Blazer Maven

I watched this again and again last night.

On Wade's dunk in the final minute of the game, Zach saw Wade driving from about 20 feet away and tried to step in to take the charge. Instead, he stopped short, half-heartedly attempted to block the shot, and got posterized, GAME OVER!

If he was willing to put his body on the line, he draws the charge and gives the Blazers a good chance to win.

Of course, with the way the game was called, he would have likely been called for the block and Wade would have gone to the line for an and one.

Regardless, Zach needs to buy into defense and at least force the call to be made. He saw the play developing and took 75% of the right actions, he just does not want it bad enough on the defensive end of the floor.

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Dan

bingo.

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Schilly

He finished with 4 fouls...Take one more Zach, at least make it more difficult for the guy to score.

mediocre man

But Zach's a great scorer. He is a cornerstone of any franchise. Defense is over rated.

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Foulzilla

While I don't want to defend Zach's ongoing poor defense, he would've been called for a foul guaranteed. That's Wade, not some Portland rookie. This is NBA ref's we are talking about.

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Tince

Not that I want to defend Zach's terrible defense, but with the way the refs were calling the game, I wouldn't get within 5 feet of Wade either. Any player close to Wade would get called for a foul if Wade missed a shot, tripped over his own two feet, or looked at someone cross-eyed.

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SodaPopinski

Ummm, Dwayne Wade shot 10 more free throws than the entire Blazers team last night. Anyone who thinks that D-Wade would have gotten called for an offensive foul right there is more blind than those three jokes of NBA officials last night.

The only "key moment" in last night's game happened when it was announced D-Wade would play and they handed whistles to Rodney Mott, Bob Delaney and Mark Ayotte.

From there it was a 48 minute fellatio session between the refs and the league's new golden boy.

-Pop

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Dan

I'd rather Zach make the player earn his 2 points, instead of basically doing to stop it. You never know with free throws (see: Kevin Martin, Sacramento Kings)

__________________
A Buddhist walks up to a hot dog vendor and says "Make me one with everything".

when will the loss of life end?

The world respects the power of our example, not an example of our power.

I'd like to say I made this, but I didn't

Schilly

Sometimes taking or making a foul sends a message...Zachs message was "free airline miles to anyone who drives the lane!"

Foulzilla

I actually agree, good hard fouls as a deterrent are preferred by me (as long as they aren't dangerous fouls). Wade is pretty good at finishing despite fouls though, so perhaps that was Zach's thought process (not that he's known for his decision making anyways). I don't think it can be boiled down to simply Zach being too lazy to contest, though that is one possibility.

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loyalty4life

Here, here!

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blakeback

Joel failed to draw a charge on a Wade drive earlier in the game, so lets blame him too.

Tince

After drawing twenty fouls, I think the only message Wade would get is that he can go to the line whenever he wants. Zach fouling Wade wouldn't haven't stopped him from going in the key again.

Your point is great, it just dosen't hold true last night.

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Yega1979

Joel is our only defensive presense down low right now, and he's only getting 15 minutes per game.

I don't mind Zach not being a good help defender when he's dominating in the post like he was earlier. But now, he's reverted back to his crappy '06 form, he is not the same player he was earlier this season. I don't know if it's physical or mental, or what's going on with him.