Making room for Rudy and Greg

Saturday, May 3, 2008, D69 —

Adding Rudy Fernandez and Greg Oden to the rotation next year will require some movement of players or positions to get the best rotation. Rudy is a classic shooting guard and is not a point guard or small forward. Either the Blazers will need to move Brandon Roy to point guard or small forward. Roy helped fill some of the biggest need for the Blazers last season and that was being a part-time PG. Next season would be a good time to move him full-time into that role.

With Greg Oden in the middle and Nate proclaiming already that Greg will be the starting center next season. We will see the Blazer’s interior defense become better if the quicker guards get around Roy and Rudy. Next season Nate has said he is leaving that spot open as he expects Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw and James Jones to compete for the starting position. I can see why Nate wants Martell to be more defensive minded, because if he is going to start at SF, there will not be that many plays or shots for him with the addition of Rudy and Greg to the rotation.

Unless the Blazers get another major player, the best thing is to continue to start Martell and let Travis come off the bench. The first team with the addition of Rudy and Greg looked like a better half court team than a transition team. Having Sergio Rodriguez and Steve Blake to the secondary team will help Travis and Channing Frye on the transition game for the second unit.

Having two different teams that can play half court and transition will make it harder on the other team’s defense and momentum.

Projected rotation (minutes)
Team 1:
Brandon Roy (35)
Rudy Fernandez (30)
Martell Webster (23)
LaMarcus Aldridge (35)
Greg Oden (30)

Team 2:
Sergio Rodriguez (15)
Steve Blake (16)
Travis Outlaw (25)
Channing Frye (13)
Joel Przybilla (18)