Lineup's and Plays for 2002-03 Season

Well Guys, with the Steve signing we are going to be at the Luxury Tax break point, so I don't see us making many changes that will affect our main players.

I see the team basically being:

Ming Cato Collier
Griffin MoTay KT
Nachbar Rice Morris
Cat Torres
Francis Mooch (Brown or Tito)

With Probably Collier and Morris/Torres/Tito on the IR

Though the first of the year will probably have a linup of
Cato, KT, Rice, Cat, Francis because of Rudy's "you can't lose
your starting position to injury" ideology.

What kind of plays do you see us running??

An Eventual Lineup of the Future I think is:

Ming, Griffin, Nachbar, Cat, Francis

Imagine with this line-up we have 5 players that can hit from anywhere on the floor. In Ming's game this morning he hit
3 for 3 from 3-Point Land and yesterday shot 10-12 from the floor.

Ming's high percentage probably means that he does not force in shots, but like most international teams, passes until a good shot is created. If he shot 10-12 and they lost yesterday to Italy, I would truly want him to shoot more. Walton has remarked about his ability to throw the outlet pass, which I think could really fuel our fast breaks.

I think one of our main problems with our fast breaks last year, were mainly because Francis and Cat couldn't run because they were rebounding as well. I think with Griffin maturing and Ming in the middle, our guards can be confident enough to streak down the court, and not worry about butter-fingers Cato, Undersized KT or (hanging out at the free throw line though i'm 6'9 and 260# MoTaylor). Griffin is a natural rebounder and in his first year in college averaged double digit rebounds. THe more minutes Griffin gets the more I see him maturing.

Having a frontline of Ming and Griffin truly can make up for the defensive lapses of Francis, Cat and Nachbar. It will also allow them to gamble on steals, with their knowledge of who they have to back them up. I don't think Ming is an explosive leaper that will have that spring in his legs to do multiple blocks, but at his size, he could block one or two a game by accident. The true shotblocker is Griffin. I feel that with Ming at his size in the middle, Griffin will excel in his weak side shot-blocking ala Robert Horry, with many weary of taking it in against an almost 10 foot wingspan of Yao.

Guard penetration was a problem for the Rockets last year and most swingmen ala Iverson, Vince, Kobe etc had a field day with the rockets, but this should change almost instantly with our twin towers in the middle.

Most teams in the league don't have a strong postup player in both the Center AND Power Forward Positions which will allow Griffin and Ming to help each other on strong forwards/Centers such as the Malone's, Shaq's and Duncan's out there. Sacramento may be the only team with Vlade and Webber that can each effectively post up.
They both lack significant bulk, which may allow them to get pushed around in the paint, but if they learn to play cohesively like how Duncan and Robinson played Shaq in 99. Robinson would guard Shaq and then Duncan would be there to help, double or block the shot from the Weakside. I see this combination of Griffin and Ming using this form of defense to handle the big boys out west.

Offense is just not going to be a problem for this team. We have 6 or 7 players that could easily have 20 point games, the only concept that must be forced is the team one. If Mobley is doubled, he has to pass it around. We have too many offensive weapons, and Francis and Mobley need to understand if they pass out of the double team well, then the next time they will probably not be doubled, allowing them more opportunities and hopefully allow them to increase their dwindling FG%.

Comments?