Small Forward Future?

[Butter]

In this last off-season, I was convinced that the Blazers needed to upgrade their SF spot. The three headed monster of Webster/Outlaw/Jones has really made that seem less important. Martell has had some big games this year, including the 26 point explosion when Roy sat out most of te game. However, the big knock on Martell has always been his consistency. Here is his scoring since Nov.

Pts
6
6
9
16
26
13
7
Pts
4
7
4
4
19
15
13
3
10
2
25
9
4
3
17


As fans, we have focused a lot of time on up grading the PG spot, but Martell continues to struggle with inconsistency. Outlaw plays a lot of minutes at PF, and James needs to be extended.

Should we turn discussions back to upgrading the SF spot?

[TradeMachine]

I don't think so. Webster's progression is fine. He and Outlaw will make a nice tandem.

[Goldbum]

I think Martell has been inconsistent on one hand, but on the other hand he has shown flashes of excellence and has progrssed enough in his game that I believe he will continue to get better. Also I think Martell has yet to reach the turning point of his career. Just wait, he's a good player now and will be much better when he figures out how to bring it every night.

[ph1sh55]

I think if you want Martell to be more consistent you need to run a number of early plays for him coming off screens. He absolutely obliterated Utah this way and it builds his rhythm. I've only seen a few plays run for him here or there. It needs to be part of our gameplan when he is in the game, he shoots very good coming off screens.

[Billy]

There is a lot more to Martell's game than just his scoring output. Teams have learned you cannot just leave him open. When you do you see those big scoring outputs.

Portland doesn't run many plays for him which is a shame. He caught fire for a few minutes in that Boston game running the same offense that saw him score 24 points in the 3rd quarter against Utah.

But he's a pretty darn good rebounder, and his defense has been great. He did very well on Pierce last night (at least that's how it looked, I never checked the final box score). He also really spreads out the floor because of his shooting ability. If he wasn't such a threat I think you'd see a lot more teams going zone and forcing Aldridge and Roy to shoot over the top. As it is Roy can go into the lane most nights with ease.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

Is it just me, or is Martell following the Travis Outlaw development curve? Because that's what I feel is happening, except Martell has both a higher floor and ceiling.

If anything happens, Martell should be shopped around in package for a better SF while Miles recovers (he will play into this debate). I wouldn't pull the trigger on anything, but I'd be open to reviewing my options in the open market before I look toward the draft.

[mojomarc]

Looking at just his scoring output says nothing about whether Martell is inconsistent or not by itself. Remember--Martell isn't a first option or even a second option. On most nights, he's at best tied for the third option. If you look at his game performance, you'll see that some games he has a lot of plays run for him (he doesn't initiate offense, so he's hostage to Roy and the PGs) and he gets a lot of shots, and other times he has virtually no plays run for him.

The thing with this team is that virtually all the players outside of Roy and LMA (and Travis, simply because he has a tendency to pull up for a shot virtually every time he touches the ball) are going to have inconsistent numbers of plays run for them because the architecture of this team is around taking advantage of whomever has the hot hand and the open look, even if it means that a player has to sacrifice the number of plays run for them that day. That Martell is not glum like last year at this inconsistency is testament to how well he has matured.

[Telfaire]

It would be great if we could land Granger, but I wanna give Webster another year at least. If he can keep on improving his defense to become a lockdown defender, it would be more important than his offense which should be fine as he matures more.

[UGotThrilled]

More significant than his current output has been his change in attitude and significant improvement. We need to see if this continues, and if it does, Martell will be tough to stop. We should have run more screens for him. I think that will work even better next year with Oden setting screens. But I think that we should have continued to use it last night, the rest of our offense wasn't doing well, and until it is quite apparent Martell is having an off night, he should be getting more plays.

[Milkdud]

I think you gotta give Webster another year before you come down to hard of him. Just look at the end of last season and what production we got out of Outlaw and the production we have gotten from him this season. Also like other have mentioned Outlaw doesnt get many plays run for him which since frankly his dribbling is so limited he isnt able to make plays for himself.

[Billy]

Just to add to the Oden/Martell connection is this: next year Martell will be even more important.

The fact that Portland is the #1 outside shooting team in the league is scary considering they have next to nothing as far as an inside threat to draw defenders away from the perimeter. The Blazers have been doing it with great ball movement and great picks. But imagine next year when Oden is down there demanding double and triple teams.

With Oden in the middle Portland can do much the same that they've done with Martell this year--only with Oden teams will be forced to no longer face check him on the perimeter to make sure he doesn't get a clean look.

I basically envision the Orlando offense (1992-1995) or Laker offense (1996 - 2003) in that scenario. Put a bunch of great outside shooters around your dominant big man and let the other team pick their poison. I don't think it's too far fetched to envision Martell Webster as a Dennis Scott type of player only with much better rebounding and defense.

[Butter]

Looking at just his scoring output says nothing about whether Martell is inconsistent or not by itself. Remember--Martell isn't a first option or even a second option. On most nights, he's at best tied for the third option. If you look at his game performance, you'll see that some games he has a lot of plays run for him (he doesn't initiate offense, so he's hostage to Roy and the PGs) and he gets a lot of shots, and other times he has virtually no plays run for him.

The thing with this team is that virtually all the players outside of Roy and LMA (and Travis, simply because he has a tendency to pull up for a shot virtually every time he touches the ball) are going to have inconsistent numbers of plays run for them because the architecture of this team is around taking advantage of whomever has the hot hand and the open look, even if it means that a player has to sacrifice the number of plays run for them that day. That Martell is not glum like last year at this inconsistency is testament to how well he has matured.

Mojo, I think your first paragraph is a fair statement. Martell can't hit shots if Nate's not calling plays for him. However, I do think that the Blazers need their starting SF to add another dimension to their game. Martell has shown flashes of being able to create his own shot off the dribble, and that's the next part of his game that needs to be addressed imo.

There was a thread awhile ago that talked about faults with LMA, and in that thread I said that we as fans need to be patient while the coaching staff improves on his natural skills. Maybe I need to take the same approach with Martell.

However, compare Martell's game to someone like Rudy Gay. He's attacking the rim, hitting perimeter shots, and more importantly creating that shot on his own. I know that Gay gets a lot of plays called for him, but he's also sharing the shots with Pau Gasol, Mike Miller, and some other guys.

[Telfaire]

With Oden in the middle Portland can do much the same that they've done with Martell this year--only with Oden teams will be forced to no longer face check him on the perimeter to make sure he doesn't get a clean look.

That's true, but the thing with Martell is that he tends to miss a lot of open shots, while making the harder ones. I hope it's just a confidence thing that will improve by next season, but if not, it could mean that JJ33 would take over his place in the starting lineup and we'll look for new options at SF (assuming Martell wont get an extension this summer).

[Billy]

With Oden in the middle Portland can do much the same that they've done with Martell this year--only with Oden teams will be forced to no longer face check him on the perimeter to make sure he doesn't get a clean look.

That's true, but the thing with Martell is that he tends to miss a lot of open shots, while making the harder ones. I hope it's just a confidence thing that will improve by next season, but if not, it could mean that JJ33 would take over his place in the starting lineup and we'll look for new options at SF (assuming Martell wont get an extension this summer).

That is true as well. Although he's gotten maybe a touch better IMO over the past week or two, I certainly agree. It's a glaring spot in his game. To me, I would assume it's mental as he certainly has a sweet stroke.

[BlackMamba]

yes, patience has been a virtue for the blazers in the case of outlaw, lets not forget how young martell is and that he has a lot of potential.

this season was supposed to be another step in the "rebuilding" part, and i think we are all surprised that the team has left that part out and are starting to be a playoffs contender.

plus, martell/oultaw/jones seem to be complementing each other perfectly.

so lets see how things turn out next season once oden is back, becuase i'm pretty sure that a LOT of things will change, and only for the good.

[Norm2953]

I'd like to see us add a big SF who rebounds and plays tough
defense for I view Outlaw more as a PF.

I can see the Blazers letting James Jones and Martell go if
they can get an upgrade at SF. If only the Bulls would trade
us Luol Deng..

[Mr Odd]

Shooting will be a big part of the Blazers
future if Oden becomes the player we all
hope & think he will be. Odens not going
to be the big scorer inside like.. .lets say
Hakeem, but the Rockets back then put
a ton of good shooters around him and
I think that might be a good idea. If you
do that & you have Roy who can create,
youre going to have two guys who draw
the defense. You add another inside guy
or a good scorer, thats gonna be a tough
team to deal with!! So what does all this
have to do with the topic you say?? Web,
Jones & even Outlaw can all hit the outside
shot. You add atleast one more deadbang
shooter and you got what the Rockets and
Spurs had/have when they won them rings!!

[Butter]

Shooting will be a big part of the Blazers
future if Oden becomes the player we all
hope & think he will be. Odens not going
to be the big scorer inside like.. .lets say
Hakeem, but the Rockets back then put
a ton of good shooters around him and
I think that might be a good idea. If you
do that & you have Roy who can create,
youre going to have two guys who draw
the defense. You add another inside guy
or a good scorer, thats gonna be a tough
team to deal with!! So what does all this
have to do with the topic you say?? Web,
Jones & even Outlaw can all hit the outside
shot. You add atleast one more deadbang
shooter and you got what the Rockets and
Spurs had/have when they won them rings!!

I agree, but at some point, we need to have a couple of players who can attack the rim. Oden is a franchise center, but I think fans are putting an inordinate amount of pressure on this kid. We expect him to single handedly fix our rebounding and interior scoring woes, all in his first year back from micro-fracture surgery.

The Blazers are winning due to their team concept and complimentary skills. It would be nice to have a SF who could:

Defend
Rebound
Shoot
&
get dribble penetration

Martell is getting a lot better at the first three. In some games I've seen him be very effective attacking the rim. If he can become a lock down defender (see Pierce's box score last night) and get some easy buckets going to the basket, he's going to be the answer himself.

As for his rebounds, I think that's a common problem for a lot of the Blazers. They sit out on the perimeter, and don't crash the boards. If he can do that, he can take another step.

I think bottom line, Martell needs to continue to do the things he's doing now, but move towards the basket more to score and rebound.