Unfortunatly, I must go back to the ugly beginnings of Part I of my rant that I posted in an earlier diary and speak of combo guards and tweeners.  

The question(s) I offer to you is, "Who are the combo guards on this team, who are the tweeners on this team, what is their best position, and should they be kept on the team?

Brandon Roy is a TRUE combo guard in that he plays both guard positions adequately and practically interchangably. However, if you listened to Mike Barrett, Mike Rice, and even several prominant members on this site, the spoken words "combo guard" is usually a reference to none other than Jarrett "Combo" Jack.  

Jarrett Jack is not a true shooting guard.  The ONLY advantage we have on offense when Jack plays shooting guard, is that he is slightly quicker than some opposing 2-guards.  That is why he can penetrate on them.  Other than that, there is no advantage to Jarret playing the 2-guard, other than to say we might have another ball handler out there.  That raises a whole other discussion.  Do you really want Jarrett Jack handling the ball? :)

For being an NBA point guard in his 3rd professional year, Jarrett has horrible habits.  There is not a game I can remember recently where Jarret has not left his feet to make a pass and that is a big no no.  It is also very unnecessary.  I challenge you to watch him closely to see him do this.  If it isn't that, it is stepping on the baseline an ungodly amount of times this season. Isn't twice too many?  No doubt about it, Jarret has done that no less than 10-12 times this season.  His newest thing is to telegraph his entry pass lobs, and having that soft garbage poked away or stolen.  Don't even get me started on his fast break abilities.  

On defense, all I need to say is that when matched up with other point guards Jarrett doesn't have a speed advantage.  Quite frankly, all three of our point guards lack defensive speed, and get blown by often.  

In an attempt to paint a pretty picture, the major homers have given Jarrett the GLORIOUS title of combo guard.  I'm telling you, we've been taught to believe combo guard = Wonderful. I'm tired of the combo guard smoke blowing.  We've been tricked! Open your eyes people.  Jarrett Jack is not a combo guard.  SHOOT, HE CAN'T EVEN PLAY HIS NATURAL POSTION ALL THAT WELL, NOT ALONE ANOTHER ONE ALL TOGETHER.  Give me a break. How about if I put Travis Outlaw in at point guard and start calling him a Point Forward.  Scottie Pippen could pull that off.  We ain't talking about Potty Skippen though.

We have a guy who is capable of being a decent backup 2-guard this year in Martell Webster, but Nate has him stuck at the 3.  Von Wafer has shown himself as someone who can play the position just fine.  The guy can shoot and looks quicker than anyone else on our team.  Nate hasn't let him play meaningful minutes since he helped Portland beat the Clippers (in a game Jack did well in I might add). Why Von hasn't played more is beyond me.  I've heard people sugguest Nate has a man-crush on Jarrett.  You can come to your own conclusions based on the evidence of what you have seen this season.

Then we come to Channing "Tweener" Frye.  Channing has the size of a power forward.  Channing has a few post up moves.  Mostly though, he is a spot up shooter.  That is a good thing, but it is a live by the sword die by the sword quality.  It is good that he can shoot and draw defenders away from the hoop.  There is a flip side to that though.  Post player taking perimeter shot = less rebounders inside.  I don't know Frye's percentages, but I'd guess he is around 40-43%  So if you are only converting that percentage, and your rebounding players are away from the basket, that means the defense will have stopped you almost 60% of the time.  That is why I'm so glad that Aldridge is posting up more now.  His scoring is up and opposing defenders are picking up fouls.  We struggled when he fell in love with the perimeter and wasn't hitting his shots.  

Channing has a hard time defending physical players....and most players who are POWER forwards and Centers are physical players.  Channing is a true tweener through and through.  He is a small forward stuck in a power forward's body.  

Last point:

You wan't to know why we have struggled so much in the 2nd quarter the past several games?  It is a matter of personel and substitution patterns.  It is a bunch of combo guards and tweeners making up our 2nd unit.  

Hopefully my memory doesn't fail...
We were up by 7 in the second quarter of the Cav's game when Channing Frye entered the game.  I yelled "NOOOO!" when I saw this. My wife in the other room asked what was wrong.  I told her we dominated the first half, were up by 7, and that we were about to lose all of our momentum going into the half.  

Steve Blake immediately hit a 3 to put us up by 10.  Perhaps I rushed to judgement too quickly? Heck no.  

I think our lineup at this crucial juncture was Blake, Outlaw, Webster, Frye, and Aldridge.  It was a crucial time, because those three minutes could demoralize Cleveland, or give them hope.  If I am the Cleveland coach, I have one game plan at this point, and that is to double team LMA.  Blake has been ok but is a pass first guy.  Outlaw has been in a shooting slump.  Webster is like a box of chocolates. Frye is cold off of the bench.  Who in that line-up is going to punish the Cav's????????????????????????????

Frye immediately blew his assignment leading to a dunk.  He then misses a jump shot.  Then he fumbles a pass a substituted Roy gives him at point blank (that would have been a lay-up) out of bounds, ala Cliff Robinson in the Western Conference Finals against the L*kers.  Had Lebron made that 3 at the Buzzer, it would have been a 1 point game at half.  As it was, we had a  four point lead, but now Cleveland had life.  Our starters built the lead back up in the 3rd quarter, but then Nate made a magical substitution at about....you guessed it..the 3 minute mark of the 3rd quarter.  The lead that had been built back up evaporated, and then Cleveland moved ahead of us. I won't mention who it was that Nate put into the game.  

The fourth quarter was ugly, and for whatever reason, Steve Blake was once again no where to be found until it was too late.  Thanks Nate.  I trust you are doing well with that $4 Million you are making this season.  

In this man's opinion, we need to get rid of this combo/tweener non-sense on our team.  We need a true back-up 2, a true back-up 4, and we need to completely re-evaluate the point guard position.

Brandon can play either guard position and we lose nothing.  Martell can play the 3, but I think he is really a 2. Travis can play the 4, but I think he is really a 3.  

Adding Oden and Rudy will help things a lot.  As it is though, this combo guard, combo forward/guard, combo w/ cheese stuff is rediculous.  

Jack and Frye are nice individuals, but I think they need to go.  I hope our lineup for next year looks something like this.  

Starters are:
C  Oden
PF Aldridge
SF Jones
SG Webster
PG Roy

2nd Unit:
C  Przybilla
PF LaFrentz or Player we acquire
SF Outlaw
SG Fernandez
PG Blake

Leftovers:
Wafer (I think we should re-sign him)
Rodriguez
Miles
McRoberts (If he's cut, it will be for Freeland)
Draft Pick(s)

LaFrentz/McRoberts is the question mark.  LaFrentz and his contract could be traded away, but I'd just assume see his $$$ come off of the books.  Jack and Frye should be traded away.  They could be traded for draft picks, they could be in a "combo" trade for another player, or could somehow be packaged with our lottery pick so we can move up and get a difference maker in the draft.  Maybe we could trade them for a future first rounder?   I think there are lots of options, and I look EXTREMELY forward to seeing how this offseason unfolds.

Thank you Blazer nation.