They lose Game 2 in Dallas, convincingly, and there's no sign that they'll be able to win a game there. The Blazer players don't seem fully prepared for the post-season level of competition. Rudy Fernandez is the new Cliff Robinson -- a nonfactor -- and Brandon Roy wasn't given much of a chance to play his way out of his funk. The defense against the outside shot continued to be terrible. The referees were not to blame.
Given Coach Nate's inability to come up with playoff-caliber strategies, it surely looks like another first-round exit for the Portland team, with no prospect of any better outcome any year soon. They may not get swept in this series, but they aren't going to prevail.
Comments (17)
Coach Nate ain't taking the shots; he is putting the players on the floor.
Patty Mills minutes at the end of the 3rd quarter made me cringe. Bad decisions. 2 times he drove to the post and the Mavs ended up with the balls. The other time he turned it over.
Also, with Brandon Roy playing on robot knees, we have no closer. No go to man to be depended on in clutch situations.
Looking at the box score. Dallas' bench showed up and put up 39 points. Portland's bench scored 11 with Batum taking credit for 10 of them.
Farewell Rudy. Don't let the door hit you on the way out and please give the bottle of vinegar to former Trailblazer coach Nate McMillan on your plane flight back to Spain.
I'm working on a theory for judging NBA talent. After you factor in the normal stuff - for example, the game a good 6 ft. 4" to 6 ft. 8" regulation NBA player has - you have a separate category called "Degree of Unusualness."
On the Blazers, the person who scores highest in this category is Nicolas Batum, but Andre Miller has a lot of it too. It's the unlikelihood of being great in a way that's different from the norm. With Nic, it's his quickness combined with his height and length. With Andre, it's being a great guard without really jumping.
This leads back to Dirk Nowitzki. It's not that he's tall and yet can shoot from outside. I've seen that before. In fact, one of Bill Laimbeer's unusal qualities was being able to shoot from outside, while also being a tough guy in the paint.
It's not that Dirk can draw fouls. Lots of big men can draw fouls. What sticks out with Dirk is that he's very tall and yet automatic at the freethrow line. That's what jumps off the chart. That's what gives him the big Degree of Unusualness. It's sort of profound how he's designed to get fouled - his awkwardness heading to the rack looks like he's already being fouled, even before he really is. It's also profound how his outside shot is so good that you can't stay off him, and he has you right there to go around and get hit time after time.
Still, all that I've seen before. But I don't remember seeing someone so tall and yet so automatic at the line. It's unusual, and being unusual can be its own form of greatness.
Dirk has had 3 seasons over 90% at the line and last season he hit .915! Here's a blurb from sometime ago:
"Color commentator Hubie Brown noted that the best free-throw shooting 7-footer in the history of the NBA was Dirk Nowitzki. Not far behind the German superstar was Yao Ming, who hit his first 17 free throws this season before settling down to ~86% this season.
Here’s the breakdown:
Highest Free Throw % for 7-footers in NBA History:
1. Dirk Nowitzki 87%
2. Yao Ming 82.6%
3. Brad Miller 79.9%
4. Steve Stipanovich 79.6%
5. Joe Kleine 79.4%"
They looked great in the first half. My biggest disappointment was how they seemed to just be standing around at the end of the game compared to how they played earlier. It was like they had no will to fight for it any longer and just started jacking up bad shots. I'm not really very excited to watch the rest of this one.
Gibby, picking Oden over Durant was an epic failure. But it's done, over, no going back. We're not going to reverse the Durant non-pick, and we're not going to reverse the Jordan non-pick. So let's move on.
The Blazers are a good regular season team that isn't able to step up in the post-season. I don't know if that's coaching or player will or bad conditioning or what, but it's obvious. And frustrating. And absent a miracle, we get to start thinking about this all over again next season.
Melo was nearly unstoppable but he could not do it alone.
Yet two victories do not a series win:
"Bird returned in 1989–90 to play in 75 games and he led the Celtics to a 52–30 record. In the playoffs, after winning the first two games of a Best of 5 series against the New York Knicks, the Celtics collapsed, losing 3 straight, including the decisive 5th game at the Boston Garden."
Ahh, the Durant issue. First though, here's the Degree of Unusualness Theory as applied to another player: Kareem. Did he have great all-around basketball skills? Yes. That's the baseline stuff they all have to have even to contemplate greatness. But what made him a game changer was his Degree of Unusualness and that was the Sky Hook. You'll see Dwight Howard or Garnett do a little bunny hook sometimes, but Kareem had his own unblockable shot. A jump-hook shot from range. Nobody else does it to this day. He was a one-man half court offense. Very unusual and it produced great results.
To be fair to Oden, he did have unusual mobility and quickness for a big man. When healthy he is a force field. He doesn't clog the paint. He can dart from one side to the other in time to block a quick guard doing a lay-up. He's like Brandon now - his injuries took away his Degree of Unusualness completely. I hope he gets it back. You could say though, that he didn't have the baseline regulation NBA greatness to go with it - which is why we were still teaching him to shoot short jumpshots, etc, before he got hurt.
So what's my point? Okay, Wes Matthews is a very good player but there's nothing unusual about him. He's tenacious and streaky but you can find that. I actually thought this next idea before seeing it elsewhere. I know Dwight Jaynes covered it, as did others: Why not start Nic Batum as the 2 guard?
Do you notice when Batum has a good stretch, the stats just flow to him: Blocks, steals, and yes, jump shots. But he also applies his Degree of Unusualness to the other team and disrupts them. Why? Because you face a player like Wes Matthews quite often in the NBA. He's a great character guy and I love him on the Blazers, but he's a regulation NBA player.
In his own way, he is great, but it's not his own way. It's a very normal way to be great, which is why he wasn't drafted. There are just a lot of people great in the same way.
You must find players who are great but have a Degree of Unusualness. Then once you have them, you must get them on the floor. It's the best way to win in the NBA. Start Batum at shooting guard.
What has killed the Blazers, and not just this year, is a lack of consistent outside shooters. Look at the teams that have won over the past several years - Robert Horry for the Lakers and Rockets, Stojakovic for the Mavs, Fisher for Utah and the Lakers. We're also thin on the bench. Really, there are only Batum (or Matthews if Batum starts, which might not be a bad idea), Roy and Fernandez. Roy doesn't look right, don't know if it's physical or mental, but he looks like he did early in the season when his knees must have been killing him. And it's not so much what the bench gets you, it's can they be in the game long enough to give players like Aldridge a breather so he can be effective the full 35-38 minutes he's in the game.
Oh, and we need a true point guard to back-up Miller and eventually take his place. That COULD be Mills - I think the jury is still out on that one - but he's too green to be consistent during the play-offs.
Ha, the gauntlet's down. c-mon Blazer's prove BoJack wrong. The Blazer staff & coach (the front office) have dealt with a half dozen different teams (due to key personnel changes) which have all played respectably. That alone is a unique (McDonaldism) accomplishment. The personnel have been top notch, and able to build chemistry and adapt to new teammates quickly. There is an extra element (a spark) to a champion. The extra level of confidence that gives one permission to push the envelope to the limit. The belief that no one can stop their march to the top. The motivation and belief in themselves is the only thing standing in the way of the Blazer's & Greatness.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
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Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
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Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
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Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
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L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
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Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
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La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
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Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
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Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
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Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
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Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
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F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (17)
Coach Nate ain't taking the shots; he is putting the players on the floor.
Patty Mills minutes at the end of the 3rd quarter made me cringe. Bad decisions. 2 times he drove to the post and the Mavs ended up with the balls. The other time he turned it over.
Also, with Brandon Roy playing on robot knees, we have no closer. No go to man to be depended on in clutch situations.
Looking at the box score. Dallas' bench showed up and put up 39 points. Portland's bench scored 11 with Batum taking credit for 10 of them.
Farewell Rudy. Don't let the door hit you on the way out and please give the bottle of vinegar to former Trailblazer coach Nate McMillan on your plane flight back to Spain.
Posted by Ryan Voluntad | April 19, 2011 9:57 PM
I'm working on a theory for judging NBA talent. After you factor in the normal stuff - for example, the game a good 6 ft. 4" to 6 ft. 8" regulation NBA player has - you have a separate category called "Degree of Unusualness."
On the Blazers, the person who scores highest in this category is Nicolas Batum, but Andre Miller has a lot of it too. It's the unlikelihood of being great in a way that's different from the norm. With Nic, it's his quickness combined with his height and length. With Andre, it's being a great guard without really jumping.
This leads back to Dirk Nowitzki. It's not that he's tall and yet can shoot from outside. I've seen that before. In fact, one of Bill Laimbeer's unusal qualities was being able to shoot from outside, while also being a tough guy in the paint.
It's not that Dirk can draw fouls. Lots of big men can draw fouls. What sticks out with Dirk is that he's very tall and yet automatic at the freethrow line. That's what jumps off the chart. That's what gives him the big Degree of Unusualness. It's sort of profound how he's designed to get fouled - his awkwardness heading to the rack looks like he's already being fouled, even before he really is. It's also profound how his outside shot is so good that you can't stay off him, and he has you right there to go around and get hit time after time.
Still, all that I've seen before. But I don't remember seeing someone so tall and yet so automatic at the line. It's unusual, and being unusual can be its own form of greatness.
Posted by Bill McDonald | April 19, 2011 9:59 PM
Dirk has had 3 seasons over 90% at the line and last season he hit .915! Here's a blurb from sometime ago:
"Color commentator Hubie Brown noted that the best free-throw shooting 7-footer in the history of the NBA was Dirk Nowitzki. Not far behind the German superstar was Yao Ming, who hit his first 17 free throws this season before settling down to ~86% this season.
Here’s the breakdown:
Highest Free Throw % for 7-footers in NBA History:
1. Dirk Nowitzki 87%
2. Yao Ming 82.6%
3. Brad Miller 79.9%
4. Steve Stipanovich 79.6%
5. Joe Kleine 79.4%"
Posted by Bill McDonald | April 20, 2011 12:08 AM
Meanwhile Kevin Durant scores 41 in game one for the Thunder and Denver has no choice but to try and double team him in game two.....Just sayin
Posted by Gibby | April 20, 2011 7:16 AM
And Nowitzki leads the NBA in drawing non-contact shooting fouls.
Posted by John Fairplay | April 20, 2011 7:30 AM
They looked great in the first half. My biggest disappointment was how they seemed to just be standing around at the end of the game compared to how they played earlier. It was like they had no will to fight for it any longer and just started jacking up bad shots. I'm not really very excited to watch the rest of this one.
Posted by Usual Kevin | April 20, 2011 8:56 AM
Gibby, picking Oden over Durant was an epic failure. But it's done, over, no going back. We're not going to reverse the Durant non-pick, and we're not going to reverse the Jordan non-pick. So let's move on.
The Blazers are a good regular season team that isn't able to step up in the post-season. I don't know if that's coaching or player will or bad conditioning or what, but it's obvious. And frustrating. And absent a miracle, we get to start thinking about this all over again next season.
Posted by Miles | April 20, 2011 9:05 AM
Bill McD,
Joe Kleine was reliable, productive, and popular with Celtics aficionados during the later years of the Bird era, but he is now largely forgotten:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Kleine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Celtics
And, speaking of the Cs, in the contest cablecast prior to the local squad's debacle, impatient 'Blazers fans waited while the Boston team closed decisively to purloin another one from the Knicks, who were playing in the unfriendly Garden without former Celtic Chauncey B and wounded Amare Stoudemire:
http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/2011_0420baby_fourth_for_sixth_valuable_off_bench/srvc=home&position=recent
Melo was nearly unstoppable but he could not do it alone.
Yet two victories do not a series win:
"Bird returned in 1989–90 to play in 75 games and he led the Celtics to a 52–30 record. In the playoffs, after winning the first two games of a Best of 5 series against the New York Knicks, the Celtics collapsed, losing 3 straight, including the decisive 5th game at the Boston Garden."
Posted by Gardiner Menefree | April 20, 2011 9:33 AM
The Knicks are done, just like the Blazers.
Posted by Jack Bog | April 20, 2011 9:36 AM
Ahh, the Durant issue. First though, here's the Degree of Unusualness Theory as applied to another player: Kareem. Did he have great all-around basketball skills? Yes. That's the baseline stuff they all have to have even to contemplate greatness. But what made him a game changer was his Degree of Unusualness and that was the Sky Hook. You'll see Dwight Howard or Garnett do a little bunny hook sometimes, but Kareem had his own unblockable shot. A jump-hook shot from range. Nobody else does it to this day. He was a one-man half court offense. Very unusual and it produced great results.
To be fair to Oden, he did have unusual mobility and quickness for a big man. When healthy he is a force field. He doesn't clog the paint. He can dart from one side to the other in time to block a quick guard doing a lay-up. He's like Brandon now - his injuries took away his Degree of Unusualness completely. I hope he gets it back. You could say though, that he didn't have the baseline regulation NBA greatness to go with it - which is why we were still teaching him to shoot short jumpshots, etc, before he got hurt.
So what's my point? Okay, Wes Matthews is a very good player but there's nothing unusual about him. He's tenacious and streaky but you can find that. I actually thought this next idea before seeing it elsewhere. I know Dwight Jaynes covered it, as did others: Why not start Nic Batum as the 2 guard?
Do you notice when Batum has a good stretch, the stats just flow to him: Blocks, steals, and yes, jump shots. But he also applies his Degree of Unusualness to the other team and disrupts them. Why? Because you face a player like Wes Matthews quite often in the NBA. He's a great character guy and I love him on the Blazers, but he's a regulation NBA player.
In his own way, he is great, but it's not his own way. It's a very normal way to be great, which is why he wasn't drafted. There are just a lot of people great in the same way.
You must find players who are great but have a Degree of Unusualness. Then once you have them, you must get them on the floor. It's the best way to win in the NBA. Start Batum at shooting guard.
Posted by Bill McDonald | April 20, 2011 9:44 AM
So where does Bill Walton show up in this chart?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Posted by Lawrence | April 20, 2011 9:59 AM
As I've written before, the playoffs are much different than the regular season. A seven game series can and does exploit a team's weaknesses.
My biggest issue is Nate's overuse of Rudy Fernandez and (gasp) Patty Mills. Anybody who substitutes Mills over Roy should look for a job in the WNBA.
Posted by Brendan | April 20, 2011 10:19 AM
What has killed the Blazers, and not just this year, is a lack of consistent outside shooters. Look at the teams that have won over the past several years - Robert Horry for the Lakers and Rockets, Stojakovic for the Mavs, Fisher for Utah and the Lakers. We're also thin on the bench. Really, there are only Batum (or Matthews if Batum starts, which might not be a bad idea), Roy and Fernandez. Roy doesn't look right, don't know if it's physical or mental, but he looks like he did early in the season when his knees must have been killing him. And it's not so much what the bench gets you, it's can they be in the game long enough to give players like Aldridge a breather so he can be effective the full 35-38 minutes he's in the game.
Oh, and we need a true point guard to back-up Miller and eventually take his place. That COULD be Mills - I think the jury is still out on that one - but he's too green to be consistent during the play-offs.
Posted by umpire | April 20, 2011 1:41 PM
This series will be tied come Saturday.
Posted by The Looch | April 20, 2011 11:03 PM
Perhaps. I certainly hope so. But the Blazers are not going to win four out of five games against Dallas.
Posted by Jack Bog | April 20, 2011 11:08 PM
Ha, the gauntlet's down. c-mon Blazer's prove BoJack wrong. The Blazer staff & coach (the front office) have dealt with a half dozen different teams (due to key personnel changes) which have all played respectably. That alone is a unique (McDonaldism) accomplishment. The personnel have been top notch, and able to build chemistry and adapt to new teammates quickly. There is an extra element (a spark) to a champion. The extra level of confidence that gives one permission to push the envelope to the limit. The belief that no one can stop their march to the top. The motivation and belief in themselves is the only thing standing in the way of the Blazer's & Greatness.
Posted by genop | April 21, 2011 1:30 PM
Tied. It feels good to be a Blazers fan
Posted by The Looch | April 23, 2011 5:11 PM