Quick on the rotation

[BigGameDamian]

We’ll see. I think we have the best team.

Wait till we trade Whiteside for Love.

 

[BonesJones]

https://theathletic.com/1090234/201...ure-the-west-belongs-to-the-field-once-again/

Pulled this from The Athletic: (They have us ranked 6th in the WC behind Clipps, Denver, Utah, Houston, and L*kers. Interestingly, they have the Dubs ranked 7th.)

Portland Trail Blazers
Where do they stand? The Blazers are coming off their most successful season in about 20 years and I’m not quite sure how much of that is replicable next season. Some of this has to do with the changes of the Blazers and some of this has to do with how loaded the West is. They lost a lot of important forward defense with Al-Farouq Aminu going to Orlando and Mo Harkless being traded to the Clippers. Losing Seth Curry will hurt some of the shooting from the bench. They’re hoping Mario Hezonja and Anthony Tolliver can make up for that. But mostly, they have to find a way to focus Hassan Whiteside as he fills in until Jusuf Nurkic is back and healthy. That’s not an easy task.

What has changed? Here are the Blazers:

Out: Al-Farouq Aminu, Mo Harkless, Seth Curry, Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, Jake Layman, Enes Kanter.

In: Hassan Whiteside, Kent Bazemore, Rodney Hood (re-signed), Nassir Little (rookie), Mario Hezonja, Anthony Tolliver, Pau Gasol, Jaylen Hoard (two-way deal).

Biggest question moving forward? How do they make up for the loss of Al-Farouq Aminu and Mo Harkless? They brought in Kent Bazemore and they re-signed Rodney Hood. Those are your two most natural replacements for Aminu and Harkless from a position standpoint. I would guess that the Blazers go big often with Zach Collins and Whiteside together. This allows them to still have athleticism and length on the floor. Maybe Nassir Little can come in as a rookie and provide some minutes. But the defense will definitely take a hit without Aminu. He was by far their best defender and their glue on that end of the floor. It will be a committee of players to replace these two and Terry Stotts has his work cut out for him.

X-Factor who could change it, for better or worse? Whiteside. If you want to buy into a change of scenery and a contract year and Damian Lillard’s leadership as all things that will fix the issues Whiteside has within the team concept, that’s fine. I won’t bemoan that optimism. He was so detrimental to the team dynamic in Miami the last couple years that they were beyond happy to get rid of him this season. They kept finding ways to move him out of the lineup because of how singularly focused he was on getting his own shine over the team. Perhaps the change will be a wake-up call, as will the chance to earn a bunch of money this summer. But really, Portland just needs to pray Nurkic comes back and doesn’t have that awkward adjustment period from such a brutal injury.

Realistic expectation: This should still be one of the most dangerous teams in the West. I don’t know if it can feel confident in getting back to the Western Conference Finals in such a loaded conference. The Blazers might be in a bit of a transition phase. But they still have Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. They still have a really good coach in Stotts. They have some weird rotation holes, but they have depth elsewhere to try to even things out a little. The Blazers will be dangerous. The Blazers will be a hard out in the postseason. We just don’t know if the Blazers can build on the success from 2019.

Noe all of a sudeen Aminu and Harkless are valuable. If only they were valuable when these guys were making their predictions the last couple of years.

These idiots never learn.

 

[Reep]

The POINT is, this is a place to discuss all things. Not just facts. But opinions, personal preferences, ideas, etc, that are all personal perceptions. If you don't like it, maybe hang out at wikipedia for your fact only discussions?

We have a whole offseason with a bunch of new players. Let people discuss whatever they want.

Get off your high horse expecting people to ONLY discuss what YOU think is worthy of discussion.

Dude, lighten up. I'm all for speculation and ideas. What is happening here is people arguing that their take is a fact and that they KNOW what Stotts will do and how it will break down. I love speculating on the options. My complaint comes when "can't, never, always, must" are the takes before the players even see each other. And yes, I think statements like "Hezonja will never be able to hit a three or make an impact on this team" and the like are STUPID at this time of summer. People can be stupid all they want, and I recognize their right to come on here and be stupid, but that doesn't mean I won't call them on it. But when I do, then some people seem to think I'm on my high horse? I guess I'm not on my high horse if I agree with you? If I disagree it isn't a disagreement between two people with different takes, it is me telling you what you can't talk about? Hmmm.

Sly, can you start preparing some "safe spaces" (with puppies and play-dough and the like)?

 

[BonesJones]

Dude, lighten up. I'm all for speculation and ideas. What is happening here is people arguing that their take is a fact and that they KNOW what Stotts will do and how it will break down. I love speculating on the options. My complaint comes when "can't, never, always, must" are the takes before the players even see each other. And yes, I think statements like "Hezonja will never be able to hit a three or make an impact on this team" and the like are STUPID at this time of summer. People can be stupid all they want, and I recognize their right to come on here and be stupid, but that doesn't mean I won't call them on it. But when I do, then some people seem to think I'm on my high horse? I guess I'm not on my high horse if I agree with you? If I disagree it isn't a disagreement between two people with different takes, it is me telling you what you can't talk about? Hmmm.

Sly, can you start preparing some "safe spaces" (with puppies and play-dough and the like)?

Who are you?

 

[Orion Bailey]

Dude, lighten up. I'm all for speculation and ideas. What is happening here is people arguing that their take is a fact and that they KNOW what Stotts will do and how it will break down. I love speculating on the options. My complaint comes when "can't, never, always, must" are the takes before the players even see each other. And yes, I think statements like "Hezonja will never be able to hit a three or make an impact on this team" and the like are STUPID at this time of summer. People can be stupid all they want, and I recognize their right to come on here and be stupid, but that doesn't mean I won't call them on it. But when I do, then some people seem to think I'm on my high horse? I guess I'm not on my high horse if I agree with you? If I disagree it isn't a disagreement between two people with different takes, it is me telling you what you can't talk about? Hmmm.

Sly, can you start preparing some "safe spaces" (with puppies and play-dough and the like)?

All good man. I should have made it clear i was directing my comments more so at the other guy i quoted. I included you because you were also considering it ridiculous. However the other guy has implied and directly said to people they shouldn't discuss certain things because its not factual and based on opinion, and so i was more so calling him out on it.

Anyhow, lets not rehash it all, as i had already forgotten all about this. Lol.

 

[Reep]

Who are you?

Who are you? I’m someone who likes open discussion of ideas and doesn’t care for black and white thinking in a grey area.

 

[TBpup]

Based on the BE podcast, I think it was Dan saying he thought Hezonja would get 20 minutes. So perhaps something like this based on what they were talking about.

PG: Dame 35 / Anfernee 13
SG: CJ 34 / Anfernee 7 / Baze 7
SF: Hood 28 / Baze 20
PF: Collins 20 / Hezonja 20 / Tolliver 8
C: Whiteside 28 / Collins 6 / Pau 14

That's a 10-man rotation with Skal, Trent and Little getting scraps here and there with Nurkic on IR and Hoard on a 2-way. I think I like Skal over Tolliver but we'll see what happens. There is a lot of flexibility there and they talked about not as many 'silo' players and instead, players where were more well rounded and could make plays in a number of different ways.

 

[CupWizier]

All good man. I should have made it clear i was directing my comments more so at the other guy i quoted. I included you because you were also considering it ridiculous. However the other guy has implied and directly said to people they shouldn't discuss certain things because its not factual and based on opinion, and so i was more so calling him out on it.

Anyhow, lets not rehash it all, as i had already forgotten all about this. Lol.

and that opinion is absolutely wrong. Quit talking about me and making up bullshit unless you want shit flung back at you. Your continual call outs get real old quickly.

 

[Orion Bailey]

and that opinion is absolutely wrong. Quit talking about me and making up bullshit unless you want shit flung back at you. Your continual call outs get real old quickly.

Take a page from your own book.

Ill say what I want when I want. Deal with it....