When I think of the Blazer big men for this year, I'm thinking Oden, Camby Aldridge and Pendy. For some reason I have been leaving Joel out of the equation. If he can come back and be productive, that would be great and add much needed depth to the big man rotation.
I also hope Pendy is purely a spot minute player. But with Camby and Oden and Joel as Blazer big men, odds are that Pendy will be counted at some point this season.
Ahhhh-men. I don't know what to expect from the Center position this year. 1) All 3 are healthy and there is a log-jam, leaving 1 (or more) upset about minutes. 2) They all 3 get hurt/stay hurt and Pendegraph plays the "stopgap" roll. 3) 1 of them gets hurt/stays hurt and it works out great (nobody upset over role/minutes) 4) 2 of them get hurt/stay hurt and every night we hold our breath hoping the 3rd/healthy one STAYS healthy. 5) 2 out of 3 or all 3 take turns nursing minor injuries for most of the season, so there aren't many games where we don't have good depth at the position. Sort of a "Musical Chairs" of minor injuries, if you will. There are actually several more scenarios that are imaginable. We have (arguably) 3 of the top 10 Centers in the league, at least defensively. And all of them are injury prone. Camby usually misses 20-something games. Joel was an iron man from 2007-2009, but before that not so much. And after tearing his Patella Tendon . . . twice? Who knows what to expect? And then there's Oden. I'm scared to watch the games this year. Last year was painful watching guys go down like the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan, and watching teams run layup drills and kill us with offensive rebounds (until we got Camby) was nauseating. On paper, that shouldn't be a problem this year. But after last year, who can blame us fans for expecting the worst?
I don't care about Summer League. If it were a true indicator of how a guy is going to fare than Bayless would be an All Star and Batum would be back in Europe. Besides (and I agree that he played awful in Vegas), he still averaged 9.5 rebounds - good for 3rd in the league. I'd actually be surprised if Pendy WASN'T in the league in a year or two. Tough, physical, fearless, unselfish, team oriented guys who work hard and have even a little bit of skill seem to stick around. I don't think he'll ever be a rotation player, but I suspect he'll be a Reggie Evans type of player (not the most gifted player in the league, but tough and answers the bell whenever called on).
I don't think he really had that bad of a summer league. He got people's expectations up by saying he was going for MVP, and he tried to expand his skills, which obviously didn't work. but he did well rebounding as I remember. If he sticks to what he is good at, he can do OK as a stopgap.
He still makes a ton of stupid fouls and doesn't seem to have any sort of offensive skill set. I doubt the Blazers have the patience to keep him around, taking a roster spot, unless he makes some huge strides this season. I'm rooting for him, but I have a feeling you could pluck any number of forwards from the NBADL and get similar, if not better, production.
Exactly; I also don't expect Nate to force-feed Pendergraph on offense like he was in Summer League. He's a big wide body, and if LMA has gained some weight, Pendy's our 5th center, behind LMA as our 4th. Despite everyone's injury history, I expect we're okay with 3 true centers and 2 emergency stopgaps.
I think just as LMA can play some C, Camby can play a good deal of PF if needed. I would love another decent PF, but honestly LMA/Camby/Cunningham with perhaps occasional stints from Pendy and Babbit and Batum should be able to cover the situation as long as LMA does not go down for an extended period.
I don't see Cunningham being an effective back up PF (I think he is undersized) and as you said Camby is a natural center and depending on Oden's health I suspect Camby will be logging in a lot of time at center. Hope you are right about that position being OK, but I see a bit of a problem with the big man rotation . . . unless we can count on Joel.
I'd be amazed if Joel was ready by opening night. Props to Joel for working hard to get back on the court.
Exactly. Joel might not be the best player on the team, but he works and plays hard every night, which is something I can respect. I have no doubts he will give it his all.
Your best avatar yet. Look at that horrible child abuser with his obvious indoctrination of Purple and Piss on that innocent baby somebody call Child Protective Services!
Dear god I hope we don't have to play our second rounders at PF and Center this season. LaMarcus at PF and a healthy G.O. at Center, with Camby backing up both is a terrific rotation that keeps all three in shape and fresh. And Joel might actually make it back at some point. Here's to the elusive 'healthy season'.
