Brian Wheeler just stated on his radio show that Nate has been indicating another lineup change upcoming. The presumption is that this change would return Jerryd Bayless to the bench, sliding Webster to the SG spot, making room for Batum to start. Given our current roster situation, is this the best starting lineup for us right now, or is there another grouping you think would be more effective?
I love the idea of any lineup that doesn't play two point guards. We're already undersized up front because of injuries. With Rudy and Batum healthy again there's no reason for us to be undersized at the swing positions.
Who is our backup small forward then? Cunningham? Meh. I'd rather just see us bench Webster in favor of Batum. Even though Bayless has had his ups and downs, the guy has a PER of nearly 16. That's really, really nice for a second year 21 year old (and far better than Webster has ever done).
With Durant coming to town tomorrow he'll move Batum to the starting lineup to try to contain Durant. Webster would get demolished.
If it is star players that gets Webster's full attention to actually play defense than I am for it because if he wants to play Durant the way he did AK and Artest, Durant will score 100... Easily. With that said I think it would be better to start Batum over Webster and keep Bayless as SG. Webster trying to handle the ball is painful and will cause many turnovers, I can only hope if Nate does the starting line-up of Miller/Webster/Batum, Miller is handling the ball a lot.
vs Batum http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200904030OKC.html or vs Outlaw http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200904130POR.html STOMP
if I was setting the lineup the only tough call would be between Rudy and Jerryd at 2guard... I'm probably a RF lean. Miller Batum LA & Howard seem obvious. STOMP
Miller's gonna be benched again. Seriously, though, I think it will be Rudy or Blake (ugh, ack, please no) replacing Jerryd.
You do realize that it is fairly easy to have Martell as the backup SF, even if he is starting at SG, right?
vs Batum & Outlaw http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200902060OKC.html mostly vs Outlaw http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200902110POR.html So, what was your point again?
it seems like that 2nd link has Travis having a great game and Portland winning... I thought your point was the last time that Durant matched up on Webster he had a poor game... so I gave the last two matchups vs both Batum and Outlaw showing he hasn't had much success vs Portland of late regardless of who was primarily on him. Did I get that wrong or do you want me to post this... http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200803240SEA.html STOMP
I like people assume that since both Batum and Webster might start that we have no back up 3, in reality one of them most likely webster will just come out of the game a little earlier then normal, be replace by Rudy or Bayless then come back in at the 3 for Batum in a couple more minutes... not to difficult to understand. I for one would like to see how that line up could do.
tell ya what, I think I'd rather have Batum at SG but it probably doesn't matter as Batum would guard the other team's SG and Webs the sf.
If you want to knock Webster, fine, but his man D has been pretty top notch this season, not to mention he shut down Durrant last time the Blazers played them.
I guess if we're operating under the assumption that Roy is out for awhile, then I like a starting lineup of Miller, Webster, Batum, LMA and Howard a fair bit. You can still give Bayless some pretty big minutes as a sixth man (and a bigger role as an off-the-bench scorer) and Rudy would probably fare better against second unit 2 guards. and then you can probably fill in with Dante or Pendergraph depending on matchups and who is having a better game. With Webster and Batum you've got some size, you've got some shooting, and maybe most importantly you've got some pretty decent to very good wing defense; an area that has killed this team at times.
I view these statements the same way I did "We want to run more" and "The players will decide who starts". In other words I will believe when I see it.
