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cmeese47
Posts: 2421

Posted 04/16/2012 1:17 PM
Close game in the fourth quarter Portland really has not had much chance since Roy retired. Why, because no one on the team seems to have a clutch gene in them.

Clutch time stats are 4 quarter under 5 minutes to play with the score within 5 points.

The Go to Guy
Starting with the teams superstar Lamarcus Aldridge in 20 games Lamarcus has taken 47 shots shooting 41% from the field. That is a 10% difference from his season average from the field, which would be acceptable except he has only attempted 12 free throws during clutch time all season. His refusal to draw contact late in games is difficult to watch as is his willingness to fight for deep post position.

The Worst Offender
Nicolas Batum his game is so passive in clutch time that the Blazers might as well be playing 4 on 5. In 19 games Batum has only attempted 14 shots in clutch time on 36% shooting including 17% from 3 point range, which is compounded by his 4 free throw attempts all season.

Iso Offense
Jamal Crawford once he gets the ball in the fourth you can bet he is going to shoot the ball and based on his shooting percentage in clutch those shots are not going to help the team. He is shooting only 24% from the field in clutch, which when combined with his abysmal defense, and only 2.2 rebounds per 48 mins and 2.8 assists bad things are bound to happen. His only saving grace is his great free throw percentage and willingness to get to the line.

Mr. Aggressive
Wesley Matthews his game has been pretty much of the opposites of Batum's in clutch time. At the forefront of his aggressive play is his team leading 11.4 free throw attempts per 48 minutes during clutch time. He is also averaging an impressive 10.0 rebounds per 48 minutes, which is also tops on the team. Unfortunately, all his effort has not helped his field goal percentage which comes in at 37% despite a solid 40% from 3 point range.

The Best of the Worst
Raymond Felton the man catches a lot of grief from his late game turnovers but the stats show in clutch time he has been Portland's most consistent player. Starting with plus minus Felton is the only player who sees regular clutch time without a negative plus minus. Felton's scoring in clutch time was the biggest surprise coming in at nearly 29 points per 48 minutes. In addition to the increased scoring Felton has averaged 9.2 assists per 48 minutes. That number would surely be higher if it was for the teams combined 36% clutch time shooting percentage. His assist to turnover ratio is also 3-1, which only trails Mike Conley, Kirk Hinrich, Bradon Jennings, James Harden and Derek Fisher. Felton has also posted the teams highest field goal percentage in clutch time at 41.4% which is aided by an excellent 53% from three point range on nearly 10 attempts per 48 minutes.

Raymond Felton's late game mistakes have provided constant fuel for fan-boy banter but statistically he has been our best clutch time player. Portland's late game failures this year are probably one of the biggest reason why this team is back in the lottery. The team certainly misses Roy's near 40 points per 48 minutes in clutch time and until they find some semblance of a replacement for him this team will continue to struggle regardless of the teams talent level.

I am a fan of Getting Defensive Players This Summer.

ClydeFrog
Posts: 975

Posted 04/16/2012 1:32 PM
Where is the clutch gene, you ask? Well, for starters, most clutch players are players that play the point guard, shooting guard, or small forward positions. For Portland, those three positions have been at times decent and at others time downright dreadful. Wesley Matthews can get hot from three but when he's not connecting on triples, he's getting his layups rimchecked. Ray Felton has been the Anti-Clutch this entire season. I can't remember the last time he did something right with the game on the line. Seriously, someone needs to make a YouTube video of all of his blunders down the stretch. It's unreal. We have no backup point guard to bail us out. Nolan is an undersized two-guard playing point. Jamal Crawford has been CRAWFUL this year. Yeah, once in a while his blue-moon heaves will connect, but the player Portland got this year is a far cry from the 2010 6th Man Award Winner. And finally, maybe the most depressing of all is Nic Batum. You said it best, he shies away from the pressure shots.

So there you have it. If you don't have anyone in the backcourt capable of taking and making the clutch shot, you're squad is screwed. Not only are our guards terrible at getting LA the rock, but it takes a lot of time to get good post position and its too easy to double the post, which is why its so hard for LA to be taking game-winners. When he does get the chance, he connects (see Dallas). Hopefully we get an influx of talent in our backcourt next season and don't have to have this discussion because its downright depressing.

I am a fan of Watching Elliot Williams Take Flight!

cmeese47
Posts: 2421

Posted 04/16/2012 2:10 PM
You are pretty much right that Clutch time production comes mostly from quality ball handling guards and small forwards. There are a few exceptions such as Kevin Love 37.6 PP48 and 15.6 RP48, Dirk, Bynum and Duncan 29.5 PP48 but they are few and far between.

By the way for anyone thinking Deron Williams would be out clutch savior here is how he compares to Felton.
Per 48 mins FGA FG% 3PTA 3PT% FTA FT% PTS REB AST T/O BLK STL
Felton 19.1 41.4 9.9 53.3 10.5 75 28.9 3.9 9.2 3.3 1.3 2.0
Williams 24.3 41.0 6.2 50.0 8.1 69 28.7 4.4 13.7 6.9 1.2 1.2

I am a fan of Getting Defensive Players This Summer.

DHawes22
Posts: 6481

Posted 04/16/2012 3:04 PM

Posted By cmeese47 on 04/16/2012 2:10 PM
You are pretty much right that Clutch time production comes mostly from quality ball handling guards and small forwards. There are a few exceptions such as Kevin Love 37.6 PP48 and 15.6 RP48, Dirk, Bynum and Duncan 29.5 PP48 but they are few and far between.

By the way for anyone thinking Deron Williams would be out clutch savior here is how he compares to Felton.
Per 48 mins FGA FG% 3PTA 3PT% FTA FT% PTS REB AST T/O BLK STL
Felton 19.1 41.4 9.9 53.3 10.5 75 28.9 3.9 9.2 3.3 1.3 2.0
Williams 24.3 41.0 6.2 50.0 8.1 69 28.7 4.4 13.7 6.9 1.2 1.2
And you can look at the guards delivering those bigs the rock. Duncan has future Hall of Famer, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili feeding him. Love has one of the best young passers in the game in Ricky Rubio. Dirk also has a futuer Hall of Famer in Jason Kidd. And Bynum works out of the triangle where it features easy entry passes into the post.

Do you have Gordan Dragic's clutch numbers? Maybe more importantly, his clutch numbers since March? I'd be interested in seeing how well he performs under pressure.

I am a fan of

Tobyus Sanchezo
Posts: 1604

Posted 04/16/2012 3:39 PM
And just as important, where's the road win gene? Blazers be 2nd worst road team in the West.

I am a fan of playoffs in two zero one three

cmeese47
Posts: 2421

Posted 04/16/2012 4:25 PM
@dhawes22 here are the numbers for Goran as of April 1.

These are per 48 minutes
21 Games 14.6 FGA 69.6 fg% 4.4 3pa 71.4 3pt% 3.2 FTA 60 FT% 25.4 PPG 6.3 RPG 8.2 AST 5.1 T/O 0.6 Blk 1.9 Stl

His numbers are pretty good, the lack of free throw attempts is concerning as is the high turnover rate but you got to love that amazing field goal and 3-point %.

I am a fan of Getting Defensive Players This Summer.

barnettfan
Posts: 371

Posted 04/16/2012 5:52 PM
@ cmeese, interesting stats. Can you delve into Feltons pre firing of Nate stats and Feltons Post firing of Nate stats? I dont think most people here on the site actually disliked Felton until his constant abysmal performance especially during clutch games. during the pre firing of Nate I saw Felton as a shoot first bad pass second kind of pg. Time and again I have seen him drive into traffic and pass to someone who is also in traffic and gets the ball stripped causing them to get the turnover. Now do I think that he can overcome that ? Absolutely. Do I think that we should take a chance on him? Nope. Nor do I think we should go for Dwill. I think it would be like getting T.O. on your team a whole lot of talent but dont really care about nothing but the money and himself.

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D_pickett
Posts: 608

Posted 04/16/2012 9:52 PM
The numbers have made me go cross-eyed... so forget that part of it. And if your numbers are telling you that Ray Felton is our best late game performer, hang the numbers.

I'll tell you where our clutch gene is... inside Brandon Roy's meniscus. And that was surgically removed.

When it comes to getting LA the rock, I can't think of a clutch back-to-basket PF since Karl Malone. There are plenty of clutch 4's in today's game, but they don't play like PF's: Dirk, Amar'e, and Love can all shoot perimeter shots, and that's what they default to in clutch time. Tim Duncan is not only getting the rock from Tony Parker, but he's also no longer the clutch go-to guy. That would be Ginobili or Parker. The reality is that your inside guy (even if you can go to him all game) will not get quality catches and looks in the paint once you hit clutch time.

I am a fan of

cmeese47
Posts: 2421

Posted 04/16/2012 10:15 PM
Since Nate was fired 17 games 14.5 pts 3.4 reb 7.7 ast 48.7 fg% 48.2 3-pt% 3.0 t/o

Without Nate his scoring, rebounding, assists and shooting percentages are all up. Not bad splits in my opinion.

I am a fan of Getting Defensive Players This Summer.

ClydeFrog
Posts: 975

Posted 04/17/2012 1:31 PM
Felton's numbers have gone but his his late-game anti-heroics have still continued to happen. Ray is the anti-Roy. I think once we bring in proven winners this offseason as well as winners in college, it will start to rub off and chemistry as well as clutch play will improve. This season was just one big cluster fudgesicle.

I am a fan of Watching Elliot Williams Take Flight!

cmeese47
Posts: 2421

Posted 04/18/2012 11:24 AM
Clutch time requires an extreme amount of effort and face it seems like this team has been lazy quite a few times this season.

I am a fan of Getting Defensive Players This Summer.

cmeese47
Posts: 2421

Posted 04/23/2012 11:38 AM
Since Rondo has been brought up a few times I just wanted everyone to know he is averaging 11.5 pts 10.9 reb 10.9 ast on only 26% shooting. However his ft% is up to 87% in clutch time.

I am a fan of Getting Defensive Players This Summer.

BDawg
Posts: 1471

Posted 04/27/2012 6:35 AM

Posted By D_pickett on 04/16/2012 9:52 PM

I'll tell you where our clutch gene is... inside Brandon Roy's meniscus. And that was surgically removed.

Word D_p. Once again, THANK YOU BRoy!

I am a fan of players that play with PASSION and PRIDE

cmeese47
Posts: 2421

Posted 04/27/2012 11:48 AM
Lost another close game looks like our backs are not more clutch than the starters were.

I am a fan of Getting Defensive Players This Summer.

cmeese47
Posts: 2421

Posted 05/02/2012 10:52 AM
Harrison Barnes was very clutch in college thoughts on him?

I am a fan of Getting Defensive Players This Summer.

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