Martel back for the playoffs???? He says so

Interesting

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...ex.ssf/2009/03/webster_april_april_april.html

 

I'd love to have him back. If he is back for the playoffs, I hope he is back a few games before the playoffs to shake off some of the rust.

Gramps...

 

Well Martell says he will be back in April which means he should be back prior to the playoffs. I can not see the Blazers putting him on their playoff roster without seeing him play in games prior. It would just ruin the team chemistry and flow and give us no chance. He would need to be part of a rotation and you have to have that set up prior to playoffs.

On a side note, I think the Blazers handled Martell's 2nd injury much better then the 1st one. No time table was placed on a return, we were told he was done for the year (meanwhile Martell was busting his but to get back this year behind the scenes). Now we are all ecstatic at seeing what Martell might potentially be able to contribute this season when we all thought it was a lost one for him. I just wish the Blazers would've taken the same approach with Odens injury and not put so much pressure on him by making his injury sound less then what it was.

 

I agree.

 

Definitely a second unit. They will have to practice plays between when the regular season ends and the playoffs start. He'll have about a week to prepare?

 

I think it would be more of a timing thing than a chemistry thing. It's not like Martell has not played with this crew before. The biggest challenges IMO would be getting him into basketball shape, and getting him back to the speed of the game. Hell, Martell is a "vet" on this team.

 

Well, to be fair Martell has not played with Rudy (minus 1 preseason game) Bayless, and Oden before so chemistry I think does play a big part in this and considering we are in agreement that Webster will come off the bench for the remainder of the year when he returns I think they need some game action together to work out the kinks.

 

Yes, but at the same time, he has more experience than all 3 of the players you just mentioned, combined.

 

[video=youtube;pWqSjBYqZio]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWqSjBYqZio[/video]

And what a pre-season game that was. I can't watch this video enough.

 

Loved watching the clip that Canzano has of Martel's 24 pt quarter against the Jazz. Just the threat of him out there Takes Dallas out of that zone.

 

I don't see Martell coming back @ end of the season and actually being that effective. Look how long Webster has been out, his timing will be off, he won't be in shape, and he will have rust....and you want him to play in playoffs with a few games under his belt? I wouldn't mess with the rotation this late in the season, and who's minutes will he dip into?

 

Who's minutes?

Depends on who we are playing and it depends on when in April he comes back. I agree he will be rusty, but we need the depth. If you consider Travis a PF, we really only have Batum at SF. And we were not sure he is all that healthy. We will need him. Its going to be real physical out there and bodies can drop quickly. As we have seen. Better safe than sorry. An extra shooter never hurts.

 

Frye's.

How can that be bad?

 

Meh... IDK if he would really get any time, tbh.

I think our rotation will be down to 8 MAYBE 9 with our backup PG playing 5-10mpg max, but I don't see it 9-10. Also, I think he needs to have at least a couple games (preferably around 5) and a good amount of practice time with the team to not only get in shape and get in the groove a bit, but to make sure our chemistry is right with him (as a backup SF). The thing that helps him is that he is a SF, and we DO have an opening at backup SF, but I like using Trav as the backup SF and backup PF so we can get our rotation down to 8-9.

Either way, I don't see how this isn't good news. lol.

 

Jackpot. With Oden and Martell coming back, the loser is Frye. Don't get me wrong, I think Channing Frye is a good guy, but he really has turned into a pretty bad player.

 

Martel has a long road to recovery even when his foot is healthy enough to play on. He's not in game shape & he's not really that familiar with half of our rotation. It would be great to have him as depth for those "just in case" scenarios, but to have him part of the 8-9 man rotation doesn't seem likely.

The one positive thing is the first round takes a couple weeks to finish if it goes 7 games so Martel would get plenty of practice time if he is ready.

 

If Martell can find a way to play in the final 5-6 games, I'd put him on the playoff roster. He'd be more use than either Shavlik or Ruffin anyway. There's no big men like Shaq in the past where it was imperative to hold roster spots for big guys to use up fouls.
Leave Raef, Shavlik and Ruffin on the injured list, and make Martell active if he can show he can play.

 

No doubt... especially when said shooter is 6'7"-6'8" and built like a brick shit-house!

 

Webster and Frye are the same player, with two differences: Frye is taller and Webster can make his outside shots more consistently. Frye's size does him no good on the perimeter, though.

Thus, Frye losing his minutes to Webster is perfectly acceptable. I'd be happy with this playoff rotation:

PG: Blake / Bayless / Rodriguez
SG: Roy / Fernandez
SF: Batum / Webster
PF: Aldridge / Outlaw
C: Oden / Przybilla

I realize that McMillan is likely to switch Rodriguez and Bayless, but that's the alignment I'd prefer.

 

I hope he can play, but he should not be reinserted as the starter. Too disruptive of chemistry, so I see Martell as more offensive help off of the bench this spring. Next fall, let him and Batum fight it out in camp over who starts, or package Martell this summer if a better SF option is available.