Marcus Camby has been one of my favorite players in the NBA over the last 10 years.

While most casual fans tend to associate scoring with quality, hardcore fans know that defense, teamwork, communication, passing and rebounding are absolutely necessary to be a successful team. These are the qualities that Marcus Camby brings to a team. Over the last 2 years we've seen many games where Camby leaves the floor with the Rose Garden chanting his name, not because of all the buckets he scored but because of all the rebounds he grabbed, all the second chances he created, all the charges he took, the dives to the floor for loose balls, the blocked shots that only Camby can not be called for a foul on, the instinctive alley-oops to Aldridge...

I wish Marcus Camby all the best in Houston.

Respect these years.

Last year, the Blazers struggled with defensive rebounding grabbing only 72% with the league median being 74.1%. Through five games we are grabbing an astounding 79.7% of defensive rebounds. Our coach likes to point out that it's easier to go with small lineups when the team can rebound well on the defensive end so hopefully we can keep up this trend so that Camby can keep his minutes under 25 a night. Unfortunately, I would bet that the 79.7% drops starting with our upcoming game against the Lakers on Thursday.

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So many questions... I think the answers will be coming through the next 10 to 15 games...

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Some thoughts on Memphis' 33-4 run from the middle of the 1st quarter to the middle of the 2nd quarter

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During that 3rd quarter, I was thinking to myself: "Oh no, here goes Nate about to lose us this game." But as soon as I thought that, he started making great  adjustments to counter New Jersey's 2nd half defensive adjustments. Credit NJ for playing hard and trying to attack Portland at the rim and in the paint.

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http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20091120&game=PORGSW

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Scatter-thoughted here. 

The best offenses have at least three or four legitimate 3-point threats on the floor at all times and also have a player or two who can get points in the paint (even if it's someone small like Tony Parker). On the Blazers I would say that certainly Roy is our best scorer in the paint by way of his ability to draw fouls and finish layups. And after that it's probably a toss up between Aldridge and Oden. Oden is just not a good offensive player yet and Aldridge seems to thrive in the post only when he's either quicker or stronger than his opponent.

If we had four 3-point shooters to spread the floor then Roy would get many more opportunities to cut through the lane and score points in the paint. Also, there'll be a lot more room and time for Oden to work in the post too. I think a lot of Oden's offensive problems is his inability to have enough time to work. Another is his inability to read if the double team is coming right away, if they come when the entry-passer clears, or maybe even after one or two dribbles.  My general point here is that rarely is Portland playing with four guys setup on the 3-point line to help open up the floor for Roy. Often when Roy attempts to drive to the hoop there's one guy in the corner (Blake), another guy on the opposite 3pt wing (Webster, Batum or Rudy) and Aldridge and Oden trying to get out of each other's way. If instead we were able to move Aldridge out to 3-point land and have him be a threat I think our offensive would improve dramatically. Maybe up to 7-10% more efficient.

As much as people want to push LA to be a bruiser and a constant low post threat on every possession, it's just not the best match up for our team on a lot of nights, and given that he already takes a ridiculous number of 18 to 20 footers on the perimeter, why can't he take a step or two back and stroke the deep ball. He's a very good long-range-2-point shooter at 42% last year from that range. It seems very feasible that he could be a legitimate 3-point threat from at least the corner or wing. He only needs to shoot 28% from three to match that production and I would imagine that he would shoot at least 35% if he was given the green light from long range. We've seen and heard that LA has long distance range, why isn't he allowed to deploy that skill?

This is where I get to my misgivings about Nate. I'm sure that he's great at managing players and communicating and instilling the necessary mentality for the team. But I am concerned about his ability to be creative and adapt. I feel like Nate and Portland get a lot of credit for having the "most efficient" offense in the league but I think any team with our talent would be formidable offensively. I think if Nate was a little more open-minded our offensive could improve a lot simply by allowing Aldridge to drift out to the 3-pt line. Every time I see Aldridge take and miss a 20 footer -- one step in front of the 3-line -- with a hand in his face, I think to myself how it could've been a wide open three ball. 

To conclude, if our lineup was Blake, Roy, Webster, Aldridge, and Oden with the first four spreading the floor to help open up lanes for Roy to get in the paint, to help Oden get more room and time to operate, and Aldridge either establishes himself down low or out on the 3-point line, we could be significantly better. I think people will say that Aldridge already helps spread the floor by being out on the perimeter, but for anybody that plays the game, every extra foot or two makes a big difference when it comes to spacing and open lanes. 

And yes, this is slightly related to Nate's inability to use Channing Frye effectively. Haha. He's killin it for the Suns.