Batum's Shoulder: Death of the "Units" Theory, in come the Twin Towers

by LaoTzu on Oct 27, 2009 12:15 AM PDT

Batum is out. Half the season or more out. There goes the whole two units theory. Nate will be scrabbling to find groups he has confidence in. Travis will play behind Martell at SF. This leaves Howard playing big minutes. Unless ...

How about, when LMA comes out, Joel comes in and we go Twin Towers?

C and PF have 96 minutes a night. LMA gets 33, Greg might get 30 and Joel another 30, with Howard subbing in a little, more when there's foul trouble. With Batum out, the twin towers could be the answer to some lineups with tremendous interior defense. They would gobble up tons of boards. Joel won't take touches away from Greg, but he will be there on the opposite block to collect easy buckets on put backs and when GO draws the double-team.

Alternately, if Travis does see time at PF, then that opens up a spot for Rudy to play alongside Roy. Those three formed one of our most productive combinations from last season.

We might even get to see if Cunningham can play at this level (at the 3 spot, please, unless we are going small).

While Batum's injury requiring surgery is dreadful news, it should force Nate to think more creatively. I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

PAX PORTLANDICUS!

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The offense will bog down and the driving lanes will get clogged if Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla are on ...

the floor together. It sounds like a nice theory, but in practice it’ll be a disaster. This is why I’d support trading Travis Outlaw for Kurt Thomas, cutting Patty Mills, and retaining Ime Udoka. In that case, the defense at both forward positions off of the bench are solidified and floor spacing isn’t an issue.

Dear Paul Allen:

Waive Patty Mills & sign Ime Udoka.

Sincerely,
AK1984

by AK1984 on Oct 27, 2009 12:49 AM PDT reply actions

I've advocated

that move since early in the summer.

Kurt Thomas would work here perfectly (and play better post D than Howard).

But I like how Howard works with Oden on offense a lot too…

And the thought of Cunningham.

I’m still leaning towards Outlaw/Bayless for Rubio/Blount (or Cardinal) and just be done with them for now and go with vets for a while… then after cutting Blount we could sign Ime and a vet big. Maybe we could even bring over a vet or scrub PG (Aaron Miles anyone!)

Miller/Blake/Mills (miles?)
Roy/Fernandez
Webster/Ime/Cunningham
Aldridge/Howard/Pendergraph
Oden/Pryzbilla

Fernandez would definitely need to provide the bench scoring, but I’m fine with that, just need to make sure one of Roy, Aldridge, or Oden is always on the floor.

by darkhelmit54 on Oct 27, 2009 1:24 AM PDT up reply actions

Ricky Rubio isn't walking through that door.

Dear Paul Allen:

Waive Patty Mills & sign Ime Udoka.

Sincerely,
AK1984

by AK1984 on Oct 27, 2009 2:17 AM PDT up reply actions

It's an interesting ploy

About 5 minutes a month.

If he wants, Nate still has the players to run with 2 units. I do hope instead we go with more of a 9 man rotation.

by matthewcc on Oct 27, 2009 6:00 AM PDT reply actions

fouls.... if they're gettin fouls at center imagine what our Tank will do if asked to do the job of a Semi truck?

The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.

"New Man Law: If you don't show up for the draft you don't get to come later if you're picked. If you believe in yourself, show up and sit there. If nobody else believes in you, take it and cry like a man...in front of the cameras."

-Dave

by faith on Oct 27, 2009 6:17 AM PDT reply actions

doubtful Howard gets big minutes

we will probably go with a 9-man rotation similar to last year’s, with TO backing up both forward spots.

How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009

by douglast on Oct 27, 2009 6:25 AM PDT reply actions

Batum's injury is the end of the world

Those 5 pts and 2 rebounds are irreplaceable

Blazer Fan

by leeroyjenkins on Oct 27, 2009 7:07 AM PDT reply actions

What about the perimeter defense?

Was that not valuable?

Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game

by iDea on Oct 27, 2009 8:54 AM PDT up reply actions

Please God, no more talk of "units" from my Blazers!

Simply mix and match whatever works for the situation. Everybody still needs to get comfortable with everybody, and we aren’t good enough yet that we should get predictable.

*Unless KP has a secret plan that makes this statement incorrect.
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by staylost on Oct 27, 2009 8:13 AM PDT reply actions

I like the twin towers idea

Sure, it would be a challenge on offense to keep the floor spaced, and Greg would have to venture away from the paint and shoot more face-up jumpers than I prefer

but I think it could work, against teams with large frontlines…which are rare. I’d like to see Nate continue to experiment with Greg/Joel playing together, because it could be a useful defensive combo for the postseason

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 27, 2009 10:59 AM PDT reply actions