Im worried about the jinx also, but if you just believe in odds then the last few years are just evening out to the leagues mean.
We've been very fortunate with injuries thus far. I also think since our players are playing so well we are sticking with the same lineups. Other teams are trying different combinations on the court.
The really low number of lineups more than anything, I believe, highlights a lack of faith in the bench.
I know the team replaced Medina and hired a guy with "new ideas" TM. So it makes me at least curious if what we're seeing is part of this new philosophy or is it just because of dumb luck? Obviously way too early to know, but if it still looks like this a year+ from now, then it starts to look less like an anomaly or outlier and starts to look like a "thing."
good question, I was thinking the same thing recently, be nice to hear more about this guy and the type of things he is doing when working with the guys. HCP, can you request/inquire if we could get more info on this guy from the team? Maybe get one of the Blazer writers to do an article?
You guys are talking about Chris Stackpole. Got some chances to talk with him on the road. Very intelligent. Always has some high tech gear with him working with the guys. I'll ask him if he'd like to do a Q&A type thing on here if you want.
I would most definitely buy Stackpole and a one J. Lakrofkalopolis a drink at the next S2podcast if BOTH show up.
Hawks are doing well, considering. Agree with the "lack of faith in the bench" comment. 80 is actually a pretty high number... Who's in charge of counting these things? And how many of these lineups are together for less than a minute?
A combinations calculator shows that to get 80 combinations, each with 5 players, you need at least 8 1/2 players. http://www.calctool.org/CALC/math/probability/combinations
We've had an important player miss every game of the season. I guess since it's only one player that's a healthy team by Blazer's standards?
A lot of why the Blazers had injuries (in years past) was due to who they drafted/traded for (since I know Kingspeed will point out they didn't technically draft Roy) and dumb luck (Outlaws injury, Rudys, Martells, Joels, etc). I'm hoping a big reason why the Blazers have been, as of now, so relatively injury free this year is due to having a better strength/medical team AND players who aren't prone to certain injuries/areas of injury. Of course, as with any team in any sport, that can change at the drop of a hat.