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It never worked Roy. The Blazers first round exit last year was a failure.
Atlanta 97, Portland 91: Blazers going in wrong direction
Everything the Trail Blazers wanted to become this season is not happening.
They wanted to build their brand on defense, but so far, they remain a soft and penetrable team.
They wanted to push the ball, and use newcomer Andre Miller to accelerate the fast break. But so far they are painfully methodical, with Miller grinding the gears to get out of neutral.
They wanted to establish their half-court offense in the lane, but they continue to live and die by the jump shot.
And most of all, they wanted to become one of the Western Conference's elite teams. But here they are after five games with a 2-3 record after Tuesday night's demoralizing 97-91 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at the Rose Garden.
Trail Blazers vs Atlanta HawksBruce Ely/The OregonianBrandon Roy goes in for the layup while being fouled by Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby during the Trail Blazers' 97-91 loss Tuesday to the Atlanta Hawks at the Rose Garden.For the second time in those five games, the team's effort was questioned, this time by coach Nate McMillan.
"We are not playing as hard as we need to to win," McMillan said. "To win games in this league, you have to work, and that's not something I've had to say to this group in the last couple of years. This team ... that was just a known that we were going to get that (effort)."
Two things are becoming evident: The Blazers are poor defensively, particularly on keeping their man in front of them and in clogging the lane; and Miller has yet to comfortably find his groove.
Although Miller had 11 assists, he shot 1 for 6 from the field while dutifully trying to play a grind-it-out offensive style, which goes against his instincts.
Miller cautioned against drawing conclusions, saying it takes time for players to jell and for a team to change its playing style.
"It's easy to say you want to run," Miller said. "But it's probably one of the hardest things to do in this game, get up and down the court at a fast pace consistently. This team hasn't done that in the past. They have been methodical on offense and played solid defense. But there is a way to fast break, but we haven't done it. The coaching staff has done a good job, we just haven't been able to carry it over for four quarters."
Like every game this season, the Blazers showed flashes of clicking. They led 25-15 after the first quarter, and after Greg Oden dunked a lob pass from Miller, the lead was 27-15 early in the second.
The Blazers had active hands on defense, slapping balls away from the Hawks, and were effective in discouraging star Joe Johnson with double teams. Meanwhile, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge were on target, each starting the game by hitting six of their first nine shots.
But the momentum changed when the teams began subs uting. The Blazers' second unit was supposed to be one of their strengths, but so far it has yet to click. Instead, it was the Hawks' reserves who turned the tide, most notably guard Jamal Crawford (27 points, including 17 in the first half) and center Zaza Pachulia (12 points).
"We've gotten off to good starts, we just haven't maintained them," Miller said. "We are still trying to find a rhythm."
Before the game, McMillan said he wanted the second unit, and Miller, to push the ball more. And all preseason the team talked about improving on defense. The Blazers allowed opponents to shoot 46 percent last season. Also, there was a preseason emphasis on defensive rebounding, where the Blazers ranked 27th out of 30 teams last season.
By the end of Tuesday's game, however, the numbers weren't pretty.
Atlanta had 18 fast-break points to Portland's four. The Hawks shot 46.3 percent from the field to Portland's 42.4. And despite a huge size advantage, the Blazers were outrebounded 46-36 and outscored 50-34 in the paint.
After the game, Oden said McMillan reminded the team that this was no longer last season, when the Blazers won 54 games. Clearly, the team isn't playing anything like last season. Two strengths of last season -- winning at home and pulling out close games -- have become weaknesses. The Blazers have lost two in a row at the Rose Garden, and both have come because of late-game failures.
On Tuesday, the Blazers had multiple opportunities go awry, including an Oden shot attempt blocked by Josh Smith with just less than three minutes left and the Blazers trailing by three. But the real stickler came with about a minute left and the Blazers trailing by four, when Miller's fast-break layup attempt was blocked. The block was corralled and turned into a fast-break dunk by Al Horford, giving the Hawks a 95-89 lead.
Roy, who had 19 points and six assists, was left frustrated and at a loss to describe what went wrong.
"When I feel like this I have to go back to what works," Roy said. "And that's working. We have to go back to work."
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindbla...1_blazers.html
It never worked Roy. The Blazers first round exit last year was a failure.
It is still a promising team, but I don't see Blazer winning a championship within 2 years.
This is a critical time for the Blazers. In my opinion the next few weeks could shape the way this era turns out for them.
they need a franchise player to become contender.
non issue
this team is and always been a non issue
If your team can't play defense, it's coaches fault.
Go out and hire you JVG
You won't ever score again but at least your team can play defense.
People tend to forget that the Blazers are still a young team, with Oden being their oldest player
I actually watched about 5 minutes at the start of the 3rd quarter, and Roy was chucking up shots like there was no tomorrow. I mean, he literally took every shot in that time span (and missed all of them). I was like WTF?
They need to pick a direction and build complimentary pieces around that direction, this is a a typical case of having too many chefs in the kitchen.
DD
they are a monstruosity of a team. A frankenstein, made of parts that really don't go together. In the end, will not beat anyone.
Has twrongII made an appearance today?
Another young, talent-laden team that is too inexperienced and inmature to take advantage of all the talent. You just don't become a defensive oriented team overnight. It's a mindset, it's a grind, it starts with the leader of the team and the coach.
Clearly, they are having chemistry issues. And Andre Miller doesn't seem to be the PG answer.
I agree that the next few weeks will determine whether this team can get their act together or not in time to be effective come play-off time. Tlong-your team looks like .
With that said, I'm sure the back to back the Spurs have with them will be difficult for us as all back to backs are for the Spurs.
There's no doubt this team will jell, the question is how long it would take. It seems like non-issues are preventing them from getting where they would like to be.
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