Poll: Breakout Blazer

[Fez Hammersticks]

Last year Nic Batum came out of nowhere and was one of the most important players. The time he was out there on the floor he was guarding the opposing teams best perimeter player. It was common to see Nate put Nicolas on a Chris Paul, Derick Rose, Tony Parker. His stats wont wow you but it's really hard to gauge a (defensive) role player by his stats.

My breakout player for the 09/10 season: Nicolas Batum

I think he's going to take another step forward. He showed improvement during this years Euro summer games by averaging 17 ppg and playing backup PG for stretches. He's going to be our Doug Christie.

The reason why I didn't pick Bayless is I don't think he's going to get the playing time. He's a lot more effective when he looks to score but we already have Rudy Fernandez as that spark off the bench role. This could change if Blake is dealt and Rudy is played at backup PG more often, as Jason Quick thinks will happen.

Cunningham is my darkhorse pick. I wanted to add Webster but he missed an entire year with that foot injury so I gotta see how he is physically.

 

[Stevenson]

Martel

 

[andalusian]

I thinkl both Batum and Rudy are primed for a big year - but if I have to choose one - Batum.

 

[Idog1976]

wait you said J-quick said that he thinks we'll trade Blake? Do you have a link to that story?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

No. He thinks Rudy will play some at the backup point this season.

 

[oldguy]

Greg Oden.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I didn't have my coffee this morning, I totally spaced out Oden!

 

[barfo]

I didn't have my coffee this morning, I totally spaced out Oden!

And Martell. And Jeff Pender-what-his-name.

barfo

 

[RoyIsClutch07]

It says I can't vote. Have I been singled out?

But I agree with Stevenson. If he is healthy, Martell Webster will be the break out player.

 

[JDC]

FYI, there is a poster over at the RealGM Blazer board who claims sources within the organization are telling him that Jeff Pendergraph is needing hip surgery and will be out for awhile.

I guess that makes the Howard and Swift auditions make a little more sense.

 

[B-Roy]

Webster.

But out of that list, Rudy.

 

[THE HCP]

Greg

 

[Luther]

Martell ftw.

On the poll, I'll take Batum. He showed A LOT of potential last year. Comparing him to Doug Christie is disrespectful. Batum is much more of an athlete. If all he turns out to be is our "Doug Christie", I'll be mad. Not saying he's Scottie Pippen II like some extreme homers, but the kid has some serious potential.

 

[Idog1976]

I didn't have my coffee this morning, I totally spaced out Oden!

Oh, I would have voted for Oden in a heartbeat over anyone listed. As it was I voted for BATUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM-SHAKALAKA!

 

[BrianFromWA]

Webster.

But out of that list, Rudy.

 

[Natebishop3]

I voted for Rudy, but I think ODen.

 

[RoyIsClutch07]

I voted for Rudy, but I think ODen.

I hope you're right.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Batum.

Rudy was better than Batum last season, but he is also older and much closer to his ceiling. He will (hopefully) improve, but not make the kind of leap I am expecting from Batum.

In all seriousness....why are we even discussing Webster? He wasn't very good to begin with, and he just missed the entire season over what was supposed to be a 6-8 week injury. If he wasn't a former lotto pick, he would be begging for some team to sign him to a minimum wage, one year contract.

 

[barfo]

Batum.

Rudy was better than Batum last season, but he is also older and much closer to his ceiling. He will (hopefully) improve, but not make the kind of leap I am expecting from Batum.

In all seriousness....why are we even discussing Webster? He wasn't very good to begin with, and he just missed the entire season over what was supposed to be a 6-8 week injury. If he wasn't a former lotto pick, he would be begging for some team to sign him to a minimum wage, one year contract.

I think that makes him a good candidate for this list. After all, you need to go in with low expectations in order to be a breakout candidate. Roy isn't on the list...

barfo

 

[Further]

The right answer is ODEN

 

[Ed O]

Oden or Webster before any of the guys on that list.

Ed O.

 

[Rodolfo]

Gregory Wayne Oden Jr.

 

[Ed O]

In all seriousness....why are we even discussing Webster? He wasn't very good to begin with, and he just missed the entire season over what was supposed to be a 6-8 week injury. If he wasn't a former lotto pick, he would be begging for some team to sign him to a minimum wage, one year contract.

Because he's an offensive player, first and foremost, and if he delivers on what he is allegedly capable of, he will make a much bigger splash than, say, Cunningham or Batum (who are defensive players first).

Secondly, he's at an age where he's more likely to break out. Batum is still not going to be 21 until December, and while he COULD improve dramatically, I find it unlikely until he matures physically that he will take some sort of quantum leap. Webster is going to be 23 and is closer to his physical peak.

And it's not at all accurate to say that it's MERELY his draft position that has people still intrigued by him. All reports of his skill level and abilities have been great in the last 18 months or so. Maybe the Blazers crew is misleading us, but... I doubt it.

We'll see one way or the other this year, hopefully.

Ed O.

 

[mgb]

Ya, Oden or Webster. I'd probably pick Oden hoping he has a break out season because that would help us the most. I'll go with both of them having a break out year! That will be sweet!

 

[VanillaGorilla]

FYI, there is a poster over at the RealGM Blazer board who claims sources within the organization are telling him that Jeff Pendergraph is needing hip surgery and will be out for awhile.

I guess that makes the Howard and Swift auditions make a little more sense.

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/61478/20090907/report_pendergraph_to_have_hip_surgery/

 

[Deebag]

Rudy can't really breakout from his 10 PPG season. It might get bumped up to 12-14, but it won't be a leaps and bounds improvement.

Most of Batum's work doesn't show up on the statsheet. Therefore, it won't seem like he improves that much. His scoring average will improve to about 8 I think. But I think he'll continue to improve vastly as our best defender.

Only way Bayless can be the guy is if Blake gets traded. But IMO, it just doesn't make sense to trade Blake. Andre Miller isn't a great 3 pt shooter, so his backup should be, which Blake is. Bayless supposedly used to be able to shoot lights out in college, but that hasn't been the case the past year.

Webster will be play a key part to this team. But due to the fact that we already have enough offensive firepower, Batum is bound to share about half the minutes at SF.

Oden will average 26 points, 18 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Bank it.

Edit -

Oh and why isn't Aldridge being mentioned? This is supposed to be his all-star year and likely last year of his contract. He showed how good he can be the last of last season and I think we're going to see more of LMA running the floor for easy dunks ala Amare with Andre in the lineup. I think he could easily crank 20 and 8, depending on how much shots and rebounds Oden takes from him.

And maybe Roy will breakout...with acne.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Of those options, I chose Batum. My real answer is Oden though. I expect him to have a pretty big year

 

[STOMP]

Rudy can't really breakout from his 10 PPG season. It might get bumped up to 12-14, but it won't be a leaps and bounds improvement.

he can't? Why is that? Not only was Rudy-Roy arguably the best wing pairing option the club had last year, but Andre Miller looks to be a very complimentary pairing with him in the backcourt. A year under his belt, I think it's likely that Portland goes towards a 3 guard rotation of Miller Roy and RF as the season progresses with Nate increasing his role/minutes.

but like others, I would have voted for Greg if he were listed

STOMP

 

[Oden's Shrink]

Batum in his prime will be a tayshaun Prince, pippen hybrid with a french accent. Thats whats its all bout except the french part.

just kidding

 

[mook]

I voted for Batum. If Oden and Webster were options, I'd obviously go for Oden.

But Batum would be easily be my second place finisher. Here's why:

For pretty much every role on this team, there's a competent secondary option.

Primary scorer: Roy, Aldridge, Fernandez

Perimeter shooting: Roy, Fernandez, Blake, Batum, Webster, Outlaw (christ that's a lot!)

Playmaking/ball handling: Miller, Roy, Blake

Rebounding: Oden, Przybilla

Interior defense: Przybilla, Oden

Bench scoring: Fernandez, Outlaw, Webster

Perimeter defense: Batum.....uh, hmmm. I guess you can use Roy, but do you really want to?

Batum is the one guy on the team who really doesn't have a guy you can just plug in and replace. I think it's going to make it that much harder for Nate to sub him out in favor of somebody like Outlaw or Webster, who really don't do anything that somebody else on the team doesn't do much better.

Most rookies are piss-poor defenders, due to jitters, unfamiliarity and a lack of leeway from the refs. That Batum came in and almost immediately took over that role of wing defender tells me he's got a lot of potential in that area.

Rudy and Webster might look better than ever, but are there going to be any more shots available than last year? Are either really going to get the opportunity to score more than a dozen points a game?

Batum is going to go from an 18 mpg player to a 28-30 mpg player. Oden will too. It'll have a huge impact on our defense, which has been our weakest link.