A, no question. Travis is a scrub and the sooner we can package him for someone useful the better. Batum doesn't know what the hell he's doing. Even in the games he did well he looked lost.
I'm in favor of getting our best players on the floor at positions they can excel in, and I think that A pushes a guy out of position and C puts a guy too young to handle a starting spot... so it's B for me. I'm not convinced that Outlaw is ready to be an NBA starter, but I'd prefer to give him a chance to show he's NOT than to go with a 6'5" small forward or a 19 year-old Batum. Ed O.
I think the above stats are misleading. Travis averaged more assists than webster, but what about assists / attempts ratio, or assists / touches ratio? I believe that Travis gets the ball many more times than Webster, and thus has many more opportunities to luck into an assist. Travis is a blackhole, and even though he averaged more assists/min than webster, I don't think Webster can be considered a blackhole. Webster just doesn't do much with the ball when he gets it.
Travis had a specific role on the 2nd unit - to shoot and score. He did what was required of him. To extrapolate from here and label him as a black-hole is unfair imho. He deserves a chance like anyone else to show what he can do with the first unit. Unfortunately, Travis seems slow when it comes to understanding basketball. It took him a long time to get to where he got so far - and I do not expect him to somehow become a natural basketball player with a feel for the game over-night. If this team was blessed with more options at the SF position - we could just say that it is what it is and continue on our merry way with other options - but the fact is that Travis has the body / size / length to play SF, he has unique athletic gifts that when utilized properly make him very hard to guard and he is a good locker room/team guy. Unfortunately, Martell got wounded and the options we are presented with are playing Roy out of position for long stretches of the game (something I think he can do many nights, but not all), play Batum who is still not experienced enough - or have to accept that it might take Travis a bit of time to find his rhythm in a different role.
Unless there is an injury, it's going to be B. Travis is the best SF on the club and Nate will give him the honor because he's the vet... count on it. STOMP
sorry but thats not it. He came off the bench because he could be the focus of an attack, which was something the 2nd unit lacked. After Roy and maybe LA, he was the best guy on the club at creating his shot... he got to the line at a decent rate as well. Conversely Martell has not shown the ability to do more then stand in the corner and spread the court with his deep threat. Thats not a hard role if a guys got a jumper which both of them do. Quotes from Travis this summer lead me to believe that the coaching staff is projecting him to be filling this role more now that Jones is gone. And since Martell is now shelved, I expect to see it a lot more. The other reason MW landed the starting role was hot pre-season play... unfortunately it didn't carry over to the regular season. STOMP
I don't think even Nate knows who he's going to start opening night. If it were to start tomorrow, I'd say they would still start Travis. But Batum is gaining a lot of steam and could be there if he continues to show what he's showing. I wouldn't discount Rudy in the starting lineup but I like what he gives off the bench in a Ginobili kind of way, and he changes the pace of the game so well, which is what you want your bench to do.
Travis has never done well deferring to Aldridge and Roy. Like you said, his main asset is being able to create his shot and score. Which is precisely why he should come off the bench.
Hi everyone. I'm new to the site, but it's possible that some of you recognize me from another site. It seems that the majority of the discussion about Outlaw being a good fit is revolving in his offensive role. While that is an important issue, I think the bigger issue with Travis is that we still don't know if he can defend starting NBA SF's. We don't want teams attacking GO and getting him in foul trouble early, and I'm worried Travis will have a hard time keeping most slashing SF's in front of him.
Welcome to S2 Tince and I agree about Outlaw's defense. I think Batum looks like a good choice to be our SF of the future and he is developing faster then I though. He might even be ready later this year but probably not until next year. Hopefully Webster gets back soon and has a good year. If not I can see a trade at the trade deadline for a SF.
I'd go "A" unless Batum continues to impress. If we did do "A", Brandon would be guarding the SFs but would continue to be our playmaker and really play the SG position on offense while Rudy plays the SF position on offense. I would really like to see this line-up play together in the pre-season. I think Rudy and Brandon can play together very well, and I always thought that Rudy would be a great SF in our offense (probably the perfect SF outside some size and D).
My belief is that Batum will start. His defense is already so much better than Travis' that it isn't even funny. Now they may very well give Travis the start at LA because of Odom's size but Travis will get blown by more times than not. Travis can play some help D, hence the block shots, but he just cannot play good man on man D, IMO. Odom has so much size (weight) on Nic that it isn't good either though. ??????????? Anybody's guess but expect to see a substitution early for either player. g
Ahhhh, we aleady had this conversation a while back. I produced numbers and everything. I don't want to do that again. But to summarize: Travis' stats maybe aren't what they seem when compared to Martell. You MUST take into consideration: Starter vs. Bench SF vs. PF 3rd option vs. 1st option PFs who take their shots closer to the hoop than a 3pt specialist SHOULD be much better rebounders. Was Travis? Being the 1st option of the bench (and against other bench players) should boost your scoring numbers and having the ball so much should boost your assists. When you look at this it detracts from Travis' positive comparisons to Webster. I wasn't trying to argue that Webster was all that last season. Only that Travis was fool's gold, and not likely a more important contributor to wins. By watching the game with my eyes, I will tell you flat out: Webster is a better all-around player than Travis. Webster is a better fit at the Small Forward position with the starters. This is what we all know: Webster can play the 3 with the starters and be modestly successful and part of a team that exceeded expectations. Travis can be a gunner off the bench who can create his own shot against (mostly) bench power forwards. We do not know: Can Travis play the Small Forward position full time? Can Travis play with the starters? I just don't see how using apples to oranges stats comparisons are supposed to answer those questions.
.. and I agree. I just do not know why it is so clear that Webster can play with the 1st team and Travis not... The numbers could be in Travis's favor because of where he played - or they can be in Webster's. That's why I am not ready to declare Travis unfit for the 1st team because he was succesful doing what the coach asked him to do on the 2nd team...
I would go with A, but I would like to see the following lineup once in the Preseason: Blake Roy Frye Aldridge Oden If Frye can hit 3's like he seems to think he can, then he is a decent fit. The big issue is guarding 3's, but we are going to have that issue no matter who starts. Our starting line-up in this case is HUGE, as oppose to small. Aldridge is quick enough to guard some 3's straight up. But let's face it, the Blazer's are going to go zone alot this year just like last year. Our main goal defensively has always been to get other teams to take 15 to 22 foot jumpshots instead of getting to the rim. I think this line-up could be used against some teams, while line-up could be used against others. I know Batum has been impressive in 3 pre-season games, but I am still not sold on him over either Rudy or Frye at this time. If he continues to play well during our punishing first 10 games, then he should start.
