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DHawes22
Posts: 6475

Posted 09/25/2012 10:02 AM

Via The Oregonian's Joe Freeman-

Stotts says the #Blazers starting lineup entering camp will be: Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LA and J.J. Hickson.
Positions 1-4 seemed fairly obvious but the question was always who would start at center alongside Aldridge. It looks like JJ will get the nod early on. There's no doubt he's the most talented big we have outside of LA, but now the Blazers won't have the luxury of bringing his instant offense and energy off the bench. Who fills that void?

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mpaull82
Posts: 3

Posted 09/25/2012 10:38 AM
Our rookies freeland and the center we got iam not to worried

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mpaull82
Posts: 3

Posted 09/25/2012 10:40 AM
and BARTON to dam good scorer

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Hoop#22
Posts: 73

Posted 09/25/2012 10:42 AM
That was quite predictable but I expect different rotation (Freeland at starting C) and gameplan in mid-season

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D_pickett
Posts: 607

Posted 09/25/2012 7:37 PM
Best 5 start on the floor. What else are you going to do? Leonard and Freeman will fight hard for the starting C position, but JJ should be the standard that they have to overcome. I don't imagine we will see the same starting center every night of the season.

By the way, if we're talking about sparks off the bench, I don't know whether or not summer league is a good indication, but I would say that's going to come from Nolan Smith and Will Barton until JJ is back on the bench (if that ends up happening).

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mbmurr1
Posts: 530

Posted 09/25/2012 7:46 PM
1. Lillard
2. Matthews
3. Batum
4. Hickson
5. L.A.

later in the season if things are not working out move L.A. to the 4 and J.J. to the bench and Leonard or Freeland to the 5 spot.

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Siccolo
Posts: 794

Posted 09/25/2012 8:16 PM
So our bench is now
Nolan/Ronnie Price
Barton/Pavlovic
Babbit/Claver
Freeland/ Jeffries
Leonard.

Which isnt terrible. Just because I believe Barton will great for us. Hopefully Leonard will produce. Freeland is someone I also am putting a lot of faith in. He played great in the Olympics.

Nolan and Babbit are our weakest links. They were garbage last season. I hear Nolan has worked very hard this off season. But if he is still a liability, then I hope we go with a defensive route and give Ronnie main backup PG spot. Claver and maybe even Morrison hopefully will be backing up Batum. Bautm is going to see a increase in minutes this season. From 30 to around 35 minutes. So hopefully Claver can bring in a defensive athletic spark off the bench for a good 10-12 minutes.

CANT WAIT FOR THE SEASON!!!!!!!!

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Simpson
Posts: 86

Posted 09/25/2012 9:06 PM
@ Siccolo, I'm likin' our bench :) I've heard what you've hear 'bout Nolan; I think this is his year he's gonna help us. Every1 has been sayin' Wes is a beast this yr.! :) The way I c our bench is like this:

Nolan/Ronnie
Barton/Pavlovic
Wes (he starts @ the 2 AND THEN becomes our 3 in the 2nd unit :)/Babbit (@ 1st until Claver get comfy
         w/ the NBA game a lil' more & then he'll replace Babbit)
JJ (like Wes, starts & stays w/ the 2nd unit still @ the 4 OR even moves to the 5 if Freeland is
         played @ the same time)
Freeland/Leonard (1/2 in the season, Leonard will b the solid bench 5 & Freeland the 4 & 3/4 into the
         season Lenard will creep into starting lineup here & there)

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commontongue
Posts: 1433

Posted 09/25/2012 9:06 PM
Uhmmmmm, Babbit is going to the D-League.He is the weakest link. Nolan is going to be a lot better with Stotts running the squad.

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Siccolo
Posts: 794

Posted 09/25/2012 10:44 PM
Yeah Babbit has got to go.
I dont know about Nolan. There were a lot of players that were suppose to get better but never did. (Bayless, Babbit) I know there is a coaching change, and its only his second year...but I dont see it in him.
Im just not a fan of combo guards like him. But He is a blazer so I gotta love him.

Wesley I do think will be the most improved from last season (Might be Batum tho). Just because he tweets and everyone Knows he is a you know GYM RAT. Hes always working. He also says hes has never been this healthy. Wes has said that he had improved his handling, but he felt it was good last year. I think in the new system Stotts will give Wes freedom in the offense. I think more plays will be ran for him, and he wont disappear in games as much this year.

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Tobyus Sanchezo
Posts: 1599

Posted 09/25/2012 11:18 PM
I like it. LaMarcus and JJ are the best Blazers at grabbing easy buckets in the paint. Get them in an active, lockdown defensive zone, and the Blazers should do just fine.

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riverman
Posts: 1098

Posted 09/25/2012 11:34 PM
I like our flexibility and am pretty sure Batum and Mathews are going to play minutes that reflect their paychecks this season. We can mix up the frontcourt in a lot of ways. Aldridge, Hickson, Freeland, Leonard and Jeffries can play the post...that's a lot of fouls to give. We'll be wearing down older bigs. Training camp will sort out the end of the bench. Price, Jeffries and Pavlovich are going to surprise people. Both Smith and Babbit have a lot to prove. In my opinion we're 14 deep and young. Ball movement and rebounding are the X factor. Fresh legs for 82 games. Let the games begin!

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riverman
Posts: 1098

Posted 09/25/2012 11:36 PM
Pick your poison with JJ and LA on the court at the same time. Who are the opposing teams going to double team? Our starting lineup is potentially really good.

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KevinMontoy
Posts: 11

Posted 09/25/2012 11:39 PM
have you guys watch "Breaking Down The Bigs With Antonio Harvey" video..? it's a great video,Antonio Harvey explained about our players and roster rotation so well,i just hoped that Meyers Leonard transition is fast enough to be our starting Center,so we can slide JJ to be our scoring punch coming off the bench playing with Joel Freeland or Jared Jeffries..

Antonio Harvey explain too about how Luke Babbit is supposed to play better at PF position,because i'm worried too if we have to leave our second option at SF position to Babbit,and again i hope Victor Claver transition is faster too (i really think we need to sign another player at SF position,a veteran with low salary maybe..) but poor Babbit if he have to play at PF position with our current roster,he'll find himself a very little minute..

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KevinMontoy
Posts: 11

Posted 09/25/2012 11:46 PM
@riverman: double team on LA and JJ gon' hurt you with another highlight dunk haha so excited to watch this season to see our Blazers reach beyond the expectation,can't wait..!!

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D_pickett
Posts: 607

Posted 10/01/2012 8:27 PM
@KevinM, I'm excited for that very reason. Even if we don't have any true starting centers, we have 3 guys in JJ, Meyers, and Freeland that will all demand a body down low way more than our recent bigs (e.g., Pryz, Juwan, and CJ).

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commontongue
Posts: 1433

Posted 10/01/2012 8:50 PM
And Freeland is no slouch. He is not afraid to bang, or take his man outside and give L.A. room to work.

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Tobyus Sanchezo
Posts: 1599

Posted 10/04/2012 5:26 PM
Listen, I want this team to have fun, but I don't want to see guys fartin' around on the bench. I know we got a lot of youngsters, but I'd like to see a proffesional level of maturity from the guys waiting to get in the game. I'm not worried about chest bumps at halfcourt after an alley-oop and a timeout. That's a good way to chip a tooth. But I'd like to see advice and motivational words from players watching the games from the bench. Coach Kaleb is gonna be busy figuring out the other team's tricks, there needs to be other Blazers that can back up their teammates with quality basketball talk, no matter the outcome of the game. And don't stand up and scream at opponents shooting 3's in the corner. Bench guys screaming at somebody shooting those is childish to me.

I am a fan of playoffs in two zero one three

D Licious
Posts: 183

Posted 10/06/2012 11:38 PM
I can't wait to see Freeland play in Red and Black

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D Licious
Posts: 183

Posted 10/06/2012 11:46 PM
Stotts likes strech 4s

The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Babbitt was seen as more of a small forward in his first two seasons, but Stotts said he likes using a player with Babbitt’s shooting ability – he shot 43 percent on three-pointers last season – at the four.

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commontongue
Posts: 1433

Posted 10/08/2012 5:30 PM
What the......
Even in the event Eddy Curry doesn't make the Spurs, word is he's played well enough to have drawn interest from... several teams, which are supposedly keeping tabs on him. Then again, Curry no longer seems like such a long shot to make the Spurs' final roster. The Bucks, Trail Blazers, Hornets and yes, Bulls, all may have an interest if Curry is cut loose. Any validity to this ?

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Siccolo
Posts: 794

Posted 10/08/2012 9:47 PM
Hope not hahah better options then his old overweight butt

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Subject...

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