Had an argument online with a Dubs fan boy about their bench vs ours. His claim was that GSW bench is ranked higher in efficiency (mind you this is a stat where the KINGS bench is ranked 1st overall). My argument was basically find me a player on the GSW better than Eric Gordon. He could not but mentioned how Swaggy P was good or something. So question being: How will the Rockets bench fare in the playoffs against other would be contenders or teams we will face? This is a list of potential matchups: Warriors Thunder Spurs Wolves Raptors Cavaliers Celtics The one team I don't know that well is the Raptors but hear marvelous things about their depth. They actually worry me as much as the Dubs. They are ranked highly in offensive and defensive efficiency, but this argument is stricty for backup players and benches.
Benches are usually not as important in the playoffs, unless there are injuries to the starters. Maybe the more important question is who is the supersub, that will play extended minutes and play a big part, someone like Manu or Iggy in the past. We have an awesome, deep bench now, but not sure who our supersub is yet, considering MDA is experimenting with different starting lineups. Hell, maybe Joe Johnson may turn out to be it.
hou doesn't really have a supersub. their big change this year (besides the obvious addition of cp3) compared to last is the depth and versatility on the defensive end. So most of them will be utilized significantly. the closest thing to a supersub is probably EG, mainly bc he has ability to score in bunches at any time in a game. hou's bench will be extremely important for this years run.
....the question is how much less important are benches in the playoffs except in the case of injury?
Rockets bench will fare very well. Opposing teams fans will see it when the Rockets bench kicks their teams bench in the balls. Basketballs that is.
I found a site that can layout stats for each bench. http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/teamstats/18/7/stl/1-1 Warriors (57 games) Bench #20th points (33.8 pts/game) Rockets (55 games) Bench #24th points (29.8 pts/ game) Warriors #10th minutes (19.3 mins/game) Rockets #25/26th mins (16.6 mins/ game) Something to consider (Bullard mentioned it in telecast tonight) is the injuries forcing bench players to play starter minutes. Rockets second team may feature: PG) CP3 SG) Eric Gordon SF) Ariza PF) Ryan Anderson C) Nene That’s a group that beats most teams first stringers. All former starters in the past; but 3 are starters from this team recently....CP3 (Harden stagger their minutes), Ariza, Ryan Anderson. Plus Gerald Green and Luc (if Tucker remains the PF) Add Joe Johnson and Brandan Wright to the mix. Forget about it!!
The thing about our bench and second unit, is that it’s ran by cp3. The way we stagger our star minutes really helps us an intense amount. More to the point tho, ego is absolutely a super sub. The guy can come in and get you 30 a game. He can hit 3 3s within a minute. That explosiveness mixed with his decent defense makes him our primo bench weapon. Also of note (really depends what happens with Ryan and the starting lineup going forward) Luc is another extremely valuable bench guy. His defense is amazing but I’m not sure he isn’t starting by the playoffs. If Luc is starting, well that makes Ryan a huge weapon and threat off the bench. Our bench is much better
If we keep Ariza and Ryan on the bench , it's probably the best in the league . It will be playing with one of Paul or harden ... And will have some combination of ( Gordon , green , Ariza , Ryan ) as well as nene or wright at center ... Or maybe we go small . Lots of versatility , lots of scoring punch , a fresh HOF pg , and solid team defense . Our bench unit has been playing well recently and that's just with green and Ryan playing well . If Gordon can get hot and we can incorporate Trev or Luc into it ... Then I think it can be a huge weapon even in the playoffs . If you put in two snipers like Ryan and Eric at the same time , it totally changes how the D has to play you . Eric can drive it too . Eric is the key . When he is playing well our bench goes from above average to absolutely terrifying
