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MAS RipCity · 02-13-2008, 09:07 PM

This is not a woe is me or the sky is falling type of post.
Taking off the red and black glasses and this team is not going to make the playoffs. Hell, we aren't even competitive anymore, so here's what I would do.

Start Sergio
Since we are not playing in high intensity do or die playoff games, we have the luxury to groom Sergio to see if he has the goods or not. Right now he is a young prospect who can either be out of the league in 2 years, show he is nothing more than a serviceable backup, or maybe this kid is lightning in a bottle and Phoenix made a big mistake. We know what Steve can do, he won't regress if minutes are lost. Jack needs time to produce, and I would like to give Blake a rest so maybe he could sit out a few games and let Surge and Jack get the bulk of the minutes.

Cut Back Roy's & LaMarcus' Minutes
We aren't making the playoffs, so there is no reason to bust Roy's butt for 38 a night, especially since he has had foot problems in the past and was banged up in the GSW game. I wouldn't sit him out any games, but maybe rest him and make Martell the focal point of the offense to see how he reacts. Furthermore, LMA has said to have been hurting in regards to his feet. He already had the shoulder and heart deals last year, no need to bust him up in meaningless games. I would like to see how Josh would react with some meaningful minutes though.

I don't know what else to do.I am at a loss for words right now. We can't shoot, even wide open free throws, we seem to always give up the timely offensive rebound or make the momentum killing turnover. I would love for us to run more, but you can't unless you secure the defensive rebounds. I love Channing's effort tonight on the glass, but we need that all day every day, and not just from Frye. Outside of Roy, we got nothing consistent right now. I really hope KP finds him an offensive threat along side him in the backcourt through the draft..please Eric Gordon

I really hate this time of year. It usually means we are out of anything past April and time to browse NBADraft.net more intently, follow NCAA games closer, and think of wins as "future victories" in the help of better draft position

...I guess another lotto party at my place again this year

PS- no more jump shots...just attack the hoop guys

Resume · 02-13-2008, 09:13 PM

I agree. We should start Sergio for a few games and see what he can do.
I also want to see McBob get more minutes, and testing out Martell sounds good too.
BUT I don't think it is that easy. People would probably start crying and that would ruin the chemistry.

MAS RipCity · 02-13-2008, 09:17 PM

I think our recent play could ruin chemistry as well too haha

**nikolokolus** · 02-13-2008, 09:25 PM

I'm not sure if it's in Nate's DNA to officially play "garbage time ball" for 4 quarters ... that said I think a shakeup is in order and will probably be forthcoming.

Beyond that giving up and taking a mulligan is maybe the worst thing this team could do in the long run, playing lackadaisical and acting like games are real-time practices could do a couple of things. 1) alienate fans who are paying hard earned money to go watch games and see the team compete, turning the Rose Garden into a charnel house again. 2) get it into these young player's heads that it's not about winning and you start to see discipline break down leading to more off-court behavioral problems and/or chemistry problems player and player, and player to coach.

Let's see what happens after the All-star break; I'm thinking 6 days of rest for most of these guys is just what the doctor ordered.

Sonny-Canzano · 02-13-2008, 09:25 PM

It's all about preparing for next season. The West is just too stacked and competitive.

*Play Jack off the ball more often. The guy is a turnover waiting to happen when he has the ball in his hands. I would prefer McMillan to send Jack to the end of the bench but that would hurt his trade value, obviously. Showcase JJ and ship him the **** out.

*Run more plays for LaSofty on the block, enough of these consistent 15-footers. He needs to bulk up to around 260-265 lbs. He also needs to grow a pair. This is the NBA, not the WNBA!

*Don't play Sergio, period! The guy hurts the team more than he helps. His confidence in his game goes down game by game from his horrific play. Take some ritalin while you are at it, enough of this eratic and hyper play that results in turovers 10 times out of 10.

MAS RipCity · 02-13-2008, 09:30 PM

Yea, I am not advocating playing Sergio and Josh more and Roy and LA less to obtain losses and tank the season. I just want to rest our guys for the future with Oden and see what the younger players can do with some meaningful time. I actually hope we show more effort..sometimes we look like we are standing around out there. With that being said, I believe going .500 this year will be nothing short of amazing, considering how tough the west is and the circumstances we faced over the summer, but at this pace, we'll have a tough time getting 41 wins. The 1st 3 games after the break will tell us the intentions the team has. We have Sac and Sea at home than @ Sea the following night. If we don't sweep those 3, then I'd implement my action plan.

tucsonhanny · 02-13-2008, 09:59 PM

Our season is just over half over so that makes you half right

After Oden went down most people figured we be in for a long season be lucky to match last year's win total. We had a great first half, beyond all our expectations. I am grateful for that. But the past few weeks have shown that we are not ready to compete yet. This is the first step. Learning how not to consistently suck. We lost to some pretty good teams (all should be better than us) over the last 10 games, Indy being the exception.

James Jones, hitting threes and creating space was very huge for this team. We struggled when he out at the beginning of the season. The 13 game winning streak gave us hope, maybe false hope, that this team was something special. We all knew it was going to an evaluation year.

So far in evaluating the players: Outlaw looks like a keeper. Aldridge needs a lot of work but he'll be a fine third option. The jury is still out on Webster and Sergio, but are they are young enough hold on to for now. Blake and Pryz have been solid. I was questioning the wisdom of signing Blake, but it was good move. Jack and Frye are most likely to get moved this summer because I don't seem them getting extensions and their cap holds eat the remaining cap space. Webster is also in the same boat but unless he's part of major deal, I think he gets an extension at a reasonable amount. Jones was a pleasant surprise but I don't see him here long term. Green and McRoberts we hardly knew you. You'll be fighting for spots next year with no guarantee of making the team. The Blazers should offer a million dollar prize to the fan who can convince Darius Miles to retire and take up acting. He's mucking up our cap space and I would hate to have to trade Joel because we might not have enough cap space otherwise.

I wasn't expecting a playoff run so although it sucks to go 3-8 I am pretty happy with this team and excited about it's future. I look forward to Oden's debut and possibly Rudy's. It will be interesting to see if Raef's expiring contract can net us an impact player next season.

With all the high draft picks we had over the past few years, I can't get excited over a potential 13th pick even in a deep draft, but I think KP should be able to find someone better than Telfair. Al Jefferson, Josh Smith and Kevin Martin were available at 13 in 2004 so hopefully we can snag someone who'll be as good as them.

**Dan** · 02-13-2008, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tucsonhanny

Our season is just over half over so that makes you half right

After Oden went down most people figured we be in for a long season be lucky to match last year's win total. We had a great first half, beyond all our expectations. I am grateful for that. But the past few weeks have shown that we are not ready to compete yet. This is the first step. Learning how not to consistently suck. We lost to some pretty good teams (all should be better than us) over the last 10 games, Indy being the exception.

James Jones, hitting threes and creating space was very huge for this team. We struggled when he out at the beginning of the season. The 13 game winning streak gave us hope, maybe false hope, that this team was something special. We all knew it was going to an evaluation year.

So far in evaluating the players: Outlaw looks like a keeper. Aldridge needs a lot of work but he'll be a fine third option. The jury is still out on Webster and Sergio, but are they are young enough hold on to for now. Blake and Pryz have been solid. I was questioning the wisdom of signing Blake, but it was good move. Jack and Frye are most likely to get moved this summer because I don't seem them getting extensions and their cap holds eat the remaining cap space. Webster is also in the same boat but unless he's part of major deal, I think he gets an extension at a reasonable amount. Jones was a pleasant surprise but I don't see him here long term. Green and McRoberts we hardly knew you. You'll be fighting for spots next year with no guarantee of making the team. The Blazers should offer a million dollar prize to the fan who can convince Darius Miles to retire and take up acting. He's mucking up our cap space and I would hate to have to trade Joel because we might not have enough cap space otherwise.

I wasn't expecting a playoff run so although it sucks to go 3-8 I am pretty happy with this team and excited about it's future. I look forward to Oden's debut and possibly Rudy's. It will be interesting to see if Raef's expiring contract can net us an impact player next season.

With all the high draft picks we had over the past few years, I can't get excited over a potential 13th pick even in a deep draft, but I think KP should be able to find someone better than Telfair. Al Jefferson, Josh Smith and Kevin Martin were available at 13 in 2004 so hopefully we can snag someone who'll be as good as them.

well said.

is "hanny" nicknamed for "hannah"? I have a cousin (not that she lives in Tucson) who sometimes goes by "hannie". but I dont think we should just assume that going by something means it's a nickname. Afterall, she calls me "that big stupid git", and thats not my nickname.

Well, not since the 11th grade.

May I inquire as to how come a Tucsonite (?) is a Blazer fan?

MrJayremmie · 02-13-2008, 10:12 PM

good post tusconhanny!

i agree about most of it bro.

**craigehlo** · 02-13-2008, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAS RipCity

Cut Back Roy's & LaMarcus' Minutes

So we score 40 points per game? If Roy gets injured, we could easily set the record for fewest points in franchise history right now.

MrJayremmie · 02-13-2008, 10:15 PM

Well, if we aren't gonna make the playoffs, and we haven't traded our picks, it isn't a horrid idea to help Roy heal his heel, and LA's foot, get a better draft pick? and see who will make the cut for next year?

If KP does make a needed move though, expect that to re-energize the team. If they got harris, Roy and Aldridge would totally have a new burst of energy, and more confidence in the future. In about 2 years, Roy, Aldrdige, Oden, Harris would be freakin' unstoppable, probably a top 3 starting lineup, after the Lakers.

**KingSpeed** · 02-13-2008, 10:32 PM

The season is not over. If you hadn't read it already, please read my post here: http://www.basketballforum.com/portl...y-changed.html

There is a LOT Of basketball left to be played. THIRTY games. Amazing things can happen in 30 games. Back in 1992, the Celtics trailed the Knicks by 5 games with 5 games to play and they STILL managed to win the division. The Celtics won out. The Knicks lost out. Celtics had the tie breaker. Crazy stuff happens in this league. When confidence is down, all can be lost. When confidence rises, everything can be easy. The great thing about our team is that, in this situation, most teams would probably implode and point fingers at each other. But this team is gonna right the ship together. You have to believe they will. We started 5-12. Then we went 17-1. Now we've gone 6-11. Who is to say we don't go 18-1 now? That's our team. We're wildly inconsistent but when we're good, we're unbeatable. Don't give up on the the season yet, folks. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

And as for waiting til next year... well, the West is going to be just as competitive if not more so next year so this is never going to be easy. Not next year and not the year after that. And I'm just talking about making the playoffs. But I think we have another push in us this season. LMA seemed very confident when I heard him talking to friends in Houston. He said "we'll get it going again." You gotta believe folks. Quitting on the team now is like turning off your television when the team is down 19 in the third quarter. It's simply not over folks. That game against Atlanta could be a microcosm of our season. We can still make a run. Wait til the season is over to quit on them. Please.

Go Blazers

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