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  1. commontongue
    commontongue
    Posts: 1435

    Posted 01/18/2013 3:51 PM

    Portland Trail Blazers

    Hi-res-6936832_display_image
    Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

    I was one of the believers in the Portland Trail Blazers going into the 2012-13 season, but I didn't expect them to be quite this good. Given their weak bench, surely the Blazers couldn't remain in postseason contention this far into the season. 

    Well, so much for that thought. 

    Even though the bench has been worse than expected, the starters in Portland have been simply sensational. LaMarcus Aldridge is playing like one of the best power forwards in basketball, Wesley Matthews is hitting shots, Nicolas Batum is making across-the-board contributions, J.J. Hickson has been a nice, big sparkplug down low, and Damian Lillard is a bona fide stud. 

    For a team that isn't very deep, being a game out of the postseason-eligible portion of the standings is by no means a bad place to be in mid-January. 

    Grade: B+

    I am a fan of Rip City Basketball
  1. Nuno
    Nuno
    Posts: 157

    Posted 01/18/2013 4:05 PM

    Could agree more...

    it is a good analize, ours strengh are our Starters and  our weakness is our bench.

    IF we want to reach Playoff, we will need to improve our bench, no other way...

  1. commontongue
    commontongue
    Posts: 1435

    Posted 01/18/2013 4:49 PM

    Without question Nuno. Get me Will Bynum, Tony Allen, Terrence Ross or Alonzo Gee, and .... wait for iiiiiiiit...... Larry Sanders. I can dream.
    I am a fan of Rip City Basketball
  1. Blazer Fanatic
    Blazer Fanatic
    Posts: 483

    Posted 01/18/2013 10:52 PM

    Larry Sanders, Kobe Bryant, James Harden

     

    Who are, NBA players under contract next season?

  1. Nuno
    Nuno
    Posts: 157

    Posted 01/19/2013 7:10 AM

    Lets make reallistic sugestions lol

    Until now, only 4 guys showed somethng of the bench, and not every time they played. Leonard, Freeland, Babbit and Barton. All of the rest, can do little to none, scoring and keeping an advantage/ or whatever diff the starting 5 had...

    So we dont need to get  a whole bench (5) but 2 or 3, in order to make a solid rotations without losing a lead for example. I think a PG, a SG and a C(depending if we keep JJ or not), would be enough...

    So here are my sugestions

    PG Bynum(Pistons) or Foye (Jazz)

    SG Henderson (Bobcats) or Belinelli (Bulls)

    C  Mahinmi(Pacers) or O´Neal(Suns)

    other possibility would be Trading JJ+? for Hawes (Sixers), it would still let Leonard Play and could teach him some stuff that jj cant, because he isnt a real center...

  1. riverman
    riverman
    Posts: 1098

    Posted 01/19/2013 10:49 AM

    To me it's not this simple. We've had stretches where Sasha and Price were better off the bench. Price was the first player to have double figure scoring off the bench with his 12 pts early on. Sasha earlier had 7 pts in a handful of minutes and both Price and Pavlovic are better defenders than Babbit, Leonard or Barton. It's difficult to tell who is the better bench player because it's been such a random rotation for bench players. To me Babbit, Smith and Jeffries would be the first bench players I'd let go. Freeland and Claver have shown promise. Barton has shown promise. What we don't have is a legit 6th man and a big defensive center to match up with Howard or Perkins type centers. I think we've seen experimentation from Stotts with the bench players and the rookies who usually wouldn't get anytime on the court have been tried out. I'd keep Barton, Freeland, Claver, Pavlovic, Leonard and Price at this point.
    I am a fan of A team that plays like Tower of Power on a big stage on a good night
  1. Siccolo
    Siccolo
    Posts: 821

    Posted 01/20/2013 1:48 PM

    Price, Nolan, Sasha, maybe even Babbit are all TERRIBLE!!!

    Price and Nolan are the only point guards in the NBA that have turned the ball over 3 times in less that 5 minutes. 

    Sasha plays ok D and shoots airballs, he cant do anything on the offensive end. 

    the whole bench is just plain awful


    remember when everyone though Freeland could have started for us

    I am a fan of
  1. Blazer Fanatic
    Blazer Fanatic
    Posts: 483

    Posted 01/20/2013 3:11 PM

    Posted By Siccolo on 01/20/2013 1:48 PM

    Price, Nolan, Sasha, maybe even Babbit are all TERRIBLE!!!

    Price and Nolan are the only point guards in the NBA that have turned the ball over 3 times in less that 5 minutes. 

    Sasha plays ok D and shoots airballs, he cant do anything on the offensive end. 

    the whole bench is just plain awful

    remember when everyone though Freeland could have started for us

    Smith and Barton should never play another NBA game this season unless it is a 20 point blow out.

     

    Freeland and Claver and Leonard have shown improvement.  I would give them at least a year to get use to the NBA game.

     

    Babbitt had become more reliable, but when he isn't hitting from three, it's frustrating. 

     

    Sasha and Jefferies have given decent minutes as role players.

     

    Price is definitely not very good, but we have noone else that can handle the ball.  I never thought that the only qualifying trait to be a back up PG for Portland would be to bring the ball up the court and not turn the ball over right away.  Even Price has struggled in that respect, but he's definitely on a different level than Smith.

  1. riverman
    riverman
    Posts: 1098

    Posted 01/20/2013 3:26 PM

    To me Babbit and Smith both should go. Sooner the better. They are not rookies and have had ample opportunity to step it up and have an impact. Babbit has an ok game about every 6-7 games when his shot is falling. We need bench defense. Babbit is in his 3rd year and shows just enough spark once in a while for folks to have hope, then just doesn't bring it for long stretches. I prefer Claver or Freeland in Babbits role and neither of them have 3 years of NBA experience. Nolan just doesn't have an nba game period. I'd keep Sasha and Ronnie on the roster but try like heck to upgrade Jeffries spot. Yeah...I'm totally frustrated with the last 5 losses. I really want to see Barbosa coming in behind Nic or Wes and keeping some momentum going off the bench. Nolan can go to Idaho and stay. I'd give Karl a chance at this point.
    I am a fan of A team that plays like Tower of Power on a big stage on a good night
  1. Blazer Fanatic
    Blazer Fanatic
    Posts: 483

    Posted 01/20/2013 4:08 PM

    I think Stotts should play the starters 48 minutes until Olshey makes a move to bring in someone that can hold a lead for 20 minutes.
  1. Siccolo
    Siccolo
    Posts: 821

    Posted 01/21/2013 12:56 AM

    Everytime I think of Sasha I think of airballs and when he shot the three when we were up 2 with a couple seconds left.....

    Jeffries, Freeland, sometimes Babbit, sometimes Claver are the only players I like on our bench


    I am a fan of
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    Recent Discussions

  1. Roster Ideas?

    Started by Aaron Childers on 05/18/13 at 4:25 AM

    Or Shane Larkin ? This kid is 5''11" with a 44" vertical. Absolutely lighting it up for Miami.

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