meru

I got to watch possibly my only Blazers game of the year (no cable, 3 channels because of bad reception, living in Michigan) on tape yesterday, and as luck would have it, it was a good one - the Pistons win. And I have to say, I can sort of see what Nate sees in Dixon. He's tiny and slight and he shouldn't be shooting it, BUT: when he drives to the hoop, good things often happen. With Roy out, he's about the only person who can really get to the hoop. (I was underwhelmed by Jarrett: a lot of the time he just bulled to the hoop and got bailed out by the foul calls. I can understand why the Pistons players were upset that this guy kept getting calls on them.) Dixon, though, is crafty. His layups had flair. Martell tried ONE drive to the hoop and got hammered by Sheed trying a complicated layup. It was nice to see him TRY, but also a little painful. From watching him play, I get the impression that he would flourish if a lot of plays were run for him. He needs to study lots of tape of Michael Redd and Rip Hamilton. Plus have a coach who'll run things for him. Remember how Glenn Rice and Mitch Richmond both sort of vanished when they went to the Lakers because they couldn't play in a system that didn't run plays for them? (And the ONE TIME Jackson ran a few plays for Rice he torched us in the 2000 playoffs.) That's Martell. But is he good enough to have plays run for him? Maybe it would be nice if we had our own D-League team and could try it out.

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"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever." -- Thomas Jefferson, not-so-proud Founding Father

hasoos

Did you consider the stretch where the 6'7" Hamilton scored 13 points on a row on the shorter shooting guard, whereas he only scored 2 while Martell was in the game. Or the fact that Dixon is much like Bonzi Wells in the fact you can tell how his whole game is going to go based upon the first shot of the night. If he misses it, you are going to have a volume shooter hitting almost nothing for the whole night. The last 3 games I think Martell is showing some life, and last night, he has upside, size, and isn't the offensive black hole Dixon is. Dixon is a predictable as Damon was. I can tell when he is going to shoot often up to 4 or 5 seconds before he is going to take the shot. If I can, so can the opposition. His body language completely gives it away. Martell is more of a flow shooter. If he gets a good look he takes it right away. If not he moves the ball. That is what you want for a team to be offensively successful. Do something when you get the ball, but don't stop the ball from moving. With Dixon on the other hand it is more like, ok I got the ball, I am going to dribble through traffic for a while, and then try to be the baseline bandit.

Lastly but not least, Martell is shooting 41% from the 3 point line.

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Hasoos

meru

I have to confess I missed most of the first quarter, but I have a feeling Rip would've got his points anyway. That said, Dixon is a major weakness defensively, particularly against a team like Detroit with a big PG, so Jack can't switch. And I'm not saying we should keep Dixon, just that I can sort of see why Nate keeps turning to him. He has an air of confidence about him, and when he's on, he can do things no other Blazer currently available can do. Martell still seems very tentative and a little bit clumsy (although nowhere near as awkward as puppy-on-ice Travis Outlaw), something you can't say of Dixon. Agreed on his jacking up shots, though. He's sort of a poor man's Flip Murray. But I can understand why Nate would want him there in a close game, because you can count on him not to lose his cool, and I'd trust him taking free throws under pressure much more than Martell at the moment. Of course, it's not like we're going anywhere this season, and Martell's got to learn sometime, but I don't want a coach who doesn't want to win now.

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"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever." -- Thomas Jefferson, not-so-proud Founding Father

drexlersdad

When Roy comes back, I think things will really open up for Martell. He is not very skilled at creating yet, but when he gets opportunities, he usually capitalizes. He is an AMAZING shooter, and will provide great balance.

Jack/Sergio: Best of both worlds. Really a PG for any situation.
Roy: A play maker and a scorer.
Martell: A PURE shooter. Unstoppable when hot.
ZBO: Deadly inside game.
LMA: Balanced Attack of in/out, plus great defense.

the only weakness I see is Martell's defense wich should improve greatly under Nate.

Like I said before, a pure shooter adds great balance to this team.

Dixon is a decent backup. No more, no less. 10-15 mpg.

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It's_GO_Time

I don't see it as Dixon v. Martell as much as Dixon and Martell.

What I like about Dixon is the professional attitude he has come in with this year. The team is young. I think it is a good thing for the yougins to see how Dixon conducts himself.

Dixon is putting fourth effort, he isn't complaining and for a guy who has paid his dues to accept Nate's system and his PT sets a good example.

Martell is more skilled than Dixon . . . and with Dixon's lead, I'm hoping that Martell will learn about taking advantage of his PT, being aggressive, not complain when he isn't getting PT and being professional.

It would be so much easier if we could just put Dixon's mindset into Martell's body.

PorterIn2004

I agree that Webster is, or should be, a higher priority than Dixon. That said, I still think Dixon can fit well into the long-term plans of this team, running him with Roy in the back court for 10 - 15 minutes a game (ideally with Webster also in at SF much of that time). Dixon's defensive issues are dramatically less if he's defending a PG and I agree that he's got things he can do offensively that most others on this team can't.

PorterIn2004

I agree that Webster is, or should be, a higher priority than Dixon. That said, I still think Dixon can fit well into the long-term plans of this team, running him with Roy in the back court for 10 - 15 minutes a game (ideally with Webster also in at SF much of that time). Dixon's defensive issues are dramatically less if he's defending a PG and I agree that he's got things he can do offensively that most others on this team can't.

Spoolie Gee

4-28 from the field so far this month. That's 14% FG. When Roy gets back Dixon should get 0 mintues unless he starts playing better. (now that I've posted this he'll probably have a huge game tonight)

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dudleysghost

No kidding. That's just what Juan does, runs super hot and cold. He had a couple good games early in the season and some people here were singing his praises. He has a few bad games in a row and he's back to public enemy #1. He is what he is, a hugely inconsistent but productive scorer who is terrible on defense. I thought he wasn't a bad guy to have on the team last year, because his inconsistent scoring actually won us a few games last year, but building a better team requires players who can contribute every night, and that's not Juan.

I'd like to see Martell keep up his recent good play and take Dixon's minutes. When Roy gets back the GF minutes will get much tighter, but right now Nate has handed Webster the starting SG spot, and it's up to him to prove he deserves to keep a share of the minutes. Right now it seems like they are his to lose, and if he can show any consistency we probably will see Juanny parked on the bench.

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Jeff Van Gundy to the Houston Chronicle: "Everybody gets excited about youth except the coach, because he knows youth means mistakes, mistakes mean losses, losses means you're fired."