If Oden isn't a starter then I will be disappointed. No offense to Joel but Oden has to play big minutes for the team to be a real contender.
The funny / sad thing is that there was a significant number of posters on this board (well, the old board) that had absolutely convinced themselves that Khryapa and Monia were going to be very good players, and they just weren't getting enough time (sound familiar?). Some were even upset that we included Khryapa in the trade to get Aldridge!
There's a difference between "trying to stay positive" and flatout homerism and lack of sanity. It rivaled the current blind-homerism that a certain poster currently has towards Sergio.
Our bench will probably wind up being Blake/Rudy/Webster/Outlaw/Przybilla. That's probably a good enough squad to wind 40 or so games if they started somewhere else that had a mediocre bench. It'd be kind of fun to see how many points Rudy, Webster and Outlaw could put up if they were primary options. Defensively...not so much fun.
1. No because the 2nd unit will never have Brandon Roy. 2. No because that isn't what the starters and bench is going to be when the season starts.
Thanks for the heartburn. Throw Charles Smith into that lineup and you have my nadir as a Blazer fan.
Count me as one of them. Who put the LSD in the Kool Aid? I'm pretty embarrassed at how desperate I was to find a silver lining in that turd of a team. Let us also not forget how Ha Seung-Jin was going to be an impact center.
Main Entry: na·dir Pronunciation: \ˈnā-ˌdir, ˈnā-dər\ Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Arabic naḍhīr opposite Date: 15th century 1 : the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer 2 : the lowest point
best lineup. miller roy webster LA oden blake rudy batum outalw or howard (least howard is smart) pryz and "hcp" our bench isnt better with roy and la out.
The Blake/Rudy/Batum/Outlaw/Przy unit didn't really ever play much together last year, but Blake/Rudy/Outlaw/Przy did, and it was almost the worst combination we thew out there all year (33% win percentage). I say almost because we also had Rodriguez-Roy-Batum-Aldridge-Oden from time to time, and that was a train wreck @ 28% win percentage. Contrarily, Blake/Roy/Batum/Aldridge/Przy was one of the best units we had. Among the worst was that same lineup with Oden in it. But when Oden played with Rudy or Outlaw the unit did much better than average. Based primarily on those stats (and with a nod toward unit dynamics), I might be ok with seeing Oden with Miller and Rudy on the second unit. Oden's wasted if Blake's the PG.
Is it normal to feel like jumping off a bridge when you realize you agree with Mixum? I'm not sure yet on Blake vs Miller... or Oden vs Pryz (I need to see Oden stay out of foul trouble) but I think when all is said and done that is our best lineup.
Yeah, I don't see us going with those lineups very much. There's nobody to attack the basket. Either Roy or Miller will be in the game for every competitive minute of basketball this season (when healthy). Why would you ever leave both on the bench? They're the two best players on the team at driving, creating contact and drawing fouls, passing and controlling the offense. It'd be nuts to sit both.
Agreed. Which is why I think it's possible that Blake/Batum/Przy will start (unless Oden shows he can be productive with Blake and vice versa, or is just too good defensively) and Miller/Rudy/Webs/Outlaw/Oden crush second units. Then some amalgam of Miller/Roy/SF X/LMA/Oden to finish.
Miller > Blake Brandon>Rudy Greg>Joel Martell=Nicolas LMA>Travis By that scenario, it's even. But I think you have to give a more weighted value to the advantages of the starters because 1. Brandon Roy and 2. LaMarcus Aldridge. I think those two advantages outweigh the advantages of the bench (Oden and Miller). Advantage: Starters.
