Exclusive You decide; RipCityTwo consensus Blazer starting 5

[DUB]

Poll closed before I could vote, but I would go with:

Lillard
Henderson
Aminu
Leonard
Plumlee

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Poll closed before I could vote, but I would go with:

Lillard
Henderson
Aminu
Leonard
Plumlee

Poll open!

 

[DUB]

And voted. Thanks!

 

[oldmangrouch]

The starters are likely to change over the course of the season.

How is the "winner" chosen? Starter at the beginning of the season, at the end, or total starts over 82 games?

 

[barfo]

Everyone's a winner.

barfo

 

[Draco]

The starters are likely to change over the course of the season.

How is the "winner" chosen? Starter at the beginning of the season, at the end, or total starts over 82 games?

Stotts said he is going to use our vote for the first preseason game. After that its on the players to perform and Stotts will make any necessary adjustments.

 

[BBert]

From the looks of it, Dame, Plumlee, Leonard and Aminu are the sure fire starters. CJ and Henderson are fighting it out for the guard spot with CJ with a lead.

This is what I thought.

Play CJ. This is a developmental year.

 

[illmatic99]

I want Vonleh and Leonard to start.

Throw them into the fire. I like CJ off the bench as the third guard. That's gonna be his eventual role on our team when we get back to the playoffs. Let him build his skills there.

 

[magnifier661]

Looks like our uncertainty is at 2. That's surprising to see Leonard not unanimous

 

[selloutking]

Lillard
Henderson
Aminu
Leonard
Plumlee

this is the correct answer

 

[Denny Crane]

I don't know why people sell Ed Davis short.

8/8 in 23 minutes and he shot .601. Super efficient as it is, and here he'd get more scoring opportunities. Already a 20 PER guy, we haven't seen his upside yet.

It could be the best PF and C combo on the team is Davis and Plumlee.

 

[selloutking]

my thought is defensive 2 and 3 to start
defensive 4 and 5 off the bench
making the other team have to constantly adjust how they are playing the game could play to our advantage.

 

[B-Roy]

I don't know why people sell Ed Davis short.

8/8 in 23 minutes and he shot .601. Super efficient as it is, and here he'd get more scoring opportunities. Already a 20 PER guy, we haven't seen his upside yet.

It could be the best PF and C combo on the team is Davis and Plumlee.

Lack of spacing would stifle the offense.

 

[Draco]

I don't know why people sell Ed Davis short.

8/8 in 23 minutes and he shot .601. Super efficient as it is, and here he'd get more scoring opportunities. Already a 20 PER guy, we haven't seen his upside yet.

It could be the best PF and C combo on the team is Davis and Plumlee.

Can't play those two together because of court spacing. Maybe spot minutes against backups but there is no way we can build a good offense with them going against opponents first team defenses.

I agree he's in the mix instead of Plumlee, just not alongside him. I actually voted for him and Meyers. He could be our second best player after Dame. You can pair Ed with Meyers, Vonleh, Kaman or Aminu up front.

 

[42N8Bounce]

Let's have a little fun with this. If I pick my starters based on PER from last year, I get -

Starters:
Damian Lillard. PER=20.7, WS/30.5=0.110.
Gerald Henderson. PER=13.2, WS/30.5=0.047.
Al-Farouq Aminu. PER=14.4, WS/30.5=0.071.
Ed Davis. PER=20.0, WS/30.5=0.103.
Mason Plumlee. PER=18.0, WS/30.5=0.084.

Bench:
Phil Pressey. PER=11.8, WS/17.5=0.020.
CJ McCollum. PER=13.1, WS/17.5=0.032.
Allen Crabbe. PER=8.7, WS/17.5=0.033.
Meyers Leonard. PER=14.8, WS/17.5=0.058.
Chris Kaman. PER=17.3, WS/17.5=0.041.

Others:
Maurice Markless. PER=8.4.
Noah Vonleh. PER=13.2.
Tim Frazier. PER=8.1.
Pat Connaughton. Rookie.
Luis Montero. Rookie
Cliff Alexander. Rookie

Having a little fun with the number, if we assume that the starters play 30.5 minutes, and the bench plays 17.5 minutes (approximate averages from last year), we can then use Win-Shares to approximate the number of wins this line up could achieve. Totaling up the numbers above for this line up (multiply each WS by 82) gives us 49 wins. Yep, no way that is happening. Of course Win-Shares is very dependent upon who else they are playing with. Virtually all of these players are in a different structure this year and will see drastic changes to their stats.

I agree that playing Davis and Plumlee at the same time could definitely cause some problems. That's why I'd prefer to see Leonard start to help spread the floor a bit. But how do you bench Davis or Plumlee that have PERs over 18?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I agree that playing Davis and Plumlee at the same time could definitely cause some problems. That's why I'd prefer to see Leonard start to help spread the floor a bit. But how do you bench Davis or Plumlee that have PERs over 18?

Easy. If Plums starts, you tell Davis, "Vonleh is going to be backing Leonard up at the 4, so we need a strong veteran presence coming off the bench alongside him to help keep things steady while he develops and learns the ropes." If Davis, you tell Plumlee, "You and Leonard are going to be platooning at center, and we need your defense to complement the holes in CJ and Vonleh's games."

Or, you simply tell them, "This is what is best for the team as a whole," and expect them to accept it and put forth their best effort whenever they're on the floor.

 

[Denny Crane]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/depth-chart/POR/portland-trail-blazers

 

[barfo]

Easy. If Plums starts, you tell Davis, "Vonleh is going to be backing Leonard up at the 4, so we need a strong veteran presence coming off the bench alongside him to help keep things steady while he develops and learns the ropes." If Davis, you tell Plumlee, "You and Leonard are going to be platooning at center, and we need your defense to complement the holes in CJ and Vonleh's games."

Or, you simply tell them, "This is what is best for the team as a whole," and expect them to accept it and put forth their best effort whenever they're on the floor.

Or you tell them "Welcome to ModaDome. Two men enter, one man leaves."

barfo

 

[BBert]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/depth-chart/POR/portland-trail-blazers

WTF? No CJ McCollum? Should add Alexander. If Frazier is listed, why not Pressy?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

So--We're now through 5 pre-season games. Have your opinions on the prospective starting lineup changed? This thread is basically 3 months old, and the poll came up with Dame/Hendo/'Rouq/Nards/Plums. Wonder what would happen if we re-did it (or if people went in and changed their votes). Personally, I think Davis has surpassed Plumlee on the depth chart at center, but do we really want to break up the VonDavis frontcourt combo?

 

[Reep]

So--We're now through 5 pre-season games. Have your opinions on the prospective starting lineup changed? This thread is basically 3 months old, and the poll came up with Dame/Hendo/'Rouq/Nards/Plums. Wonder what would happen if we re-did it (or if people went in and changed their votes). Personally, I think Davis has surpassed Plumlee on the depth chart at center, but do we really want to break up the VonDavis frontcourt combo?

I would like to see Harkless added to the list. I might agree with Davis, but sure like Davis and Vonleh off the bench. Right now the starters I would like to see are:

Dame
Harkless
Aminu
Davis
Leonard

 

[illmatic99]

So--We're now through 5 pre-season games. Have your opinions on the prospective starting lineup changed? This thread is basically 3 months old, and the poll came up with Dame/Hendo/'Rouq/Nards/Plums. Wonder what would happen if we re-did it (or if people went in and changed their votes). Personally, I think Davis has surpassed Plumlee on the depth chart at center, but do we really want to break up the VonDavis frontcourt combo?

Think CJ might get the shot to start at SG. He's certainly earned it. Alongside Dame, Aminu, Leonard, and Plums. And CJ or Dame will be on the floor at all times switching PG duties when the other is resting.

Crabbe, Harkless, Davis, Vonleh get regular PT. Henderson coming back will affect this rotation a bit, but still think CJ has solidified his starting spot.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

What I think might happen:
Dame
CJ
Aminu
Leonard
Plumlee

What I think I want to see:
Dame
Crabbe
Aminu
Leonard
Davis
(With CJ still getting a shit-ton of minutes)

 

[PtldPlatypus]

What I think might happen:
Dame
CJ
Aminu
Leonard
Plumlee

What I think I want to see:
Dame
Crabbe
Aminu
Leonard
Davis
(With CJ still getting a shit-ton of minutes)

My thoughts exactly.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

My thoughts exactly.

I also want Harkless to get plenty of minutes even though I think Aminu might fit better with the starting unit.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I also want Harkless to get plenty of minutes even though I think Aminu might fit better with the starting unit.

Ha. I was in the middle of including that as an addendum, then deleted it as unnecessary.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Ha. I was in the middle of including that as an addendum, then deleted it as unnecessary.

Outside of Dame, and maybe CJ and Leonard, it is hard to imagine any player averaging 30 minutes a game. They are all so close in talent and they almost all deserve time.

 

[Natebishop3]

Right now, I think Davis has outplayed Plumlee.

I actually think Plumlee has been a bit of a disappointment.

 

[tester551]

So--We're now through 5 pre-season games. Have your opinions on the prospective starting lineup changed? This thread is basically 3 months old, and the poll came up with Dame/Hendo/'Rouq/Nards/Plums. Wonder what would happen if we re-did it (or if people went in and changed their votes). Personally, I think Davis has surpassed Plumlee on the depth chart at center, but do we really want to break up the VonDavis frontcourt combo?

I think a rotation combination of Davis/Meyers and Noah/Plumlee would balance their strengths an weaknesses better.

I would like to see Harkless added to the list. I might agree with Davis, but sure like Davis and Vonleh off the bench. Right now the starters I would like to see are:
Dame
Harkless
Aminu
Davis
Leonard

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Denny Crane]

I fixed the poll to allow 5 choices.

Mine: Dame, Hendo, Davis, Aminu, Leonard

I'm still good with this. CJ is Ben Gordon 6th man type. The 2nd team needs scoring, too.

And I really like Davis a lot. Plumlee doesn't have as much upside, IMO, though he's solid for what he does.