We missed Brandon Roy big time last night. Roy is one of the few guys on our team who can get to the basket and get fouled. Other than that we have a bunch of jump shooters, and if shots aren't falling you have no hope. We had a lot of good open looks, and missed a ton a shots. With Roy, you can put the ball in his hands and let him get to the rim, and he either kicks out, or shoots, and often gets fouled.
Adding Oden as a low post player will help this team a ton, especially players like Martell Webster. Having someone down low who can score will force more double teams, and then Martell can get the space for his shot. Right now Martell is incredibly inconsistent. He had a 24 point 3rd quarter against Utah, another 16 point qtr, and lots of games where he can't make a shot or he is invisible. He needs space to operate, and if he doesn't get space he will struggle. That is one of the big differences between us and the Lakers. Players like Farmar, and Sasha killed us last night, because they had players like Gasol, and Odom down low who can score. This makes it much easier for those guys to get open looks, because we have to defend the Laker bigs, and this spreads the floor allowing those guys to have space to shoot, and they made those shots. Martell did not have as many open looks, because the Lakers didn't need to double team Frye, or LaFrentz, or Joel.
Outlaw has progressed tremendously the last 2 years, especially this year. Not having Roy really hurt him last night as well. Travis has a significant asthma problem, and he struggles playing extended minutes without a break. Nate has got him into a routine, where he gets some periodic rest, and never plays much more than 10 minutes at a time, except in the 4th qtr, which has more time outs. He has been absolute money in the 4th qtr. Last night he started for the first time all year, and he was gassed in the 4th, and his shot wasn't falling like it had earlier in the game.
We have some significant holes right now, the biggest being we are a poor rebounding team, and a jump shooting team. We need players who can get to the rim more, and we need to improve our rebounding. We will be adding Oden, Rudy Fernandez, and also the #12-13 pick in the draft. I am hoping right now we get Kevin Love in the draft, and then move Jack and Frye, for a real upgrade at the point. Love is ideal for our second unit. He is a bruiser, a rebounder, and a low post guy. Frye has done fine for us, but he is just too much like everybody else on the team. Bundling Frye and Jack could return a nice talent.
We have some really nice role players. Blake, James Jones, Przybilla, are all veteran roles players who are very happy with their role, and those type of players are really critical to winning teams. I really like Przybilla. I don't think I am qualified to say who the best defensive center is in the league, I just don't see enough of everybody, but there is no doubt Joel is in the top 5, maybe top 3. He sets great picks, he rebounds well, is a great help defender, is great man up defender, and is a great shot blocker. He is absolutely horrible offensively, but defensively he is fantastic.
