'Blazers 2011-2012 Rotation
by manzell on Dec 12, 2011 10:23 AM PST
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PrintThe way I see it, our starters are Felton, Matthews, Batum, Aldridge, and Camby.
From there you can go instant-small by sliding Wallace in for Camby and playing Aldridge at the 5; or go big by subbing Wallace in for Felton and having Matthews as your PG; Batum or Williams at SG (Batum can't actually handle, so Williams at 6-5 with a serviceable handle might actually work better than to put it all on Wes), and Wallace at the 3.
As far as rotations go:
Nolan Smith is the first guard off the bench at either PG/SG (our backup guards are Smith, Elliot Williams, and Armon Johnson). Armon and Nolan split backup PG duties; Williams gets the lions share of backup SG duties. Obviously the backup guard situation is DIRE, and the next F.A. signing ought to be a veteran guard [Billups, if he wants to come to PDX and play limited minutes for the minimum would be ideal, or even Steve Blake]
Gerald Wallace is the first forward off the bench at either position, but if you pencil in LMA and Batum for 70 minutes a night, there's only 26 left over for Wallace; which isn't really enough. Babbitt (and E. Williams at the 3) are basically squeezed out entirely.
The PF/C rotation has Kurt Thomas at the 4 when Aldridge plays the 5; allowing Wallace to play more as SF than PF. Chris Johnson and Aldridge play about 15 minutes between them at the center spot; with Camby only penciled in for 24 minutes; the rest of the center minutes are played sparingly by Earl Barron and Thomas.
Remaining questions:
We need a free agent PG. I'll assume Billups won't sign here; Steve Blake is under contract and the only way to get him would be offer the Lakers some frontcourt "depth"/salary fodder in Babbitt, Barron, or C. Johnson. Baron Davis will be out there for the minimum if he clears Amnesty waivers. Who else?
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there is 0 chance Wallace doesn't start
Felton
Matthews
Wallace
Aldridge
Camby
Smith
Williams
Batum
Thomas
Everyone else is deep bench
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
by douglast on Dec 12, 2011 10:30 AM PST reply actions 2 recs
yes
nate has already stated that batum would be the first player off the bench, meaning gerald starts, as he should. I hope CJ can at least get 5-10 mins. a night though, I like his potential to be Camby-esque.
by hollywood robinson on Dec 12, 2011 10:42 AM PST up reply actions
Any coach who would not start Gerald Wallace should be fired
La Illaha Illallah Muhamadur Rasulallah
i also disagree on the PG
we should not sign a Free agent- we need to run with what we have and evaluate Smith, Johnson, and even Williams at that position. And free agent signing much be used on a big man.
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
yup
and Wes shouldn’t see any time at the PG spot. We’ve got Ray/Nolan/Armon and potentially EWill/Nic depending on how frisky we’re feeling. Excited about Nolan. Still need another servicable big.
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Dec 12, 2011 10:50 AM PST up reply actions
I disagree too - we don't need smalls or wings, we need BIGS!
Starter / Bench / Depth
1: Felton / Nolan Smith / AJ
2: Wes / Elliot W. /
3: Crash / Nico /
4: LMA / <STILL NEED A BIG HERE, hopefully using MLE > / Luke
5: Camby / Kurt Thomas / / CJ
IMO, we have two pretty solid squads, except for our backup 4. Yes, we can go small for a few minutes a game with Crash and Nico on the floor at the same time, but we still really need another BIG who can rebound.
With Nico able to play some G, at least on D, I think we have 5 solid options at G. (Hopefully, AJ will make 6). But it’s the frontcourt where are depth is old, brittle, or… (ugh) Luke…
weird...
I musta used some formatting characters, because it took out my plug for a 2 guard that can shoot the corner 3 in some spot / blowout minutes. And, I don;t think you need anybody else besides Crash and Nico at the 3.
Backup 4/5 is the biggest need, still.
if you want GW to play some 4
in the small lineup; the opens up some space there for Babbitt garbage time minutes; E. Williams test minutes in a small lineup, etc.
M, period. Fresh, comma.
Here is my minutes breakdown
PG: Felton 40, Smith/Williams 8
SG: Matthews 35, Batum 13
SF: Wallace 25, Batum 23
PF: Aldridge 30, Wallace 10, Thomas/Johnson 8
C: Camby: 30, Aldridge 10, Thomas/Johnson 8
So the minutes breakdown would be, +/- 3 minutes:
Felton 40
Matthews 35
Wallace 35
Aldridge 40
Camby 30
Batum 36
Thomas/Johnson 16
Smith/Williams 8
The lineup I am most looking forward to is
Felton/Matthews/Batum/Wallace/Aldridge
by redlude97 on Dec 12, 2011 11:14 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
I like it
30 mpg from Camby might be optimistic but Kurt will help with that. I also wouldn’t mind seeing a few more of Ray’s minutes go to Nolan. Other than that I think it makes a lot of sense. Will be interesting to see if we add another piece here before the start of the season. Indications seem to point towards yes. If it’s a big then we can really keep Camby and Kurt fresh by not overloading their geezerly bodies with minutes.
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Dec 12, 2011 11:31 AM PST up reply actions
Yea
Obviously things change if we can add someone significant, but unless someone really wows us, I’m more comfortable with a tried and true lineup. Pryz would be a good addition because he is basically on the same level of Camby/Thomas so they are interchangeable
I assume you mean Armon instead of Williams at PG; and pencil in some 2/3 minutes for E. Williams…
M, period. Fresh, comma.
E Will is not a 3
Plus we don’t have any minutes there to go around. He was drafted as a 1/2 combo guard, and IMO his upside is higher than Armon. On the second unit he won’t have to be as much of a facilitator either, with Batum capable of playing some point-forward. I cringe when I see Armon personally, he doesn’t have the offensive PG skills and I’m not sure if he is ever going to develop them.
or
i think the one i like the most that will be very effective is felton/batum/wallace/alrdridge/camby!! that is one of the biggest lineups in the league with 4 guys that can board!! you have 4 guys that can post up smaller players.
That would be a very interesting lineup
Not sure if we see much of it though. Even if Batum is first off the bench, I would guess he would come in for camby, and we would slide into our small lineup like we did much of last year towards the end. I don’t see him coming in for matthews that early.
As the team stands now, I see an 8-man rotation, with some scraps leftover
That is, unless we add another legitimate big man.
Aldridge, 37 min
Wallace, 35
Batum, 34
Felton, 34
Matthews, 32
Camby, 25
Thomas, 20
Smith, 17
Rest of the minutes to either Eliott Williams or Chris Johnson, depending on whether we’re going big or small.
I see Felton, Matthews, Wallace, Aldridge, and Camby as the starters, with Batum playing huge minutes off the bench at the 2 and 3. Aldridge plays a few minutes at center, and Wallace a few minutes at the 4.
Huge minutes for Batum!
He should be getting more than 34 minutes, and they should come at the expense of Smith’s minutes, IMO he shouldn’t be getting any minutes at the 2 at all
I think 34 is huge for a 6th man
Maybe you’re right about Smith, but I’m hopeful that he can be someone who can create offense for himself off the dribble a bit — perhaps more than Batum and Matthews.
Batum is more than a 6th man though
He’s proven as a starter, and played nearly every minute in most of his games in France. I think he’s proven he deserves the minutes, and he’s young so he can take the beating better than most guys. I do hope that Nolan can step it up though, but more so to spell Felton and bring his minutes down a few. I think Felton will be more effective if Nate plays his 30 mins and tells him to go all out and run when he is in.
I don't consider Batum in competition for Wallace's minutes...
You play Wallace as many minutes as he is effective. He’s getting up there in years so 35 productive minutes is pretty optimistic, especially if some of those minutes are banging against 4’s. Batum’s additional minutes are coming at the expense of E Will or Nolan Smith, and I’m all for that.
Babbitt ---> 240 mpg
because Babs don’t need no help
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
I’m talking Babbitt at the 1 bringing it up, Babbitt at the 2 spotting up on the wing, Babbitt the 3 as swingman on the baseline, Babbitt the 4 on the block, and Babbitt the 5 playing the high post looking for a chance to enter it to Babbitt. Then on D we can use the Wascally Babbitt zone D, which consists of 5 Babbitts simultaneously doing the Dougie.
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Dec 12, 2011 12:14 PM PST up reply actions
Hopefully
one of the youngsters surprise us all and pushes Nate for some serious playing time. I’m hoping for a big time player.
Chris Johnson better get some minutes
Maybe not every night at the beginning, but hopefully he’ll be 5-10 mins/game by the end of the season.
by botanyjames on Dec 12, 2011 12:11 PM PST via mobile reply actions
I think he will
he’s a nice changeup from Marcus and Kurt that can be effective in short stretches
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Dec 12, 2011 12:14 PM PST up reply actions
I would play CJ and Barron as much as possible
because of the compressed schedule, and the rigors of time, it will be easy to wear down Camby and Thomas. If you can get 15 minutes a game at any position from the young big men, that will be a huge boon down the stretch.
M, period. Fresh, comma.
We need one more acquisition to take Barron out of that equation
the guy is so bad that I do not want him to touch the court for one meaningful minute this season. We do need to protect Camby, Kurt, and LMA, but I will be very upset if Earl Barron is all we have to do that with aside from CJ and Gerald/Nic out of position.
"If I had a dime for every basket I made today, you'd still suck!" - from the book 'John Dies @ the End'
by sammymohawk on Dec 12, 2011 1:59 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I prefer to see Thomas starting at the Five to help reduce the load on Camby, plus he gets a big mismatch playing against benchers
La Illaha Illallah Muhamadur Rasulallah
Against Big 5's
I think that is a great idea, will limit fouls on Camby/LMA also
by redlude97 on Dec 12, 2011 4:39 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Yes and what I meant was Camby plying against the second unit is very good for us
La Illaha Illallah Muhamadur Rasulallah
Batum starting?
I know he is good. but we need some help on the bench. and Nate already said Gerald Wallace will start and Batum will be on the bench
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