Midseason Report Card: The Goalkeepers

By: Bob Kellett | June 17th, 2008

With the Timbers nearly halfway through their 2008 USL First Division campaign and with the team enjoying a two-week break between games, what better way to pass the time than to hand out some grades? Today’s recipients are the goalkeepers.

Ray Burse
What is the knock against Ray Burse? He’s third in the league in goals against average (.73), second in the league in shutouts (6), third in the league in saves (42), and tied for first in wins (4). Statistically he has done a nice job in his first season with the Portland Timbers, especially when you consider he has had to shuttle back and forth to Texas. Perhaps the biggest problem with Burse is that he isn’t the man he replaced, Josh Wicks. He doesn’t have the leg strength of Wicks. He doesn’t have the vocal command of the defense that Wicks had in 2007. He doesn’t have Wicks’ ability to go both directions to stop shots. Take the Wicks comparison out of the equation, and Burse has done an adequate thus far.

Grade: B

Jordan James
Brought in to serve as a backup to Wicks, James has been forced into duty because of Burse’s loan situation. His numbers haven’t been good. He’s been part of two losses and a draw – not to mention the loss to Hollywood United and the exhibition victory against Juventus Primavera. His goals against average in league games is 1.67. But the numbers don’t tell the full story. James played reasonably well in his three regular season starts. He’s shown the ability to make quick reaction saves. Like Burse, however, his leg strength is not the greatest and his ball distribution needs a lot of work. In the role of backup keeper in this league he is fine. In the role of everyday starter he is a question mark.

Grade: B

Steve Reese
You and I have logged as many minutes as Reese has this season — zero. One of these years we might see him play in a game that counts, but this might not be that year.

Grade: Incomplete

Overall
When Josh Wicks left to go carry David Beckham’s water bottle in LA, the Timbers had a pretty big hole to fill. That hole was adequately filled by Burse and James in the first 14 games. How many more games to this point would the Timbers have won with Wicks in the fold? I think they would be about where they are now. Sure there have been a couple of soft goals and the ball distribution has been spotty at best, but I can’t point to this position as being a major problem area for the Timbers. It might become a problem if Burse is sent back to Dallas for good or if Burse/James are exposed as frauds if there are injuries to the backline Playing keeper for a defensive minded team where there is little pressure for the keeper to have to play out of his gourd to win games is a pretty good gig.

Overall Grade: B

Previous Midseason grades
The Forwards

Tomorrow: The defenders

Burse Photo
James Photo: Allison Andrews/Soccer City USA