Why does everyone keep saying we need a SF? Webster anyone? He is perfectly capable of starting at SF, but I would prefer to see Nic play the same role he did last year, with extended minutes. He played what, 10-15 minutes a game last year starting? Let him start again this year, play 15-18 minutes a game and have Martell play most of the rest. Rudy and Roy can also play some SF if needed. This is all assuming we dump Outlaw this off-season. If we don't, he can play SF too. So, why do we need a SF? For defense you say? Nic will be a fine defender. He already is, just give him more minutes. Martell is more then capable of playing extended minutes at the SF. I can see how we need a PG. Blake is not gonna cut if for a deep playoff run as a starter. Fantastic bench player, in my opinion. But not a championship caliber starter. I have high hopes for Bayless, but he wont be ready for a couple years, IF he progresses at the rate we all hope. So, why do we need a SF again?
Does Martell have any trade value on the market? I wouldn't think so as of now, since he was out all year. It is looking like we are stuck with him at least this year. I hope he plays well!!! If that shot ever goes down like we all hoped it would (Chuck Person style) I think we should keep him!!
Well then Nic had better start carrying some of the scoring load. Nic is a great defender. Great that it nice and all. But the Blazers cannot have a situation in the playoffs again where the SF is a doughnut in the scoring column 5 out of 6 playoff games. If you have any hole in your offense, in the playoffs other teams will find it, and double team off of it, and take down your primary scorers. I have high hopes for Webster coming back. But until I hear he is practicing and doing full contact drills without issue, I am going to be a skeptic about him coming back from that injury.
Meh, I just think we need a legit 3rd option in the starting unit. Nic will be fine, in time. Blake isn't that 3rd option. Could Bayless (or Curry) be that guy in a few years? KP is still putting together the pieces of the puzzle. We'll get that guy until Nic is ready.
Martell did impress me in the pre-season last year. He has been working on his shot all year this year. I hope he starts to play like his idol and do some damage next season. How great would that be for our team if he did pan out?!
3rd option will (should) be Oden next year....otherwise it will be Rudy. We dont need to find a 3rd option, he is already here. Also, Martell has started running....so we will see how that goes.
I firmly believe that Martell will be our catalyst next year, alongside Oden's improvements. And if Bayless takes over, that's a pretty scary lineup..... oden, lma, webs, roy, b-rex.
If you all say we do NOT need a SF or a 3rd scorer, then I guess the only needs we do have are veteran PG (better than Blake) and a banger backup PF. Not a bad situation to be in. Sign Miller and McDyess and trade out of the draft and get ready for training camp.
If we had an average starter at the small forward last year, we would have been considerably better. We would have secured the second seed in the playoffs and perhaps have made it to the WC Finals... if not all the way. Long term, I am very confident that Batum and/or Webster will be at least average NBA starters, but I am much less confident that it will happen in the next year or two. So, the thinking goes, adding an average starting small forward for the next few years would give us a better chance to be competitive for a title until Nic/Martel are ready to step up. Ed O.
That is not the rumors I have been reading. I think Miller (or Sessions) is very likely. Not as sure about McDyess.
I'd say Batum was very close to a league average starter this year. He had a 13.0 PER (15.0 is average starter) and he played excellent defense, which isn't really part of PER and very likely makes up that 2 PER gap or, at least, gets him extremely close. I think with improvement, which should definitely be expected at his age, he could very well be an above average starter next season, factoring in both production and defense.
LOL, its pretty awesome the the OP in this thread has "Figure out how to get Hedo!!!" in his sig, when the thread is entitled "Why do we need a SF?" Anyway, I also think that Batum is starting to get a little overrated on how good he really was this year. I don't think his potential can be overstated though. For where he was drafted, and what we expected from him, his rookie year was a huge success. But overall, he was simply slotted in because he is a better starter than Outlaw, lol. Still, he is one of my favorite Blazers. The kid has the drive to be really good, similar to Bayless, which I love.
15.0 is league average, not average for a starter. Further, he only played 18.4 minutes a game, which meant that we were relying on backups (who, presumably, are inferior players) for almost 2/3 of the game. Ed O.
I had thought Hollinger said 15.0 was calibrated to average starter. My mistake on that, then. Yes, I wasn't saying that the Blazers' "small forward situation" was average this year. Just that Batum, as an individual, was pretty close to it. Perhaps a bit further from average starter than I thought, but still close enough to it that I think next season he should approximate one, assuming he improves. If he does improve and is given significantly more minutes, that will do a lot to solidify the position.
LMFAO!!! Okay you got me there. Only thing I could say to that is I would trade Webster (a SF), Outlaw (a SF) and whatever else it took besides Roy, LMA, GO, Bayless, Rudy, Batum or Joel to get Hedo!!! But yeah, you got me good.
Our back SF minutes went to Outlaw (15.1 PER), Rudy (15.4), Brandon (way over) or Webster (-8, but luckily just for 5 minutes). Our SF position can (and should) get better - but it was not the big problem we had last year.
The question is not whether it was THE big problem we had last year. It's why people think we need an upgrade at the small forward spot. With Outlaw and Rudy and Batum we had barely the league average in PER (perhaps even lower; I didn't break it down by minutes played), and only Batum is a plus defensively (I don't think Rudy is bad, but his defensive value is captured by PER, since it's getting steals)... I would expect our guys to improve at the small forward spot last year, but if we had had, say, Gerald Wallace (18.6 PER, good defense above and beyond steals and blocks) I would bet we'd have won at least one more regular season game, securing the second seed in the western conference. Ed O.
