Great points everywhere. I picked Luke because of the tandem of Rasheed and Yao being very strong downlow, both defensively and offensively. Hedo playing as a third option is also great. With Yao getting double teamed, passes out to Sheed and Hedo will be money. West is very dependable with a smaller role, and Conley showed that he can play in this league, and even start. Overall Luke's bench is better. Wilson Chandler can be an offensive stud, not like 20 something, but in the mid-teens, when he is given minutes. Where, regardless of whether he played in garbage time or not, he still showed that he has the ability. Looking at the matchup itself, JO isn't horrible, but I'm not convince that he is fully healthy yet. Yao showed that all he needs this summer was conditioning, and that is something that is easy to fix. A healthy Yao vs. a semi-wobbly JO equals a Yao win. I don't think Wilcox can guard Sheed. I admit LeBron is going to have an easy time with Hedo, and I suspect double coverage. I still see Miller as purely a three pointer shooter and only that. So he has the edge against West. I believe Conley to have the edge against Gordon. I think Conley is better, faster, and smarter than Gordon is. And when it comes to benches, I'd depend on the Portland bench more. Marbury and Williams are just going to be a headcase all season, and playoffs won't stop that, espcially if they are losing in this matchup at any time. Marbury can be a liability for the bench because he may think he is the best on that bench, and he might be, but if its him against 5, then you can say bye bye to the matchup.
yes, but ASSUMED improvment with no real proof... uhh no. and assuming 3 rookies will ALL IMPROVE enough to be the first 3 guys off the bench and contribute significantly on the same team.. highly unlikely. A more realistic approach would be one of them would do much better the other two would still be struggling a lot. look at the Celtics youth movement and the struggles they had. Not every prospect turned out either.
Assumed improvement? How is it assumed? They've played over a season, I've watched Chandler plenty (and Cook a couple times), and I've read up on plenty of rookie shit explain how they've improved. Oh, and read back, der. I said Hawes, Chandler, and Cook. None of thoe guys are rookies. FAIL TRY AGAIN