SB Nation User Blog: sixth

Confusion in Houston

sixth — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:02:23 -0000

One of the biggest questions in this young Blazer season is: How will Martell Webster fit into the Blazer offense? What should we expect from him at all? We know he can catch and shoot from three, we know he's springy, active, and aggressive; which leads to highlight-reel plays on both ends of the floor. He showed all of these things in the opener, but like the rest of the team he was sloppy and lost at times. It could be chalked up to the general disarray exhibited by the whole team, but Martell is the player to look at initially. He's the biggest wild card on the team right now, and in a night of confusion and turnovers he had a couple big plays.

Joe Freeman delivers some quotes in his great article, among which are these from Martell regarding his big dunk in the third quarter:

“Nah, I really didn’t ever care about that dunk because of all the confusion that led to that,” he said.

“It was an isolation situation where I saw Aaron Brooks on Brandon (Roy), so I tried to clear out. And the whole time, I tried to clear out to the left and he’s telling me to clear out to the right, to the corner. So I clear out to the left and (Steve) Blake’s like, ‘Post up! Clear out!’ So I ran that way, and he was like, ‘No! Come back!’ So then he passed the ball to LaMarcus and I was just like, ‘Man, whatever.’ I didn’t even think anything about it.”

LaMarcus Aldridge then passed it to Martell, who sent the flashbulbs popping throughout the garden with his big finisher. The thing that bothers me is the confusion. Good things can be born out of confusion if you're lucky, but I'd rather they come from order. Bad communication between Martell and his guards can cause spacing issues and fluidity problems for the Blazer offense, which will lead to offensive stagnation and turnovers.

This play does represent another tenet: keep passing and good things will happen. Despite the initial confusion on the isolation, halfway through the shot clock the Blazers flow smoothly into the second phase of their offense. LaMarcus went to the top of the key, which solved any spacing problems by spreading four Blazers along the perimeter with Greg Oden moving towards the low block. Luis Scola closes out the long-range J, leaving the paint completely open. This is the point where Martell is "just like 'Man, whatever.' A quick back door cut catches his man off guard, and the help side defense is late making for an easy dunk. The key is that rather than forcing the isolation they swung the ball out, reversed it, and found the backdoor cutter in the second half of the clock.

The Blazers did not always illustrate such patience and acumen on offense. See "Exhibit A: Fourth Quarter" for proof of that. Offensive stagnation and confusion let the Rockets back in the game. If we play like that all the time we won't win many games. The other three quarters were much better, but there was still a lot of confusion on the court. It was evident on the defensive end as well. There is another play in which I will pick on Martell Webster.

To be quite honest I do not remember when in the first half this occurred, but it stood out to me because I was watching Martell specifically during most of the game. The Rockets ran a high pick and roll with Aaron Brooks , with Trevor Ariza on the opposite wing. Martell should be on Ariza, but he gets caught on the wrong side of court in transition and follows Brooks. Suddenly the Rockets have mismatches across the board. Greg Oden is forced out of the paint to help on the high post, but luckily the pick and roll fizzles because of desperate help defense from the wing by Ariza's "man." At this point Martell realizes who he should be guarding, and races across the court to the now-open Ariza. He gets there far too late and can't contest the wide-open trey. Fortunately the Blazers led a semi-charmed life throughout the first three quarters, and Ariza missed the shot.

Martell Webster had a great game last night, but he displayed moments of confusion the likes of which were seen throughout the roster. Nicolas Batum's injury was a curveball to the Blazers, but the biggest impact from it is the sudden adjustments that must be made. Webster is integral in making this a successful season, but the team must continue to function as a true five-man unit. They must not force things. Keep the ball moving, use the entire shot clock, be efficient. It's what they do best, so hopefully they can get back to doing it consistently.

They will begin to gel, but the question is how long will it take? It could click as soon as Thursday night, and that would be good as they meet with the Nuggets on TNT. I might have family in Denver, but that is one game where I'd love to see a Blazer Blowout. Let's hope it was all just opening night jitters, and that we'll see some beautiful team basketball. Somewhere down there Topps has a photographer on the sideline with his lense trained on Martell, just waiting for a poster.

Quick PER breakdowns of all NBA teams

sixth — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:29:23 -0000

Quick PER breakdowns of all NBA teams

Unfortunately ESPN insider is required :(
But this is a good set of articles by John Hollinger and Ric Bucher, each one about the PER of key players for a chosen NBA team.

True Meaning of the Bulls Logo

sixth — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:11:13 -0000

True Meaning of the Bulls Logo

It's like the arrow in the FedEx logo, once seen it can't be unseen! I don't know about the bible part though, it could pretty much be any book.

Vote for extended Blazers/Hornets coverage on ESPN

sixth — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:36:19 -0000

Vote for extended Blazers/Hornets coverage on ESPN

Go to the link and click "ESPNEWS" under shows on the left. Vote for the blazers vs hornets so ESPN will do in-depth coverage and analysis of the matcup on friday! This is a great opportunity for the blazers to get a little bit more exposure and hype on national tv.

Ibanez and Beltre Rumors

sixth — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:27:28 -0000

The SB Nation fantasy site, Faketeams, has reported that teams are interested in acquiring Raul Ibanez or Adrian Beltre before the trade deadline.

This article contains quotes from local newspapers indicating interest in Ibanez from the Mets and D-Backs. It also reports that the twins have an interest in Adrian Beltre.

Should these rumors prove true, what kind of value do you think we could get for either of these players? I would be sad to see Beltre go, I'm a fan of him, although if we got a 1st baseman and maybe some prospects for Ibanez I'd be ecstatic. Any players in particular on the interested teams you think we could get/would like to see us get?

Edit:

According to ESPN:

The Twins have contacted the Mariners about the possibility of aquiring Adrian Beltre. It is unclear how deep the conversation got, but it is a step forward as the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported last week that the Twins had internal discussions about Beltre.

Beltre, who was a Gold Glove winner last year, would be the bat the Twins are looking for against left-handed pitching.

Ron Artest to L*kers?

sixth — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:20:19 -0000

I heard a rumor this morning on 95.5 on my way to work that the L*kers had offered the Kings Lamar Odom for Ron Artest. Frankly, this would be disastrous if any trade along these lines were to transpire. As shown last year, Ron Artest is our achilles heel. He defends Roy better than anyone else I've seen, and on offense he's simply too tough and strong for our young team. Even with Oden patrolling the paint I feel that he would continue to dominate us. This is acceptable as long as he's doing it for a lottery team like the Kings, but if he were to become a L*ker the matchup swings decidedly in their favor (I believe it it strongly in ours at the moment). As someone who would be content with a 4-win season as long as those four came against the L*kers, the prospect of them acquiring Artest sickens me. What would you think if these rumors proved to be true? How do we deal with a lineup of Fisher/Kobe/Artest/Gasol/Bynum?

Please note that this post is still largely rumor and speculation. Artest has reported that he has no intentions of leaving the Kings, and the L*kers have already tried to acquire him and failed. Will upping the ante in this manner (Odom) be successful, or will it be another failed attempt? Even if they don't get him this season, what about the next year when he's a free agent?