Did anyone notice how Rudy went with Glen Rice in the fourth quarter of last game? IMO, I'd like to have him in there in close games when we need guys to step up, he's been in the pressure situations before. Rudy is known to go with the same fourth quarter lineup throughout the season, so who would you like to see out there in the end of close games?
The players that create the most favorable mismatches to stop what the opposition has had success with. This will vary in every fourth quarter of every game. You don't matchup to the Mavs the same way you do the Spurs and both of those are different from the Kings and Sonics.
I actually don't mind having rice out there in the 4th. He came up with a big play to keep Eddies block in bounds vs. Portland, and he's not going to do anything stupid to hurt you like Dirk Minnifield or Lester Conner. Plus, even though he hasn't been doing to much lately, only a fool would leave him wide open on the perimeter for 3's. Hawkins, on the other hand, well, if I'm an opposing coach I am going to double his man onto Stevie or Cutino every single time. I would let him bomb open trey after trey. He hasn't proven he can hit it at all Kenny, well, ideally we'd have Kenny and Eddie/Mo and Yao/Cato out there, but Kenny has very little value on offense when he doesn't have the ball. So if it's not a night where Kenny's burning up the net, and the offense is coming from #3 or #5, I may prefer having Rice, provided that Rice's defensive weakness can be camouflaged somehow.
I don't like having Rice out there in the 4th quarter. That may change if he can re-acquire his shot, but right now, he's just a mound of molasses out there. Seriuosly, moer than anything, we need defense in the 4th quarter. Steve and Cat will take care of the scoring. Right now, I'd rather kick out to Eddie than Rice. I like Hawk in the game because of his defensive prowess. It was actually infectious in the last game as our other players starting D'ing up too. I also noticed him doing a decent job of attacking the basket, especially after missed shots. Not considering hot hands in a particular game, my 4th quarter lineup right now is: 1. Stevie 2. Cat 3. Hawk 4. KT 5. Eddie It may be a small lineup, but it's our best balanced lineup for offense and defense.
Are we in the lead or coming from behind? If we are trying to hold a lead then I say: Cato Eddie KT Hawk Steve BTW I really like moonnumack's line-up of Eddie KT Hawk Cat Steve It makes a lot of sense.
I think we all agree that Rice is a poor defender. But I think we mean that he is a poor one-on-one defender. I remember one game last year where he and Walt Williams were in together. I figured it was an all offense display on both sides, but the Rox played really strong team defense. Very good point by (Im not a mavs fan)Mav362436. Rice picked up the ball when there was still enough time for one more shot. Small, but very important, and nobody else was doing it. Vets tend to do things we dont notice . Such as get beat, but force the opponent to the help defense, or to the opponents less preferred side. I think that is a reasonable expectation of Rice. Stopper - no, but smart player yes. On this team, it is our own mistakes that cost us. We match up on talent with just about anybody. I also agree with mooningamouk, Hawkins is infectious. I think he was the catlyst thta turned around the Portland game.
