midnight_show
OzCardTrader
Seen as it's down to the finals series, and most of our sides have been disposed of, I just thought it'd be interesting to get a view on what everyone thinks their side needs to step and be competitive next year.
Portland.
As much as I admire the courage they've shown in the past couple of years in the face of injury, I just cant help thinking that our playing style isn't good enough for playoff ball. Andre Miller, the good Lord bless him, holds us together at the point and has easily been our most consistent and resilient player for the past three years, but under him we play a very stagnant offence. Too many trips down the court are him dribbling for 16-18 seconds then a quick shot. For us to become more of a threat come the pointy end of the season, we need to be able to step it up a bit in offence to provide more of a threat. I've watched some of our playoff games against Dallas, and although we have ended up losing to the eventual WC champions, there were still times in those games where we looked clueless and needed some new direction. McMillan had a reluctance to play Mills, which I think is fair enough as I don't think he is the answer at back up PG.
SO, I would like to see us go after an up tempo starting PG as well as another back up. My two thoughts are Raymond Felton from Denver and Jonny Flynn from Minnesota. Felton wants to start, but looks like he's behind Ty Lawson so maybe we can try and lure him away from Denver (Miller plus second rounder??) and Im not sure what we can offer to Minnesota, maybe we will have to offer Mills and picks or Mills and another player. But with the addition of Matthews, the up tempo play of Wallace, the outstanding play of Aldridge (who is now our team leader) I think a new fast paced PG with a new playing style is what we need. Unless Roy recovers, which from all reports he will never be the same player again, he will be the bench leader. And as shown in the Dallas series, he can still mix it with the best, but he needs his rest and needs to be managed. Camby isn't getting any younger, so we NEED NEED NEED Oden to be healthy. I would deadset give my left testicle to keep that bloke healthy. If not, we also need a back up big man. Possibly a Dalembert or (Will we make a big play for Marc Gasol??) Batum had some of his best games coming off the bench, but after that there isn't much depth. Would like to see us get a good back up at PF as well, LA carried us this season, looks like he will again next season, but we need a break for him.
Every year seems to be a first round exit in the finals. Reckon it might be time to shake things up a bit. GO BLAZERS!!!
Portland.
As much as I admire the courage they've shown in the past couple of years in the face of injury, I just cant help thinking that our playing style isn't good enough for playoff ball. Andre Miller, the good Lord bless him, holds us together at the point and has easily been our most consistent and resilient player for the past three years, but under him we play a very stagnant offence. Too many trips down the court are him dribbling for 16-18 seconds then a quick shot. For us to become more of a threat come the pointy end of the season, we need to be able to step it up a bit in offence to provide more of a threat. I've watched some of our playoff games against Dallas, and although we have ended up losing to the eventual WC champions, there were still times in those games where we looked clueless and needed some new direction. McMillan had a reluctance to play Mills, which I think is fair enough as I don't think he is the answer at back up PG.
SO, I would like to see us go after an up tempo starting PG as well as another back up. My two thoughts are Raymond Felton from Denver and Jonny Flynn from Minnesota. Felton wants to start, but looks like he's behind Ty Lawson so maybe we can try and lure him away from Denver (Miller plus second rounder??) and Im not sure what we can offer to Minnesota, maybe we will have to offer Mills and picks or Mills and another player. But with the addition of Matthews, the up tempo play of Wallace, the outstanding play of Aldridge (who is now our team leader) I think a new fast paced PG with a new playing style is what we need. Unless Roy recovers, which from all reports he will never be the same player again, he will be the bench leader. And as shown in the Dallas series, he can still mix it with the best, but he needs his rest and needs to be managed. Camby isn't getting any younger, so we NEED NEED NEED Oden to be healthy. I would deadset give my left testicle to keep that bloke healthy. If not, we also need a back up big man. Possibly a Dalembert or (Will we make a big play for Marc Gasol??) Batum had some of his best games coming off the bench, but after that there isn't much depth. Would like to see us get a good back up at PF as well, LA carried us this season, looks like he will again next season, but we need a break for him.
Every year seems to be a first round exit in the finals. Reckon it might be time to shake things up a bit. GO BLAZERS!!!
Although think he's more of a SF than a SG; possibly a Sonny Weems to backup Harden.... he seems to be an improving player. Other than that we need Serge to keep improving his offense & becoming more consistent.
