It is Dantes turn now.

[BenDavis503]

Batum, out. Travis, out. Dante is sure to get some minutes now, yeah?

Miller\Bayless
Blake\Rudy
Roy\Webster\Dante
LMA\Howard
Oden\Joel

That is our lineup now.

They just said Travis has the same injury as Webster did. He is more than likely out for the year, if true.

 

[Ed O]

Dante's too small to play a lot of power forward. He will get more minutes because of the fact that there will be fewer healthy bodies, but I expect Portland to try to get a bigger body from somewhere.

Ed O.

 

[hypnosmurf]

He's kind of small for a 4. How much longer before Pendergraph comes back?

 

[Further]

Batum, out. Travis, out. Dante is sure to get some minutes now, yeah?

Miller\Bayless
Blake\Rudy
Roy\Webster\Dante
LMA\Howard
Oden\Joel

That is our lineup now.

They just said Travis has the same injury as Webster did. He is more than likely out for the year, if true.

I doubt he is out for the year, Webster being out that long was an oddity. I would guess 3 months. Either way, It will be a while, and Dante should get at least a few minutes, but more likely at bu PF than at SF.

 

[BenDavis503]

I always pictured Dante as a 3. I hope he gets a chance to play some 3.

I wonder if we will make a trade. That would be crazy! We never do any major mid-season trades.

 

[BenDavis503]

I always pictured Dante as a 3. I hope he gets a chance to play some 3.

I wonder if we will make a trade. That would be crazy! We never do any major mid-season trades.

 

[MickZagger]

Cunningham is a perfect 4 for when we have our running lineup in. He can run the floor well, is very underrated athletically and can stick the open jump shot from the elbow almost automatically.

 

[Sinobas]

No. Howard will be the backup PF. Nate's not going to squeeze Dante in for token minutes. Rudy and Webster will probably get more.

 

[illmatic99]

Dante's too small to play a lot of power forward. He will get more minutes because of the fact that there will be fewer healthy bodies, but I expect Portland to try to get a bigger body from somewhere.

Ed O.

Isn't he the same size as Outlaw?

 

[BenDavis503]

Isn't he the same size as Outlaw?

Basically. He is an inch shorter but a lot stronger.

 

[andalusian]

Isn't he the same size as Outlaw?

Travis is listed as 6-9, Dante as 6-8 - but Dante is listed as heavier (230 lbs vs. 207)

Dante is mostly a PF, not a SF.
I think he will play most of his minutes at the 4 this year.

 

[Ed O]

Travis is listed as 6-9, Dante as 6-8 - but Dante is listed as heavier (230 lbs vs. 207)

Dante is mostly a PF, not a SF.
I think he will play most of his minutes at the 4 this year.

If he could play the 4, he would not have gone where he did in the draft. He's too small to defend power forwards in the NBA.

Outlaw was, too, but he was explosive enough offensively to keep him in the backup role at that position.

Ed O.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

I don't get people saying Dante is too small to play 4. Do you see who other teams are putting out there at 4?

 

[Further]

I think Dante might have a hard time against a lot of starting PF's in the league, but most of the bu pf's are smaller and more easily handled. Dante will be BU when the opposing PF's are slighter, and Howard will play BU when they are bulkier.

 

[Blaze01]

I think Howard is the beneficiary of Outlaw's injury....but I hope that Rudy can gain some extra minutes as well, unfortunately he won't see his minutes go up until Nate decides to stop playing Blake 30+ minutes a night.....

I actually think having Howard as the b\u PF is BETTER than having Travis there....

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I think Howard is the beneficiary of Outlaw's injury....but I hope that Rudy can gain some extra minutes as well, unfortunately he won't see his minutes go up until Nate decides to stop playing Blake 30+ minutes a night.....

I actually think having Howard as the b\u PF is BETTER than having Travis there....

Not when it comes to defense. Yes, Travis misses assignments, but Howard is OOOOLLLDDD and SLLLOOOWWW. Now I guess we'll see if this is one of those "don't know what you've got till it's gone" deals.

 

[andalusian]

If he could play the 4, he would not have gone where he did in the draft.

I guess that makes Blair a point-guard? After-all, they were all taken up in the first round (except from Krabby) and he was taken even further down the board than Dante...

He played PF in college, every draft-board had his NBA position listed as PF, he will play an undersized PF in this league. If Carl Landry is a power-forward in this league - so can Dante be. If Brandon Bass is a PF - so is Dante. He is basically the same size as them.

 

[shamelessblazer]

Dante's too small to play a lot of power forward. He will get more minutes because of the fact that there will be fewer healthy bodies, but I expect Portland to try to get a bigger body from somewhere.

Ed O.

He plays a lot bigger than Outlaw that's for sure.

 

[shamelessblazer]

Not when it comes to defense. Yes, Travis misses assignments, but Howard is OOOOLLLDDD and SLLLOOOWWW. Now I guess we'll see if this is one of those "don't know what you've got till it's gone" deals.

our second unit plays a zone more often anyways (which Travis is just not smart enough to handle). Travis on D leaves the C in foul hell because they're always on an island.

 

[Eastoff]

Dante will not get any more minutes because of this. The rest of the typical rotation will just step up for more minutes themselves.

 

[STOMP]

Isn't he the same size as Outlaw?

0.5" less barefoot height. Less length and hops, more weight.

I'd hope to see him get some PF run in TO's absence.

STOMP

 

[Pinwheel1]

I think Dante might have a hard time against a lot of starting PF's in the league, but most of the bu pf's are smaller and more easily handled. Dante will be BU when the opposing PF's are slighter, and Howard will play BU when they are bulkier.

Exactly. I am anxious to see what Dante brings. When one window closes another one opens....... . Josh Smith and Joe Smith are two different types of PF's. Tomorrow could be interesting if he gets any minutes.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

I think Dante can play either the 3 or the 4 on offense, and play it well.

I don't think he can play either on defense, though.

That's why I worry. We haven't seen him play enough for this to be
definitive, so there's room for optimism.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I think pinning our hopes to a rookie taken in the second round is a bit of fool's gold ... this isn't to say I don't hope he'll be productive, but counting on it sure seems like a bad formula for success.

 

[andalusian]

I think pinning our hopes to a rookie taken in the second round is a bit of fool's gold ... this isn't to say I don't hope he'll be productive, but counting on it sure seems like a bad formula for success.

I do not think there is much pinning our hopes on him. He is going to get consistent spot minutes at the backup PF position - and he should be fine there. Yes, he is a rookie - but he is a 4 years college guy with high-IQ, toughness and the ability to bury an open jumper.

That's all we really need from him, given that we also have J-Howard on the roster.

It's a shame that we do not have Travis around - because he has a unique role on this team - but I suspect this will show us a lot more of JB as a scoring target off the bench - which is not a bad thing. The time is now to thrust JB into a more prominent role to see him develop.

We will be fine.

 

[hasoos]

I call bullcrap on the folks saying Dante is too small to play the 4. He is strong, and he is very knowledgeable about playing defense. He is as tall as Buck Williams was, and Buck was one of the best position defenders ever at PF. I am not saying Dante is Buck, but you can't write him off so fast.

 

[Ed O]

I guess that makes Blair a point-guard? After-all, they were all taken up in the first round (except from Krabby) and he was taken even further down the board than Dante...

Did Cunningham have injury concerns, too? I missed those.

But if Blair were an NBA center, which is what he played predominantly at Pitt, he would have gone higher, irrespective of his knees. But he's a power forward. Just like Dante is not a power forward.

Just like Webster was not and is not a shooting guard. I was one of the few people to see that in him as a rookie, and I'm similarly confident about Cunningham's position.

He played PF in college, every draft-board had his NBA position listed as PF, he will play an undersized PF in this league. If Carl Landry is a power-forward in this league - so can Dante be. If Brandon Bass is a PF - so is Dante. He is basically the same size as them.

He won't play much, and if he plays PF it will simply because there will be no one else to do so. If he ever EARNS playing time, it will be as a SF.

Ed O.

 

[andalusian]

He won't play much, and if he plays PF it will simply because there will be no one else to do so. If he ever EARNS playing time, it will be as a SF.

Again, explain to me why Carl Landry is a PF but Dante is not? Explain to me why Nate used Outlaw, who seems like a prototypical SF as a PF?

Dante plays like Landry, and to a point like Outlaw - he is a smaller PF that can shoot from the outside. Like Outlaw he is a pretty bouncy jumper without explosive speed, He (like Outlaw to a point) does not really have the handle you would rather have on a wing, but he has the mass and the toughness to do some battle on the inside taking advantage of his speed compared to some of the guys that will guard him or he will have to guard, while giving them some length/weight.

He played PF before and seems like he will continue. The comparison to Webster is wrong, imho - the thing that moved Webster to SF from SG is his lack of handle, not his size (Joe Johnson is a SG that is as big as Webster, same as T-Mac) - The opposite is true for Dante. His relative lack of handle will ensure that he will be used most as a PF, not as a SF.

 

[Ed O]

Again, explain to me why Carl Landry is a PF but Dante is not? Explain to me why Nate used Outlaw, who seems like a prototypical SF as a PF?

Carl Landry has a different game than Cunningham. Dante moves well off the ball and he's much more agile defensively. Just watch Carl Landry play and he's a PF... he doesn't move well laterally on defense, but he's got a great base... just very very different from Cunningham.

Outlaw played PF because he was so explosive offensively and because that explosiveness wasn't as effective against smaller, quickly players.

He played PF before and seems like he will continue. The comparison to Webster is wrong, imho - the thing that moved Webster to SF from SG is his lack of handle, not his size (Joe Johnson is a SG that is as big as Webster, same as T-Mac) - The opposite is true for Dante. His relative lack of handle will ensure that he will be used most as a PF, not as a SF.

I disagree. We'll see. It might take a while for Dante to play SF, but if/when he's still out of the rotation in spite of the lack of options at PF, hopefully you will begin to see the light.

Ed O.

 

[Boob-No-More]

You know what this teams needs badly - a consolidation trade. All this depth is going to kill our chemistry.

BNM