I'm sure he's starting at 4, and playing 5 when LA sits. What I wonder is: who will be playing the 4 when Nic is manning the pivot? Matthews?
I'm sure he is, but the claim is that he's going to shift over to center when LMA is on the bench... This should be interesting.
They don't have nearly the reach. Batum is going to have to muscle up, no question, but Miller or Matthews would just be shot over as though they weren't there. Batum has the length to actually challenge a shot out of the post. And there's no doubt that Portland will be bringing hard double teams when Batum is playing Nene. He's not going to be singled up.
Again, go with Babbitt. He put 185 up 15 times at the combine; that's more than Derrick Favors did and equal to Jeff Pendergraph.
Yeah, I definitely see us playing a double-the-post zone. Babbitt might see time because of his height, and Armon because of his peskiness in an attempt to steal the ball from Nene before he makes a move.
What bugs me is that the Blazers didn't already have an eager big body earmarked for signing in case of a trade. They should already have a list of available big bodies and should have someone flown in and signed to a 10-day contract by now.
Those guys always get eaten alive by opposing starters (if they were good enough to stop Nene, they wouldn't be in the D-League), and they never know the defensive scheme (we'll be using a lot of zone tonight) without at least two practices. We might as well just let Denver start the game by having Nene shoot 12 free throws and save ourselves $20K.
I started a thread about this when it was announced that Marks was part of the deal. Why haven't we found another center?? This is ridiculous.
lol. We're going to get creamed tonight unless Aldridge has an insane game. This team is just ridiculously undermanned up front.
Actually, LA just said in an interview that nobody will be playing center tonight. We're starting 2 power forwards, and only bringing guards off the bench. No centers--ever.
I commend LMA for his good sense. Clearly when (if?) Oden comes back next year he'll be playing a lot of "large ball" 4.
Okay, that's some funny shit. I wonder if HCP can get Mark Mason to announce three forwards instead of 2 forwrds and 1 center!
I know this is going to sound facetious, but I'm dead serious when I say I think the team should change everything next year (introductions, programs, media, website, whatever) to "small power forward" and "large power forward." It's time.
Hehe, I agree. Maybe "Lead Power Forward" and "Rhythm Power Forward"? But yeah, something has to change to get rid of the curse.
