SB Nation User Blog: Clevelander among roses

Non-traditional way of looking at basketball rotations

Clevelander among roses — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:21:05 -0000

Over the past couple of days I've heard much gnashing of teeth over Nate's proposed starting line-up of Blake, Roy, Batum, Aldridge, and Pryzbilla. People are up in arms and angry because it's been obvious that Miller is better than Blake and that Oden is better than Pryzbilla. The most common arguments defending this arrangement are the fit, with shooting balancing driving. I, however, believe that Nate is looking at his line-up in an unconventional, yet effective manner. He is deliberately not playing all of his best players at the same time in an attempt to maximize the number of shots taken by offensively efficient players, which is one of the reasons that the Blazers had one of the top offensive efficiencies last year despite not getting fast break points.

Let's take the starting lineup that most fans want - Miller, Roy, Batum, Aldridge, and Oden. If you start them together, then you have four offensively talented players (sorry Nic), but you still only have one ball to split between them. It's a waste of talent on that end. When they go out, Rudy, Blake, Travis, Joel, and Martell come in, and start dividing shots among themselves, which gets ugly since there's not a real penetrator among them - only Travis can really create his own shot among that group, and if you put the ball in his hands, then you get a stifled offense, as he doesn't have the distribution skills necessary to run the offense through him. There's no one in that line-up that really pressures the opponent.

On the other hand, Nate's proposed lineup of Blake, Roy, Batum, Aldridge, and Pryzbilla puts two of our top 4 scoring options in a position to be assertive right away, with no need to call plays for the other three. Then, when Miller, Rudy, Martell, Travis, and Greg come in, there are plenty of players to feature. There is never a moment when the Blazers don't have two primary options to call plays for by mixing the line-ups this way.

If you look at Nate's rotations last year, it becomes obvious that he doesn't have a traditional view of starting your best five players. On the other hand, I do think that he tries to play his best players the heaviest minutes, no matter when they come in the game. By not getting caught up in traditional basketball thinking, Nate gives this team the best chance to succeed. It may be frustrating when the other team races out to a lead because we don't have our best line-up to start the game, but I've checked the rule book, and baskets scored in the first couple of minutes of the 2nd quarter count just as much as baskets scored just after the opening tip.

Nate's rotation strategy is a whole-game view. It's not a coincidence that this team specialized in coming from behind, like marathon runners that outlast sprinters in a mile-long race, because that's what Nate has set this team up to do. He spreads his best offensive players out, instead of bunching them together, because that's the way he can maximize their shots over the whole game, which seems like a winning strategy to me.

Poll

Is starting your best five players the best strategy for winning in the NBA?

Yes

61 votes

No

111 votes

Who cares? Nate's in charge of strategy, not BEdgers.

78 votes

250 votes | Poll has closed

Brandon Roy Workout video from NBA.com

Clevelander among roses — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:26:20 -0000

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2009/09/22/nba_workouts_roy.nba/

Brandon Roy Workout video from NBA.com

Martell Webster update

Clevelander among roses — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:23:07 -0000

Martell Webster update

Brandon Roy talks about Martell, his work habits, what Martell means to Brandon on the basketball court, and when he should be cleared for competition. From an article by Brian Smith of the Columbian.

Rip City links to Slam TV's top 100 Dunks

Clevelander among roses — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:56:30 -0000

Rip City links to Slam TV's top 100 Dunks

For those that don’t want to wade through all 100 dunks for Blazer highlights:

#72 @ 4:17 – Rudy to Roy
#57 @ 2:00 – Roy to Travis
#49 @ 3:25 – Batum
#36 @ 1:31 – Batum over Gasol
#14 @ 2:05 – LaMarcus
#6 @ 4:05 – Roy

Another way to work with Utah

Clevelander among roses — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:11:41 -0000

I'm interested in seeing the chess match going on with Portland, Utah, and the other teams in the NBA. It seems to me that Portland and Utah are natural partners in that Portland wants to aquire talent, but doesn't have big salaries to send back, and Utah wants to clear cap space and has big salaried talent (Boozer) that they want to move. Supposedly any potential cooperation between the two in meeting both of their team needs will be a week away, since all of Portland's cap space is tied up in Millsap until Utah matches, but I don't actually believe that to be the case.

Portland's cap space is actually tied up until Utah comes to a decision whether to match Millsap or not. If Utah and Portland agreed to a deal using Portland's cap space, then it would only take Utah saying they would match, and Portland's cap space would instantly be available. Normally Utah would wait it's week to screw with Portland, but in this case they would be a willing partner because they need us to have flexibility in order to facilitate their own trade.

Suddenly, the Millsap signing makes much more sense to me. Previously it seemed like a waste since our cap space is taken up, and because Utah was sure to match, but now it seems like we've put pressure on Utah to work with us. Even if Utah, for reasons unknown, decides not to match, we still have an asset in Millsap that we can trade after this year if we want to give us flexibility in improving our team in the future.

Behind the Locker Room Door: OKC

Clevelander among roses — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 21:36:44 -0000

Behind the Locker Room Door: OKC

Quick hates on Oklahoma City, talks about his relationship with Roy, and tells about a hilarious interaction between him, Travis, and LMA.

Salt Lake City Tribune is embarrassed by Jazz vs Blazers

Clevelander among roses — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:42:54 -0000

Salt Lake City Tribune is embarrassed by Jazz vs Blazers

This has been re-written since the first draft. I'm going to quote some of the original, more poignant passages of that original piece.

"Whatever hopes the Jazz had of capturing a third consecutive Northwest Division crown likely were extinguished Tuesday night, as embarrassment was followed by expulsion against the Portland Trail Blazers. "

"That gave Portland an 80-57 lead, but the fireworks were still to come. Joel Przybilla provided the defining moment of the night for a Blazers team that refused to back down, no matter how much their lead swelled.

Przybilla drew a charge against Boozer in the lane, then took exception when Boozer flipped the ball at him on the ground. Whether Boozer meant to do so or not, Przybilla got in his face at midcourt, leading to technical fouls for each. "

Behind the Locker Room Door: Memphis

Clevelander among roses — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:42:56 -0000

Behind the Locker Room Door: Memphis

Another in Quick's locker room series. Not as long as some of the others, it was only the Grizzlies after all.

Oden's quickness and Bayless's court vision

Clevelander among roses — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 07:16:58 -0000

I've been reading consistently in comments by BEdge members that they have been disappointed by Oden's lack of quickness on the defensive end, and Bayless's lack of court vision. Mostly Oden's quickness has been either been written off as being a result of his injury, or an indictment of his athleticism. Similarly, Bayless's court vision is mostly written off as an attitude thing - he's looking to score, rather than distribute. While both of those hypothesis are potentially correct, I would like to explore an additional theory for both of them: They are rookies.

First, covering Oden's quickness: Being a football fan, I know that young linebackers often seem a lot slower than experienced players, despite testing faster in shorts. That seemingly contradictory set of facts is explained by the reaction time and anticipation level of the experienced player being far superior to the rookie. They know the defensive schemes, they know their role, they know the abilities of most of the opposing players, and there aren't too many situations that they haven't seen before.

Oden is like that rookie linebacker, who has to think as he plays instead of simply reacting to a situation. This hypothesis is backed by the fact that Oden's "quickness" seems to change from game to game, progressing and regressing almost nightly. The only thing really changing is the opposing team and players, and the offensive schemes that the opposing teams run. Oden has to think about his role vs unfamiliar players and schemes, and that makes him look slower. Additionally, the lack of anticipation and reaction time also probably contributes to his fouling, as he's a half-step slow in getting to a spot.

Similarly, Bayless has a reputation as lacking in court vision, especially compared with Sergio. That may have some element of truth, but it may also be explained by the fact that Bayless is a rookie, and that he does not know our offensive schemes nearly as well as Sergio or Blake. Sergio and Blake not only know where they are supposed to be, but they also know where the other players on the team are going to be, and that allows them to make passes that make it appear as though they have eyes in the back of their head. Bayless still has to become experienced in running some of the schemes in game situations, and has to learn to anticipate what his teammates will do. That will come easier with experience.

I look forward to watching Bayless and Greg grow in seasons to come, as their weaknesses become strengths, simply by adding years of experience.

Which opposing player do you detest the most?

Clevelander among roses — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:24:07 -0000

Though the Jazz game tonight has serious playoff implications for the Blazers, and is probably the most important game we've played this month, I personally probably won't be as rabid about it as I normally am. The reason? Carlos Boozer (who will be known as Loozer for the rest of this post) is missing.

I don't know about the rest of you, but Loozer is the NBA player I detest more than any other. I grew up a Cavs fan, and when he got added to the team as a 2nd round pick, he quickly became my favorite player, even on a team that had Lebron. He hustled, scored, and was good to the fans, even working the phones for the Cavs calling season ticket holders to say thanks. When he was in his 2nd year, he campaigned both within the Cavs organization and in the media for the Cavs to decline to excercise their team option, so that he would be free to resign with the Cavs for a salary that was closer to his true value. He promised that he could be trusted as a man of his word, and if the Cavs did him that favor, he would resign with them quickly. Loozer was the benevolent, blind Cavs owner's favorite player, and the owner, Gordon Gund, ordered the GM to decline Loozer's option so that he could reward him for exceeding expectations. Loozer quickly signed with the Jazz, and Gund was so distraught that he put the Cavs up for sale. I realized that I was mistaken in my previous assumption: Loozer was not my favorite player, but actually an oversized, misshapen troll.

Ever since moving to Portland, games against the Jazz have had special meaning, because they were games against Loozer. Do you have any players that you hate so much that the game becomes extra sweet when the Blazers win, and ruins your mood when they lose? Does Lamar Odom make you shout obscenities when he throws Brandon Roy to the floor? Kevin Garnett on all fours, barking at our rookies, give you an ulcer? Bruce Bowen undercutting and fouling away? Rasheed Wallace for treating Portland fans like dirt? Shaq for all of the battles with Sabonis that he inevitably came out the victor? K*be just being K*be? Someone else I haven't thought of?

If there is particular animosity towards a player that I have missed, I'll try and edit the poll.

Poll

Which opposing player do you dislike the most?

Loozer

4 votes

Lamar Odom

17 votes

Shaq

5 votes

Bruce Bowen

6 votes

Kevin Garnett

97 votes

K*be

55 votes

Rasheed Wallace

1 votes

I am zen, and love all of my fellow man.

2 votes

I am ridiculous, and hate all of my fellow man equally.

3 votes

Other

5 votes

Though he is retired and fishing, I maintain my hatred of Karl Malone to such a degree that I must vote for him here, even though this was supposed to be a poll of current players.

13 votes

Though he is retired and busy looking at himself in a mirror, I maintain my hatred of Rick Fox to such a degree that I must vote for him here, even though this was added to the poll 182 votes in, and will be statistically meaningless

1 votes

209 votes | Poll has closed