Who should be the 8th man in the playing rotation?

Jones took the league by storm two years ago, put together a month or a month and half of great games. The NBA adapted. His three point shot looked to be getting better last season to adjust to how he was being played (though still probably not good enough), but it seems teams are learning to pick on his lack of defensive awareness. His defense still worries me, but he may be useful if he can start hitting open threes consistently.

 

6th or 7th? I think that Smoove would be starting right now.

I worry that guarding PF's will take a toll on Ariza... even though it has shown to work at times, I'm not a fan of that experiment.

 

I'm not a Jones fan, but it was close last season though I agree it wasn't quite there. He shot 38% on open threes. If he gets that to 40% consistently on open looks even if it doesn't get the aesthetic basketballholic seal of approval, his man has to stay within range to challenge the shot. That's all the room Harden needs from the PF.

Defensively, I don't see him taking a dramatic step forward.

 

Has to be Jones .... That smallball lineup is getting killed on the boards and defensively. They are in the bottom 5 in points allowed per possession.

Howard & Capela as well as they've played cant be your only productive big men. Ideally one of Howard & Capela could play both 4/5 .... so you could go with a 3 big rotation but neither have the range to do so meaning not only do you need Jones , but you need another productive 4 man.

 

It doesn't come down to which ONE player should be playing. We need to think about which combination of players should be playing. Last year we had a nice combination of players coming off the bench with Terry, Brewer and Smith. Now Smith is gone and we now have Harrell. But Smith and Hareell are very different players.

I think McHale would like to play Harrell, but putting Capela and Harrell on the floor at the same time may not be the best fit right now. Part of the problem is that both Capela and Harrell are both players that play in the paint. Another problem is that Capela and Harrell are just very young and inexperienced. McHale has been trying different combinations. I think we just need to be patient and allow the team time to gel.

 

Dwert , Capela & Harrell .... all limited to playing close to the basket offensively. You cant play any two at the same time without spacing becoming an issue ....

 

The first good argument against small ball I've seen despite the downpour of small ball bashing posts. I agree that Ariza shouldn't be playing 40 min/g at 4 in an ideal world due to the pounding he's taking. That said, 12 min/g when DMo gets back against backup 4s should be fine. Jones and Harrell haven't played well enough to give McHale any other option right now.

 

With all the depth that this roster has everyone should be utilized... I watch GSW, SAS, Bulls, Thunder etc the good teams go at least 10 deep and use interchangeable lineups in different situations and have no problems playing rookies if they can actually contribute...
Against Nets we were getting killed on the boards yet Mchale stays with the bs small lineup instead of at least trying out Montrez... Mix the young guys with the starters sometimes so that their mistakes can be covered better. Sam or KJ or Montrez with at least Harden Howard or Ty on the floor will not kill us..
Brewer has been beyond pathetic so playing these young guys will not make us play any worse...I honestly believe Mchale has lost this team... i see in no aspect of the game has this team gotten better.. we are the same team with the same issues you would think we'd be better equiped but no this team seems disinterested and are not playing for each other ..players have to be held accountable and thats not whats happening on the Rox

 

I really don't know. It seems that right now we don't have any combinations that really work well together. I think we are seeing how important it is to have an effective stretch PF. Last season we had DMo and Josh Smith. This year year, so far, we don't have anyone to fill that stretch power forward role.

I think Harrell has talent, but I'm wondering if maybe he is just the wrong type of player for Moreyball.

Last year it looked like TJones could be somewhat effective as a stretch forward. He shot 35% in three pointers. But he has yet to show up this year.

I guess, right now, it doesn't matter who the 8th man is. The pieces so far, just don't fit. I am hoping that McHale keeps trying different combinations until he finds something that works.