Claver and Freeland

[Rastapopoulos]

Is it safe to say that Claver is now part of the rotation? He's played more minutes over the past ten games than any other bench player. And he's looking pretty comfortable now. If anything, given how Batum and Wes have been struggling with nagging injuries, I say he should be playing more.
And yesterday we were sucking so badly that there was an actual Freeland sighting. And he didn't do badly. He and Claver were the only players with a positive +/-. Can we give him another shot, if only to see if Hickson really is the problem?
(Incidentally, here are our +/- numbers over the past ten games - and it seems as if the Bench is no longer the worst of our problems:

Player 1 	Team 		+ 	- 	+/- 	Min 	 	G
M. Leonard 	Trail Blazers 	195 	-180 	15 	94:26 		10
L. Babbitt 	Trail Blazers 	234 	-220 	14 	111:27 		10
V. Claver 	Trail Blazers 	255 	-244 	11 	124:33 		10
R. Price 	Trail Blazers 	174 	-171 	3 	99:41 		10
W. Barton 	Trail Blazers 	223 	-220 	3 	110:46 		10
J. Freeland 	Trail Blazers 	123 	-124 	-1 	65:53 		10
L. Aldridge 	Trail Blazers 	800 	-810 	-10 	389:54 		10
N. Smith 	Trail Blazers 	166 	-177 	-11 	80:39 		10
S. Pavlovic 	Trail Blazers 	194 	-206 	-12 	105:59 		10
J. Jeffries 	Trail Blazers 	151 	-170 	-19 	87:02 		10
D. Lillard 	Trail Blazers 	798 	-823 	-25 	386:36 		10
W. Matthews 	Trail Blazers 	722 	-762 	-40 	359:30 		10
J. Hickson 	Trail Blazers 	622 	-672 	-50 	310:52 		10
N. Batum 	Trail Blazers 	767 	-827 	-60 	380:59 		10

Hey, I wonder if New Jersey can be persuaded to trade an unprotected pick for Hickson? Then we could expand the minutes of Babbitt, Leonard, Claver and Freeland, and obviously good things would happen!

 

[Nikolokolus]

I only wish Claver was more confident with his shot. When he's out there I kind of like what he brings; he knows where to be, he seems to understand spacing and he even has a little bit of versatility on defense.

As for whether they should be out there or not, I guess it depends on how much longer they consider themselves in playoff contention. If Olshey deals Hickson by next week, we'll know operation "Septic Tank" is in full swing.

 

[illmatic99]

Definitely want to see more of these guys. Joel seemed skinnier out there yesterday. Those few pounds he lost because of his illness are definitely noticeable.

And Vic clearly knows how to play.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Hey, I wonder if New Jersey can be persuaded to trade an unprotected pick for Hickson? Then we could expand the minutes of Babbitt, Leonard, Claver and Freeland, and obviously good things would happen!

No they will not give us a unprotected draft pick, but in the the long run I think Freeland can be our back up PF. (Not center) So If we can get something for JJ then go for it. We will still need another center in the off season, but if we can get a guard out of JJ then that will be one less thing we need to get this summer. JJ being a free agent is certainly the hard part to sell.

 

[Mediocre Man]

If Claver were more confident with his shot he would be a damn good bench guy