by Mike Rice

If the Blazers follow through on their pre-season plan to run more, the most important position could be the small and power forward positions. You can’t run in the NBA if your big men can’t beat the other teams’ big men down the court.

The Blazers big men can all run on the break. If you look at the small forward position, of Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw and James Jones, you will realize that a fast up-tempo game will be of great benefit to what they do best. All three play better in a fast up-tempo stle that will allow them to shoot or get to the rim before the defense has time to get set. Since all four point guards are unselfish and look for the pass ahead of the shot, the three small forward candidates will be rewarded if they run on every possession.

Now it’s up to Nate to figure out playing time for the three. Once again you must figure out how Travis, Martell and James can help you win games.

Travis probably will start out the season as the small forward starter. He gives the Blazers 6’9” length at that position. He will be able to help out on defense better than Martell or James Jones. His shot blocking and rebounding at that position should be an asset to winning games. Travis also has improved his shooting a great deal since being drafted #23 in 2003. If you remember last April 18 vs Golden State, Travis had 36 points, 10 rebounds and shot 16 of 16 from the foul line. He also tied a franchise record with 18 made free throws April 16 at Utah. He ended the season with a great deal of confidence and Nate will look for that kind of play early in the season.

Martell Webster had the light go on this summer in regards to where his NBA career was headed. He knew just shooting the outside jumper was not going to do the job in the eyes of Nate McMillan. So he got down to work to improve all parts of his game, getting to the rim on the dribble drive, getting to the foul line, playing better team defense and passing the ball not just shooting it. If you looked at the first seven days of practice, Martell has come a long way in all three areas, and is now fighting for that starting small forward position. In order to catch Travis his rebounding needed to improve and it has.

James Jones is the big question mark at the small forward position. Everyone knows he can shoot the ball from deep but what everyone doesn’t know can he do it without Steve Nash passing him the ball for a wide open shot. James is behind Martell and Travis because of lack of practice time because of a sore knee. He must play better in the preseason games than Martell and Travis to get meaningful minutes once the season starts. Since he is 6’8” tall he, like the other two, has excellent length at the small forward or the two guard positions.

When we get to the power forward position, ti won’t be difficult picking a starter. LaMarcus Aldridge, if he stays healthy, will make you forget about Zach Randolph.

LaMarcus was the 2nd pick in last year’s draft and wants to show the world it was the right pick. He missed five games with a shoulder injury at the start of the season and missed the last nine games with Wolf Parkinson-While Syndrome. In between he made the T-Mobile All Rookie First Team by a vote of NBA Head Coaches. LaMarcus ranked first in blocks per game and fourth in rebounds per game amongst all rookies. LaMarcus gave Blazer fans a small look at what they can expect this year on March 23rd last year against the Atlanta Hawks. He had 27 points and 14 rebounds in playing 48 minutes that night. LaMarcus also had a 30 point/6 rebound night against Charlotte in March before his season ending injury.

All in all, the personal Nate has at the forward spots will fit in quite nicely with his idea of an up-tempo running Blazer team for 2007-08.