The more I think about it the more I think theres a shot we see a lot of Baze / Hood and Whiteside together.
Oh yeah I had no problems. Just had to stay at home for one day, which frankly isn't too much change lol Thank you for asking though !
i can imagine them playing it pretty safe and trying to keep a starter on the court at all times and stagger things. once nurk gets back properly, it'll settle out even more. I'm keen to see Simons, Whiteside, Little etc what they can do with some time. it could be a little bumpy at some points, but hey - im happy giving them the first half to figure out what works best.
I think so too. CJ started the 2nd quarter I believe last game with Simons. Hood or Baze will come in for CJ early, and CJ will come back when Dame goes out.
I doubt we'll see Hood and Baze on the floor together at all this season. Baze will be our bench mob captain. Simons Baze Skal, Pau and Mario are the bench mob
Opponents always hide their weakest backcourt defender on our small forward (because otherwise they have to contend with CJ or Dame). Hood's specialty is abusing smaller guards, either in the post or shooting over them. So he's the perfect offensive SF for this team. (Defensively, well, that's another question. But we tried running the perfect defensive complement in Harkless for years, and it clearly wasn't working in the playoffs.) But that doesn't even matter. Portland got Hood on a nice discount. It's undeniable. They couldn't offer him more money, but they could guarantee him a starting job on opening night. Hood signed a 2 year contract with a player's option in his second year to see if he could make a lot more next season as a legit starter either in Portland or somewhere else next season. If Hood doesn't get the starting job on opening night this season, every agent in the league will know about it and it will not be good for the reputation of the Blazers. However, I very, very much doubt Portland guaranteed Hood that he'd get to start all year. No team with a brain hamstrings their coach like that. Not for a decent, but non-star, player. So the question isn't "Who starts opening night?" That's pretty much in stone at this point. Dame, CJ, Hood, Collins, Whiteside. "Who starts 20 games in?" is very much in play, however. I have a feeling Bazemore is going to force his way into starting. He brings back a lot of what we lost with Harkless, but adds ball handling and (I think) more consistency.
I could see this. But it's gonna be a bumpy road. When he gets minutes he has to perform. If he performs well he gets scouted heavily. When he gets scouted heavily teams make adjustments to deal with his strengths and weaknesses. Then we will see what he is made of?
Yeah it is. We watched essentially the same thing last year for stretches with Curry and Aminu on the court with Dame and CJ. The opposite fits as well you can go bigger this year and play Whiteside, Collins, Hood or (Tolliver if he has had his protein shake for the day?). This only gets bigger when Nurk starts playing again and if you add Gasol. Size will not be a problem for this team. Depends on the team the are playing -Matchups-.
I agree with who you have as the bench mob, but how can Hood and Baze never be on the court together? That seems highly unlikely to me. You don't think Baze will ever come in the game for CJ? (with Hood sliding to the SG position)
I'm not sure 'consistency' is the right word. Bazemore has been plenty inconsistent in his career, but that's what keeps role players being role players. What Bazemore has been is consistently more assertive about his own offense, and the biggest complaint (justified) about Harkless was his passive nature; his tendency to disappear when still on the floor career-wise, Bazemore has averaged a shot every 2.76 minutes. Harkless averaged one every 3.63 minutes. And Bazemore's usage rate is 20.6% vs Harkless at 14.7%. Those are pretty big differences and you mentioned an advantage with Bazemore: he's averaged 3.3 assists per36 vs Harkless at 1.4. The other side of that is that Bazemore has doubled Harkless in turnovers for sure, Bazemore has been a better 3 point shooter, .352 vs .323. But after that stat all the efficiency and production metrics favor Harkless: FG%: Bazemore .419....Harkless .476 2ptFG%%: Bazemore .419....Harkless .476 eFG%: Bazemore .489....Harkless .525 TS%: Bazemore .523....Harkless .541 PER: Bazemore 12.2....Harkless 12.5 box +/-: Bazemore -1.0....Harkless +0.2 value over replacement: Bazemore 2.6....Harkless 6.2 seems like people are counting on Bazemore's 3 point shooting (and passing) to make him more effective than Harkless. But 60% of Bazemore's shots have been inside of the arc, and when he's shooting from there, he's been much less efficient than Harkless. And it's worth noting that Bazemore has been below the NBA average as a 3 point shooter. I was also a little surprised to see that Bazemore is 4 years older than Harkless of course if it works out that Bazemore is replacing the minutes that Turner got, he's going to be an upgrade. ********************************************** that's kind of how it was against the Warriors in the playoffs and the Blazers just got crushed on the boards. Arguably, that's why they got swept
Not sure about that strength idea you have but because i don't know i can't dispute it. We are talking an inch shorter and 10 pounds lighter. No question Aminu always played his heart out. Gave it his all every night on the court. Anyway you look at it they would be playing very small just as they were when they played with Aminu at PF and Curry in a three guard lineup.
Wingspan. Aminu has a 9'0.5 standing reach. Hood has an 8'7 standing reach. 5.5 inch difference. Total weight doesnt directly determine strength either. Theres a big size and strength difference IMO.
Hood is replacing Harkless not Aminu from my view...Zach Collins is replacing Aminu with Tolliver and Hezonja subbing in...some Skal...Hood is our SF..Baze is his backup and Trent is CJs...Simons is Dame's
Theyre talking about Hood playing four which he's too small to do. Dont know what that has ti do with Aminu playing 3, but yes, I agree.
That has always been the thought. But we were discussing lineups and all i did was pick a random small ball group. I threw Hood in a the PF with a three guard lineup. I guess just as easily i could have gone Mario? This whole "who is going to play when" is tough right now at best when these guys have not played their first real game. It's also tough when you don't know who they are playing against or in what situation. Starters/bench rotation/ End game/Quick look?/ Defense/3 sec remaining down 1,2, or three are all different looks. One thing i'm looking for is who will be inbounding the ball in crucial situations. Blazers have lacked that solid guy that is a threat to hit a three that can inbound the ball well.
