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ABM

ABM

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Upon reading THIS piece, I'm officially on it...

Last year, Boston traded for Ray Allen (and some other guy with a really big mouth). Some people questioned the aquisition of Allen because Paul Pierce was a perennial All-Star Shooting Guard, and Ray Allen played the same position. No problem, the folks in Boston said, Paul Pierce will simply slide over to the 3.

"... But do you really want your All Star shooting guard, the best player on your team, to play out of position ? ...", the experts said. "... Paul Pierce is big enough to check the other teams SF, and he'll still have the ball in his hands at crucial times during the 4th Qtr...", replied the good folks in Boston.

We all know how well that little "experiment" worked out in Boston.

The parallels in Portland are obvious.

Here are a few other reasons why you'd want Rudy on the floor WITH Brandon and Steve.

1) With three players who handle the ball so well, the opportunities to create mismatches are many indeed. Flash forward to October 28th. Derek Fisher is checking Steve Blake. Steve runs the pick and roll pretty well, so that's an option, but Derek Fisher is also very used to defending the pick and roll. K@be is checking Brandon. Brandon runs the pick and roll very well, so that's another option, but K@be is also very used to defending the pick and roll. Lamar Odom is checking Rudy. Rudy can definitely run the pick and roll, and Lamar Odom will look ridiculous trying to keep up with Rudy. The same is true of most other SF's in the league. Brandon has shown that he can check Joe Johnson, who's 6'7" and 230 lbs. Brandon has shown that he can check Carmelo Anthony, who's 6'8" and 230 lbs. Brandon will be able to defend the "3" without any problem.

2) Greg has much softer hands than Joel, so when Rudy zips a pass to Greg, it will have a better chance of resulting in and "And1". Rudy will be better able to utilize his passing skills when he's paired with Greg

3) Rudy has clearly shown that if Brandon, LaMarcus and Greg are the "Big Thee", then he's the "Fourth Amigo". He has tremendous vision on the Court, a huge Basketball IQ, and wide array of skills. He will cause huge match-up problems for other teams. He needs to play BIG minutes.

4) Sergio and Jerryd have been playing very well together, and I think that they make a great back-up tandem.

5) Suddenly, Travis' game becomes valuable again when you bring him off of the bench. San Antonio is forced to bring Manu Ginobili off of the bench because they don't have anyone else that can get their own shot. Travis and Jerryd will both have plenty of opportunities to get their own shots for the White Unit. You actually WANT Travis and Jerryd to look for their own shot first when they're coming off of the bench. Sergio is the perfect facilitator, and he will always be looking to push the ball, which will make Jerryd and Travis even more dangerous. Let Jerryd and Travis both play to their strengths. Don't try to turn Jerryd into a primary facilitator. Don't try to turn Travis into a player who defers to his teammates and only spots up for three pointers.

The bottom line, as far as I'm concerned, is that even without Martell's injury (very unfortunate, and I wish him a speedy recovery), I think that having a starting lineup of Steve, Rudy, Brandon, LaMarcus and Greg might still be the Blazers best lineup.
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I'm not, I think he's better in a Ginobili type role..he can bring huge spurts of energy and runs off the bench IMO.. Plus I'm not in favor of putting Roy at SF.
 
dreamcloud said:
....Plus I'm not in favor of putting Roy at SF.
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I hear ya.

To, me, having Oden essentially packing the middle [in a zone configuration] would make that all possible, though.
 
I would rather see a Rudy/Roy backcourt for a few games. See how that goes.
 
ABM said:
I hear ya.

To, me, having Oden essentially packing the middle [in a zone configuration] would make that all possible, though.
Click to expand...
oden will already be fighting with foul trouble..rudy starting wont help any
 
Paul Pierce has always been a true 3. I don't know what the hell the author is talking about.
 
44Thrilla said:
Paul Pierce has always been a true 3. I don't know what the hell the author is talking about.
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I was thinking the same thing. Ray Allen took over for Tony Allen or whoever else Boston was going to start at SG. Roy is the SG right now; Pierce did not have to move positions to make room for Allen or Garnett.
 
PapaG said:
They may want to delete that post at Blazersedge. It is an embarrassment.

Or stop posting drunk. Whatever...
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What fun is it to have a blog if you can't post drunk?

barfo
 
44Thrilla said:
Paul Pierce has always been a true 3. I don't know what the hell the author is talking about.
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So, then, Pierce was their 3 and Wally World played 2?
 
Thought THIS was interesting:

McMillan is strongly considering....moving Brandon Roy to small forward and starting Rudy Fernandez at shooting guard alongside point guard Steve Blake. He said that lineup will get at least one audition before the Oct. 28 season opener at the Los Angeles Lakers.
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News this morning is that Frye is practicing and may be ready by opening day. Over the summer he said he was given the green light to work on three point shooting and that Nate and he had talked about him playin SF.

What do you guys think about starting Frye at SF?
 
ABM said:
So, then, Pierce was their 3 and Wally World played 2?
Click to expand...

Pierce was listed as 2, but defended 3s. Before the Ricky Davis/Wally trade, Pierce was listed at 3 and defended the 3.
 
If Roy can defend small forwards reasonably well, in the long-term, moving Roy to small forward would be great. It would instantly solve the small forward problem and the off-guard log-jam problem.

I'd love to see an eventual lineup of:

PG: Jerryd Bayless
SG: Rudy Fernandez
SF: Brandon Roy
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge
C: Greg Oden

Of course, this all hinges on Roy being just as valuable at small forward as he has been so far at shooting guard. That remains to be seen. Also, if this did end up being the eventual starting unit, that actually gives Outlaw a solid role on the team long-term: sixth man instant offense. If Fernandez and Bayless aren't coming off the bench, Outlaw can be the one who can come off the bench and fill up the basket.
 
ucatchtrout said:
News this morning is that Frye is practicing and may be ready by opening day. Over the summer he said he was given the green light to work on three point shooting and that Nate and he had talked about him playin SF.

What do you guys think about starting Frye at SF?
Click to expand...

Guess it all depends on the matchup. If Odom is starting for LA, then I wouldn't mind Frye starting if the reports are true that he's in really good shape -- enough to play SF. Frye seemed kind of slow-ish last year to guard SFs.

If we're playing Boston, Frye would no way be able to keep up with Pierce, so you've got to go with Blake-Rudy-Roy.
And with the article today about Outlaw not thinking he can be aggressive in the first unit, its time to send him back to the bench.
 
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