How frequently does the letter "a" appear in:
Off and on since an appearance on the MSP about a year ago, Antonio Harvey and I have been batting around the idea of the semi-unusual lineup of Nicolas Batum, Brandon Roy, and Rudy Fernandez. I've talked about it here before in mailbags and such and it came up on the radio again yesterday morning.
The offensive advantages of that trio are pretty clear: each can handle the ball a little, all three are unselfish, their various gifts complement each other (particularly Rudy's deep shooting), the combination of height and versatility would create matchup problems for their opponents, and the lineup requires zero trades or other assets to work.
The disadvantages of that lineup are also clear: not one of them is a proven point guard and the defensive hole at the non-Batum positions would be significant. Neither Brandon nor Rudy are suited to guard NBA point guards or small forwards full-time. By default one would have to.
What kind of promise and what kind of drawbacks do you see in this potential lineup? Could the Blazers' frontcourt provide enough defense to make up for the shortcomings among the smalls? Would the potential benefits outweigh the risks? Could it ever work?
Me? I'd be for trying it. How about you? Use your brilliant basketball minds to toss it around in the comments.
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In the text, there are 96 "a"s.
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