I agree and disagree with the point about our bench. I think we could survive an injury at some positions, like shooting guard, but if Aldridge or Dame went down, that would pretty much be it. But that could be said for any elite team. If your star goes down, how do you replace that? We have a lot of wings that I think could step up, but I don't think Robinson is anywhere near ready to play starters minutes at the power forward spot.
I think it's looking at an injury, and other guys stepping up. So, like, an injury to Robin means Freeland is starting and Leonard is now getting his time. Injury on the wings means Claver or Crabbe or Barton starts getting bigger minutes, etc. Still, I think same could be said for most teams, especially when you look at it with their top guys.
Thank you for this info. Good stuff. I particularly like the bolded comment below. We may not be the best but we are getting some recognition as a good defensive team. Thanks! Gramps...
I think Barton is underrated. I think he could step up and play a bigger role. He has improved since last year, and I think he would improve further if he actually got some PT. I also like Crabbe, but I haven't seen enough of him to really make a judgement. The idea of Lopez going down is frightening though.
The only thing that really stands out with me is when we played the Lakers last season and Kobe just dared Barton to shoot that mid range shot. I would just cringe if we had a hole like that now.
It feels like we have one of the best benches in the history of basketball after the disaster that was last season.
Because it doesn't Robinson, Freeland and Leonar_ are the front line depth. None of those players has proven shit in the league, which is why people are hesitant to give too much props.
I don't think of Barton as a shooter. He's a slasher with long arms. He actually plays the passing lanes very well. He has potential. Crabbe is the shooter. I can't wait until summer league to see how those two have progressed.
Scout No. 2 Doesn't think the Blazers are built for playoff success because they rely too much on the 3 pointer.
I don’t think Dame is that important to our regular season. Mo is very a capable starter, Wright and Watson can be part of a bench unit that isn’t terrible. Obviously we would be worse without Damian but for ~20 games in the regular season it might not cost us more than a few wins. Compare that with Aldridge going down; we’d be in a major bind. Even if TRob was a capable starter, which seems like a stretch, we’d have to give Leonard or Claver big minutes as a reserve. The team could really struggle. Yeah exactly; look at Memphis without Gasol or the Pelicans without Davis; those teams are going to have major problems. Basically every team is going to take a major step back if one of their two best players goes down.
http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/teamstats/14/7/pts/1-1 We've still got one of the worst benches in the NBA, but hey, it's an improvement. Indy is right there with us, so it's not all doom and gloom.
No Damian for 20 games and this team would be lucky to go 6-14. Mo Williams does OK in a spot role, but there's definitely a drop off between Damian to Williams and you'd see a lot more of Earl Watson's corpse.