My first criticism of Nate

[listerine]

I'm a big Nate supporter, but I also like to think of myself as someone who can look at the team with an honest eye.

And as the team has been playing this win one, lose one stretch, it has been apparent that other coaches are making adjustments to the Blazers, but the Blazers have not been making adjustments themselves.

Here are some things I've noticed:

1. The Zone. Our zone defense was what started our winning streak. As a result, coaches have developed plans for beating it. The plan is simple: run a player along the baseline for an uncontested layin. This has been happening for weeks now. The Blazers have yet to implement new defensive schemes to compensate.

2. Shutting down Roy. Roy has been getting doubled out beyond the arc. It's taken him off his game, slowed the Blazers' halfcourt offense down, and it has either taken the ball out of his hands or forced him to go 1 on 2. The coaching staff hasn't been able to devise a strategy to take advantage of the extra coverage on Roy (but to be fair, our players really haven't been hitting their shots).


Those are the two big ones. I won't criticize the substitution patterns. And I'm not going to make a statement like, "Nate is not the right coach to take us all the way."

But it has become apparent that teams are adjusting to the Blazers, and the Blazers have been unable to make adjustments of their own.

[Mr Odd]

Like Ive always stated.. .Nate is a great guy for
players to follow but hes a horrible X's & O's coach.

Nate will never take the Blazers to a title run.. .

I hope he makes me eat my word tho, I like him.

[taufblazers33]

..in other words, our 13 game winning streak was a fluke.

[listerine]

..in other words, our 13 game winning streak was a fluke.

I'm not saying that at all! But what's happened since is also no fluke.

The fact is that teams have adapted to take away the Blazer's strengths. During the streak, those strengths were: 1. B Roy, 2. Zone defense, and 3. Hot shooting.

Nate deserves tons and tons of credit for bringing those three strengths to the forefront and positioning this team for its incredible run.

Now, he needs to prove that he's not a one-trick coach. That he can adapt yet again and overcome the fact that other teams have learned how to play against the Blazers.

So far, the Blazers have been using the same strategy that allowed them to win 13 straight, but unfortunately, other teams aren't letting them get away with it.

[Wizenheimer]

I posted in the game thread a complaint about over-reliance on the zone and it's vulnerability to baseline drives. I may be remembering it wrong but I believe that Denver scored on about 6 consecutive positions at the end of the 3rd quarter doing just that...driving from the baseline. Almost all the baskets were in the paint ( I think they had a 2 shot foul and a +1 in that mix)

Considering how vulnerable that zone leaves portland to opponents offensive rebounds, I think it's time to reduce the reliance on the zone and man-up a little bit more.

[DmoneyH3]

Maybe those baseline drives won't happen if he would have just played Joel in the 4th..they weren't getting much in the paint when Joel was in there.

[Wizenheimer]

Maybe those baseline drives won't happen if he would have just played Joel in the 4th..they weren't getting much in the paint when Joel was in there.

that would mean a man-to-man defense, so joel would have been on martin, najera, kleiza, or anthony.

Gee...do you think Denver would have been able to exploit that?

[R11]

For the last minute or two of the third there was a line up of Webster, Blake, Frye, Outlaw and Jack on the floor. Not exactly a group oozing with Man D potential.... Nate had taken Aldridge and Roy out for a few minutes rest before the stretch run. It's pick your poison. Iverson driving the lane at will is not so enticing either...


ron

[PDXKnight]

I have been a critic of Nate for a good portion of the season because while the Blazers have been winning a lot of games this season, they have also lost a lot of very winnable games due to bad substitutions, bad play calling, and most importantly, the inability to adjust to what teams throw at us. I'd honestly like to see nate take the Blazers far because he is such a great motivator for this team but at the same time, I don't see him as a championship caliber coach as odd said. This team is young and their inexperience is a reason for some of their mistakes but some aspects of a team lie in only the coach's hands. I'm not calling for nate to resign just yet but I fear that if the Blazers keep him too long, he'll eventually take away our championship hopes.

[DmoneyH3]

-= original quote snipped =-



that would mean a man-to-man defense, so joel would have been on martin, najera, kleiza, or anthony.

Gee...do you think Denver would have been able to exploit that?

Joel wouldn't be guarding any of those outside of kmart and he can't exploit crap anymore. Trav's D on Melo was outstanding..he only shot like 10-27...najera is bunk and kleiza is just a shooter..just stick to him,which we didnt in the zona.

[blazerbasketbal]

We've relied too much on our outside shooting. Is it any secret that pure jump shooting teams don't win ball games? Our guys don't need to practice shooting, pretty much everyone on our team can shoot (i.e. blake jones roy martell outlaw frye lma so on so on). Coach Nate needs to stress boxing out. It's true, team's have pretty much figured out our game plan - shoot, play zone, and pick and roll up top.

Let's face it: we have a one-dimensional team right now. My thought is, some bruisers down low could solve the problem. Inside presence would open up the game for the outside shooters tremendously, but even our posts hoist fading hook shots, so what do you expect?

[Wizenheimer]

-= original quote snipped =-


Joel wouldn't be guarding any of those outside of kmart and he can't exploit crap anymore. Trav's D on Melo was outstanding..he only shot like 10-27...najera is bunk and kleiza is just a shooter..just stick to him,which we didnt in the zona.

so...when martin wasn't in down the stretch, just which one of anthony, kleiza, and najera was joel supposed to guard?

by the way, najera isn't as "bunk" as you think and kleiza is more then a "shooter"...your evaluations of those 2 players is off-base.

Whichever one of those three Joel was guarding would simply go out to the 3 point line and draw joel away from the basket

And Joel in a zone defense takes away his strengths, especially the zone that portland employs. The baseline drive is open in that zone if joel is in or not.

again...it was on the offensive end where portland struggled down the stretch and in overtime. Joel wasn't going to help that. 8 points in the last 10 minutes of the game did the blazers in.

[Mr Odd]

Again, none of the Blazers that were being
played at the end could stop the Nuggets
from attacking the rim. So if Joel was in,
the Nuggets would bring him out by the
3pt line to keep him out of the paint, thats
probably true & a smart move by them.. .

So I guess when Oden plays next year Nate
should keep him out aswell?? Because teams
will just bring him out by the 3pt line too.. .

Yea, im being a bit of a smartass. I just dont
buy not playing Joel at the end when hes
our best rebounder & shotblocker by far
and doesnt get pushed around like the rest
of the team. Sure teams will bring him out
and spread the court but they can go around
the other Blazers with no sweat, if they can
do that with or without Joel then whats the
point?? Joel should of been played for the
simple fact, as I said before, he is the teams
best rebounder, shotblocker & he will not take
any sh-t unlike the other Blazers. Its only smart
to play what the team is lacking, or does my
rambling make no sense to anyone at all??

[Wizenheimer]

Again, none of the Blazers that were being
played at the end could stop the Nuggets
from attacking the rim. So if Joel was in,
the Nuggets would bring him out by the
3pt line to keep him out of the paint, thats
probably true & a smart move by them.. .

So I guess when Oden plays next year Nate
should keep him out aswell?? Because teams
will just bring him out by the 3pt line too.. .

Yea, im being a bit of a smartass. I just dont
buy not playing Joel at the end when hes
our best rebounder & shotblocker by far
and doesnt get pushed around like the rest
of the team. Sure teams will bring him out
and spread the court but they can go around
the other Blazers with no sweat, if they can
do that with or without Joel then whats the
point?? Joel should of been played for the
simple fact, as I said before, he is the teams
best rebounder, shotblocker & he will not take
any sh-t unlike the other Blazers. Its only smart
to play what the team is lacking, or does my
rambling make no sense to anyone at all??

Of course teams will try and get oden out of the paint when the players are playing defense.

But the rest of your logic only applies if there is little difference between oden and pryzbilla.

Teams can force Oden to play smaller, quicker players on defense. But I would estimate that oden is a lot more athletic and mobile then pryzbilla so that won't be such a mismatch.

But the difference comes when portland is on offense. If Denver forces oden to guard najera, then that's reversed on the other end. Najera can guard pryzbilla because joel has almost no offense and can't catch the ball in traffic. That isn't going to work with oden. Oden will simply eat najera up. I'm guessing oden will make teams pay for going small. Joel can't.

And that's the difference. Joel produces little on he offensive end and that's where portland was struggling in the last part of that game.

I think there are games where Joel could help at the end of the game, I just don't think last night's game was one of those times.