When did Webster say he wanted to lead the team? I think he is a pretty good complementary player on this team…and with the addition of Oden, he will be an important part in this team’s success. He’s been getting better every year and he will be better next year. I dont know why people think TO should start, the guy doesn’t complement ANYONE, he has one thing on his mind: shoot.

Blazersedge seems to have a disproportionate amount of Outlaw fans and as such I commonly fail to present my position that Webster is the better SF for Portland. A lot is made about Websters inconsistancy. But, I feel that most would acknowledge that with age consistancy follows. I have no doubts that Webster will be a consistant force in the not to distant future. But, Martell struggled with confidence which hurt his game his first 2 seasons in the league. He was defensive, didn’t take well to coaching and his work ethic could have been better… but all those factors have changed and Martell the boy has become Martell the man. You said it your self Dave, Martell has a veterans body, in large part because he spends his time in the offseason working on becoming a better and more well rounded NBA player. I guess the point I’m making is that Webster has just much potential as Outlaw or Bayless or whoever and as such we need to remember that he will get better.

Webster was sent into the off season with 3 goals from what I can remember: (i) to improve his dribble, (ii) improve his defense, and (iii) improve his playmaking skills. I’m not so sure that Webster will have honed his D to much (I just didn’t get the feeing that he was as excited about becoming a D-stopper as McMillan would like) or that he will have become the next Magic… throwing the no-look every other play, but I have a feeling that he’ll finally be abe to handle the ball. This is soooo important for him and his confidence. Webster shoots better from inside the arc than Travis, and he seems to like to dunk the ball a bit more too… but he just can’t do it because he can’t bounce the ball properly. Defenders will give Webster more room if they feel like Web can get by them.. which should ultimately help in his 3 pt %.

In the end, and I’m sorry to all those Outlaw fans (I love him too) if I am right, but IMHO Webster is a better fit for the team because he seems more willing play a role in this team and to do the little stuff. Webster is more well rounded than Trout now and that willl continue because he works so hard. Web rebounds at a higher rate from the SF position, if he gets the ball and there isn’t an opening he’ll pass it back around the horn (unlike some of our more shot happy players ; ), he seems to enjoy playing D a bit more than Trout and most importantly, the Blazers have an up and coming 3 point marksman (21st in the league with over 300 attempts is good, but it will likely get much better). The Blazers need a consistant shooting presence when LA and Oden are bashing their way to championships… and with age consistancy follows.

The future of the SF spot depends as much on Oden and Aldridge’s play, as on the SF’s play. Walton enabled the Blazers to use Bobby Gross, whose value was the ability to knock down the mid and long range jumper consistently. He was an adequate, but hardly a lock down defender, and a competent, but not great ball handler. I agree with Dave that Webster’s future will be dictated by how he fits into the playbook that the Blazers will have in the coming season. Mac and KP have both commented that TO and Webster will be used solely at SF. Unless Oden, Aldridge and Frye take a step back – rather than forward – there are simply very few other minutes available on this team. I do find it interesting how Mac consistently supports Webster as the starter, and TO as the backup. Just as interesting, is Mac’s stated reason for doing so, which is that TO will get more touches on the 2nd unit, than if he played on the first. Currently, their combined production is adquate for the SF spot, and if that production can be continued this year given 6 less minutes, then Mac (if Webster becomes more consistent game to game in scoring, and upgrades his defense) may be very satisfied with these two in the context of how they play within the team we will have.

The TO/Webster arguement will continue, however. Both cannot be starters and receive staters salaries. Right now, it looks like each will play 24 minutes or so a game, whereas if we had a starter, it would be more like 32-34 and 16 to 18 minutes a game. And, I can’t see either wanting the 16 to 18 minutes a game, nor do I think that either are ready to concede that they cannot be a starter – if not here – then somewhere else. They both, in sum, must accept role’s, and the question is – will they be happy doing so?

This is why I also wonder if one of these players – like Jack, won’t eventually be moved.

in the shuffle by mid-season. He just does not stand out when he is in the game, I dont count on him for anything and its hard to say that about any other player on our team.

I still here the rants of Coach and Pritch, after his workout how it was the best individual workout they had seen. As a Blazer fan and hereing those rants the expectations (imho) for myself were through the roof, knowing he was young Its easy too sit back and wait for him to develop but that was three seasons ago. The couple scoring outbursts he has had dont get many fans that excited.

I would have no problem with the team if they packaged him with Raef or whomever and and solidified the sf position with a defensive standout or just an all around baller.

Rather than getting into a “Webster fans” vs. “Outlaw fans” food fight, I suggest we look at the needs of the TEAM. What do the PTBs need from there starting “3”? I would rank our needs as follows:

1) perimeter defender: Roy is an above average defender but he is not a lock-down guy. He has so much responsibility on the offensive end he often has to try to conserve a bit of energy on the defensive end. Blake is adequate against most PGs, but he struggles against the super quick guys like DW, CP3, and TP. We need a 3 who can play good one-on-one defense against the other teams 3 and who can occasionally switch against the other teams 2 to help Roy. When we are playing zone, we need someone with speed and enough court awareness and b-ball IQ to know when and how to switch.

2) perimeter shooting: we need someone who can spread the floor to create room for Roy and Bayless to take it to the hole or to keep their guy from offering help down low against GO and LA. Shooting a decent number and percentage of three from all around the arc is vital. We do not need our three to score a ton, we have plenty of weapons, but we need someone who is a real threat to keep his defender honest.

3) ball and player movement: we need somebody who understands TEAM basketball. The Blazers have so many weapons that if they learn how to move themselves and the ball around the court they are going to create tons of mismatches. This is the key to efficient scoring. Our 3 needs to have enough court awareness and passing skill to help make plays for others.

Note what I did not include on this list: scoring. IMO, we do not need a 3 who scores more than 10-14 per game. Scoring was more important last year. Now that GO is taking Pryz’s spot in the starting 5, we have a huge inside presence. Now that Jack has been replaced by JBay and Rudy, we have more perimeter threats. Now that Frye is playing in his natural position and working on his outside shot we have more scoring power on the bench.

So given this set of needs, how do Webster and TO look? I think the answer is obvious. TO is clearly not our starting 3. This isn’t to dog the guy’s game. TO has skills. The point is that what he provides is not what we need in the starting 3. He may be a great 6th man off the bench, but he needs to accept his role. As I suggested in the paragraph above, I think our need for bench scoring is going to decline with the arrival of GO, JBay, and Rudy. If TO thinks he should start, or thinks the team will benefit from him jacking 15 shots per game, his future with the team should be re-evaluated.

What about Webster? If you compare Webster game to the list of needs I laid out above, I think the answer is that Webster has the “potential” to be the guy we need. He has the body and the athleticism to be a superior defender. He has the stroke to be a serious perimeter threat. He has the brains to understand team ball and where he fits into the big picture, whether or not he has the temperament is an open question. I suggest that we all take a deep breath and wait to see whether he realizes this potential. We can discuss it till the cows come home, and discussion is fun, but the proof will be on the court this season. If Webster continues to improve we will see it. I think there is a high probability that Webster will benefit, hugely and immediately, from Oden’s arrival. Teams are going to have a heck of a time dealing with GO and LA straight-up. Webster is going to get more open looks on the perimeter. If he has improved his dribble and can at least threaten to take it to the hole, he is going to be very difficult to defend. His effort on defense will be immediately apparent. He knows he has to play D if he wants to keep his job, and he knows he is coming up on his contract. He has the tools and he has the incentive. I expect big things from Webster this season.

If the improvement is not there, we will know before the trading deadline. If Webster is growing into his role, great. If not, either he or TO become trade bait along with RLEC for a veteran 3 who meets our needs.

All of this is, of course, just my opinion, and I am not an expert. What do the rest of you think?

Here’s what I’d like to see from Martell: the ability to be sent to the bench, have his playing time plummet, but keep his head up and fight his way back into playing time. The main problem I see with Martell (versus, say, Channing Frye or Travis) is that he has a very fragile basketball mentality, that can be disrupted by things that happen around him. Last year folks were reluctant to replace him in the starting lineup because of fears he would go into a funk and never get his head back straight. If he cannot achieve an even keel on the court, then this is a problem on a roster of the sort we have. I either see him maturing in a major way this year, or the first time he gets replaced in the lineup, he’ll end up in a downward spiral. The potential is there — it’s upstairs where he needs to develop most.

But then, that’s probably why he gets paid the big bucks.

Martell needs touches on offense to be effective. And sometimes, even while getting the touches, he’s not effective. If he isn’t involved in the offense, he still has a pronounced tendancy to drift. He has improved on that though, but like all his improvements, it’s incremental.

But he doesn’t do those other things that would make him more valuable. He doesn’t crash the boards, either offensively or defensively. He’s a poor ball-handler so he doesn’t help initiate offense and make passes and assists like other SF’s. Go around the league and see if you can find other starting SF’s with a lower assist rate then Martell.

And right now, through all the talk about his defense, it’s still a lot more about potential, then about the reality. He’s improved defensively, but’s he’s still only average…at best.

Then of course, there is the apparent conflict between Martell’s 11.3 million cap-hold next season and KP’s often stated cap-space plan. I say apparent because who really knows what KP has in mind. But even taking him at half of his word, Martell’s cap-hold would seem to make him a candidate for being a casualty of that plan. And I seriously doubt that KP thinks martell has demonstrated yet, that he deserves a long term contract. So an extension this summer is highly unlikely. Especially considering that KP has already registered his evaluation of Martell by including him as salary filler in the original draft of the Zach Randolph trade. Maybe that evaluation has changed over the intervening year, but I doubt it’s been enough of a change to matter.

Almost every year that Martell has been a Blazer there have been a different set of expectations.

1st Year – He will be the shooting guard we always needed, but hey the kid’s a rookie and fresh out of high-school so let’s let him slowly become an NBA’er.

2nd Year – Whoa, Brandon Roy is a lot better at shooting guard and is more mature. OK, Martell what do you think about backing up Roy and maybe getting a little time at SF behind Miles?

3rd Year – OK Miles is gone, Zack is gone- how about starting at SF?- but pretty much be the odd man out for big stretches of the game. We have Jones, Outlaw, and even a 3-guard rotation that looks promising.

4th Year – ????

This team has moved fast into the Roy, Aldridge, Oden uber trio. Is Martell still part of the solution? I’d say 35/65. Reason? Because the most likely position to add veteran leadership, is at SF.

Dave, good work covering this post on 95.5. My thoughts in listening is that all this is window dressing. Surround Oden, LMA, & Roy with servicable NBA role players and they’ll contend for titles for years. That said, the rest of this stuff is just window dressing and fan fun…

The one thing that makes this team so intriguing is the abundance of youthful talent and seeing how it plays out. I think we’re in heated agreement on what the team needs Webster needs to do. We’ll know in a a few weeks whether his off season work has helped him evolve into the player the team needs or if he remains the inconsistent enigma.

But if I were a betting man, I’d bet that he isn’t on the team when the rings start coming in.

My belief is that we have room for about 3 stars on this team, and about 5-6 role players (and of course the keepers of the bench). The stars are clearly Greg, LaMarcus and Brandon. Any of our other guys who can’t accept that fact are going to have to get either very, very good, or they are going to have to go…simple as that.

Greg could average 15 and 12 and play incredible D, LaMarcus could be our leading scorer and average 20 and 6 (I think he and Webster have the most to gain with Oden in the lineup), and Brandon could be our most complete player with 18 ppg, 4 rpg and 6 apg. Brandon also brings leadership beyond his years and solid decision making. (I think you want to give these guys those points because 1) it keeps them happy and 2) they are our most efficient scorers. That’s 53 points per game average from our big three. It still leaves room for our other talented players. But they’re going to have to compete for time and shots.

The smart role players are going to be the ones who find ways to do the little things that help a team to win. I think Rudy is that kind of player. I think Bayless could be, although that still has yet to be seen. Blake and Frye are definitely those guys. My biggest question is at the SF position. Do Outlaw and Webster allow themselves to be perrenial support type players? My guess is one of them goes by this time next year, and Fernandez shares time at SG and SF. My two cents.