Each season in the NBA, some organizations make an effort to slide by with something less than a full comportment of capable, high calibre players on their roster … e.g. see the Toronto Raptors this season, as Exhibit A … while still seemingly trying to make some noise in the post-season tournament.
In sharp contrast to this strategy, other top notch outfits, in the NBA, either (i) at The Apex of the League already, or (ii) in The Up-and-Coming category … e.g. see the Celtics, Lakers, Pistons, Hornets, Rockets, Jazz, Suns, Spurs, Mavericks, Magic, 76ers, Cavaliers, etc., as Exhibits B thru some-other-letter-in-the-alphabet … seem to understand implicitly the basic folly involved with this method of operation, in a League where injuries, both minor & major, are a constant hazard over the course of an 82-game regular season schedule pock-marked with back-to-backs, mini-stretches of 4 games in 5 nights, and extended road trips.
How important is it to have outstanding QUALITY DEPTH on your roster, if you hope to ever compete legitimately for a Final Four spot in the NBA?
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Webster out at least eight weeks with foot injury
The euphoric aftermath of the Trail Blazers’ electric start to the exhibition season was dealt a somber dose of news Wednesday when Martell Webster, the front-runner to start at small forward, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left foot.
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Pretty darn important, according to this corner.
When one of a team’s key players goes down with an injury … the only squads that can survive & eventually conquer are the ones with a plethora of 1st-class NBA players on their roster, ready, willing, and capable of stepping-up to meet the challenge when the opportunity presents itself.
It says here that the Portland Trial Blazers will still be able to give a good account of themselves this season, primarily, because they now fit firmly into The Up-and-Coming category of Top Notch teams in the NBA with outstanding QUALITY DEPTH on their roster … which should allow them to replace a solid young player, like Martell Webster [No. 6 (overall) Draft Pick, 2005], with yet another solid youngster, like Jerryd Bayless [No. 11 (overall) Draft Pick, 2008], and insert him into the mix with the other burgeoning talents they have right now in the form of Greg Oden, Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw. Rudy Fernandez, LaMarcus Aldridge, Channing Frye, Sergio Rodriguez, Ike Diogu, Nicolas Batum, etc.
It is pure nonsense for anyone … e.g. a casual fan, a so-called NBA Expert, or a real life GM … to think or suggest that an NBA team could conceivably have too many talented [and, therefore, highly serviceable] players on its roster … at any point in time, given the nature of the competition in this League, on a game-to-game basis.
Anyone who trys to tell YOU that Less is somehow equal to More, in this League … in regards to the overall QUALITY DEPTH on a specific team’s player roster … is quite simply doling out the KOOL-AID, big-time, to you.
Fore-warned is fore-armed; and, shame on you, if you choose to drink it.
Posted in Analytics, Basketball, NBA, Portland Trail Blazers, Toronto Raptors Tagged: Brandon, Channing Frye, Greg Oden, Ike Diogu, Jerryd Bayless, LaMarcus Aldridge, Martell Webster, Nicolas Batum, Roy, Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Travis Outlaw
