Portland Trail Blazers: What Issues Must Be Addressed After Game 1?
The Portland Trail Blazers couldn't have asked for more from LaMarcus Aldridge, who played his heart out in the first game of Round 1 against the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs.
Aldridge scored 27 points, accompanied with six rebounds and one block. Andre Miller played well, exposing J.J. Barea for 18 points, six assists, and a steal.
Even Nicolas Batum put in 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field.
Contain the Veteran Point Guard: Jason Kidd
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First off, Jason Kidd hit six threes, including the shot that gave Dallas an 85-78 lead with 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter, essentially putting the dagger into the Trail Blazers,
Andre Miller needs to play better defense on his man. Kidd finished with 24 points, five rebounds and four assists, outworking Miller on both ends of the court.
He's not the fastest guard in the NBA, so I don't understand how Kidd could have scorched his man like that.
If Miller can't buckle down on D, maybe Patty Mills needs to get some time on the veteran point guard. They could use Mills' scoring ability, too.
The Disappearance of Gerald Wallace on Offense
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I have another bone to pick with Portland: Where in the world did Gerald Wallace go?
Wallace's presence was definitely felt on the defensive end with his three steals and endless shot altering, but he only finished with eight points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field.
Watching the game from my TV, I saw countless times where he turned down a mid-range jumper to attack the basket where the Dallas bigs, mainly Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood, altered his shots.
Crash needs to start taking what the defense gives him and put up those jumpers. Even though he's not primarily known for shooting jumpers, he's hurting the team by not taking those shots.
Wallace is an excellent defender and has my vote for the small forward position on the NBA All-Defensive Team, but Portland severely missed his scoring against the Mavs.
He's proven that he can score, as he scored 40 points against Oklahoma City in the regular season. I'm not asking him for 40; Portland only needs 20 from him.
Address the Mismatch: Put Marcus Camby in the Game.
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Next issue with the Blazers: Why didn't Marcus Camby play in the final minutes of the fourth quarter?
Marcus Camby had 18 rebounds in 29 minutes. EIGHTEEN REBOUNDS. A renowned defensive presence in the paint, Camby's absence in the fourth was obvious.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter. Portland's opting to go small, with Gerald Wallace and Nicolas Batum in as forwards, was a terrible decision by Coach Nate McMillan.
As soon as Dirk was subbed into the game at the 10:44 mark, Coach should have put Camby back into the game. Batum might be long, and Wallace may be freakishly athletic, but Dirk Nowitzki shoots the most unorthadox shots in the league; he shoots off-balance, fade-away jumpers that go in every trip.
There's no way that 6-foot-8-inch small forwards will be able to defend a seven-foot shooter who shoots from above his head.
The smart move would've been to move Camby to the four to D up on Dirk, and keep Aldridge at center. He may be 37 years old, but the guy's averaging 10 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
Camby needs to be in the game in the fourth quarter if Portland is going to advance past Dallas in the first round.
Why Did Brandon Roy Get Wes Matthews' Minutes?
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The biggest issue?
Why didn't Wes Matthews play more minutes?
A starter who has more than earned his minutes on the floor, Matthews played a menial 19 minutes, where he only scored two points on 1-of-3 shooting.
He's a much better player than McMillan made him out to be, and his 40 percent shooting from downtown is needed for the Blazers to overcome Dirk and the Dallas Mavericks in a seven-game series.
Instead of sticking with Matthews, Coach decided to go with Brandon Roy, which turned out to be a huge mistake. After using his patented move in the first quarter (attacking the hole and creating space using his shoulder to push off), Roy went scoreless for the rest of the game.
Finishing with two points in 29 minutes of play, his 1-of-7 shooting became detrimental to the team. B-Roy even missed a technical free throw that could've brought the game within three points in the fourth quarter.
I understand Brandon Roy is a former All Star who can be extremely beneficial to the team, especially in this playoff environment; but docking Wesley Matthews' minutes is not the answer.
Until he can prove that he's back to his old self and deserves those starter's minutes once again, Roy needs to be limited to 15 minutes each night. If he can score 10 points in those minutes, then Coach should give him a few more.
Bringing It All Home
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I might not be a head coach or a professional NBA analyst (yet), but correcting these four mistakes will give Portland their first playoff advance in a long time.
Most importantly, Wesley Matthews needs to see the ball more often. Only taking three shots in his 19 minutes on the court, Matthews couldn't have helped his team if he wanted to. He's a volume scorer who can put massive points on the board if he gets hot.
There's almost nothing anyone can do to stop Dirk Nowitzki. A surefire Hall of Famer, Nowitzki is going to get his points night-in and night-out.
If the Trail Blazers can stop the people around him, like Jason Terry who scored 10 points, Portland could somehow find themselves in the second round.
