We are CLEARLY the deepest team in the league.

[KingSpeed]

And it isn't even CLOSE.

When you lose 6 of your top 9 players, as we did for the SA game, and 5 for tonight, and you STILL beat Western Conference playoff teams, then that is a testament to your depth. You can go down your roster and still get good minutes.

I'm telling you now that if the Nuggets played without Carmelo, JR Smith, Birdman, Nene, and Carter, they would beat NO ONE.

If the Lakers played without Kobe, Pau, Bynum, Shannon Brown, and Sasha Vujacic, they wouldn't beat the Spurs.

Please name for me a team in which you take 5 or 6 of their top 9 players off the roster and they still win games against good teams. Even if it's players 5-9 on their depth chart. I don't think any other team in the league could do what we've been doing.

 

[alex42083]

One guy who's filled in that I am loving right now is Jeff Pendergraph. What a great pickup for a second-round draft pick. Guy is playing hard, not intimidated by ANYONE, and just does all the little things. A great backup big man. I am a huge fan of his right now.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

One guy who's filled in that I am loving right now is Jeff Pendergraph. What a great pickup for a second-round draft pick. Guy is playing hard, not intimidated by ANYONE, and just does all the little things. A great backup big man. I am a huge fan of his right now.

Agreed, imho, he's exactly what we need: the new Mark Bryant out there. He sets a mean pick, he grabs big rebounds, and he's not afraid of anyone. I loved watching him jaw with Birdman out there tonight.

 

[oldmangrouch]

The Blazer back-court can match any in the league for depth. Blake, Rudy, Miller (because of age), and Bayless (because of inexperience), are what used to be called "1.5ers". Average or below for first stringers, but way above average for 2nd stringers. Now that Nate seems to have figured out the concept of "mix-and-match", he is getting full benefit from that depth.

 

[blue32]

FOTM post.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I swear, I just want to put a .357 to my temple sometimes ...

 

[Driew]

And it isn't even CLOSE.

When you lose 6 of your top 9 players, as we did for the SA game, and 5 for tonight, and you STILL beat Western Conference playoff teams, then that is a testament to your depth. You can go down your roster and still get good minutes.

I'm telling you now that if the Nuggets played without Carmelo, JR Smith, Birdman, Nene, and Carter, they would beat NO ONE.

If the Lakers played without Kobe, Pau, Bynum, Shannon Brown, and Sasha Vujacic, they wouldn't beat the Spurs.

Please name for me a team in which you take 5 or 6 of their top 9 players off the roster and they still win games against good teams. Even if it's players 5-9 on their depth chart. I don't think any other team in the league could do what we've been doing.

The one flaw however is we still have our two best players Roy and Aldridge. As long as they're healthy we still have a chance to win games. But yes I agree if those teams lost a lot of their ROLE PLAYERS they'd be out of luck.

Granted we did win in SA without our star in Roy but still. We couldn't keep that up if Roy was out for awhile. No team could.

 

[DaRizzle]

I swear, I just want to put a .357 to my temple sometimes ...

You know you and me are the only sane ones on here right?

 

[blue32]

^Supportin' the lakers aint sane bro.

 

[DaRizzle]

Watch Out...KingSpeed might knife us, he's crazy

 

[julius]

If you took Brandon and LaMarcus, our 2 best players, we'd win far less games.

So your comparison isn't just.

If the Lakers were without players (rank wise) #3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 (Oden, Batum, Rudy Travis and Joel for sake of argument), they'd still have Kobe.

They'd probably be like the Lakers team a few years ago that won 30 something games (or whatever it was). Most teams, I believe, would either suck incredibly, or fight like the Blazers are currently.

 

[drexlersdad]

If you took Brandon and LaMarcus, our 2 best players, we'd win far less games.

So your comparison isn't just.

If the Lakers were without players (rank wise) #3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 (Oden, Batum, Rudy Travis and Joel for sake of argument), they'd still have Kobe.

They'd probably be like the Lakers team a few years ago that won 30 something games (or whatever it was). Most teams, I believe, would either suck incredibly, or fight like the Blazers are currently.

well, its kinda just... the win against the spurs we were missing roy.

who even plays for the lakers if they lose kobe/artest/bynum/walton/fisher/brown? and thats being charitable listing walton as their 6th best player.

or how about positionally?

take away their starting and backup sg(kobe/shannon)/ their starting sf (artest)/their backup pf(odom)/ and both centers(bynum and powell).

 

[STOMP]

Billups is one of the Nugs top players right? and wasn't the game in Portland?

just saying

STOMP

 

[andalusian]

Billups is one of the Nugs top players right? and wasn't the game in Portland?

Billups played the first half.

 

[STOMP]

Billups played the first half.

yes he did... and the Nuggets were leading at that point. They were blown out in the 2nd half without their multiple time AS point guard.

STOMP

 

[ABM]

yes he did... and the Nuggets were leading at that point.

STOMP

Chauncey Billups, who missed three games with a groin injury, returned to Denver’s starting lineup. He had 10 points and five assists, but sat out the second half as a precaution. Denver is off Saturday but plays back-to-back games against Dallas and Sacramento starting Sunday.

“I think without Chauncey the balance of our offense gets out of sync a little bit too much,” Denver coach George Karl said. “That’s on me.”

...

 

[KingSpeed]

Billups is one of the Nugs top players right? and wasn't the game in Portland?

just saying

STOMP

And they lost. Also, to compare, the nuggets would have to be without Smith, Birdman, and Nene.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

yes he did... and the Nuggets were leading at that point. They were blown out in the 2nd half without their multiple time AS point guard.

STOMP

That's it then? We're reducing this to "We only won because their point guard was hurt"?

 

[drexlersdad]

And they lost. Also, to compare, the nuggets would have to be without Smith, Birdman, and Nene.

this

 

[drexlersdad]

That's it then? We're reducing this to "We only won because their point guard was hurt"?

well, they did suck ass before he got there, could be on to something.

 

[STOMP]

That's it then? We're reducing this to "We only won because their point guard was hurt"?

someday people are going to catch on to the fact that everything isn't black and white in this world. To counter a point that this game exemplifies how the Blazers are the deepest team in the league I threw out that the Nuggets were also missing a key ingredient... an established stud who initiates their offense. How someone concludes the quoted bit above is what I was inferring is beyond me

for those that aren't so good in dealing with shades of gray, let me be clear that I feel the Blazers do have quality depth and that last night's game was a solid win that they earned. Blake shooting the lights out in the 4th was great to see again

STOMP

 

[44Thrilla]

CLEARLY is my favorite part of the thread title.

 

[DaRizzle]

someday people are going to catch on to the fact that everything isn't black and white in this world. To counter a point that this game exemplifies how the Blazers are the deepest team in the league I threw out that the Nuggets were also missing a key ingredient... an established stud who initiates their offense. How someone concludes the quoted bit above is what I was inferring is beyond me

for those that aren't so good in dealing with shades of gray, let me be clear that I feel the Blazers do have quality depth and that last night's game was a solid win that they earned. Blake shooting the lights out in the 4th was great to see again

STOMP

pssssh...shades of gray...please
It is either A or B, take a fucking stand!

 

[bbwchingy0007]

Please name for me a team in which you take 5 or 6 of their top 9 players off the roster and they still win games against good teams. Even if it's players 5-9 on their depth chart. I don't think any other team in the league could do what we've been doing.

I'm biased, but seeing as you still have Roy, I think the Cavs would be a decent shout. They made the Finals essentially with LeBron and players who would be reserves on other good teams. So seeing as you still have Roy, let's say for example the Cavs keep LeBron. Say the players lost are Mo, Shaq, Varejao, Delonte West and Anthony Parker.

Starting 5 would be Ilgauskas, Hickson, LeBron, Moon, Gibson. Granted they'd only have inexperienced reserves, but I would say that that squad is not a huge way off the Ilgauskas (has regressed), Gooden, LeBron (now has an outside shot), Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic starting five that got them to the Finals.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no way saying that's an elite team, but I think that that squad could in theory beat a team like the Spurs say one time in ten in the regular season. I will also admit that this is for one reason and one reason only: LeBron. If LeBron goes down, the Cavs are down to a .500 team at best.

 

[drexlersdad]

uughh fuck yeah we are sooooo DEEP baybee you like that shit ugh oh fuck

 

[drexlersdad]

I'm biased, but seeing as you still have Roy, I think the Cavs would be a decent shout. They made the Finals essentially with LeBron and players who would be reserves on other good teams. So seeing as you still have Roy, let's say for example the Cavs keep LeBron. Say the players lost are Mo, Shaq, Varejao, Delonte West and Anthony Parker.

Starting 5 would be Ilgauskas, Hickson, LeBron, Moon, Gibson. Granted they'd only have inexperienced reserves, but I would say that that squad is not a huge way off the Ilgauskas (has regressed), Gooden, LeBron (now has an outside shot), Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic starting five that got them to the Finals.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no way saying that's an elite team, but I think that that squad could in theory beat a team like the Spurs say one time in ten in the regular season. I will also admit that this is for one reason and one reason only: LeBron. If LeBron goes down, the Cavs are down to a .500 team at best.

good analogy, didnt the cavs go undefeated when lebron was out a couple years ago?

 

[bbwchingy0007]

good analogy, didnt the cavs go undefeated when lebron was out a couple years ago?

yeah but I put that down to statistical anomalies and iirc those games were against much weaker opponents than normal. And I'm not saying that lineup would light up the floor, but it is made up of 3 players who played a big part in the Cavs' Finals run, a promising rookie held in really high regard by the Cavs front office, and a long wing player who is very athletic. It's a solid team that would probably hover at about 45 or so wins a season, so by statistics they would probably beat good teams from time to time.

 

[DaRizzle]

good analogy,

KS does not approve.

I think a mod has to change "clearly" to "maybe" in light of the chingy's post

 

[drexlersdad]

KS does not approve.

I think a mod has to change "clearly" to "maybe" in light of the chingy's post

the cavs are very deep, they are solid from 2-10. and they are all healthy, which helps haha

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I'm biased, but seeing as you still have Roy, I think the Cavs would be a decent shout. They made the Finals essentially with LeBron and players who would be reserves on other good teams. So seeing as you still have Roy, let's say for example the Cavs keep LeBron. Say the players lost are Mo, Shaq, Varejao, Delonte West and Anthony Parker.

Starting 5 would be Ilgauskas, Hickson, LeBron, Moon, Gibson. Granted they'd only have inexperienced reserves, but I would say that that squad is not a huge way off the Ilgauskas (has regressed), Gooden, LeBron (now has an outside shot), Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic starting five that got them to the Finals.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no way saying that's an elite team, but I think that that squad could in theory beat a team like the Spurs say one time in ten in the regular season. I will also admit that this is for one reason and one reason only: LeBron. If LeBron goes down, the Cavs are down to a .500 team at best.

Well, I'd say to be comparable, you'd have to lose Z instead of Mo (lose both your centers, but keep your top two scorers). So then, you'd be starting Hickson (at center), Lebron, Moon, Gibson, and Williams (tiny backcourt), with Jackson and Williams as your only front-court reserves, and Danny Green and Coby Karl as your guards off the bench.

Sorry, I think what we have now is significantly better than that.