Lillard expects Melo, Nurk, and Collins to start

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Scalma said:
What I like about a possible whiteside Nurk pairing is how they compliment each other offensively. Whiteside isn’t a very good screener/playmaker but Nurk is elite. So you play through Nurk/Dame and camp whiteside down low for easy buckets and offensive rebounds. The question is defensively, but whatever Whiteside loses in foot speed he’ll make up with his elite length.

But you can say a lot of the same things about Zach and he’s more mobile, so he’s probably a better fit. Still, I like the option and could make it easier to justify paying him this offseason.
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I think we'll see Nurk and Hassan together on the floor at some point and then we will have proof one way or the other. I just really doubt that Stotts will want to lead the game with that experiment but I obviously could be wrong.
 
I could see it used alot, especially against the Lakers. Gonna be fun.
 
Maybe certain opponents lineups in the game you might get away with it on defense side of the ball with Nurk and Whiteside. But I don't see to many minutes with that pair on the floor especially if the opponents coach adjust against us really quick.
 
The only reason the Blazers got Jusuf Nurkic is because he couldn't play on the court at the same time as Jokic. What makes Blazer fans think he can play on the court at the same time as Hassan Whiteside?
 
blazerkor said:
So we see that he's having the same debate that's been going on in here but I really think he'll come to the conclusion that if all are healthy our best starting lineup is Dame, CJ, Melo, Zach and Nurk. Since he is saying that Melo could do the job but he'd need help; I think Zach's versatility defensively is more capable of helping Melo than both Nurk and Hassan just laying back on the low block.
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We cannot afford every defensive possession to result in a straight line drive at our bigs. If other teams have a stretch big we'll be screwed because the other big left will have to choose between stopping the drive and stopping the dump off option all game (its extremely hard to stop both). It'll put all our bigs at a very high risk for foul trouble, and our transition defense will be terrible with 3 players out there other than Dame and CJ having the footspeed of a C.

Melo at the starting 3 is a terrible idea. He was statistically proven to be much better at the 4 over the past few seasons, while being historically bad at the 3. I'm very frustrated with this.
 
BonesJones said:
The only reason the Blazers got Jusuf Nurkic is because he couldn't play on the court at the same time as Jokic. What makes Blazer fans think he can play on the court at the same time as Hassan Whiteside?
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Back when Jokic and Nurkic were on the same team Denvers bigs switched. Jokic was so bad in space they had to change their entire scheme to hide him. Nurkic is also in much better shape than he was in Denver. Portland already doesn’t switch and Whiteside is also more mobile than Jokic. And if you’re matched up against the Lakers in the playoffs, you’re gonna have to play big anyway. Whiteside did well last time he matched up against AD.
 
BonesJones said:
We cannot afford every defensive possession to result in a straight line drive at our bigs. If other teams have a stretch big we'll be screwed because the other big left will have to choose between stopping the drive and stopping the dump off option all game (its extremely hard to stop both). It'll put all our bigs at a very high risk for foul trouble, and our transition defense will be terrible with 3 players out there other than Dame and CJ having the footspeed of a C.

Melo at the starting 3 is a terrible idea. He was statistically proven to be much better at the 4 over the past few seasons, while being historically bad at the 3. I'm very frustrated with this.
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So who do you start at the 3 Trent, Rio, or Nas? Oh and for the record, I think that Melo will be alright, we're definitely not going to give up 140 a game if Dame, CJ, Melo, Zach and Nurk get a ton of time together. Our defense will be much better than you are saying and our offense will be very dangerous for any team.
 
Scalma said:
Here’s Whiteside in space/against guards/wings/fours.....for the doubters. Enjoy!











https://streamable.com/l1evi9

https://streamable.com/b49egb

https://streamable.com/l6y5kr

https://streamable.com/1muf6l

https://streamable.com/74ytym
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He can be good at perimeter defense when he try I will give you that. Here is my idea of what our rotation might look like
Dame (40)/ CJ (8)
CJ (30)/Trent (18)
Melo (16)/ Trent (16)/ Little or Hezonja (16)
Collins (30)/ Melo (18)
Nurk (26)/ Whiteside (22)
I think we all know the backcourt will be 3 guys in Dame, CJ, and Trent. We should be fine there. I think it will be best if we went with a committee approach with the SF, have melo/Trent/little or Hezonja all splitting time there. Each of them will give us something different which will be nice. And the front court will be loaded. While I would like to play Nurk at 28 min I can’t ignore Whiteside and his impact on the team. It will be nice to keep Nurk fresh throughout the game while having Whiteside as his back up. I can see us winning a lot of the games from us posting up to wear down the other team early on then go to our backcourt for their prolific scoring later to win games. Our defense won’t be the best but it will do just enough for our offense to outscore the other team
 
If Nurk and Whiteside are able to play a few effective minutes per game together, we could be legitimately looking at a 3-big rotation with each getting near 30 mpg.

I don't dare get my hopes up, but...
 
Scalma said:
Back when Jokic and Nurkic were on the same team Denvers bigs switched. Jokic was so bad in space they had to change their entire scheme to hide him. Nurkic is also in much better shape than he was in Denver. Portland already doesn’t switch and Whiteside is also more mobile than Jokic. And if you’re matched up against the Lakers in the playoffs, you’re gonna have to play big anyway. Whiteside did well last time he matched up against AD.
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Whiteside got destroyed every time he had to go up against a stretch big (Remember Aron Baynes?) And Nurk is far better defensively when he can protect the paint instead of having to defend on the perimeter and chase around PFs. The only team it could be effective against is LA, but the spacing would still be a problem, and it doesnt make sense to not roll with Zach+Nurk and have Hassan play all the backup 5 minutes.
 
blazerkor said:
So who do you start at the 3 Trent, Rio, or Nas? Oh and for the record, I think that Melo will be alright, we're definitely not going to give up 140 a game if Dame, CJ, Melo, Zach and Nurk get a ton of time together. Our defense will be much better than you are saying and our offense will be very dangerous for any team.
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Trent, easily.

Melo was terrible defending PFs for the majority of the season because he was too slow. Now we want him at SF next to Dame and CJ? I don't see any way it's not a defensive nightmare.
 
UKRAINEFAN said:
If they do that; they cannot also start Melo, can they? That would be a defensive disaster.
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I mean the alternative is worse: Melo at PF and an undersized Trent at SF. We’d get killed on the boards as neither is a good rebounder for those two positions. When every possession counts in a playoff setting, winning that battle is pretty important.

The other alternative would be Zach at the four and Trent at the three but I just can’t see Stotts bringing Melo off the bench, even though he should.
 
Scalma said:
The other alternative would be Zach at the four and Trent at the three but I just can’t see Stotts bringing Melo off the bench, even though he should.
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I would go for that, even if Stotts won't. Maybe he will surprise us.
 
Lived in Denver when Nurk was there. Watched the majority of their games when the Blazers weren't on at the same time. The only reason Nurk and Jokic didn't work is because Coach Malone never gave it time. He was very impatient. Nurk is twice the player now with further development. My best friend is a Nuggets freak, and he knew Nurk was gonna be a special player. Malone is a very good coach, but sometimes coaches make bad decisions. The worst trait a coach can have is impatience, and indifference.
 
Scalma said:
What I like about a possible whiteside Nurk pairing is how they compliment each other offensively. Whiteside isn’t a very good screener/playmaker but Nurk is elite. So you play through Nurk/Dame and camp whiteside down low for easy buckets and offensive rebounds. The question is defensively, but whatever Whiteside loses in foot speed he’ll make up with his elite length.

But you can say a lot of the same things about Zach and he’s more mobile, so he’s probably a better fit. Still, I like the option and could make it easier to justify paying him this offseason.
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All good in theory but Terry has never been known for his creativity on the fly. Doubt he strays much from the ordinary.
 
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