How come Outlaw does not jam the ball everytime he gets the ball. His body type just screams dunking all day long. You know the guy can jump out of the gym.
I like his game I just wish he would go to the rack way more than he does. From members that have sen him play. Do you feel the same way I do?
A guy who had no jumper coming to the league who now has one of the best in the league and has fallen in love with it. He doesn't take it to the rack because he struggles to put the ball on the floor.
He's not too bright on defense or offense in a team system, but he does what he does well. He makes a few defensive plays on his athletic ability alone.
yeah this guy is very enigmatic to me too. whenever i see him, i think 'this guy is about to break out' but yet i never hear him end up being talked about.
All I know is that after seeing a ton of Blazers games last year is that dude is big time in the clutch. Everytime I saw a Blazers game, dude was hitting clutch shot after clutch shot.
I really like Travis Outlaw and will be very sad when/if he leaves Portland. He really couldn't shoot when he came in the league - now he's hitting game winners. I also like his high energy - I would really like to see him starting. I too would like to see him attacking the rim more aggressively though!!!
I like Outlaw too. But it is definitely his handle that holds him back. It's the thing that holds back most great athletes that people can't seem to figure out why they don't do more. You can be the most athletic guy in the world, but in order to move on the basketball court, you have to bounce the ball, and if you can't, all that great movement you can do, amounts to very little. See Corey Brewer. From the outside looking in, it's a little deceptive, because he does have some mid range game, but it's mostly predicated on one bounce, not multiple bounces, which is what would get him to breat out.
There's a little Tim Thomas in him to me. Another guy who's seemed on the verge of breaking out for almost a decade, and it's for the same reason he hasn't.
I also don't think he should be traded. I don't think he's a good fit as a starter, rather, he's almost the perfect sixth or seventh man. He's got a genuine scorer's mentality. And he's got the skillset to make it work for stretches. His length and athleticism means he can get shots pretty much whenever he wants, but as a starter on a team, he's probably never going to be consistent enough to build an entire offense around, and if you don't run stuff through him, he becomes sort of obsolete. I know there was some discussion about weather or not to start him or Martell Webster at the three in the offseason (a long time ago). I think Outlaw's better than Webster, but with Roy on the floor controlling the ball, Aldridge as a legit mid post threat, and the insistence the franchise was going to have in trying to establish Oden in the low post. That leaves Outlaw as a fourth option, and wastes his mismatch ability. Webster's spot up jump shot game is probably a better fit, while Outlaw works perfectly as a focal point for the second unit. Bonzi Wells played a similar role for years, and is probably a good role model for Outlaw.
i actually disagree with all of you saying he is being misused in portland. true he could start for 80% of the nba but we have Broy, aldridge, blake, sometimes oden all scoring in the first unit. he fits perfectly in the second unit along side rudy as the second unit scorers. batum, our best defender arguably bring a more well rounded aspect to the first unit.
he wont get traded anytime soon unless its for a proven legit talent. nate already told him he is not in any trade talks early this season when rumors were spreading.
frye is leavin soon though. he is just not meshing on the court
Blazers should either use him, or trade him. The reason he plays inconsistant because he never gets consistant PT, or support from the coaching staff.
Batum, Webster, Rudy, Outlaw.... one of these guys needs to go.
That's his problem, he's not a starter. What he does well works with a second unit. He had the starting spot all to himself if he wanted it, but a 19 year old rookie took it from him.
He can't handle the ball. All he really knows how to do is run the break (without the ball) and hit spot up jumpers. He can work for his own shot when he's matched up against a slower defender or a bad defender like a Rahsard Lewis. He's a bad defender who gets caught out of position a lot but he tries hard to defend unlike other guys like Vince Carter so you can't really talk bad about that because trying hard is all you can ask for.
There are so many other things I can point out but he's a kid who came straight out of high school so you can't expect him to have a large Bball IQ.
Travis Outlaw
