furball

I noticed Nate Bishop said they had a backcourt of Qyntel and Darius working together. I wonder if they are going to try to run Darius at the 2. Everyone forgets that SAR's best years were at the three in Vancouver. He made the all Star game as a 3. But he was a three that averaged 10+boards and had a low post game. When he went to Atlanta, Alan Henderson went down with an injury and Shareef moved to the 4 because Atlanta had no one else to play there. Over the next few years Reef bulked up to better take the pounding.

When he was first traded to Portland, I was estatic remembering Reef when he was in Vancouver. I was surprised on how he had filled out. He definately lost some mobility. But when he was playing with Vancouver, he was actually a pretty good shot blocker, averaging better than 1.0 blocks per game. I remember how he use to abuse Cliff Robinson. If he really did lose some weight this summer and slim up a little, he really could be the answer at the three not just this year, but in the future.

Every team Darius has played for has tried him at the 2. He plays very good defense on 2 guards, always has. He is just as quick as most, and is longer than any of them. He struggles a little against 3's which are all 6'10, 225 now a days. On offense, he can't play the 2 because he just can't shoot. But he is a great passer, can bring the ball up court and dish down to Zach or over to Damon or Nick. It sounds like Darius has worked his tail off this summer on his shooting. If he can consistantly hit that 20 footer and play defense, I would love Darius over Derek.

P.S.

What's up with DA's attitude. He has been the most negative Blazer in every interview, taking shots at Nash and Cheeks. Derek is a good citizen, and that can't be discounted, but no one remembers that he was a cancer when he was with the Clippers. In fact he actually quit on them his last year so he wouldn't get injured and ruin his chances for a free agent contract. And hell, if Mo doesn't like you, how good a guy can you be.

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cimalee

Shareef situation should be just fine , I have always liked his game

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4-For-Snapper

I'd honestly never really thought about putting Darius at the 2. He has the potential to be a huge improvement over DA. Let SAR play the 3 and not gripe about PT, and since DA is apparently becoming a team cancer his opinion won't matter to anyone when he complains.

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STOMP

I'm not sure what starting 3's you're refering to? What SF in the West dwarfs Darius? Odom is about the biggest guy in the West that comes to mind and thats not a bad matchup. At 6'7 1/2 barefoot with a huge wingspan, DM's size at 3 is a stength not a liability IMO.

That the team apparently has chosen to feature SAR is another matter.

STOMP

cimalee

I like Darius at the 2 , if Portland wants him to blossom making him a scorer would build his confidence .

Miles at SF would just be standing around watching Da and Damon shooting crazy shots .

Anybody remember that Boston game last year when Cheeks setup plays for Miles and he was awesome that night .

Making Miles the starting sg is a good thing becuase we are weak at that position .

Miles cant shhot well as Da but neither could Bonzi , Plus Daz is streaky

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But it's not about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward

BLAZER PROPHET

SAR at the 3 makes us slower and will have a negative effect on fast breaks. He's also not one to push the ball on a break like Miles can.

Now, I realize fast break points account for no more than 30% of all points, but as Damon is fairly unable to run set offenses, this will make the weakest part of our game worse.

Ditto with miles at the 2. For one thing, he's not a real good outside shooter and this is a position where the 3-pt should be shot a lot and keep defenses honest from sagging in on the low post players (like SAR & Zach). Also, while Darius can run, he's a slower 2 than DA, Q or the Gangsta and we again see our running game take a hit.

Two players playing out of position making us a substantially slower team. Not good.

Blazer Ringbearer

Yup, I liken Darius at the 2 to Rasheed at the 3.

Sure, both players are versatile enough to possibly pull it off for a while, but ultimately Rasheed is his best as a 4/5 and I'd bet money that Darius is his best as a 3.