[HoopsWorld]The Blazers Report Aug 24, 2003

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The Blazers Report By Jeff Robertson for HOOPSWORLD.com Aug 24, 2003, 23:56 Welcome to the August 24, 2003 edition of the Blazers Report. I apologize for the short Blazers report last week as one of my wife’s closest friends was married last week and there was a lot to do in preparation for the wedding. Luckily for everyone, there is very little going on in the basketball world, which is normal for this time of year. The next trading period is usually the week following labor day, which is a historically small time for movement, but you will see 1-2 decent deals take place. Speaking of labor day, in celebration of the holiday, there will be no article next week unless the Huskies beat Ohio State and then there will be a full column devoted to this upset. I do not anticipate much going on and with the weekend for the Blazers, and barring the impossible, will put out the next column on the Monday following labor day. This week we will touch on the Blazers current roster, the possibilities that still are available and what the season looks like for the Blazers. The Roster As we enter September, the Blazers roster looks suspiciously like it did last season. The Blazers go into September with their best five players and ideal starting five as: PG: Derek Anderson SG: Bonzi Wells SF: Rasheed Wallace PF: Zach Randolph C: Dale Davis The Blazers feel that this starting five can compete with the top teams in the West. The trouble for Portland is that the backups look like this: PG: Damon Stoudamire; Jeff McInnis SG: SF: Ruben Patterson; Qyntel Woods, Travis Outlaw (for now) PF: C: Ruben Boumtje Boumtje The Blazers will sign 2-3 more players to round out the roster, but you can see the trouble that this roster gives the Blazers. The Blazers would like to get the starting five listed above onto the floor as much as possible, but starting that group leaves the Blazers will big holes at the backup shooting guard and power forward positions as well as the center position which is manned in name only by Ruben Boumtje Boumtje. The trouble is not so much playing time as it is depth in case of injuries. The Blazers have 96 minutes at the two guard positions. The team would like to see Bonzi Wells receive around 35 minutes as they feel after the Dallas series that he is ready to move into a starring role and is most effective at the shooting guard position where he can work in the post and on the perimeter. Derek Anderson should receive approximately 30 minutes and the Blazers feel he has the ability to play the point guard position sufficiently for this team. This leaves 30 minutes for Damon Stoudamire and Jeff McInnis to split, which is probably sufficient. The Blazers will be looking for a player who can act as a fifth guard, someone who can take Antonio Daniels’ spot. The current plan for the 3 and 4 and 5 positions is to work as much as possible with Rasheed and Zach on the floor together. The Blazers are currently unsure where to play Rasheed. The Blazers do not believe that Rasheed can play the 3 very effectively long-term. The problem for Rasheed is his inability to take the ball to the basket off the dribble. This is in large part, no pun intended , due to his small hands. Rasheed struggles in dribbling the ball hard to the hoop and then being able to grab the ball with one hand and take it hard to the hoop. With his need to often use two hands, he is not strong taking the ball at his defender and either pulling up for the jump shot or moving the ball at the hoop. Watch Dirk Nowitzki and you will see where Rasheed struggles. Rasheed certainly has strengths that Dirk lacks, but Dirk has the skills to play the 3, where Rasheed has not shown the ability in prior seasons. If Rasheed proves that he cannot play the 3, the Blazers will either shift down Bonzi/DA to the 2/3 and move Damon into the starting lineup and keep Ruben coming off the bench. This raises the need for a combination guard and puts into question whether the Blazers would move Rasheed to the 5 or to the 4 and send Zach to the bench. Rasheed does not have the strength to play the 5 against someone like Shaq, but he can be very effective at this position against most teams because Rasheed does not need to be in the middle with Zach clogging the offensive middle. Zach works better while in the post alone and Rasheed’s tendency to play off the perimeter would work well for this combination. Defensively Rasheed has shown the ability to guard players such as Duncan and Garnett and Zach can play the center such as Nesterovic. The real problem is Shaq and what to do when Davis gets into foul trouble against Shaq. This problem is even bigger because the usual advantage for Portland, Rasheed, has been neutralized by his biggest nemesis, Karl Malone. Blazers Needs What all this analysis tells us is that the Blazers continue to have 3 major needs: 1) A backup big man, preferably a shot-blocker. The Blazers need a player who can come off the bench. Ideally this would be a backup center and the Blazers are looking primarily at two players: Predrag Drobnjak, who played with Seattle last year and Chris Andersen, who played with the Nuggets. I have heard people tell me that there is interest in Vladmir Stepania, of the Sonics and Heat, but nothing concrete. 2) A backup shooting guard. The Blazers need to replace the role Antonio Daniels played last season. The Blazers have been waiting to see how the market sorts itself out. Players such as Jon Barry, Voshon Lenard, Jimmy Jackson and Stephen Jackson should sign within the next two weeks. The discussions of Steve Smith have been relative talk, but the Blazers would likely have interest at a cheap price. 3) Someone who can shoot the rock. The Blazers desperately need a player who can shoot the ball and are hoping that Bonzi Wells is developing his jump shot and that a lineup featuring Rasheed, DA and Bonzi could shoot the ball effectively enough to get the Blazers through the season. I must say that it is a little bit surprising to me that the Blazers entered this season with these needs and have made no visible efforts to solve any of them. I cannot decide if seeing the Blazers as the 6th or 7th seed in the playoffs for yet another year is even remotely optimistic. Trades I told you last week that Rasheed offers were improving and everyone writes me and wants specifics. Here is what is going on with Rasheed: First, the notion that the Blazers are going to let Rasheed play out the season and just let him walk and use the salary cap relief is the most unlikely prospect. I have had sources tell me that the Blazers do not consider this a viable option. The Blazers let veteran players like Sabonis and Pippen walk away, but Rasheed has significant value and the Blazers do not intend to walk away. The Blazers are watching the Miami Heat Lamar Odom situation closely. The only teams projected with salary cap room next offseason are the Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets, possibly the Pistons, Spurs and Memphis through some unlikely non-tenders, and the Heat, if Odom goes back to the Clippers. Additionally, some very talented free agents will hit the market next offseason, including Kevin Garnett. All of these factors make it unlikely that Rasheed would be leaving Portland without a sign and trade next season and give the Blazers the leverage to consider resigning him, trading him during this season, working on a sign-and-trade or allowing Rasheed to walk away, which is the most unlikely choice as the Blazers have holes to fill with no true cap room available for several years and no high draft picks. However, the one team that could engineer a move for Rasheed would be the Heat and the Blazers are quietly hoping that the Heat sign Odom and have no cap room next offseason. The Blazers have encouraging reports that Rasheed is working hard on his game, but he is not in their long term plans. Jeff, I thought you just said the Blazers would not let Rasheed walk away? The Blazers project Bonzi Wells and Zach Randolph as the two players they intend to build around for the next few years and see a Paul Pierce/Tracy McGrady talent as the ideal fit between the two along with a shot-blocking center. The Blazers see Rasheed Wallace as neither and are looking to move him for a piece that fits one or both of those goals. Before they can do this, the Blazers need to discover what they can receive from Qyntel Woods. The jury is mixed on Qyntel. He unquestionably has the offensive skills and this is what is written in the press. It is no secret that a player can score 40 points and allow his man to score 50 and the player scoring 40 had a breakout game. The Blazers know that Qyntel can handle the ball, hit the jump shot and his interior game is improving. What the Blazers are skeptical about his is ability to play and even more importantly, grasp defensive concepts. Much of this is due to his lack of school basketball, which is where you learn many team defensive concepts. However, some of this is a lack of interest on the defensive end. In an earlier column I referred to Qyntel’s questionable attitude. Qyntel definitely has an interest and an enthusiasm in the offensive end, but his talk about soaking up Scottie Pippen’s philosophies has been more talk and less reality at this point. The Blazers desire to give Qyntel an opportunity this season to determine whether he will be the 3 of the future to play with Bonzi and Zach and hopefully the 3 of next season. This will depend on Qyntel’s defense. This uncertainty with Qyntel is making the Blazers reluctant to pull the trigger on any Rasheed trades, but their optimism in the coaching staff to reach Qyntel on the defensive end is showing in the Blazers pursuit of players. There are some in the Blazers camp that believe Qyntel will not reach this potential, which is what I referred to in my prior column on Qyntel. However, John Nash and Steve Patterson have, until recently, been believers that Qyntel will take the leap that Zach Randolph did from his second year summer to his second year season and are shopping Rasheed to fill the Blazers other hole, a shot-blocking big man. The two names being most discussed internally are Pau Gasol and Kenyon Martin. Some in the Blazers camp believe that both players will be available next season and the Blazers should simply wait for each and use a sign-and-trade for Rasheed straight up rather than making the salaries work now. However, both Memphis and New Jersey are holding out the idea that next season, these players will not be available straight up and that to get them you need to take on a bad contract, in Memphis’ sake Mike Dickerson or for NJ, Deke. The Blazers project both Gasol and Martin as having the ability to play the 5 position for Portland. These talks have cooled for many reasons, including the time of year, but one reason is the growing uncertainty of Nash and Patterson of Qyntel Woods’ ability to be the 3 the Blazers so desperately need and the short-term success of the team this season that has moved the Rasheed talks onto a different target. The most recent name on the horizon has been Vince Carter of the Raptors. I hear that Nash and Patterson have begun to see doubts in Qyntel Woods as a viable long-term solution to the 3 position and are considering moving Rasheed for Vince Carter. The Blazers believe that Carter is an available talent who would mix perfectly with Bonzi and Zach and leave the Blazers searching for a point guard and shot-blocking center to be a long-term contender in the Western Conference. Carter is the marketable good guy that the Blazers desire with the fit and talent to give the Blazers a “big three” to rival any team in the NBA. Enough about Rasheed. The player the Blazers would love to move is Ruben Patterson. The Blazers know that they will take a big public relations hit if their talk about character matters ends up with both Ruben and Damon on the squad next season. The Blazers are resigned to not being able to move Damon, but the Blazers could give themselves a big chip with Ruben Patterson. However, Patterson has yet to show any worthwhile offer and the Blazers are looking to having Ruben sitting on the squad next year following the 25 character points very carefully. The End Just a reminder, it is August 25, 2003 and the Blazers have still managed to not make a single addition to the squad and have let popular good guys Scottie Pippen, Arvydas Sabonis and good guy Antonio Daniels walk away. With 6 enjoyable western teams and teams like the Cavs with Lebron coming next season, it may be the first season since 1987 where I was more interested in the teams coming to the Rose Garden than the Blazers. In case you were wondering. Huskies lose to Ohio State on Saturday and the Ducks will blow out Mississippi State with USC losing to Auburn. I love Pac-10 football, welcome back. Huskies 10-2 this season and the Rose Bowl losing to the Beavers and the Buckeyes. I want to say the Ducks will be 9-3 with losses to the Huskies, Wolverines and Sun Devils, but I think they will probably drop another one and go 8-4 especially if they go with Clemens as the starting QB, which is better for next year but probably costs you a road game somewhere like UCLA. Beavers go 8-4 with losses to the Ducks, WSU, Sun Devils and Trojans. Do the Cougs even matter? Nope. -- 先堆著，晚點一起來看 -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw) ◆ From: 218.174.199.241 ※ 編輯: Bbokie 來自: 218.174.199.241 (08/25 16:03)