Preseason Game 3: Phoenix Suns at Portland Trail Blazers

[LukasBMW]

We're the last year Minny
League Pass favorite.

I think a big debate in the future will be:

"Who has the better 1-2 punch? Minny with KAT and Wiggins or Phoenix with Chriss and Booker?"

[Damkac]

I wonder if geting Chandler made Len regressing. Maybe he lost his confidence? I hate how everybody scores in the paint despite his defense. In his 2nd year he had lots of blocks and lots of fouls. Now he don't even try to block anything and he gets lots of fouls anyway. I think Chriss and Bender are probably better rim protectors than him. Generally Chriss looked much better than Len at basically everything. I thought Chriss is risky pick and better not expect anything from him to not get disappointed. Such a nice suprise.

Booker
Chriss
Warren
Bledsoe (too passive)
Len

[Blackification]

Anyone else notice how much Bledsoe is playing off the ball?? I guess it might be our new passing offense

[bwgood77]

I wonder if geting Chandler made Len regressing. Maybe he lost his confidence? I hate how everybody scores in the paint despite his defense. In his 2nd year he had lots of blocks and lots of fouls. Now he don't even try to block anything and he gets lots of fouls anyway. I think Chriss and Bender are probably better rim protectors than him. Generally Chriss looked much better than Len at basically everything. I thought Chriss is risky pick and better not expect anything from him to not get disappointed. Such a nice suprise.

Booker
Chriss
Warren
Bledsoe (too passive)
Len

Yeah, I don't know what to do with Len if he doesn't improve this season. I guess the best bet would be to see if he got an offer in FA, and if it was reasonable, match it. If he doesn't get one that is even better and we can give him a pretty low deal or let him take the QO. The only downside in letting him take the QO is that if he did really well in his 5th season then we may have to really pay him.

I think if he just contains his energy a little more and becomes more focused it would help. It doesn't appear to be a lack of effort. He should not shoot much until he hits some free throws or makes a dunk or an easy shot or two to get some confidence.

[bwgood77]

We're the last year Minny
League Pass favorite.

I think a big debate in the future will be:

"Who has the better 1-2 punch? Minny with KAT and Wiggins or Phoenix with Chriss and Booker?"

I think it's quite a stretch to put Chriss in the same stratosphere as KAT despite the fact that I love how he is playing. KAT's #s were in historic company. He is probably already a top 10 player.

Now Booker may already be better than Wiggins, but too early to determine that and will have to wait until the regular season.

[Saberestar]

I wonder if geting Chandler made Len regressing. Maybe he lost his confidence? I hate how everybody scores in the paint despite his defense. In his 2nd year he had lots of blocks and lots of fouls. Now he don't even try to block anything and he gets lots of fouls anyway. I think Chriss and Bender are probably better rim protectors than him. Generally Chriss looked much better than Len at basically everything. I thought Chriss is risky pick and better not expect anything from him to not get disappointed. Such a nice suprise.

Booker
Chriss
Warren
Bledsoe (too passive)
Len

Yeah, I don't know what to do with Len if he doesn't improve this season. I guess the best bet would be to see if he got an offer in FA, and if it was reasonable, match it. If he doesn't get one that is even better and we can give him a pretty low deal or let him take the QO. The only downside in letting him take the QO is that if he did really well in his 5th season then we may have to really pay him.

I think if he just contains his energy a little more and becomes more focused it would help. It doesn't appear to be a lack of effort. He should not shoot much until he hits some free throws or makes a dunk or an easy shot or two to get some confidence.

Probably this bad playing from Len in preseason is a good thing for our FO and his agent accepts a "low" offer before the start of the season...something around $50M/4 years.

[bwgood77]

I wonder if geting Chandler made Len regressing. Maybe he lost his confidence? I hate how everybody scores in the paint despite his defense. In his 2nd year he had lots of blocks and lots of fouls. Now he don't even try to block anything and he gets lots of fouls anyway. I think Chriss and Bender are probably better rim protectors than him. Generally Chriss looked much better than Len at basically everything. I thought Chriss is risky pick and better not expect anything from him to not get disappointed. Such a nice suprise.

Booker
Chriss
Warren
Bledsoe (too passive)
Len

Yeah, I don't know what to do with Len if he doesn't improve this season. I guess the best bet would be to see if he got an offer in FA, and if it was reasonable, match it. If he doesn't get one that is even better and we can give him a pretty low deal or let him take the QO. The only downside in letting him take the QO is that if he did really well in his 5th season then we may have to really pay him.

I think if he just contains his energy a little more and becomes more focused it would help. It doesn't appear to be a lack of effort. He should not shoot much until he hits some free throws or makes a dunk or an easy shot or two to get some confidence.

Probably this bad playing from Len in preseason is a good thing for our FO and his agent accepts a "low" offer before the start of the season...something around $50M/4 years.

That would be reasonable if the FO believes he can improve quite a bit, and it would be right near the highest paid players on the team anyway, even though it is below what other avg or below avg centers got this summer.

[Zelaznyrules]

We're the last year Minny
League Pass favorite.

I think a big debate in the future will be:

"Who has the better 1-2 punch? Minny with KAT and Wiggins or Phoenix with Chriss and Booker?"

I think it's quite a stretch to put Chriss in the same stratosphere as KAT despite the fact that I love how he is playing. KAT's #s were in historic company. He is probably already a top 10 player.

Now Booker may already be better than Wiggins, but too early to determine that and will have to wait until the regular season.

I think Wiggins is overrated. I don't know about this season but I'd definitely take Booker over him for the long run. But Towns is a different story. I don't think there is a player in the league right now that I'd prefer to start a franchise with over Towns. I hope Booker passes KAT by but odds are Minnesota has the best young star in the game. Chriss shows promise but not Towns level promise.

[MrMiyagi]

I think a big debate in the future will be:

"Who has the better 1-2 punch? Minny with KAT and Wiggins or Phoenix with Chriss and Booker?"

I think it's quite a stretch to put Chriss in the same stratosphere as KAT despite the fact that I love how he is playing. KAT's #s were in historic company. He is probably already a top 10 player.

Now Booker may already be better than Wiggins, but too early to determine that and will have to wait until the regular season.

I think Wiggins is overrated. I don't know about this season but I'd definitely take Booker over him for the long run. But Towns is a different story. I don't think there is a player in the league right now that I'd prefer to start a franchise with over Towns. I hope Booker passes KAT by but odds are Minnesota has the best young star in the game. Chriss shows promise but not Towns level promise.

I don't know, I think Thibs is the maniac Wiggins needs to become a great player. But I think playoff battles with Minnesota are in our future.

[Zelaznyrules]

I think it's quite a stretch to put Chriss in the same stratosphere as KAT despite the fact that I love how he is playing. KAT's #s were in historic company. He is probably already a top 10 player.

Now Booker may already be better than Wiggins, but too early to determine that and will have to wait until the regular season.

I think Wiggins is overrated. I don't know about this season but I'd definitely take Booker over him for the long run. But Towns is a different story. I don't think there is a player in the league right now that I'd prefer to start a franchise with over Towns. I hope Booker passes KAT by but odds are Minnesota has the best young star in the game. Chriss shows promise but not Towns level promise.

I don't know, I think Thibs is the maniac Wiggins needs to become a great player. But I think playoff battles with Minnesota are in our future.

Yeah, I didn't think about that. I guess we'll see.

[Years90Suns]

I just finished watching the game.

Indeed it was played as a RS game, almost as a PO game. Some players had issues going on already.

What I liked the most:

- Booker. He can flatly score and almost all his teammates know that. They know this is his team and when he is on fire nobody but one (much on this in a moment) dares to disrupt his rythm. He needs to involve his teammates much more. Players alone do not win anything. He can win games, but not championships. Impressive how he has retooled his arsenal and the things that he did last year in a slightly scraffy way now he can do them almost close to perfection. He hangs in the air to shoot, he has improved his dribbling, he has improved his body usage a lot... he is aware of defenders and he plays the play some moments ahead of the rest. Everybody sees what he is going to try, yet he does it and he scores...

- Len. Agains all that was said, once I saw the game I was surprised, because Len did not play bad. He had to confront a difficult player as Plumlee, who sells well all he does, gets many calls that are not always correct and also he is veru agile and mobile for a player that tall and heavy. Len played well, always scored at the beginning of quarters, when his teammates got him the ball. He even got a nice dunk on Plumlee that should have been an AND1. Did not block shots, but protected the rim quite well and get quite a lot of rebounds in traffic. I believe he is not used as he should, but thi is the problem with this group of players: the rythm that best suits us is running, so Len will have his difficulties getting touches.

- Bledsoe: he plays defense, he passes, he sets the tempo and he is being unselfish (also he lacks shape).

- Warren: a gem that maybe is not as tall as they say (slightly taller than Warren and way shorter than Plumlee, who is 6-11, by the images on tv). He has a nice shot, an incredible jump and something special that cannot be explained if one does not see him. He believes he is special too and plays with confidence. More then his hoops, I loved that spin play when he powered his man under the basket and then left the ball softly at the rim (it almost felt out).

- But mostly I liked the way we played and the things coach Watson tried, although I believe he should have tried with different lineups including big players, and not just those ones with small players.

Things I did not like:

- mainly, Knight's attitude, as he does not understand what this game is about. It has already been said, but it was so incredible that he entered the game and began shooting instead of trying to keep Booker hot by passing the ball to him. Watching the game from the bench as sixth men do should be useful to enter the game with some perspective and have an easier way as a guard to decide how the game needs to be altered. But, if your team is scoringn if one of your teammates is scoring almost at will, you cannot get into the game as a PG to launch a brick from the corner in the first opportunity you have.

- I do not like Dudley at the PF and Warren at the SF, or the other way around. We lack athleticism and we do not take advantage enough of some situations to even what we lack in interior power.

[garrick]

I wonder if geting Chandler made Len regressing. Maybe he lost his confidence? I hate how everybody scores in the paint despite his defense. In his 2nd year he had lots of blocks and lots of fouls. Now he don't even try to block anything and he gets lots of fouls anyway. I think Chriss and Bender are probably better rim protectors than him. Generally Chriss looked much better than Len at basically everything. I thought Chriss is risky pick and better not expect anything from him to not get disappointed. Such a nice suprise.

Booker
Chriss
Warren
Bledsoe (too passive)
Len

Yeah, I don't know what to do with Len if he doesn't improve this season. I guess the best bet would be to see if he got an offer in FA, and if it was reasonable, match it. If he doesn't get one that is even better and we can give him a pretty low deal or let him take the QO. The only downside in letting him take the QO is that if he did really well in his 5th season then we may have to really pay him.

I think if he just contains his energy a little more and becomes more focused it would help. It doesn't appear to be a lack of effort. He should not shoot much until he hits some free throws or makes a dunk or an easy shot or two to get some confidence.

As long as some team doesn't give him an insane deal its better to keep him.

Rolo sucked pretty hard with us but he finally turned into a pretty good center after he left us and in hindsight a lot of his struggles seemed to be with injuries where he would have a really hard time finishing around the basket.

[NavLDO]

I just finished watching the game.

Indeed it was played as a RS game, almost as a PO game. Some players had issues going on already.

What I liked the most:

- Booker. He can flatly score and almost all his teammates know that. They know this is his team and when he is on fire nobody but one (much on this in a moment) dares to disrupt his rythm. He needs to involve his teammates much more. Players alone do not win anything. He can win games, but not championships. Impressive how he has retooled his arsenal and the things that he did last year in a slightly scraffy way now he can do them almost close to perfection. He hangs in the air to shoot, he has improved his dribbling, he has improved his body usage a lot... he is aware of defenders and he plays the play some moments ahead of the rest. Everybody sees what he is going to try, yet he does it and he scores...

- Len. Agains all that was said, once I saw the game I was surprised, because Len did not play bad. He had to confront a difficult player as Plumlee, who sells well all he does, gets many calls that are not always correct and also he is veru agile and mobile for a player that tall and heavy. Len played well, always scored at the beginning of quarters, when his teammates got him the ball. He even got a nice dunk on Plumlee that should have been an AND1. Did not block shots, but protected the rim quite well and get quite a lot of rebounds in traffic. I believe he is not used as he should, but thi is the problem with this group of players: the rythm that best suits us is running, so Len will have his difficulties getting touches.

- Bledsoe: he plays defense, he passes, he sets the tempo and he is being unselfish (also he lacks shape).

- Warren: a gem that maybe is not as tall as they say (slightly taller than Warren and way shorter than Plumlee, who is 6-11, by the images on tv). He has a nice shot, an incredible jump and something special that cannot be explained if one does not see him. He believes he is special too and plays with confidence. More then his hoops, I loved that spin play when he powered his man under the basket and then left the ball softly at the rim (it almost felt out).

- But mostly I liked the way we played and the things coach Watson tried, although I believe he should have tried with different lineups including big players, and not just those ones with small players.

Things I did not like:

- mainly, Knight's attitude, as he does not understand what this game is about. It has already been said, but it was so incredible that he entered the game and began shooting instead of trying to keep Booker hot by passing the ball to him. Watching the game from the bench as sixth men do should be useful to enter the game with some perspective and have an easier way as a guard to decide how the game needs to be altered. But, if your team is scoringn if one of your teammates is scoring almost at will, you cannot get into the game as a PG to launch a brick from the corner in the first opportunity you have.

- I do not like Dudley at the PF and Warren at the SF, or the other way around. We lack athleticism and we do not take advantage enough of some situations to even what we lack in interior power.

On the first point, it's just fun and easy to jump n the "Len Sucks" train. As I mentioned in the Game 2 thread, this is preseason, and we are already evaluating that Lens "sucks," which is just not true. To me Len is a 'rhythm player', in that he does best when given full blown starter minutes and not used sporadically. I think Len, if used at least 30 minutes a game in the regular season, can and should be our Center of the future. And I think that was demonstrated in Feb/Mar of last year. His efficiency on the offense was off because he was taking way to many jumpers, which to me, was effecting his abilities down low. I know that may sound odd, but if Len is given the opportunity to start at C, and play with a decent PF, be that be Warren or Chriss (if he keeps playing the way he is), I think again, Len can and should be our starting C of the present and future.

I wholeheartedly agree with your 2nd point. Warren and Chriss, Warren and Bender, or Dudley and Chriss--those should be our only options as a 3-4 'team', until Tucker comes back, then I think Tucker and Chriss could play well together, and MAYBE Tucker and Warren.

But overall, if Len is not our starter, or if Len isn't given significant minutes every game, he's going to look worse than his abilities actually are, IMO. He will never be an All-Star Center, and no, he's not likely to ever be as good as Gobert, Adams, Mason Plumlee, or Noel from that class, I do think he can play on par with the average Centers of the League. I think Len has flashed some real ability in the past three years, but consistency has been his problem, which is why I think he's a 'rhythm' player, and if he's ever able to be allowed to be a traditional starting 5--meaning getting 28-36 mpg--and he's able to hone his craft over a season in this role, I DO believe he cn be an above average Center.

And one more thing: Any chance that Len is 'dogging it' in the preseason in order to preserve his health for the regular season? He surely knows this is his make-or-break season, and if he ends up being injured for any amount of time this season, he knows he'd be losing Millions. Just a thought in maybe why he's not been as aggressive as he can inside?? IDK...again, just a thought, which is why I'm withholding judgment on Len until at least the New Year, and why I think others should as well. I won't be surprised if Len comes out playing more aggressive and better by the start of the season.

[bwgood77]

I just finished watching the game.

Indeed it was played as a RS game, almost as a PO game. Some players had issues going on already.

What I liked the most:

- Booker. He can flatly score and almost all his teammates know that. They know this is his team and when he is on fire nobody but one (much on this in a moment) dares to disrupt his rythm. He needs to involve his teammates much more. Players alone do not win anything. He can win games, but not championships. Impressive how he has retooled his arsenal and the things that he did last year in a slightly scraffy way now he can do them almost close to perfection. He hangs in the air to shoot, he has improved his dribbling, he has improved his body usage a lot... he is aware of defenders and he plays the play some moments ahead of the rest. Everybody sees what he is going to try, yet he does it and he scores...

- Len. Agains all that was said, once I saw the game I was surprised, because Len did not play bad. He had to confront a difficult player as Plumlee, who sells well all he does, gets many calls that are not always correct and also he is veru agile and mobile for a player that tall and heavy. Len played well, always scored at the beginning of quarters, when his teammates got him the ball. He even got a nice dunk on Plumlee that should have been an AND1. Did not block shots, but protected the rim quite well and get quite a lot of rebounds in traffic. I believe he is not used as he should, but thi is the problem with this group of players: the rythm that best suits us is running, so Len will have his difficulties getting touches.

- Bledsoe: he plays defense, he passes, he sets the tempo and he is being unselfish (also he lacks shape).

- Warren: a gem that maybe is not as tall as they say (slightly taller than Warren and way shorter than Plumlee, who is 6-11, by the images on tv). He has a nice shot, an incredible jump and something special that cannot be explained if one does not see him. He believes he is special too and plays with confidence. More then his hoops, I loved that spin play when he powered his man under the basket and then left the ball softly at the rim (it almost felt out).

- But mostly I liked the way we played and the things coach Watson tried, although I believe he should have tried with different lineups including big players, and not just those ones with small players.

Things I did not like:

- mainly, Knight's attitude, as he does not understand what this game is about. It has already been said, but it was so incredible that he entered the game and began shooting instead of trying to keep Booker hot by passing the ball to him. Watching the game from the bench as sixth men do should be useful to enter the game with some perspective and have an easier way as a guard to decide how the game needs to be altered. But, if your team is scoringn if one of your teammates is scoring almost at will, you cannot get into the game as a PG to launch a brick from the corner in the first opportunity you have.

- I do not like Dudley at the PF and Warren at the SF, or the other way around. We lack athleticism and we do not take advantage enough of some situations to even what we lack in interior power.

On the first point, it's just fun and easy to jump n the "Len Sucks" train. As I mentioned in the Game 2 thread, this is preseason, and we are already evaluating that Lens "sucks," which is just not true. To me Len is a 'rhythm player', in that he does best when given full blown starter minutes and not used sporadically. I think Len, if used at least 30 minutes a game in the regular season, can and should be our Center of the future. And I think that was demonstrated in Feb/Mar of last year. His efficiency on the offense was off because he was taking way to many jumpers, which to me, was effecting his abilities down low. I know that may sound odd, but if Len is given the opportunity to start at C, and play with a decent PF, be that be Warren or Chriss (if he keeps playing the way he is), I think again, Len can and should be our starting C of the present and future.

I wholeheartedly agree with your 2nd point. Warren and Chriss, Warren and Bender, or Dudley and Chriss--those should be our only options as a 3-4 'team', until Tucker comes back, then I think Tucker and Chriss could play well together, and MAYBE Tucker and Warren.

But overall, if Len is not our starter, or if Len isn't given significant minutes every game, he's going to look worse than his abilities actually are, IMO. He will never be an All-Star Center, and no, he's not likely to ever be as good as Gobert, Adams, Mason Plumlee, or Noel from that class, I do think he can play on par with the average Centers of the League. I think Len has flashed some real ability in the past three years, but consistency has been his problem, which is why I think he's a 'rhythm' player, and if he's ever able to be allowed to be a traditional starting 5--meaning getting 28-36 mpg--and he's able to hone his craft over a season in this role, I DO believe he cn be an above average Center.

And one more thing: Any chance that Len is 'dogging it' in the preseason in order to preserve his health for the regular season? He surely knows this is his make-or-break season, and if he ends up being injured for any amount of time this season, he knows he'd be losing Millions. Just a thought in maybe why he's not been as aggressive as he can inside?? IDK...again, just a thought, which is why I'm withholding judgment on Len until at least the New Year, and why I think others should as well. I won't be surprised if Len comes out playing more aggressive and better by the start of the season.

Have you watched the games? Len certainly isn't dogging it. His energy level is one of the good things. It's almost as if he's trying too hard. Also, I think the second part of the previous post you bolded and enlarged is saying they don't like Dudley and Warren playing together period. Not saying they want Warren at PF...sounds like the opposite.

[NavLDO]

So much positive stuff from this game. Booker dominated. Chriss and TJ showed flashes too.

Safe to say we have found our 2/3/4 of the future? I think so!

Maybe even our 2/3/4/5 if you consider Booker/TJ/Bender/Chriss with Chriss at the 5.

Did you see Chriss and TJ crashing the boards? Beautiful!

But that's impossible! All the RealGM Draftnik's Pre-evaluation of Chriss was that he had the 2nd lowest DReb rate in 30 years, and he'd never be able to improve that because that doesn't happen in the NBA.

I didn't watch (of course), but are you sure you saw Chriss "Crashing the Boards," and not somebody else??? Because he doesn't know how, and will never be able to learn how, to become a good DReb!


But I see Kris Dunn has already improved upon his poor shooting %, going 2 of 8 for 25% in his 1st pre-season game!! And yes, I'm completely kidding with that remark; it was just an opportunity available to joke about, since that was MY big hang-up with Dunn pre-draft.

[NavLDO]

I just finished watching the game.

Indeed it was played as a RS game, almost as a PO game. Some players had issues going on already.

What I liked the most:

- Booker. He can flatly score and almost all his teammates know that. They know this is his team and when he is on fire nobody but one (much on this in a moment) dares to disrupt his rythm. He needs to involve his teammates much more. Players alone do not win anything. He can win games, but not championships. Impressive how he has retooled his arsenal and the things that he did last year in a slightly scraffy way now he can do them almost close to perfection. He hangs in the air to shoot, he has improved his dribbling, he has improved his body usage a lot... he is aware of defenders and he plays the play some moments ahead of the rest. Everybody sees what he is going to try, yet he does it and he scores...

- Len. Agains all that was said, once I saw the game I was surprised, because Len did not play bad. He had to confront a difficult player as Plumlee, who sells well all he does, gets many calls that are not always correct and also he is veru agile and mobile for a player that tall and heavy. Len played well, always scored at the beginning of quarters, when his teammates got him the ball. He even got a nice dunk on Plumlee that should have been an AND1. Did not block shots, but protected the rim quite well and get quite a lot of rebounds in traffic. I believe he is not used as he should, but thi is the problem with this group of players: the rythm that best suits us is running, so Len will have his difficulties getting touches.

- Bledsoe: he plays defense, he passes, he sets the tempo and he is being unselfish (also he lacks shape).

- Warren: a gem that maybe is not as tall as they say (slightly taller than Warren and way shorter than Plumlee, who is 6-11, by the images on tv). He has a nice shot, an incredible jump and something special that cannot be explained if one does not see him. He believes he is special too and plays with confidence. More then his hoops, I loved that spin play when he powered his man under the basket and then left the ball softly at the rim (it almost felt out).

- But mostly I liked the way we played and the things coach Watson tried, although I believe he should have tried with different lineups including big players, and not just those ones with small players.

Things I did not like:

- mainly, Knight's attitude, as he does not understand what this game is about. It has already been said, but it was so incredible that he entered the game and began shooting instead of trying to keep Booker hot by passing the ball to him. Watching the game from the bench as sixth men do should be useful to enter the game with some perspective and have an easier way as a guard to decide how the game needs to be altered. But, if your team is scoringn if one of your teammates is scoring almost at will, you cannot get into the game as a PG to launch a brick from the corner in the first opportunity you have.

- I do not like Dudley at the PF and Warren at the SF, or the other way around. We lack athleticism and we do not take advantage enough of some situations to even what we lack in interior power.

On the first point, it's just fun and easy to jump n the "Len Sucks" train. As I mentioned in the Game 2 thread, this is preseason, and we are already evaluating that Lens "sucks," which is just not true. To me Len is a 'rhythm player', in that he does best when given full blown starter minutes and not used sporadically. I think Len, if used at least 30 minutes a game in the regular season, can and should be our Center of the future. And I think that was demonstrated in Feb/Mar of last year. His efficiency on the offense was off because he was taking way to many jumpers, which to me, was effecting his abilities down low. I know that may sound odd, but if Len is given the opportunity to start at C, and play with a decent PF, be that be Warren or Chriss (if he keeps playing the way he is), I think again, Len can and should be our starting C of the present and future.

I wholeheartedly agree with your 2nd point. Warren and Chriss, Warren and Bender, or Dudley and Chriss--those should be our only options as a 3-4 'team', until Tucker comes back, then I think Tucker and Chriss could play well together, and MAYBE Tucker and Warren.

But overall, if Len is not our starter, or if Len isn't given significant minutes every game, he's going to look worse than his abilities actually are, IMO. He will never be an All-Star Center, and no, he's not likely to ever be as good as Gobert, Adams, Mason Plumlee, or Noel from that class, I do think he can play on par with the average Centers of the League. I think Len has flashed some real ability in the past three years, but consistency has been his problem, which is why I think he's a 'rhythm' player, and if he's ever able to be allowed to be a traditional starting 5--meaning getting 28-36 mpg--and he's able to hone his craft over a season in this role, I DO believe he cn be an above average Center.

And one more thing: Any chance that Len is 'dogging it' in the preseason in order to preserve his health for the regular season? He surely knows this is his make-or-break season, and if he ends up being injured for any amount of time this season, he knows he'd be losing Millions. Just a thought in maybe why he's not been as aggressive as he can inside?? IDK...again, just a thought, which is why I'm withholding judgment on Len until at least the New Year, and why I think others should as well. I won't be surprised if Len comes out playing more aggressive and better by the start of the season.

Have you watched the games? Len certainly isn't dogging it. His energy level is one of the good things. It's almost as if he's trying too hard. Also, I think the second part of the previous post you bolded and enlarged is saying they don't like Dudley and Warren playing together period. Not saying they want Warren at PF...sounds like the opposite.

To the first point? No, just the highlight reels, but if he has shown great 'energy', why are posters pointing out that he's not being aggressive inside??

To your 2nd point, yes, I get that, which is why I listed the pairings the way I did:

"Warren and Chriss, Warren and Bender, or Dudley and Chriss...Tucker and Chriss could play well together, and MAYBE Tucker and Warren."

The last pairing being the only one in which Warren would play the 4; I paired them 3 then 4, so...

3=Warren and 4=Chriss
3=Warren and 4=Bender (though I'm not confident that Watson knows where h wants Bender...as a 3 or a stretch 4...in this case, he'd be a stretch 4.
3=Dudley and 4=Chriss
3=Tucker and 4=Chriss
3= Tucker and 4=Warren (with a very 'iffy' MAYBE attached to that sentiment)

Am I miss interpreting what you are saying? If so, please let me know, but my thought when posting this was listing the '3' first, and the '4' second. I personally think Warren could play some 4; he's big/long enough to matchup, but not sure if he's being developed in any way, shape, or form to play the 4 in any capacity.

[bwgood77]

To the first point? No, just the highlight reels, but if he has shown great 'energy', why are posters pointing out that he's not being aggressive inside??

To your 2nd point, yes, I get that, which is why I listed the pairings the way I did:

"Warren and Chriss, Warren and Bender, or Dudley and Chriss...Tucker and Chriss could play well together, and MAYBE Tucker and Warren."

The last pairing being the only one in which Warren would play the 4; I paired them 3 then 4, so...

3=Warren and 4=Chriss
3=Warren and 4=Bender (though I'm not confident that Watson knows where h wants Bender...as a 3 or a stretch 4...in this case, he'd be a stretch 4.
3=Dudley and 4=Chriss
3=Tucker and 4=Chriss
3= Tucker and 4=Warren (with a very 'iffy' MAYBE attached to that sentiment)

Am I miss interpreting what you are saying? If so, please let me know, but my thought when posting this was listing the '3' first, and the '4' second. I personally think Warren could play some 4; he's big/long enough to matchup, but not sure if he's being developed in any way, shape, or form to play the 4 in any capacity.

Len has plenty of energy but he looks out of control or nervous or something. Almost like he is disoriented half the time. Like the game is moving too fast for him so he tries to move too fast and loses control and it looks ugly.

Warren and Chriss would be awful defensively, but they would look nice on offense.

I seriously doubt Chriss is going to start any time soon. He looks great against second units but I wouldn't put him against starters just yet.