, should have come into this game with a more well prepared gameplan. McMillan didn't prepare the Blazers for this team and it resulted in a loss. Roy can't win them all for the Blazers, he needs some help from Nate McMillan.

I think this is hilarious. So let me understand.... When the Blazers win 13 in a row, and 20 out of 22 or whatever, it was because Roy is so good and a leader, and it has nothing to do with Nate's coaching style (keep in mind that he was gone the first game we lost, but that must be a coincidence). But once we lose it is Nate's fault. Why? Because our players cant make shots, so the coach must have had a bad game plan. What evidence is there for that? Orlando is actually a good team with good players, and they were hot tonight. If anything, we had a great game plan, which held dwight to 10 pts while providing many good shots for our team. We just missed too many early in the game, and they scored well. And I never heard any whining about Jack playing in the Chicago game. Nate plays guys who he feels will do well, and sometimes they do, sometimes they dont. He cant guarantee a win, he can just do his best to put players in position to win a game. And shooting inside shots can be hard when the defense is collapsing and they have one of the best shotblockers in the league under the hoop. That is why Roy kicks out for the open shooters, who missed. In your logic, nothing can ever be the players fault. Bad shooting? coach didnt get them inside shots. Stupid plays? coach must not have taught them the offense. We had the ball in the right places with chances to make shots. We had very few turnovers, and forced their star to become a small factor on offense. Show us some reasonable evidence, rather than just blaming everything on the coach. You are going to have to come up with something much better if you are going to tell me that the coach of the month is as bad as you think he is.

Oden2 wrote:


The players didn't play very intelligently but McMillan obviously didn't stress the importance of shooting shots on the inside enough.

now just how is it you know that?? Were you in the team meeting in preperation for this game? How about in the locker room before the game or at halftime? how about in the huddles during breaks?

Players not executing game plans is a fairly common thing. And it's common in portland. The players themselves have said so.

So for you to conclude that the reason the players didn't go inside is because nate didn't "stress it enough" seems like you're bringing your bias into it because I'm guessing you don't know what it is the coaches said, or what it is they stressed.

Oden2 wrote:Also, talent doesn't mean the Blazers should have fallen down by 21 to begin with and IMO, should have come into this game with a more well prepared gameplan. McMillan didn't prepare the Blazers for this team and it resulted in a loss. Roy can't win them all for the Blazers, he needs some help from Nate McMillan.

oh c'mon. When was the last time an NBA team went undefeated? Nate didn't shoot 6-21, that was LMA; he didn't commit 3 fouls in 8 minutes, that was frye; he didn't go 0-4 and have 2 shots blocked, that was Pryzbilla.

The fact that Portland is 24-16 at this point is simply amazing, and yet after every loss, people are moaning it's nate's fault.

It is simply a fact that there are a lot of teams in the NBA that are better then Portland at this point. The Blazers WILL lose games...that's certain.

There's that poll about this road trip, and I see that 2/3 of the votes were for portland to have a winning record on this trip. I thought that view was unrealistic, and still is. I voted for a 2-5 record, and I think portland has a chance to win at Atlanta. It's less then even, but there's a decent chance of it. If portland manages to go 3-4 on this trip they will have accomplished something in my view.

Wiz, I couldnt agree with you more. The way people talk, you wonder if players even matter, or if it is just the coach that decides the game. Or you would think that the Blazers were full of obvious all stars and were a veteran team and the coach was holding everyone back. You would also think that the Thrilla has an awesome shot that Nate is ruining, and that Dwight tore apart our back up big men who were assigned to guard him. Unfortunately, that isnt true, we shot the ball poorly early on, and they made some good plays. It is just ridiculous to hear that our game plan was bad, so we were down by 21. WE HAD OPEN SHOTS. THATS WHAT A GAME PLAN IS FOR. We just missed them. It happens, and so we lost on the road, on the second night of a back to back, against a good team. It will happen again in the future, even if the coach coaches a great game.

And honestly, doesnt anybody else feel sick watching Pryz get pushed around on offense. He is tough on D, but wow, Roy would have so many more assists if Joel could score. He has gotten a bit better, but still. He is incredibly frustrating on the offensive end

Wizenheimer wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



oh c'mon. When was the last time an NBA team went undefeated? Nate didn't shoot 6-21, that was LMA; he didn't commit 3 fouls in 8 minutes, that was frye; he didn't go 0-4 and have 2 shots blocked, that was Pryzbilla.

The fact that Portland is 24-16 at this point is simply amazing, and yet after every loss, people are moaning it's nate's fault.

Yeah, you already used the argument that nate didn't shoot 6-21 but if the Blazers actually had a coach that could create a decent offenseive system while creating a strong defense (see: Rick Carlisle), they would have done a lot better than they did tonight. A player may have an off night but I'm not only complaining about Nate's coaching in this game, he's shown problems all season. I don't hold a player's bad night against Nate but do hold the coaching errors against him and definitely hold this team's inability to shoot an inside shot against him. The fact remains that the Blazers are 29th in the league in points in the paint and while that may take a team into the playoffs or give them a nice run, it won't ultimately win a team the championship. I suspect things will change once Oden plays but regardless of which players are playing and not playing at this time, this team is capable of doing better than 29th in the league in points in the paint and I believe that Nate is the most to blame for our insuffiencies of offense (as in points in the paint). I have a great deal of respect for nate for sticking through with this team through the rough and may have reacted a bit too harshly but I feel that even the best coaches have room for improvement.

Wizenheimer wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
It is simply a fact that there are a lot of teams in the NBA that are better then Portland at this point. The Blazers WILL lose games...that's certain.

There's that poll about this road trip, and I see that 2/3 of the votes were for portland to have a winning record on this trip. I thought that view was unrealistic, and still is. I voted for a 2-5 record, and I think portland has a chance to win at Atlanta. It's less then even, but there's a decent chance of it. If portland manages to go 3-4 on this trip they will have accomplished something in my view.

I couldn't agree more but that's easy to say that after they've gone 2-3 so far. 3-4 would be great at this point and if this team can maintain it's success at home, the playoffs are all within the blazers' grasp, but as we all know, there is still more than half of a season to be played out and a lot of things can happen in that time.

UGotThrilled wrote:Wiz, I couldnt agree with you more. The way people talk, you wonder if players even matter, or if it is just the coach that decides the game. Or you would think that the Blazers were full of obvious all stars and were a veteran team and the coach was holding everyone back. You would also think that the Thrilla has an awesome shot that Nate is ruining, and that Dwight tore apart our back up big men who were assigned to guard him. Unfortunately, that isnt true, we shot the ball poorly early on, and they made some good plays. It is just ridiculous to hear that our game plan was bad, so we were down by 21. WE HAD OPEN SHOTS. THATS WHAT A GAME PLAN IS FOR. We just missed them. It happens, and so we lost on the road, on the second night of a back to back, against a good team. It will happen again in the future, even if the coach coaches a great game.

I understand your point but my point was that the Blazers should have driven in the paint more. It seemed like nate wasn't pressuring the players to drive more (or at least I didn't see any results after timeouts and OT) and while this team is hot from the charity stripe right now, it's a safer bet in the long run to run a team from the inside out.

Wizenheimer

Are you meaning to say rebounding wasnt needed??

Also, a bigman has nothing to do in how tall you are
when it comes to basketball. LMA is not a bigman in
my book, not yet anyway. The only guy on the Blazers
who will claw & bump to get rebounds is Joel. I believe
one of the big reasons why we lose is because of the
lack of "bigmen" on our team. Hopefully Oden will help
in that area, but that remains to be seen.. .

But thats cool, we all have different opinions.
Opinions are neither right nor wrong.. .

The problem tonight wasn't coaching. It wasn't defense. It wasn't offensive schemes. It was the fact that no one on this team could have hit water falling out of a boat for virtually the entire first half and most of the third. Open looks that clanged off the rim were what did us in, not Nate's rotation. I've complained as much as anyone about Nate's rotations, but it wasn't the problem at all tonight.

Mr Odd wrote:But thats cool, we all have different opinions.
Opinions are neither right nor wrong.. .

Is that what they teach in school these days? Opinions can most definitely be right or wrong. It's things like personal preferences that can be neither right nor wrong. As an example, if you told me that your preference is for chocolate ice cream, and mine was for vanilla, neither of us can be right or wrong; but if you told me that your opionion was that ice cream virtually never melts on a hot summer day, you'd be wrong regardless of whether it was your opinion or not.

Oden2 wrote:I'm with you odd. Blake and Joel should play more and taking away their minutes isn't going to help the blazers' chances of winning. Nate's substitution pattern does us in again.

Will you wierdos stop blaming Nate? Do you knuckleheads realize that the reason this team has such a TEAM concept is because of Nate? Its Nate's philosophy that has this team overachieving in the first place. Look, we just got beaten tonight, plain and simple. Don't go wagging your finger at the coach because our players got outplayed. Dwight Howard was effectively taken out of the game without Joel in the lineup for much of the game. He's a non factor on offense, so whats the problem? You didnt get to see your favorite white guys get torched? Dont get me wrong, I hold Joel and Blake in high regards, but sometimes it seems like you guys just want to blame a loss on the black coach who didnt play the white guys.

Yadadimean wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Will you wierdos stop blaming Nate? Do you knuckleheads realize that the reason this team has such a TEAM concept is because of Nate? Its Nate's philosophy that has this team overachieving in the first place. Look, we just got beaten tonight, plain and simple. Don't go wagging your finger at the coach because our players got outplayed. Dwight Howard was effectively taken out of the game without Joel in the lineup for much of the game. He's a non factor on offense, so whats the problem? You didnt get to see your favorite white guys get torched? Dont get me wrong, I hold Joel and Blake in high regards, but sometimes it seems like you guys just want to blame a loss on the black coach who didnt play the white guys.

I'll admit, I myself am white but that has nothing to do with why I dislike Nate's coaching and want Joel and Blake to play more. Let's face it, the team sucks when Jack is running things and when Blake's playing, things just go smooter. The same goes with przybilla at the center spot. Frye is good on occasion but is inconsistent while Joel is an intense player who brings 110% every night and really creates challenges for opponents.
Also, if I were really into Nate playing the white players, I'd be calling for more LaFrentz sightings (ignore my avatar ). When all is said and done, I'm just a blazer fan rooting for my team to win as you are.

On nate, I like what he's done this season but am skeptical of certain aspects of his coaching. I hope he can improve and become a great coach but there are still things he has to learn as a head coach IMHO. To his credit, he's been great at developing the young players but still has a lot of room for improvement as a coach. I truly hope that McMillan can make these improvements and am not by any means asking for him to be fired right now, but if Nate can't become the coach that we first envisioned, I believe changes should be considered.