Starting 5 -- Call it!

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Fez Hammersticks, Jul 16, 2012.

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  1. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    Hey, if I'm wrong that's great. I would love to have bird rights to Hickson, but I don't see how we could have retained them after we decided not to tender him a QO and his cap hold came off our books.
     
    Natebishop3, Jul 17, 2012
    #41
  2. blue32

    blue32 Who wants a mustache ride?

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    Diebler, Williams, Claver, Freeland, Smith
     
    blue32, Jul 17, 2012
    #42
  3. Coast541

    Coast541 It's better at the beach!

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    Yeah I agree. I kind of almost meant just keeping either Hickson or LMA on the floor, not so much second unit, but rotation.
     
    Coast541, Jul 17, 2012
    #43
  4. Pinwheel1

    Pinwheel1 Well-Known Member

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    That surprised me as well when Neil said it. He seemed pretty confident.
     
    Pinwheel1, Jul 17, 2012
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  5. Mediocre Man

    Mediocre Man Mr. SportsTwo

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    I have no idea? Just going by what Olshey said about his re-signing here a couple of days ago
     
    Mediocre Man, Jul 17, 2012
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  6. Eastoff

    Eastoff But it was a beginning.

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    Any ideas if Freeland and Hickson would work well together as the ambiguously center duo?
     
    Eastoff, Jul 17, 2012
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  7. Coast541

    Coast541 It's better at the beach!

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    Very possible because he never changed teams as a free agent, that we never lost his bird rights.
     
    Coast541, Jul 17, 2012
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  8. Eastoff

    Eastoff But it was a beginning.

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    As I recall, we had his bird rights but did not extend a qualifying offer. Then nobody seemed to jump on Hickson, and we lost out on Hibbert, so we went back to Hickson for a one year deal.
     
    Eastoff, Jul 17, 2012
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  9. Duckhook

    Duckhook Well-Known Member

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    I'm a fan of starting Batum anywhere that I don't have to see him repeatedly step on the out-of-bounds line when he's trying to drive from out of the corner... :-)
     
    Duckhook, Jul 17, 2012
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  10. Mediocre Man

    Mediocre Man Mr. SportsTwo

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    I think that could easily be done, no matter who starts.
     
    Mediocre Man, Jul 17, 2012
    #50
  11. Coast541

    Coast541 It's better at the beach!

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    Yes, they had the hearing that originally determined we got his bird rights because he never "cleared" waivers with Sac and Bird Rights transferred for those picked up on waivers since players had no say. And since even though we did not extend a qualifying offer, and he became a free agent, he never "changed teams", therefore when resigning with us we kept his bird rights.
     
    Coast541, Jul 17, 2012
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  12. Mediocre Man

    Mediocre Man Mr. SportsTwo

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    Freeland calls himself a stretch 4, so it shouldn't be an issue
     
    Mediocre Man, Jul 17, 2012
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  13. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    MAYBE it's that we lost the right to match because we didn't extend the QO, BUT we kept his bird rights? Where's Brian when you need him....
     
    Natebishop3, Jul 17, 2012
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  14. Coast541

    Coast541 It's better at the beach!

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    I just think it makes it more difficult if they both start, to pull Hickson out and then put him back in when they give LMA a small break. But possible yeah.
     
    Coast541, Jul 17, 2012
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  15. Wizard Mentor

    Wizard Mentor Wizard Mentor

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    Hickson
    Ewill
    Lillard
    LeMarcus
    Leonard

    would be one HELLL of a lineup!

    Of course, a BELLL of a lineup has a ring to it. :)
     
    Wizard Mentor, Jul 17, 2012
    #55
  16. Rhal

    Rhal Well-Known Member

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    The starting linup will be lillard,batum,Wes,lma,hickson in whatever way you want to order them.
    This year we really have to feature batum in a ball handeling roll more then he has been in the past. For anyone who thinks batums ball handeling isn't very good needs to watch him on the French team, he handles the ball a lot and he doesn't have bad hands. I'm not sure why he hasn't really taken advantage of it in the NBA but he can be a point forward much in the way pierce is. It is going to take a bit to get him adjusted to it in the NBA though.

    Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
     
    Rhal, Jul 17, 2012
    #56
  17. Wizard Mentor

    Wizard Mentor Wizard Mentor

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    Batum is my favorite blazer, so I really want to believe he'll take the next step. However, I just can't get the fact that in the playoffs the Suns put their worst defender (Steve Nash) on Batum, and Batum did squat, and it really hurt the team. The next time he drives left and does a step back will be his first.
     
    Wizard Mentor, Jul 17, 2012
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  18. Eastoff

    Eastoff But it was a beginning.

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    This makes the most sense and giving Meyers Leonard some extra starting burn. Hickson as our 6th man/spark plug.
     
    Eastoff, Jul 17, 2012
    #58
  19. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    I think it goes like this:

    PG: Lillard
    SG: Matthews
    SF: Batum
    PF: Hickson
    Center: Aldridge
     
    magnifier661, Jul 17, 2012
    #59
  20. Eastoff

    Eastoff But it was a beginning.

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    You're not going to be super optimistic and say EWill and Leonard start?
     
    Eastoff, Jul 17, 2012
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