Props to the other posters who mentioned this lineup or something like it. Re being offensively challenged, I'm not talking about playing these guys for a quarter, interesting though that might be. I'm talking about the last minute, when you have enough timeouts to sub between each possession. Re the last play on Parker, I disagree that it was luck. Lowry made him miss. The most impressive thing to me was Lowry's ability to head off the drive in both directions, keep his balance, and then stop on a dime in exactly the worst possible place for Parker to get his shot off. Parker missed because Lowry, without even using his arms, made him shoot horribly off balance. If Lowry were 4 or 5 inches taller, he could ruin Kobe on a nightly basis.
totally agree the situational lineups this team can put out is just awesome. Hayes is honestly the most underrated defender in the league. I really cant think of another defender who can go toe to toe with Tim Duncan one possession and then keep tony parker in front of him the next possession. The sequences when parker tried to take him in the fourth were just awesome, and even though parker made a long 2 on one of them, I would take that shot any day of the week and twice on sundays over letting parker get into the lane. lately Adelman has done a good job subbing late in games in situations. the only time the team defense in a last second play really broke down was against detroit when stuckey split the double and went in for a layup, but i would say plays like that will not happen too often. the team as a whole has been playing great defense lately, getting the rebound though is a whole different story.
This team has so much trouble scoring at the end of games with it's "scorers" on the floor it would be better off throwing in this defensive lineup.
Hayes is very effective when facing some Allstar power forwards such as timmy and kg. He doesn't go for blocks but he hustles you and forces you to make bad shots. Additionly, he is one hell of a competitor. I really enjoy watching him running on the floor defending and putting on some moves agaisnt opponents from time to time Great guy to have on ur team.
If you think Hayes is 'ok defensively' and 'not on Mutombo' level' then I have to honestly question whether you have seen him play. Chuck Hayes is one of the 5 best all-around defenders in basketball right now.
My favorite play this season was a sequence late in the first Dallas game where Ron Artest was guarding Josh Howard and smothering him. Chuck Hayes switched onto him after the pick. And smothered him. I love defense.
Speaking of defense and chuck hayes, I thought I'd share this quote from Bill Simmons latest article. He's had a lot of coverage with Daryl Morey lately. It's been interesting to take in. "After watching Anderson Varejao throttle the Clips with his low-post D recently, I e-mailed Daryl, wondering why there wasn't a stat called stops, for when a defender prevents his opponent from scoring on an isolation play, or a low-post or perimeter play. Come up with an unforced turnover in the process, and it's a "superstop." Daryl's response: "Why do you think we have Chuck Hayes?"" Link to article on ESPN
