I'm really trying to see whose minutes Webster should take away when he comes back, and it points out to me how redundant he's become. Batum - He's a better defender and rebounder than Webster, and seems pretty confident in his three point shot. Webster's got more of a track record on perimeter shooting, but that's the only reason I can see for giving Webster all his minutes. Even if you find that a compelling argument (I don't, given how Rudy, Outlaw, Blake and Roy are shooting from 3) and give Webster all his minutes, that's only 17 mpg. Webster was at 28 mpg last year. Rudy - There's not a single thing Webster does that Rudy doesn't do better. Nate would be insane to cut a minute from Rudy to give to Martel. Outlaw - Outlaw's role is to come in off the bench and create shots for himself when the offense is bogged down. Webster just can't play that role. Outlaw's added "designated 3 point shooter" to his game this year, and although it's probably a fluke, I can't remember Webster every having a 7 game stretch where he shot 65% from distance. When Outlaw shot threes better last year than Webster, the refrain was always "sample size." Outlaw only took 101 of them last year to Webster's 317. But this year Outlaw has taken nearly 3 a game. At some point we're all just going to have to concede that Outlaw is the better perimeter shot, and that time is coming soon. One last note--although Outlaw gets labeled as "the chucker", Outlaw's been playing for five seasons and his worst FG% (.429 as a rookie) is better than Websters best (.422 last year). Outlaw's averaging 31 mpg. I suppose you could shave off a few of his minutes, but why? Because we think Outlaw may come down from his insane three point shooting percent? I don't see it. Rodriguez - Ok, he's getting 10 mpg. Amazingly, he's averaging 3.4 assists in those minutes. But Webster is better than him. Do you axe his minutes and play Rudy/Roy more at PG, freeing up time for Webster at SG? Probably. There's 10 minutes for Webster. Blake - You can't really cut out all our other PG's just to make space for Webster. Besides, Blake gives you the same perimeter shooting Webster does, and he can at least sort of guard PG's. Webster can't. If you bench Blake, you are consigning Rudy/Roy to guarding the Pauls and Parkers full time. Yuck. So when Webster comes back, it looks like we probably have to axe all of Batum and Rodriguez's minutes just to get him back to where he was last year. Is it really worth it?
Interesting insight, and good question. I think Webster will take Batum's minutes in the short term, I think it's probably worth it. In the long term, well, I've been saying since the middle of last year that the Blazers need to make a 3-for-1 trade. If they do, Webster's role will be clarified (if he's still a Blazer). One quick note,though: Batum (who may be the starter long term!), Outlaw (I really like seeing him on the floor with Rudy), and Webster (he really ran the floor well in the preseason) all have EXTREMELY reasonable contracts.
He might cut into Frye's minutes with Outlaw playing more PF. Maybe even with Webster at SF on the 2nd team - since Nic seems to excel with the first team and Webster is a good fast-break finisher - a role he will work well next to Rudy...
I think when he gets back, batum will mvoe to the end of the bench. I am excited about the kid, but I think that will just be the reality of it.
Not to be a broken record, but see if you can find footage (let's hope it's not hairline fracture footage) of Webster's one game in preseason. You know, the game against Sacramento that got us all excited. Outside of Rudy, Webster was perhaps the best player on the floor. He fit PERFECTLY with the Spaniards - alley-ooping and shooting threes. I see him as actually better suited to that second unit. Can we perhaps phase out Channing (painful as that would be, because he's such a great guy), have Outlaw be the backup PF and have an absolute kick-ass second unit of Sergio, Rudy, Webster, Outlaw and Joel? I'd like to see that match up against the Lakers' bench crew that they're crowing so much about.
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Webster is a better overall player than both Batum and Outlaw, unless Outlaw keeps playing the way he is playing.
Healthy lineup this year should be... Blake | Sergio Roy | Rudy Batum | Webster Aldridge | Outlaw Oden | Przybilla cuts out Frye, Diogu and Bayless from any PT barring injuries.... eventually the rotation will be cut with a 3guard rotation and spot minutes to Pryz when needed... We still need a consolidation trade, but WOW, that 10 man rotation is among the best in the league for sure... I think we easily have the best top 12 players on any team in the NBA if you add Bayless and Frye to that bunch. He still fits though, for sure. I like Outlaw as a backup PF, and the only reason Frye has been playing so much lately is because Oden is out.
This is not even close to the truth. Webster has never been an above average player in this league. His best year (last one) he had a PER of 12.0 - making it worse than Outlaw's worst year (also his 3rd) at 12.9 (this was also the only year Outlaw's PER dipped below the 15 mark assigned to an "average" player). Just in comparison - last year Outlaw's PER was 18.6 - this year he is at 18.7 through last night's game. Batum, after an insignificant game last night - is at 14.2, as a rookie (he was above 15 for his first 6 games). Webster is a nice kid, he has a nice shooting form, a great NBA body, he has learned to finish well on the break and his defense is getting better - but he is nothing more than a complementary below average player. His saving grace is that he is so young - so maybe he one day will become better - but to say that he is a better overall player than Outlaw is laughable - and even if he is slightly better than Nic at the moment (something I am not sure about) - Nic seems like he has a much higher potential than Webster and he is young, really really young. The best thing for Webster, long term - is to have Outlaw moved to backup PF and to play in the fast-pace 2nd unit as the SF next to Rudy. He will face worse defenders, slash to the basket for open looks from Rudy and Sergio (if Sergio stays with the team) and will have less pressure to make open shots - since both Travis and Rudy do it so well. Nic already has a much better handle and moves with the ball than Webster, he rebounds better and he is a better defender. Outlaw is just a unique talent. He is the only one on the team that can create his own shot night in and night out. Even Roy struggles against some players. LaMarcus is pretty good at creating his own shot as well - but he benefits a lot from pick and roll situations to free him.
Shannon Brown Chris Quinn Trevor Ariza Ryan Anderson Ben Gordon Will Bynum All of those players have a higher PER than Brandon Roy. Are any of them better than Roy? No. PER might be the most useless stat in the world. Webster is a better overall player than Travis. He is a better defender, he is a better passer, he is a better ball handler. It's not all about stats.
Being at that game, it was amazing the chemistry Martell had with Rudy especially. Other than Rudy, Webster is really the only guy you could throw alley-oops too on this team. You could say both have similar type games. Both can shoot and run off screens, so I'm sure they know what each other is thinking to get open.
With the exception of Ben Gordon - none of these guys play any minutes worth mentioning - so their PER is not important - and Ben Gordon's defense is atrocious - if he was not such a defensive liability - Ben Gordon would be worth a lot more than he does - because he is a fantastic scorer. Travis and Webster play similar minutes - their defense is not worlds apart (Webster is a slightly better on the ball defender, Outlaw is a slightly better help defender). Travis is not a worse passer than Martel (he had a slighly higher assist average than Web last year, despite the fact that he plays less with the starters so he has to pass to lesser scorers). Martel is not a good ball handler. He just is not. Travis was not good last year - he is much improved this year. Martel is not a better overall player than Outlaw, he just isn't. He might be a better complementary player next to guys that need many touches to thrive like Roy and Aldridge - but he is not an overall better player. The big problem for Martell is that Nic seems like he will be an even better complementary player in the first unit - since his defense is so stout.
I find it really funny that this question is even asked after Batums 1pt 5 foul performance last night.
As long as they keep score, it is going to be about the stats. The scoreboard doesn't care how pretty your shot is. It doesn't care if you catch-and-shoot in the flow of the offense, or go 1-on-1. It only cares if the shot goes in! As for your comparison, saying Webster is "better" is rather disingeneous. "Arguably less awful" would be closer to the point. Both of these guys are one-trick-ponies - and neither is the long-term answer.
I am a firm believer that Outlaw > Marty, but if Marty comes back, I give Outlaw all of Channing's minutes and a bit of the backup 3 as well. Marty can either start or come off of the bench. We really do need to make a 3 for 1, as long as we don't trade Outlaw (don't see us getting fair value back for what he actually brings to the table), I'm good.
Really? I seem to remember Outlaw throwing 2 down at the end of last season. He probably has the highest vert on the team, and would throw more down if we ran more.
