Bogus! This new 3 Guard Lineup....

As long as Powell plays the most minutes of anyone besides Lillard. I think he's Portland's second-best overall player. Beyond that, mix and match away.

 

Keeping track tonight. 3 guard lineup up 24-15 when Powell went out in the 1st. Butler only took one shot.

Down 23-17 in the 3rd when CJ went out

 

I apologize if I wasnt clear, I meant starting. Not during the game in spots.

I kinda assumed that was a given considering our starting lineups as of late?

Anyhow, regarding matchups, Do you think Powell is better at the three than Little for most matchups? Against KD, LBJ? and many other larger small forwards? These guys all start, so the matchup would be against them. The start of games are the most important. Who can get the first punch. I don't see this team able to do that starting 3 guards every game.

What's Powell gonna do against Middleton when they both start?



Don't see it working having all three start.

 

Take the matchup against who would currently be our 1st round opponent.

Paul George vs CJ McCollum
Kawhi Leonard vs Norman Powell

To be fair, they have more talent for a large part because both those players play well on both sides of the ball and our 2 best players do not. Little would at least stand a bit more of a chance even thought he would be very inexperienced.

 

I see CJ and Powell getting worked.

 

I don't think it matters much who starts or not when more than likely the minutes will be the same. Who got the first punch last night and did it matter?
Butler was 0-1 last night during the 3 guard lineup to start the game. He ended up with 20. The Blazers were up 24-15 when Powell went to the bench. Who guarded Butler better last night......Powell, Little, or Jones? Are the refs going to give any respect to Little when guarding LBJ or Durant? or would the superstars go right at him resulting in the young player getting into foul trouble.

Long term yes I would prefer Little to keep improving and be the starter next year at SF. However, right now I wonder if the slightly smaller Powell (5 lbs) who is also a good defender, is better starting with Dame and CJ when teams trap Dame. They caught the Blazers by surprise last night by starting out the game with it, but that particular lineup did adjust after being down 3-0 by scoring the next 11 straight.

Against the Clippers I thought Powell matched up well against Kawhi in the last game(probably because of familiarity being they were teammates)
Paul George is an issue though for Dame or CJ so yes I would change up the lineup if we face them. Against LBJ, AD, and Drummond......does it really matter who we start? As for the rest of the west, I think the 3 guard lineup to start is just as good as any other starting lineup we can try.

 

sorry but if you are talking aBout matchups doesn't it start with the starters? Minutes can be the same without them all on the court at once starting the game.
So are you saying we shouldnt have s stable five man starting rotation?

that the starting lineup should change based on the opponent?

i disagree vehemently for three significant reasons.
First, thats adapting to other teams when we should be forcing them to adapt to us.
Two, it will be much harder to maintain cohesion if players are comfortable and know thier roles.
Three, when have you seen a team go deep in the playoff where they switch around the starting lineup based on the opponent?

im sorry I'm just not following your logic.
I guess i just dont think switching the starters up on a regular basis provides any cohesion Nd will get us anywhere in the playoffs.

 

I am only talking about making adjustments against elite players in the playoffs. (Lakers and Clippers) And yes elite coaches have made changes to their lineups over the years in the playoffs when needed. Do you really think that we can force LBJ or Kawhi to adjust to us?

Only a few teams have SF's that Norman Powell can not guard as well as our other small forwards can. Why start a bigger player in all the other games if it is not needed. I am pretty sure that we could flip Jones back into the starting lineup without causing a lack of cohesiveness. He plays with the starters later in the quarter anyways.

If you don't want to make an adjustment for the Clippers that is fine. But our 3 guards are our best offensive players. Dame from deep, CJ from mid-range, and Norman attacking the basket. They need to be on the floor as much as possible.

 

Dame - Norm - Nas - RoCo - Nurk

That line up still has a ton of firepower at the guard spot, elite 3pt shooting and can FUCKING PLAY DEFENSE

 

It is a players league there is no denying that but this team... it's coach and GM... could forget that for one fucking second and show some backbone. If these players aren't on board for the changes that it's going to take to win, then this should be the most active off season in team history. I don't want to be opaque, I mean if anyone including Dame gives ultimatums that keep this team from improving, they're not who we want and need to be moved immediately.

 

I would just change Nas to DJ but still get Nas important minutes off of the bench.

 

I can get behind that, but Nas is a bigger threat from 3 et I think will eventually be the better player

 

I am not a fan of the three guard lineup. I think one needs to come off the bench to make a three guard rotation with DJJ Back at SF. What I notice with the offense with each of the guards, is when Norm gets a rebound or the ball he pushes it up and forces the pace and the defense can't set up. When Dame or CJ get the ball, they slowly bring the ball over half court giving the defense a chance to set up. If Dame and CJ would push the ball and pace more instead of giving the defense 7-8 seconds as they slowly dribble up the court, it would prevent some of the traps Dame sees because the defense would not be set. I think this is more on Dame and CJ. I agree I think Stott's needs to go, but I also think part of the issue is Dame and CJ insisting that 95% of the time they are going to slowly bring the ball up allowing the defense to set up.