SB Nation User Blog: nima

dude its 3 games

nima — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:32:28 -0000

dude its 3 games

get over it. it happens. look at the celtics last season. they didnt panic, why are we? you don't judge a team by how well they do when theyre doing well, its how well they bounce back from their hardest of times.

Are we overreacting?? Just how much is wrong and how can we fix it.

nima — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:19:40 -0000

Look last year the Blazers played over their heads. I did not expect them to do as well as they did. It required a huge season end push to get them there. They raised my expectations. There's no doubt the Blazers have more talent this year than last-chemistry be damned. So what gives? Why are we losing/not looking like the team we used to? *We have injuries we are underrating: Batum is H U G E. While Cunningham will (guaranteed) be light years better than Outlaw, we are sorely missing Outlaw right now. He may not look good doing it but he's one of the best recipients of a FBP and manages to create in spite of stagnant offense. Hell, he may be the only player that thrives when our offense stagnates. *We did better than expected last year, especially given our youth. *Teams are adjusting to our offensive sets. Just like players who come into the NBA with 1 solid weapon (Rudy's 3 comes to mind), we thrived until the defense adjusted to our strengths. Now its on us to take the next step and add to our repetoire. Which leads to.... *Greg Oden. Man is a monster. He is the X-Factor. But we still aren't used to playing with him. It will take time to iron out the bugs. When he comes out of the game, the offense is all of the sudden confused. Suddenly you have both Blake and Przy as offensive non-starters and teams take advantage and collapse extra on Roy. *Speaking of Roy, anyone else think that time he took away from bball this summer may have been a mistake? He looks sloppy dribbling, a step slow, and like he expected to be able to come back and just 'turn it on' like Nate said at season's start. Roy would do well to realize how much work they put in last season to get where they did. And for god's sake, 1/2 from the line is not acceptable. *But back to Nate, he needs to show flexibility and creativity. Flexibility in playing the hot hand (kudos for giving Oden 30+ this game vs Miami, even if we lost, he looked great and it was the right move) and creativity in offensive schemes. He could do the latter by trusting Andre more. *Andre has a knack for the "super assist". He needs more time and looser reigns. He is bringing Oden out of his shell and motivating him. Sure Oden was OK with not touching the ball, but do you see how his eyes light up now? I mean, come on, he says "my bad" to Roy for not aiming his block into Roy's hands. Let Andre's creativity come to the forefront and shine. There's a lot more that could be said but I have a lot of work to get back to so I'll open it up to comments. We are on a 3 game losing streak but so what. 12-8 is still above the BS line.

Can we get a limit on Oden v Durant posts?

nima — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:52:18 -0000

Can we get a limit on Oden v Durant posts?

Maybe we should make it the anti-trade post. Trade post ban time means you can compare oden/durant and vice versa. Its getting old.

Did we sign Juwanna man as our 14th guy or for 9M a year?

nima — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:33:59 -0000

Did we sign Juwanna man as our 14th guy or for 9M a year?

By his minutes, I'd think the latter.

Individual Observations - Little Mac

nima — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:44:25 -0000

First I would like to say Ben-you're doing a hell of a job on the recaps. You tell it how it is. No offense to Dave but yours are little to whimsical and G-rated for my taste and get a little too caught up on metaphors, but I like you're summary of this GSW game in the latest Minny pregame-its pretty accurate. Tonight's recap from Ben was excellent and hit on some important points but could have given even more attention to a topic that needs broaching: there was no individual observation for coach. This should be there good or bad so we can better see what works and what doesn't work for this team. A pulse on how is our "strategery" is working out. I'll try to fill in the gap for this game *gets out the whiskey*.

Oden has outgrown his leash. He is TOO DOMINANT and changes the game too much to play him <20 mins. 2 fouls is too much for the 1st q not the 2nd q. What's the point of 'protecting' him if you don't bring him back in the game later on? I have a proposal: Play Oden non-stop until he gets 2 fouls or drops dead to the floor-whichever comes first. Then--and only then--sub him out. He's barely in his 20s for gods sake.
Needing to "earn minutes". Bayless attacks the rim and plays hard defense posession after posession. He plays as well as he can within the offense and does not gripe about ANYTHING. He has shown he can defend quicker PGs better than Steve & Dre, yet when the latter get complacent, look out of sync, don't pay attention during time outs, and all around suck especially given the matchup, you still don't play bayless? <strong>THERE IS NOTHING MORE HE CAN DO TO PROVE HE DESERVES TIME.</strong>. Yes, this also means when Brandon gripes to the refs all game you set him until he gets less heated.
Juwanna man Really? Really? Speaking of needing to earn minutes-you're going to play him over Dante or anybody else who has a pulse and put on a Blazers uniform? I woulda rather taken a random fan in Blazers jersey and plugged them in at the 4. Maybe we really were talking to Oakley...to suit up at age 45. Dante should be (and have been) getting those minutes. What gives with the fear of rookies? They gotta learn some time and THERE IS NOONE ELSE TO FILL THOSE MINS. Seriously, Nelson shows more confidence in his D-League call up than you show for Bayless+Dante combined.
Game plan- So let me get this straight. Every time Oden touches the ball in the first quarter we get 2 points, a foul, or 2 points and the foul. Heck even Aldridge looked like a dominant post presence when he caught the ball in the post. But yeah, I would stop passing to Greg too. Especially since the bench is out of bounds..see point 1.
More game plan- You CANNOT play andre + Przy when the offense is stagnating. Dre is not exactly an exemplary defender and he's predictable on offense-he'll never shoot consistently so teams will sag off (this is where Kidd set himself apart, he developed a bit of a shot to keep teams honest). And Przy is so bad offensively that I'm happy when he can catch the ball successfully. In summary, playing 3.5 on 5 on offense sucks. Playing 3.5 on 5 offense especially sucks when there is no defensive benefit.
Even more game plan - this whole Roy iso thing is getting old. Teams are figuring it out and someone did some nerve damage to Brandon's hands becaues he apparently forgot how to dribble. Why are we not playing the 1-4 P&R or inside out with Oden more again
Substitutions - For the love of all that is holy and good in this world please loosen up the lineup and sub according to performance instead of this cookbook crap. Hell if you want to cookbook it, I'll write up you're predictable recipe and we can give Haarlow your job. Its win win, Paul Allen saves money, and Haarlow's crush on LMA might just mean we get a few different looks offensively.
Rudy Fernandez - Kudos on getting (only) this one right. He was hot and you kept in the game. He shows flashes of brilliance, as have several of our players. But back to strategery, we need to come up with more offense that involves less Brandon. Then when Brandon wants to take over its less predictable. I LOVED the play where Roy played decoy vs ATL and instead Rudy took the give and go inbounds and popped the unexpected 3. You figured Rudy had a shot at getting set up for the 3 but who woulda thought brandon doesn't get that inbound? We need more of that. Creativity on offense involving other players. Here, I'll start. I don't know why we don't have him in the game with Oden playing inside out. He's an excellent passer who can stretch the defense keeping them honest and giving Oden 1v1 play inside. How is this not the obvious play to run? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here.

There's a lot more but I'm about to pass out. Note to self: drinking games triggered by opposing PG layups or fastbreak points are a BAD idea..so what do you think was good / bad about tonights coaching.

Poll

Should little mac be included in game recap's individual observations?

No

2 votes

Does a bear **** in the woods?

27 votes

Wait what? no really I don't know the answer.

2 votes

31 votes | Poll has closed

Fire Bill Simmons.

nima — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:12:12 -0000

Fire Bill Simmons.

"Ultimately, should we forgive Simmons for his oversight, for his incorrect statement about Portlanders loving his book more than anyone and for potentially the worst typo of all time?" No. He is not even worth the 30 seconds I took to type this. ESPN: Fire Bill Simmons. Just put those 3 little words and nothing more in the comments section of his ESPN articles. That is all.

Armchair Coaching: Substitutions/Lineups.

nima — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:44:16 -0000

Everyone and their mother has posted their philosophy on formulating a starting five and how substitutions work. Some think we should go KP-draft style: BPA at each position..others think we need to mix and match to maximize "chemistry"...yet others seem to think this is hockey and focus more on the 2nd unit. The starting line-up is pretty much set whether you agree with it or not: Blake, Roy, Batum, L-Train, Oden. Now I want to hear what everyone's thoughts are on what changes Nate should make to minutes and his substitution pattern from last year. I'll start:

Dear Nate:

Starting lineups: Don't make rash decisions. Don't play with peoples' minds and change things at the last minute. Let them settle into their roles and grow comfortable there.

Bench: Don't play white unit black unit. Sub one or two players at a time and when they are needed. This isn't hockey.

Rudy: Experiment with Rudy as the "PG" in lineups as planned-but make sure there's another offensive minded ball handler on the court-read: Miller, Bayless, Roy.

Webster: bench him until he has his legs back.

Bayless: let him in the game if we have a 10+ point lead. Its the least you could do.

Give More Minutes: Oden, Rudy, Bayless, Andre (in addition to sergio's mins)

Give Less Minutes: Roy, Aldridge, Blake, Joel

About the same minutes: Batum, Outlaw

Last and most importantly, if nothing else:

Oden: Don't pull Oden at the end of the game when he has 5 fouls. If your not going to reinsert him as was the case last year, then let him play until he fouls out. He's better than Joel. Period.

What are your thoughts? Next on the docket will be strategery: what offensive/defensive schematic changes would benefit the team.

Dude, where's my Greg?

nima — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:32:18 -0000

Dude, where's my Greg?

Shouldn't he be at summerleague? 10 fouls per game that's about as close to NBA situations where he can be the focus and develop chemistry with bayless and condition himself for the season. How is he not there?

Are we looking at our offense all wrong?

nima — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:25:07 -0000

Are we looking at our offense all wrong?

Whenever we talk about PGs and Portland, what criteria do we throw out? Good 3 pt shooter, great off the ball. ..why? Because we've played give the ball to Roy and pray for the last few years? I ask this because I thought Roy was actually pretty good off the ball in the all star game. Granted there's no defense, but when paired with a star ball handler, Roy still managed to do pretty well. So why are we limiting our search (and our style of play)? And why in the world are we courting Hedo when we should be looking at the 1?

Why Rudy>>>Hedo

nima — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:15:02 -0000

Why Rudy>>>Hedo

He's cheaper.
He's younger.
He shoots the 3 at a higher %.
He is better off the ball.
He plays with more heart than anyone.