If it’s a playoff rotation he probably won’t play enough for it to really affect the outcome of a game.
I see Stott going with the hot hand between GTjr & Ant. However Trents D does give him an edge on staying on the floor.
Speaking of rotation, I wonder what the sub patterns will be. Dame- plays first quarter. Replaced by CJ at the start of the second. CJ- subbed by Trent sometime in the first. Melo- subbed by Nas (but more likely Mario) sometime in the first. Zach- subbed by Wenyen in the first, who gets replaced by Melo at the start of the second. The other possibility is Whiteside, who then moves to center in the second. Either way, I think Melo will be a focal point of the second unit, along with CJ. Nurk- subbed by Whiteside. Dame CJ Melo Zach Nurk CJ Trent Nas/Mario Melo/Whiteside/Wenyen Whiteside 9 man rotation sounds about right. ——— Man we really need a backup point guard next year. I can’t take CJ there anymore, and Simons is probably just another CJ type. Hopefully Adams is that guy.
I don’t think those two are on the same level at the moment. Trent has established his spot in the rotation. The real question is who runs the second unit, Ant or CJ. Neither is a great option but CJ at least has experience, and that usually wins out in a playoff scenario.
It's lookllook practice been going well so far. Every game is a playoff game there's really no breathing room just playing 8 games. I hope we do well and get the 8th seed but my focus is how well our main rotation players plays with each other for next year. I know Whiteside and Melo might not resign with us but 4 of the starters will be back. Throw in Trent and Hood and maybe Ariza in the fold for next year that 7 really productive players.
Damian answering some questions. The last one from Eric Gunderson, sounds like it's directed at some of our posters. What do you think of the snark about Melo guarding other 3s?
Take you pinwheel blinders off for a sec....who SHOULD they pencil into the WCF? Not the number 1 team out west?
Both Lillard and McCollum mentioned Thursday that knowing they will have two fairly agile bigs behind them will be a huge key to the success of their new defense. “I think we’ve made some adjustments with our size that we’ll have coming into this restart that will really help our team,” Lillard mentioned. “The way practice has looked, [Melo has] been guarding the three, been chasing Rio and GT and CJ and myself. He’s been switching and guarding all of us and he’s taking the challenge, and I think that’s the most important thing, but what we’ve added with our bigs coming back will be really helpful too.” McCollum believes the Blazers are “heading in the right direction.” Trail Blazers floor general Damian Lillard isn’t concerned about Melo being a defensive liability at the three. "For one, Melo’s a really smart defender, so it’s not always about, ‘oh he’s getting older, or he’s not athletic, or any of those things.' He’s smart. He knows personnel, he plays his angles well, he recognizes actions that’s coming at him. So, I think that’ll be on his side. I think the three is his natural position, so he’ll be able to navigate that pretty easy. But I think the biggest thing is even if there is somebody on the perimeter that could give him trouble, I think the fact that we're getting two seven footers back and one is always going to be at the rim that can cover up for that." – Trail Blazers All-Star point guard Damian Lillard "He’s tightened up his diet. He’s experimented with some different diets throughout the quarantine and I think the biggest thing is his body mass. I told him it looks like he lost weight, but he hasn’t lost that many pounds, it’s more so turning some of the fat into muscle and leaning out, but he’s always around the same weight, he just carries it different. So when he has those tights on and the muscle shirt, he looks thinner, but he’s moving well, he’s in good shape, he’s ready to go." -- Trail Blazers shooting guard CJ McCollum on Carmelo Anthony https://www.nbcsports.com/northwest...ly-lost-little-no-weight-becoming-skinny-melo