Even compared to other teams which carry only 13 men, this roster is thin, even for 13. I don't know why this board wants to add T. J. Ford (6-0, 165). Of our 11 active players, will Camby, Roy, Mills, Babbitt, and Johnson contribute much tonight against Denver? If not, that leaves 6 players for a very important game, including only 3 players over 6 foot 5. C Marcus Camby PF LaMarcus Aldridge Luke Babbitt SF Nicolas Batum Gerald Wallace SG Wesley Matthews Rudy Fernandez Brandon Roy PG Andre Miller Patrick Mills Armon Johnson Out for the season Greg Oden Elliott Williams
That is the question, isn't it? I've been going back and forth. A starting five of Dre, Wes, Crash, LA, Camby is seriously devoid of perimeter shooting. We're assuming that it's between Batum and Wallace. But it's possible that Camby comes off the bench and it's Dre, Wes, Batum, Crash, LA. Our second unit has been a problem most of the year, but all of the sudden with Roy, Camby, and Crash replacing Joel & Dante, it looks like our depth could be a strength again. One thing we know is that Crash is going to have to play some PF, even though it's being reported that he doesn't like to. LA needs to play less minutes. There are some compelling reasons to bring Wallace of the bench though. 1) Brings defense & rebounding to the 2nd unit, which have been horrible in those departments. 2) 2nd unit has been running more, which better fits Wallace offensive skill set. Although with Roy back and in the 2nd unit, we'll see if they continue to run. Patty (Roy appears to be taking his minutes) was a big part of the uptempo pace. So many options right now, which is a welcome relief. There is a concern that if everybody get's healthy that Dre/Wes/Roy/Rudy/Batum/Crash/LA/Camby is another rotation logjam. But this is Portland, and since when will they ever be 100% healthy?
I just don't see how you can ask an All-Star caliber player to come off the bench. I think we sit Batum, take some pressure off him, and let him keep developing. The guy is still pretty inconsistent in the grand scheme of things. I really like what Nic brings to the table though, and I think eventually he starts for us, but right now I think you start Crash and bring Nic off the bench.
You don't like the idea of starting Batum & Wallace and bringing Camby off the bench? At least for now, while Camby is working out the kinks . . . it would be nice to see how Dre/Wes/Batum/Wallace/LA play together.
Wallace should be the starter, but either way, he , Batum and Camby should all get the minutes they want. Either Miller Mattews Batum Wallace Aldridge or Miller Matthews Wallace Aldridge Camby For those of you saying that lineup has no perimeter shooting, Wallace shoots .330 from 3, so it's not like he is terrible.
I've weighed in on other threads with this... I'm for bringing Wallace off the bench and playing him primarily at the 4 beside LA or Camby. There are easily 30+ minutes there for him. Batum stays in the starting lineup to help spread the court for LA's post game and Miller's drives... like every team Portland needs to keep several shooters on the court. As the new addition coming from a terrible team to a relevant one, I really doubt that Wallace is going to have public ego problems with this as long as he's getting the PT STOMP
Interesting. Last year, nearly 60% of his shots were within 5 ft; this year, it's down under 40%. I wonder why the significant change.
Tonight will be a problem if Camby is out (as I doubt Wallace will play) After writing my post I realized that Wallace will have to play the PF position except at the end of games. My biggest question is what to do with Rudy. He and Roy as the second unit PG will not work. So for Rudy to get minutes it has to be at the 2 and then when Roy comes in..... the 3. I agree with those who say Wallace needs to be in with the second unit. So I would start Batum and bring Wallace in around the 6 minute mark of the 1st, at the PF position, and move LMA to Center. Rudy would come in towards the end of the 1st at the SG and move to SF to start the 2nd qtr. Patty comes in as the PG. So I guess my starters will be Camby, LMA, Batum, Wes, Miiller My second unite would be Patty, Wallace, Rudy, and Roy. (Camby and LMA will both play with the second unit-at different times) We need one more big.
Theoretically Wallace should start, but in the grand scheme I don't think it really matters that much. He's almost definitely going to get 32+ minutes per game and Nic and Camby will get plenty too. The real benefit is that LMA can stop playing 44 a night and go down to something much more manageable like 36-38.
until camby is ready my vote would be dre-wes-batum-crash-LMA. then when camby is 100% move batum to bench have him come in at the 3 shifting crash/LMA to 4/5. this plan would also include a need for us to sign another big to take 8 minutes a game or so (particularly untill camby is 100%). mainly, i dont think there is ever a time crash should not be starting.
Start Wallace off the bench so he doesn't distrupt the starters chemistry. Later after he's been here a while he can start if needed.
Yeah, until Camby comes back we HAVE to start Batum and Wallace together. There's simply no other big men to put in there next to Aldridge. We'll get a few games to evaluate how that looks, and when Camby comes back we can decide whether Camby or Batum go on the bench. Wallace starts. It's not even negotiable in my mind. He was the best player in the Bobcats' history. He draws 6 FTA's a game over his career. He was an All-Star last year. More importantly, he was First Team All-Defense last year. He's averaged 40 mpg over his last two seasons. He's now the second best player on our team (factoring in his defense and rebounding). He's 28 and in his prime. He simply has to start. If you put him on the bench in favor of a kid like Batum or a gray-hair like Camby, I really think you're going to see him react just like Miller did when he was demoted in favor of Blake.
I laughed at this, not because I disagree....which I do, but because of the disrupting the starters chemistry line. How many starting lineups have we had this year? Wallace was an all star last season, and a 1st team all defensive player as well. He starts on most of all teams in the NBA
Well if Camby is health then we usually would go with LA, Batum, Wesley, and Miller. If Camby doesn't play and since we don't have Dante then we can probably slide Wallace in at PF without it doing much harm, but otherwise I'd go with Camby, LA, Batum, Wesley, and Miller until Wallace has played with us for a while. Laugh all you want.
