SB Nation User Blog: nima

Armchair Coaching: Substitutions/Lineups.

nima — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:44:16 -0000

Everyone and their mother has posted their philosophy on formulating a starting five and how substitutions work. Some think we should go KP-draft style: BPA at each position..others think we need to mix and match to maximize "chemistry"...yet others seem to think this is hockey and focus more on the 2nd unit. The starting line-up is pretty much set whether you agree with it or not: Blake, Roy, Batum, L-Train, Oden. Now I want to hear what everyone's thoughts are on what changes Nate should make to minutes and his substitution pattern from last year. I'll start:

Dear Nate:

Starting lineups: Don't make rash decisions. Don't play with peoples' minds and change things at the last minute. Let them settle into their roles and grow comfortable there.

Bench: Don't play white unit black unit. Sub one or two players at a time and when they are needed. This isn't hockey.

Rudy: Experiment with Rudy as the "PG" in lineups as planned-but make sure there's another offensive minded ball handler on the court-read: Miller, Bayless, Roy.

Webster: bench him until he has his legs back.

Bayless: let him in the game if we have a 10+ point lead. Its the least you could do.

Give More Minutes: Oden, Rudy, Bayless, Andre (in addition to sergio's mins)

Give Less Minutes: Roy, Aldridge, Blake, Joel

About the same minutes: Batum, Outlaw

Last and most importantly, if nothing else:

Oden: Don't pull Oden at the end of the game when he has 5 fouls. If your not going to reinsert him as was the case last year, then let him play until he fouls out. He's better than Joel. Period.

What are your thoughts? Next on the docket will be strategery: what offensive/defensive schematic changes would benefit the team.

Dude, where's my Greg?

nima — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:32:18 -0000

Dude, where's my Greg?

Shouldn't he be at summerleague? 10 fouls per game that's about as close to NBA situations where he can be the focus and develop chemistry with bayless and condition himself for the season. How is he not there?

Are we looking at our offense all wrong?

nima — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:25:07 -0000

Are we looking at our offense all wrong?

Whenever we talk about PGs and Portland, what criteria do we throw out? Good 3 pt shooter, great off the ball. ..why? Because we've played give the ball to Roy and pray for the last few years? I ask this because I thought Roy was actually pretty good off the ball in the all star game. Granted there's no defense, but when paired with a star ball handler, Roy still managed to do pretty well. So why are we limiting our search (and our style of play)? And why in the world are we courting Hedo when we should be looking at the 1?

Why Rudy>>>Hedo

nima — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:15:02 -0000

Why Rudy>>>Hedo

He's cheaper.
He's younger.
He shoots the 3 at a higher %.
He is better off the ball.
He plays with more heart than anyone.

what are the rules on trade posts?

nima — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:51:30 -0000

what are the rules on trade posts?

is there anywhere on BEdge that lays out rules or are there none? I ask because, as we saw last season, there end up being a ton of repeat posts that say basically the same thing or posts trying to rob teams of their superstar for our 3rd string PG. I'm not trying to call anyone out, and I don't want this place to be outright censored, but is there any sense/sensibility requirement for trade fanposts? I ask because I know the posts will build up as the draft nears and I feel like if I see another permutation to unrealistically land us LeBron Kobe and CP3 for Bayless, a bag of chips, and a re-signed LaFrentz, my heads going to explode.

I hope Oden outdoes this one day..

nima — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:24:09 -0000

I hope Oden outdoes this one day..

from ESPN: CLEVELAND -- Superman did some major damage. Orlando center Dwight Howard knocked down the 24-second shot clock above the basket with a ferocious dunk the first time he touched the ball in Wednesday night's Eastern Conference final against the Cleveland Cavaliers. After grabbing a rebound, Howard went up underneath and slammed the ball through with both hands and pulled on the rim for Orlando's first basket. The 24-second stanchion, a 5-foot-tall appendage that has cameras mounted to its top, then fell slowly backward. A maintenance crew came out with ladders but couldn't fix the clock. The shot clock at the opposite end was turned off and two portable units were placed on both baselines. A tape measure was then brought out to check if Howard had pulled the rim lower than its required 10 feet. Play was stopped for eight minutes. The clock that Howard dropped was fixed at halftime and the teams began the second half with both units functioning. Damn.

Can we play Rudy at PG?

nima — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:45:24 -0000

We all talked about this before he came over and we saw stints of this during the playoffs. Rudy has an amazing abiliity to see a play before it happened (like that nic cage movie that i'm intentionally forgetting the name of).

Remember that throw ahead to Oden before he thunderously...missed the dunk? OK lets try this again. Remember the defy the laws of physics behind the back wrap-around pass in the preseason? How about the beautiful between the defender's legs pass to LMA? Inbounds ally-oop to Roy? I could go on and on but the fact is Rudy has muchos huevos and puts the ball on the mark. Once he puts weight on he will drive a little more and he has shown on the allyoops to improvise well once under the basket. He can obviously pop the 3. I think on offense, its safe to say he can more or less do the job-especially in the playoffs.

The problem is the defense. He clearly would have trouble with smaller PGs. That could prove too much of a negative and offset his offensive contribution. Would that be too much to give up? We Batum who has proven to be a versatile defender and could play on offense, Rudy/Roy as combo guards with Batum Aldridge & Odenzilla to round it out, and Batum on the PG, Rudy on the 2 and Roy on the 3 on defense,

Worth a shot?

Poll

Should Rudy play PG?

No, No, and No.

47 votes

Does a fat kid love cake?

45 votes

In certain matchups, sure.

116 votes

Only in spot minutes/to mix it up.

88 votes

296 votes | Poll has closed

Why do we need a banger PF?

nima — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:27:14 -0000

Why do we need a banger PF?

Many people say lets go and get a back up banger 4. I got news for you. Those mins aren't gonna be there next season-certainly not in the post season when it matters. This year we rotated Przy & Oden at C with spot minutes from LMA and some minutes for travis at the 4. Next season? Greg's minutes should climb pretty quickly as he reconditions himself. I think you're gonna see that eat into LMA's time at the 5 and either Oden/Przy will be in the game at all times. You're already gonna have a banger option as Oden develops, and Przy is NOT a center who feels comfortable more than 2 feet from the basket-so where is this backup PF gonna operate when defenses stack the box/? We're gonna need a backup 4 for only 8-12 minutes a playoff game and that screams Outlaw. He mixes it up, Greg would mask his poor rebounding, and he gives a different look at opposing teams. He needs work, but that's another conversation altogether. At this point, I'm unconvinced that we need a backup banger 4. We could use a starting PG (and move Blake to the backup), but I don't see the need for a backup PF. And I would think experience/a few years would mold Batum into exactly what we need from our wing. So tell me, why do we need a backup PF?

anyone got that rip city revival video??

nima — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:56:18 -0000

anyone got that rip city revival video??

it never completely loaded for me and now i cant find it anymore...

Hollinger's Playoff Odds

nima — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:34:11 -0000

Hollinger's Playoff Odds

Not that it means much, but we're finally getting some love. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds Blazers have a 20% chance of making the finals and 9.7% chance of winning it all. We tied the #2 seed for the division title. Unbelievable!!!