I think Shumpert, if available is definitely in, because we need perimeter D and he is the only one who can provide it If House is here, big if, then I see him playing and Rivers being out.
Shumpert for sure. We're 28-13 in the past 41 games (exactly half a regular season). In that span we are the best offensive team in the NBA. We're something like 22nd defensively. Just outright adding Shumpert to that rotation gives us a chance of sneaking into a top 10 quality defense. If he hits 35% of his 3's, we don't skip a beat offensively. Shumpert over the past 5 years of data is a top 5 defender at the SG position. I like keeping Harden at forward and have Tucker just guard the better forward. Harden boosts our rebounding, Shumpert has great size for the SG position. I feel like that is probably our best line up, but no minutes to back it up right now. Shumpert is the X-factor.
Shumpert is the only player on the roster with a championship title to his name. Shumpert career field goal average is 39.7%, one of the worst defenders in the nba since 2017. He should NOT be in the playoffs rotation.
No way Rivers is out. MDA trusts him and did you see the stats when Rivers guards Curry? For whatever reason, Rivers locks him like a mother.
The rockets finally get a capable backup for harden/cp3, that can not only iso on his own but be a playmaker/ball handler and he's going to be out of the rotation? yeah not happening.
I can see NeNe getting some 9th player spot minutes. But MDA has never given a 9th player regular rotation minutes in the playoffs. He really has to trust that 9th guy. I think 8 players is a reasonable playoff rotation if it comes down to it. I hope you are right though. Our vets could use the additional rest.
I think we'll have a 9 man rotation of CP3, MVP, PJ, Ego, Capela, Faried, Rivers, Shumpert and Green. I have a hard time seeing D'antoni not playing these guys. Nene will also play spot minutes in certain matchups. If we end up signing House for the playoffs, I can see him being played over Green or Shumpert.
You could check out that article or just go back to what he actually did last year and in last years playoffs. What do you think should hold more weight?
8 man Nene and 9 man Green. Nene to handle Bogut. Boogie won't play more than 20 minutes. Cautious 1: Hampton 5 will take Capela out of the game in playoffs. Bogut is now fully healthy. He is the reason GS won 73 games. (out in game 5, 6, 7) Cautious 2: Bogut will contest every Harden's layups and will be fouled out, but Harden will have offensive fouls in the first half.
seeing as how you can't play against the warriors unless you can play defense, I'd say shumpert has the inside track. MDA chose to play a 1 armed luc ahead of nene, Ryno, Johnson, etc because he could play d for a few minutes. I see the rotation breaking down like this in the playoffs: capela (32) - manimal (24) tucker (40) gordon (32) - shumpert (12) harden (40) Paul (36) - rivers (24) don't be surprise at a 7 man rotation, similar to what we saw in last year's WCF: capela (32) - manimal (20) tucker (44) gordon (36) harden (44) Paul (40) - rivers (24)
I’ve followed MDA’s entire career. I’ve never once criticized him on this site. I know that he is comfortable playing 8 man rotations in the playoffs. He expects consistent production. If he believes that a player will cause any kind of a drop off he simply will not play him. I stated that NeNe will probably get get minutes as a ninth player potentially. Do you really think he will go 10 deep with this roster? Every team shortens their roster come playoff time. What’s the big deal?
