From John Hollinger's Daily Insider Gems
"One casualty of Cleveland's recent "slump" has been that the Cavs surrendered the No. 1 spot in offensive efficiency to Portland. Yes, Portland. The Blazers offer an interesting case study because they get very little post scoring and shoot a ton of jumpers -- an approach that traditionalists instinctively frown upon.
In the 1990s, this was indeed a bad idea. But in this decade, you can score big by spacing the floor with shooters and putting good decision-makers in the middle, and that's exactly what the Blazers have done under Nate McMillan.
The other interesting note is that the Blazers are playing the league's slowest pace, which has made some folks really, really slow to catch on to just how good Portland's offense is -- the Blazers are only 14th in points per game, a category that the league still insists on using to rank teams in the official stats."
And another from Hollinger
"The Oregonian's John Canzano, who ranks right behind Henry Abbott on my list of favorite bald writers from Portland, pointed out in Monday's column that Joel Przybilla is still outplaying Greg Oden, and we've got almost half a season under our belts, so maybe Portland ought to think about starting Przybilla and having Oden play with the subs.
The column reads like a knock on Oden, but the real story here is Przybilla, who has just been way, way, WAY better than anyone had any right to expect. The dude is shooting 75.5 percent and leading the league in rebound rate at 22.0. In addition he has been a force on defense with his shot-blocking, partly making up for the Blazers' softness on D at the other positions (they're 21st in defensive efficiency).
Oden's numbers are actually decent -- a 16.36 PER, a strong rebound rate, 53.5 percent shooting -- and in a vacuum he'd be worthy of a starting spot. Once he figures out that he can't allow 300-pound centers to post him up three inches from the rim because he can't count on being able to block the shot like he did in college and high school, he should be as much of a factor on D as Przybilla is, too.
But for now, Canzano is dead-on: Przybilla has been fantastic, and his reward should be a starting gig 'til further notice."
Mike Barrett's breakdown of Saturday's win over the Reports can be found Here.
Here is a great article on Channing Frye from Willamette Weekly.
And lastly, an interesting article on Rudy being in the dunk contest.
Feel free to post your opinons on these articles, so we can discuss what you guys think!
-Kyle
I like the fact that Canzano is looking at the numbers to determine Pryz's importance to the team right now. But right now I understand why Nate is starting Oden. I like that he is putting this message in Odens head: "you are a starter! Learn to play like one!"
ReplyDeleteLook at the energy and spark the second unit gave us in the 3rd quarter of yesterday's game. Sometimes it's the starters that get it going, or some nights it's the second unit. Whichever team or player it is, I like the many options the blazers have. It is only going to get better with time and experience.
That is a great point about the mentality Nate is trying to instill in Oden. Because we all know Oden has the physical tools, but it comes down to the mental aspect of the game for him.
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