Charles Barkley never misses an opportunity to pan the Blazers for not having a physical inside presence.  I often get frustrated with LA's soft play and inability to rebound.  I agree with Charles that dunks are consistent, but a spinning fade away 20 footer isn't going to go every night, especially in the fourth quarter.

On a whim, i looked up Power Forwards averaging 30 min + in the NBA and sorted them by total rebounds per 40 minutes (from hoopsdata).  

LA ranks 15th out of 22.  Despite the fact that he's played alot of center this year and should have been putting extra emphasis on rebounding.

Every PF who plays 30+ and is taller than 6-9 rebounds better than LA (except Dirk... but even Dirk kills LA on the defensive glass.  he just doesn't go for any offensive rebounds).

Anyone else get as frustrated as i do that, at 6-11, LaMarcus rebounds like he's 6-9?  I'm really disappointed in LA.  Feels like he took the big money and didn't get any better.  Didn't expand his game at all.  Am i overreacting?

From Nate after the last game:

Well, I think it was, for me, it says, it's an old saying that it's amazing what you can do when no one cares who gets the credit. Ok, and I think early in the year we were concerned about minutes and rotation and shot attempts and combinations and this team is just playing. And they're playing free and they're playing guys whatever minutes they play with or get they're going out and they're making the most of it. They're rotating them in and they're executing down the stretch on both ends of the floor. I think you see a team now that's free as far as their thinking and how they're playing. They've been able to come up with some good wins."

The bottom line for me the past week is this:  The Blazers (Brandon Roy+) are happy to be a 54 win, 1st round playoff team.  Surround Brandon Roy with a bunch of guys who are just happy to be on the court.  Make Brandon the central figure of the offense.  And he'll be great.  And the team will play together, "scrappy", inspired ball.

Give them the personelle to go further (a legit dominating center, a high caliber point guard, a deep supporting cast) and they self distruct with "concerns about minutes and rotations and shot attemps and combinations".

My initial reaction to each victory is euphoria, but it doesn't take long for that to fade and i'm left wondering... if we are this good playing without 6 rotation players, how good 'should' we have been with them?  Why were we so much worse? What will prevent us from self destructing again as we add the pieces back (that will inevitably lead to the concerns mentioned above?)

I once heard a sportscaster say that you cannot underestimate the importance of having the right blend of experience on a team because older players know their roles.  Juwan Howard won't complain playing 1 minute per game, even if it follows a period in which he plays 40.  Maybe the "fix" is that we need a better mix of experience. We need to trade away some of our youth for comparibly talented seniority.  Seniority that gives us more flexibility at the expense of future upside.

In any case, our recent play has been aggrevating because it makes me wonder what we should have been before.

What do y'all think? 

Ok, i've seen a few fanposts that touch on the Blake/Miller/Roy starting lineup, but i still just don't get it.  Why start Blake over Rudy or Martel, both of whom seem better suited for the role?  Rudy can shoot, moves well without the ball, is a great passer... ok, he's not a great defender but neither is blake.  And Rudy seems to be lost, what better way to show confidence in him than start him?  Martel has looked good this year too. 

I don't get the "showcasing blake for a trade" (how does making him a shooting guard do that?) or "preparing for Andre to take over the starting spot".  How does playing both players help that?

Can someone present a compelling argument or at least spell out the theories with pros/cons as to why we've moved to this lineup?  It seems like a gimmick, an act of desperation by a coach who has run out of answers.  And if this lineup isn't the answer long term, is the answer a new coach (who can find a long term solution)?

Help me understand!?

Several analysts mentioned that the playoffs this year demonstrated that Portland relies too heavily on Brandon Roy to create offense.  The playoffs come at the end of the year, when players are weary.  The jump shots that were falling at the beginning of the year seem to rattle in and out a bit more.  And the playoffs are much more physical so the players have to deal with the additional challenge of scoring while absorbing an extra bump or grab or both.  These challenges separate the teams that have succesful offense schemes from those who rely too heavily on the razor thin edge of the talent of their players alone. 

I always felt that succesful playoff teams have an offensive scheme that creates an inherent advantage.  In other words, they have a play or player or system that makes sure they are never playing 5 on 5 or competing on a level playing field.  These teams can rely on these plays to give them an advantage that doesn't go away when you are tired or being pushed more than normal in the playoffs.

Creating systems that demand a double team or switch are great ways to create an offensive advantage.  Orlando could dump the ball down to Dwight Howard, which demanded a Cleveland double team.  Howard could go 1:1 or pass out of the double to an open 3 point shooter.  It doesn't matter how you defend that play... if you have to double team, Orlando will always have an advantage.  Orlando built their team around that offensive advantage.  Cleveland recognized this and obtained Shaq this offseason to try to neutralize that play.

Note that these offensive advantage plays don't just create an advantage for a particular player, they create an advantage for the whole team.  They open up a myriad of possibilities in which ever player can be a threat if needed.  If your play doesn't open up the offense for the team, it won't create an offensive advantage for long, as other teams will adapt and shut it down.

Another example of a play that was run ceaselessly against the Blazers to create an offensive advantage is the pick and roll.  Done with the right players, the pick and roll creates an instant offense advantage for the team running it.  If you don't pull your forward out, the guard can shoot over the top of the pick.  If you do, the forward can roll to the basket.  At best, you can help to defend the rolling forward but that opens up other players.   You can't just guard one person or one possibility.  It opens up a myriad of possibilities for the offense.

My problem with the Blazers is that they don't seem to have any plays that consistantly create an inherent offensive advantage.  And this kills them in the playoffs.  It was a common observation that "if you shut down Brandon Roy, you shut down the Blazers" offensively in the playoffs.

The problem is that the only player they have that can consistantly create an offensive advantage is Brandon Roy, by drawing double teams when he penetrates.  Brandon can penetrate and finish so consistently that teams are forced to collapse on him opening things up for the rest of the team.

But Brandon doesn't create an advantage for the team because he rarely passes out of the double team. He shoots through it.  Most of the time is AMAZING at it.  But the Blazers cannot win on that alone.  Come playoff time , Brandon is the only Blazer who can score consistently without an inherent advantage and he doesn't create one for others.  And even if he could, it takes so much energy for him to create that advantage that we couldn't run it over and over the way you can a well run pick and roll. 

The more i started thinking about this, the more i came to like Hedo Turkgolu, and his "side pick and roll".  He could have helped to create an offensive advantage that would benefit everyone on the court.  Likewise, the less i liked Gerald Wallace and David Lee.  Gerald would be great for our perimeter defense, but he does not contribute to creating a play or system that gives the Blazers an inherent advantage.  Likewise, David Lee gives us neither a defensive lift or an offensive advantage.  Both Wallace and Lee can score... once other players have created an offensive advantage.

Unfortunately, i don't see much out there in the free agent market, other than Hedo, that will give the Blazers the offensive advantage they need.  Is Heinrich fast enough and a good enough finisher to consistently draw double teams?  Will Oden develop into a post force that demands a double team?  Will LaMarcus toughen up and pound the post until teams are forced to double?  How can we avoid a repeat of this year's playoffs at the offensive end?
I'm just not seeing it, so as far as i can tell, unless we pull off an imbalanced trade, we are in for another succesful season followed by an early playoff departure.

Thoughts?