Blazers slide for other reasons

On the NBA

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Apr 1, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (3 Reader comments)

Jonathan Ferrey / GETTY IMAGES

Phoenix center Shaquille O’Neal blocks Blazer Jarrett Jack’s shot earlier this month. Portland’s reliance on perimeter-oriented, pick-and-roll offense with jump shots has at times hurt the team.

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As they say, Nate McMillan probably has forgotten more basketball than I’ve learned over the years.

But when he insinuates that his players have begun to cash in the season, I have to beg to differ.

“You have to show that you want to win and you’re not just going through the motions,” McMillan said after his Trail Blazers’ 93-85 loss to Charlotte on Saturday.

If effort were the problem, Portland wouldn’t have outrebounded Charlotte 57-32. When you grab 23 offensive boards, you’re working hard, just missing a lot of shots. The Blazers shot .363 from the field, going 7 for 29 (.241) from 3-point range.

The Bobcats outscored them 52-32 in points in the paint and 16-5 in fastbreak points. There’s a reason the Blazers are last in the league in both categories. They don’t push the ball upcourt to get easy opportunities in transition, and they rely on a perimeter-oriented, pick-and-roll offense in which the screener often winds up with a jump shot. Some nights it works, but it’s harder that way to win over the long haul of an entire season.

And don’t forget, Portland is without the straw that stirs the drink, Brandon Roy, who is hopeful he can return Sunday against San Antonio as he recuperates from a groin strain. Roy scores, creates opportunities for his teammates and takes a lot of pressure off everyone else at the offensive end.

When Steve Blake, Martell Webster and James Jones combine to make 7 of 32 shots — including 2 of 18 on 3-pointers — you’re not going to win many games. And that really has nothing to do with desire.

• Starting with Wednesday’s road game with the L.A. Lakers, Portland’s schedule includes six games against playoff teams — the Lakers twice, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix — as well as a visit to Sacramento and a home game with Memphis.

The Blazers (38-36) must go 4-4 to achieve their goal of a winning season, and McMillan will use the players he believes give them the best chance to do that. Which means that Sergio Rodriguez, Raef LaFrentz and Von Wafer — and Josh McRoberts, if he is recalled from the D-League — will see little or no action.

McMillan stresses he is looking to the future, simulating what he hopes will be a run to the playoffs next season.

“We are looking at our players,” he says. “We’re looking at Martell and Travis (Outlaw) and LaMarcus (Aldridge) and Joel (Przybilla) and Blake and (Jarrett) Jack. We’re playing those guys to look at them — but not the 11th and 12th men.

“Martell and LaMarcus haven’t played in (a starting) role at this time of the year. Against the kind of teams we’ll face, these are guys who need to play this time of the year. We want them to play meaningful games and see what they look like.

“It’s an opportunity for a lot of guys to show what they’re capable of doing. If they want to be a part (of the Blazers’ future), this is an opportunity.”

• McMillan is taking an interesting approach to Roy’s potential return. The coach wants him back, but only if Roy recuperates quickly.

“If Brandon gets down to the last couple of games of the season and he hasn’t played, why play him?” McMillan says. “You don’t take that risk. But if you still have six or seven games left and he’s healthy, then why not?

“It would be good to see him and LaMarcus against San Antonio, for instance. We saw that matchup — LaMarcus vs. Tim (Duncan) and Brandon vs. Bruce (Bowen) — early in the season; so let’s look at it in April. Has there been any improvement on our end?”

• Greg Oden wasn’t fined or penalized for taking part in a health-club pickup game last week, and he got only a gentle admonishment from his coach.

“I was surprised, shocked,” McMillan says. “But upset? It’s like your kids. You think they know certain things until they go out and do something.”

McMillan wants his rookie center to understand not just the obvious risk of injury as he rehabs his surgically repaired knee but also that he’s in a fishbowl now.

“He wants to be normal, but we have made him aware he’s not the guy who came in here a year ago,” McMillan says. “You’re such a huge value to this franchise. You can’t do certain things, because people look at you differently. They’re watching your every move. They’re listening to what you say. Your life has changed forever.”

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