And i see Hassan playing around 26-30 min. and Nurk playing 23 -27. We may even see the twin towers in certain defensive situations. Nurk's abilities on offense really raise the ceiling on this.
Would hood even be allowed to play if he were healthy? Didn’t Portland apply and receive a DPE for him?
if we actually make the playoffs I think you could see them share the court since LA has lineups that feature both AD and McGee.
That would require Stotts getting creative with switching schemes, otherwise one of them is stuck guarding Davis on the perimeter.
Ive mentioned it before but Zach is our best bet against AD. I don’t mind Whiteside on AD though, even on the perimeter. He’s actually done well when left on an island and Nurk will be there to provide cover at the rim.
I'd be far more worried about the offensive end with Nurk and Whiteside. Highly doubt we see that though, even in a potential Lakers matchup.
whiteside is efficient scoring at the rim while struggling in the pick and roll. Nurks strength meanwhile is the pick and roll and playmaking for others. Seems like they'd compliment more than get in each other’s way.
More about spacing for Dame and CJ. Becomes pretty easy to bring help on the roller and on post ups as well. Would clean up on the o-boards most likely but I'd worry about transition D trade-offs.
I have to agree with you there. In a potential matchup against the Lakers we should be starting Lillard/CJ/Ariza/Collins/Whiteside. Collins is our best shot of slowing down Davis. We might have to do a little rotation where Collins, Whiteside, and Nurkic all take turn slowing him down
I agree about Zach, but not with the second half of that. We'd be in major foul trouble with all the blow-by's, relying on Nurk to cover for a slow-footed Whiteside. They'd be shooting FTs the entire game.
I don’t think Whiteside is that bad in isolation when he knows who he’s guarding. Whatever he loses in speed he makes up with his length. Most of his issues come when he’s guarding the pick and roll, but a lot of that falls on the guards who routinely put him in bad situations by having to defend two guys at once.
When we return to action in July, both Nurk and Collins will presumably be healthy. If so, what is our starting 5?
Nurk and Melo will start....Hassan and Zach will play big minutes off the bench ...Zach will play most of the game if out of foul trouble but our hall of famer earns the start and probably has minutes shaved for old age...the Noah Vonleh starter....first part of the first qtr and 3rd qtr....I'd say Nurk and Zach finish most games
For me I would start Lillard, CJ, Ariza, Collins, and Whiteside. I feel like that would give us a nice 2 way lineup. And we can have Trent, Nurkic, Melo, and Simons off the bench. I think it’s be better for the team to have Nurkic skills and energy off of the bench. And Melo can play against back up so he can easily score over them. And we got Trent 3D as a guard/wing off of the bench. And Simons will get minutes somewhere But I think Coach Stotts will end up staying with the same lineup with Collins and Nurkic off of the bench and just see how it goes at first
I think i start Melo instead of Collins if Hassan starts. You need that 3rd bona fide scorer in the starting lineup.
I tend to disagree with you on that one. How much does Melo actually score when playing next to Damian and CJ. Not much! Collins probably score just as much as he does and provide better defense. Melo get his points when playing against back up so why waste his minutes playing against guys like Anthony Davis, Jaren Jackson, Marcus Morris, etc where they all shut him down
Start Melo for the ego factor, pull him at the first stoppage. Bring him back in to get some buckets against the teams second unit. Something we haven't discussed is the Trailblazers staff and players watching film and discussing strategy. I hope they've stayed on top of it. I imagine there have been some zoom meetings.
