I think, obviously, if the best player goes down the team is screwed. LeBron, Durant, Howard, and Aldridge are all so crucial that the team would definitely take a dive without them. The problem, I see, is the peripheral guys. The Heat can survive if one of their main role players go down. The Thunder can survive if one of their role players go down. I don't think they're really talking about one of your top two guys when they're talking about depth. Would we be able to survive with Freeland starting at center for any length of time? That would mean that Leonard moves into the rotation. How would that affect us? I don't think any team can weather losing their best player, unless they're just ridiculously deep, but can they survive losing a starter? If Wes went down, I think we could survive for a while. If Lopez went down....... I don't know.
The pre-season talk about the Blazers having a lack of big man depth shows deficient understanding of the NBA. Houston, NY, Dallas, Lakers, and Miami don’t have two quality big men in their starting unit! The only teams that had experienced big men as starters along with one on the bench was Memphis, Indy, Chicago, Cleveland, San Antonio, Denver, and Detroit. The Clippers, Mavs, Warriors, Thunder, Bulls, Hornets, Hawks, Knicks, Lakers, Twolves, Nets, and Heat all had equal or less big man depth as the Blazers. So out of the teams trying to win now when the season started, two thirds had equal or less big man depth as the Blazers and only a third had superior depth. Lack of big men depth is a problem with the whole NBA, not the Blazers. It may not be a strength of the Blazers, but it is not a weakness when compared to the average contending teams.
Totally agree with the OP, and this statement is partly why I like Stotts so much. Platoon substitutions (read: Nate) are a surefire way to give away momentum to the other team. Stotts understands how to use the bench sparingly to fill holes while starters rest, rather than trying to replace the skill set of superior players.
I don't think the Heat can survive if they lost one of their "big 3." A difference of opinion I guess. Lopez is critical, as is every starter, as is every player in the rotation. Injuries happen, but assuming they will happen to Portland is a piss poor excuse to not give credit where credit is due. That's all I'm sayin.
Coach of the year... and an early candidate for post of the year? I might be embellishing a bit on the latter, but it was fun to type.
Well Said. That's a great post. Repped. I'm sick of hearing that "if this guy gets injured" excuse. Well what if Lebron Gets injured? Then Miami would suck. Even with Wade and Bosh. Edit: "You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Blazer Fanatic again."
