FanPost

Go HUGE or go home

I've been mulling this over for a while, and I think I have a winning lineup that would take advantage of our unique size advantage over many teams, keep Greg Oden out of foul trouble, and give our Western Conference rivals fits. Here's how it would go:

C: Greg Oden

PF: Marcus Camby

SF: Lamarcus Aldridge

SG: Nicolas Batum

PG: Brandon Roy

This gives us a height advantage at most, if not all, positions over nearly any team out there. The set would be a triangle offense, with Marcus and Greg on either post, LMA at the foul line, Nic and Brandon on the wings. As with any triangle offense, you need credible outside shooting threats to keep the defense from packing the middle. Keeping the ball in Brandon's hands to start the offense means that if the opposing team has an effective counter to the triangle, our best player has the ball and can be creative. LMA gets to shoot the mid-range jumper he loves so much, right over the top of the opposing SF, and on the post the teams cannot hang all over Greg without exposing Marcus as a scoring threat. If Marcus or Greg do happen to get in foul trouble, we can sub in Joel (if he's coming back).

The main advantage to this set is that it lets Greg be Greg, and not worry so much about fouls. Our best scoring threats are out on the floor all at the same time. Yes, I'm looking at you Rudy, when I say that.

Obviously the set has some defensive liabilities against small, zippy teams but we should make up for that by getting ALL the rebounds :). Also, when you think about our main competitors (Denver, Utah, Phoenix, LA, Dallas, San Antonio) all but two play very physical ball. This lineup prevents our team from being bullied and allows us to control the ball.

Comments? What do you see as weaknesses or counters?