GOD

Give grades to everyone

Lamarcus Aldridge A- As a second seasons player Aldridge has shown that he will soon be an elite PF in the NBA. He worked hard all season and in the second half really started to toughen up and develop an inside game and take fewer 20 footers. His grade would be an A if his rebounding was a little better, especially on the defensive end.

Steve Blake B- Steve did most things fairly well most of the time. But he did very few things very well or on a consistent basis. His outside shooting was a big help to the team, but he was very streaky and seemed unable to score from anywhere but outside. His a/t was very good and helped steady the team, but his assists were also streaky, getting 9 one game and 3 the next. His D was pretty good on most players but mostly because of how he used his teammates. one on one, his D suffers.

Channing Frye B- His grade at the end of the season would be higher, but this is a grade for the entire season. His shooting and team play really helped us in many games, but his softness on both ends of the court was a problem. His rebounding however was getting significantly better as the season drew to an end.

Jarrett Jack C His grade would have been a full grade better if he took care of the ball better. His ability to get into the lane and draw fouls or score was a huge help to many close games, but often his turnover on the following play erased his contribution. He shooting was decent, but often better at crunch times which also helped. He was also willing to play many very different roles and take some hard hits for the team.

James Jones B- When he was healthy and his shot was on, he provided a huge lift to the team. But, if his shot was off he often cost us points. His D also was not as good as I thought earlier in the season. He was good on the wing, but had difficulties following a slasher or or post up player. He was also a mentor to Webster and a great team guy, kind of like Ime the previous year.

Raef LaFrentz C+ He provided the team what they asked for, a 3rd/4th string center and he played fairly well considering he is made of balsa wood and chewing gum.

Josh McRoberts NANot enough court time to grade him well, but I am not nearly as excited as I was earlier about his potential.

Travis Outlaw B+ So close to an A- but a little too inconsistent for that grade. Somehow he became a very good shooter from most anywhere. With his athleticism, I would like to see him work more on boarding and power dunking. He also tends to be a bit of a black hole, but honestly, that was getting much better as the season progressed. He is one of the few Blazers who can go one on one. He also was a good team guy and a great 4th quarter player.

Joel Przybilla B+ The only reason he is not in the A range is that he has zero offensive game. But he played hard every night and could be counted on to consistently rebound and provide tough inside defense. I would like to point out that he raised his FT% from 37% last year to 68% this year, an impressive feat.

Sergio Rodriguez D+ It seems he has regressed in every way. The only thing keeping him from being a D or D- is that he still has a knack for finding open players and is young enough that the potential label is still there.

Brandon Roy A So close to an A+, and a little more aggressiveness earlier in games and better shooting would have been too much to ask for for our All Star. An amazing player already, he seems to learn something new from each game, showing that his Bball IQ is through the roof. Good hands, nice touch, killer crossover and his defense is also much better than last year.

Von Wafer NAHe seems like he should be able to find a role in the NBA, but I doubt it will be with the Blazers.

Martell Webster B- He had some good moments this season and his defense has been improving nicely. But he is way too streaky a shooter, and when his shot is not falling, the rest of his game disappears. The jury is still out on Webster some consistency and work on his overall game would do wonders.

Nate McMillian B I think Nate has done a wonderful job developing our youngsters but is a little too rigid in his in-game coaching. His rotations are determined pregame and he does not adjust very well to how the game develops. He needs to ride hot players longer and try to use our depth to cause more mismatches. But, overall he has done a good job as evidenced by our record this year.

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LameR

I agree for the most part.

I'd put Jack a little lower, and I disagree about Martell disappearing when he isn't scoring, but other than that it's good.

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andalusian

Are you grading based on expectations or production? I am baffled why Webster, which has a lower PER and TS% gets the same score as James Jones, and is higher than Jack that is again showing higher PER, higher TS%, better A/TO ratio (the thing people love to harp against him). The only thing Webster did better than Jack was getting 1 more rebound per game in the same amount of time (well, a minute more per game, to be specific).

The same question about Frye - why does he get the same score as Webster when his PER is significantly higher and he is actually scoring at a higher rate?

If you are grading based on expectations - I guess that it is right on the money, otherwise...

nikolokolus

I can go along with those rankings except I would have rated Channing a full B, Sergio a D, and Jack a C-

All in all, a very good season for a lot of guys, and this team performed well beyond all expectations so I'd rate Nate an A- just for the fact that he wrung so much out of the 3rd youngest team in league history.

Chalupa

To be fair James Jones missed a significant number games when the team needed him. I'd drop Jacks score even more just because he keeps making the same mistakes over and over again. Fastbreak turnovers, jumping and passing to nobody, telegraphed entry passes, and of course the anti-clutch ball handling turnover to lose the game. Webster wasn't always good and will disappear semi-frequently but he doesn't go through stretches where he kills the team.

#10

Aldridge - B+
He gets pegged back a bit for a few stretches during the season of ridiculously soft play, as well as mediocre defensive rebounding throughout the season. I'd also like to see him be able to put the ball on the floor occasionally when the defender is rushing out to defend his outside shot. I'm not expecting him to turn into Amare or anything, but once in a while would be useful.

Blake - C
He's an average point guard and so he gets an average grade. He plays solid D but it's when his shot is falling that he's really useful. If he shot the 3 more consistently I'd consider him as a good, solid PG for both the present and the future, but until then the Blazers should be looking for an improvement at point guard.

Frye - C
An OK outside shot but too soft. A decent part of the rotation but he's not a strength coming off the bench like, for example, Millsap is for Utah.

Jack - C-
No need to repeat everything that's been said, really. The turnovers outweigh the positives and he's a likely candidate to be included in the consolidation push.

James Jones - December - A+
The rest of the season - D+
December he was a god, a part from that he's a good shooter with dodgy knees. He's not good enough at anything else to warrant anything but a 1 year contract, which I doubt he'd accept. Thanks for the contributions to The Streak, but I doubt he's going to be a Blazer next season.

Raef LaFrentz's Expiring Contract - A
Replacing Theo Ratliff's Contract. Will hopefully be utilized similarly and get the Blazers a star.

McBob - NA

Outlaw - B-
Promising first half, though I still had my doubts since he has a habit of taking a lot of bad shots (which of course he always makes). Doesn't use his athleticism enough to attack the basket. Isn't aggressive enough on the glass either. Slowed down after the All Star break. Still a good season for him. A+++ to Pritchard for for giving him the contract, a real bargain.

Przybilla - A
In an era where almost every center is expected only to provide defense, Joel did exactly that and he did it very well for a comparatively cheap contract. He provided consistent toughness throughout the season and he was healthy. Even better, he's making a lot less money than other big men. Obviously his offensive game isn't good, but he did dramatically improve his FT%. Underutilized as a pick setter by Nate.

Sergio - F
He's regressed. Still a promising prospect, but needs serious work on his jumper. At this point, he's likely lost so much of the value he had during his rookie season that trading him would be a waste. Better to wait it out (his contract) and hope he returns with a good 3rd year.

Roy - A
Awesome, etc.... We all know the good things. The bad - his health, his occasional passiveness, waiting until the 4th quarter to get started. A great season nevertheless. I feel that Nate needs to start cutting down his minutes for us to see the best of Roy, he looks tired and beat up a lot.

Von Wafer - NA

Webster - C+
He's shown some improvement but not enough to justify his draft position. He'll probably turn into a solid player, but it's doubtful any more than that. Another candidate for 'consolidation.'

Nate - B
The good - one of the youngest teams in NBA history put in a .500 season. Aldridge has really improved, Roy has built upon his high level last season.
The bad - Sergio. At times favoritism shown towards Jack. A simple offense that relies on jump shots or isolating Aldridge on the post. When those two fail, it's Brandon Roy time or nothing. The team never gets any easy points. Nate's rarely willing to change the rotation if it will create a favorable matchup. Far less importantly, but still a consideration; we aren't that fun of a team to watch (winning fixes this, of course). The first poster used the word 'rigid' and that's how I'd describe Nate. Sometimes, like with discipline, maybe it's a good thing. With the offense and the rotation, it's bad.

Overall - B+
A really young team goes .500 without the #1 pick all season. Things could've been better, but all in all, a really positive season for the Blazers.

mediocre man

My only issues with anything really is the grade of Sergio. He should really be given an incomplete since his coach refused to play him. For all of his flaws, and ha certainly has them, he is still the best passer on the roster.

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Former Blazer Alaa Abdelnaby on being a student athlete at Duke. "The only way I could get 5 A's at Duke was to spell my name"


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GOD

Sergio did play over 600 minutes this year, more than enough for me to be very disappointed in his regression. He has one amazing attribute and (at least as of right now) sucks at every other aspect of the game.

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mediocre man

8.7 minutes per game is not near enough time for any player to get into any type of real rythm. In 40 of his 72 games he averaged less than 8.7 per game as well.

In pre season Sergio averaged 17 minutes per game...(with the exception of 1 5 minutes game), and averaged a little over 6 pts and 4.5 assists per game. In not one of those games did he have more TO's than assists. Pretty good numbers.

If you look at his games this year, when he played consistent minutes he was better. He should get an incomplete.

__________________
"SHOW ME THE BUFFET!!!"


Former Blazer Alaa Abdelnaby on being a student athlete at Duke. "The only way I could get 5 A's at Duke was to spell my name"


I'm Mediocre Man, and I approve this message.

GOD

He may have done better if he played 15+mpg, but I think that a player should perform significantly better than he did even in sporadic minutes. If he was averaging 1-2 mpg, than I could agree with you, but 8.7mpg should be enough to get in the flow and show your goods.

Honestly, I can deal with his very poor defense as that is somewhat common with great passing PG's, but his shooting was so pathetic this year that he was really unable to be played more than 8.7mpg. His poor shooting meant that players were able to dare him to shoot and play the passing lanes, taking away Sergios one great attribute. If Sergio could bring his FG% up to 44% (35% this year and 43% last) and bring his 3pt shooting up to 35% (29% this year and 28% last) than I think his entire game would flourish. But he needs to be able to shoot and score right away, thats what bench players need to do to succeed.

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Boob-No-More

Hi coach didn't REFUSE to play him He chose not to play him because of "all of his flaws". Yeah, he can pass the ball to a wide open teammate, but when you can't shoot and can't, or won't, play defense, the net contribution is negative. Can't say I'd play him any more if I was the coach. I'd probably give him more PT is blow outs, but other than that, I'd have pushed to send him down to D league where he'd get some real PT. With Blake, Jack and Roy all in front of him in the PG rotation, it's not like we needed him on our active roster on a nightly basis anyway.

BNM