The main jist of this article is about The value of Wes on the market, etc. But also interesting to note a question about having "Dual Centers" http://sports.yahoo.com/news/value-wesley-matthews-portland-trail-071431244.html Me personally, not a fan of the dual center thing, especially with the offense we run. Oh, and that guy named LMA. But still, interesting to bring up.
Twin tower lineups don't seem to work that great in today's nba. Probably good defensive wise, but floor spreading is the bees knees right now.
I was thinking the opposite. It could work OK offensively as Kaman can step out to spread the floor. But on the defensive end there are too many stretch 4's that would go uncovered. But it is nice to have the option against bigger teams if we had to match up.
Kaman is legit at spreading the floor. This article is about what he could do for somebody like T-Rob: Chris Kaman's offense to revitalize bench, aid teammates
HEY! You were trying to trick us into reading a Dave @ BlazersEdge article! You got to get up earlier in the morning if you want to trick me!
I would also think that Kaman and TRob could be a good duo off the bench. On the offense end TRob can play more of the center spot (Robin's role) and Kaman can play more of LA's role. I think we all want TRob close to the basket as possible. This way they can run the same offense.
Interestingly, Kaman's shooting is on par with LMA's. I always knew Kaman had decent range, but looking at their percentages based on distance from the hoop there wouldn't be a drop-off: <5': LMA 63.3% Kaman 62.4% 5-9': LMA 31.7% Kaman 39.6% 10-14': LMA 40.1% Kaman 41.9% 15-19': LMA 43.4% Kaman 47.4% 20-24': LMA 41.1% Kaman 50% (he made 1 of 2 shots last season) With that said, I'd much rather go with Kaman/Robinson than Kaman/Lopez. Regardless, we've got a great front court - Kaman will really plug the hole that haunted us last season, and I'm really excited to see what Robinson does this season. Freeland and Leonard will just have to get better during scrimmages.
Good to see posters coming around on Kaman! I meant to post this at the time of his signing, but never got around to it. Last season, in spite of being totally misused by Mike D'Antoni, Kaman, when he did play, was extremely productive. D'Antoni has NEVER been able to figure out how to run an offense with more than one big man on the court at one time. Remember when Phoenix was winning 60+ games and posting the best regular season record in the NBA? They did it by playing a small line up with Amar'e Stoudemire and Sean Marion both playing up one spot from their natural positions (Amar'e at center and Marion at PF). Once they realized they needed more size to make it through the Western Conference playoffs, they traded for Shaq and actually got worse because D'Antoni had no idea how to use Shaq and Amar'e together. Same thing with the Lakers last season. Pau and Kaman we're probably their two best players, but D'Antoni refused to play them together. He barely used a healthy Kaman for months racking up a ton of DNP-CDs. It wasn't until Pau was injured that D'Antoni was forced to start Kaman in his place - and when he did, Kaman responded with some monster games. I would never want to be a center playing for Mike D'Antoni. Phil Jackson figured out how to use Andrew Bynum and Pau together and win championships. D'Antoni's pea-sized brain couldn't figure out how to get his two best players on the floor at the same time during a 27-win campaign. That's why one guy is a Hall of Fame coach and the other is a guy who was lucky to coach Steve Nash in his prime. In spite of no clear role and wildly inconsistent playing time, Kaman managed to average 19.8 PTS/36 and 11.2 REB/36. Of course, he did that while only averaging 18.9 MPG, but still, anyone care to guess that last time the Blazers had a big man coming off their bench that averaged more than (or even close to) 19.8 PTS/36. Back when we traded for Kaman, I looked it up. The answer: 1995-96, Arvydas Sabonis rookie year - 22.0 PTS/36, 12.2 REB/36 in 23.2 MPG backing up Chris Dudley. I'm not claiming Kaman is the next Sabas, but he'll be a HUGE upgrade for our bench. Two of our biggest weaknesses last season were bench scoring, in general, and a legitimate NBA center backing up Robin Lopez. Kaman addresses both. We no longer have to dread Lopez getting in foul trouble, which should allow him to be more aggressive on the defensive end knowing he has a legitimate back up behind him. I doubt if we see much, if any Lopez/Kaman line ups (why would we), but I do expect to see a lot of Kaman/Aldridge and Kaman/Robinson line-ups when Lopez needs a rest or is in foul trouble and that's WAY better than any front line we could field last year when Lopez wasn't on the court. I'm VERY comfortable with Kaman coming off the bench for about 20 MPG, and at this point in his career (especially after last season), that's a role I think he'd eagerly embrace. Give him a well defined role, and I think he'll be a huge asset to our bench. BNM
Wes Matthews is the heart of the team and he should hopefully re-sign a reasonable contract with our team. Why in the world would you go with dual centers (Lopez and Kaman) when you have an excellent starting line-up from last season? Keep Kaman as the back-up 5 and TRob as the back-up 4.
Kaman>Leonard. He's an upgrade as long as he's healthy and able to play for the majority of the season.
