Ok let's try this again smh, why do you think Woj went back and edited his article about Melo coming off the bench?
bump. Plenty of posts in this thread thinking that PJ was going to get removed from the starting lineup for some reason
Harden and Gordon have already both sacrificed and came off the bench for their team. Makes it easier to suggest that Melo do it when it’s coming from people who have themselves. Also, baiting Melo with the promise of more shots with the bench unit is a significant carrot to dangle. I don’t remember who I was debating with about Covington coming off the bench, but pairing Ennis and Melo is similar to the vision I had laid out for pairing Covington with Saric/McConnell/Bayless/Amir to mask some defensive deficiencies there.
Why not? Bring both Melo and Paul off the bench. Keep them playing together, developing chemistry. Or maybe start them sometimes and bring Harden and Gordon off the bench. As long as they all get their minutes and the team wins, why not?
Cp3 Gordon Harden Tucker Capella This might be the smallest starting lineup in the NBA. We've always valued skill over size so that makes sense. Our perimeter defense is pretty weak with Harden/Gordon on the wing.... who will defend the other teams star?
So James will have to guard SFs with EGo starting? We will be small and probably get beat on the glass a lot, but if shots are falling teams will have to adjust to try and keep up with us. It will be interesting to see. I like the concept though. Im sure minutes will stagger where Melo will get time with CP and Harden. I like that we have options and mixes to play with during the season to see what works.
That starting lineup has more flexibility than one with Melo in place of Gordon because you're running out 4 good to elite defenders with Harden. When you make a line change to get Harden and Tucker a breather, you're bringing in Melo with Ennis so your defense shouldn't see a big drop off. I like this. Granted I like the idea of Butler in Gordon's place but this is a good start in letting all (e.g. Melo) know what the hierarchy is going to be.
I don't see how our rebounding numbers would be negatively impacted considering Harden has shown he can grab 8-9 boards a night which would nullify any lack of rebounding Gordon brings to the starting lineup. It's not as if Ariza was gobbling up numbers either. My expectation is that Capela continues to grow his game and increase his rebounding average to about 12 this year.
Makes sense. We probably will have to hide Harden on a stretch 4 with Tucker defending say a kawhi Leonard or a lebron James. Tucker will have to earn that paycheck this year. He probably will have to log a lot of backup C minutes too.
Tucker earned that paycheck a long time ago when he took the paycut. His contract is underpaid in comparison to what he does for this team and how important he is
