Novak - The ultimate conundrum

Hmmmm,

I had the same thoughts with McGrady. I didn't say it above but I was thinking when McGrady's shot is off that I wonder if Novak's spot might just be as the designated gun to back him up, especially when McGrady's is wobbling around out there and ain't going to the hole. McGrady hasn't played any defense that I have seen this year. So, the thought of him and Novak on the floor together defensively does frighten me. It represents a problem. So, what if we had Novak replacing McGrady and stretching out the defense for Yao/Brooks/Battier/Bonzi or Scola?

I'm looking for lineups and game situations that would work for us. Novak worked for us the other night, at least for a little bit. We just did not take enough advantage of his offense the way the Jazz took advantage of Korver and we allowed the Jazz to cover Kover defensively with our offensive play. Korver ain't no better a defender than Novak. He's slow, no hops, and not much desire defensively. But the Jazz were running him off double screens to get him open, emphasizing Novak's weakness. We did not do a good enough job of emphasizing Korver's weakness. They both stink defensively.

The problem the other night was Rafer and McGrady playing 32 and 38 minutes respectively and chunking up a combined 37% from the field and 1 for 11 from 3 against DWill, Brewer, and Korver. Boozer was neutralized by Hayes, he didn't do anything. Kirilenko and Battier played to a draw. Okur never got it going. Scola dominated him. It was the combination of DWill, Korver, Brewer, and Price outplaying Alston, McGrady, Brooks, and Novak. If McGrady and Rafer just hit a pedestrian 36% from 3 and McGrady hits 1 foul shot, we win the game. So, I don't think you can point to Novak's lack of D. At least Novak and Brooks hit some shots. What about McGrady and Rafer's lack of D and lack of shotmaking combined.

See, if you can't stop 'em, you gotta out gun 'em. We can't stop Deron Williams. How many times we gotta play 'em before we realize that? We did force them to a last resort by forcing Jerry to play Korver when we brought in Novak and started lighting it up. You know he don't wanna play that scoring game. He wants to stuff everybody. Korver is not a Sloan type defender.

I'm saying all that to say this. Novak was a positive in the game against the Jazz, not a negative. The negatives were Rafer and McGrady. Their terrible shooting and playmaking cost us the game. I think a lineup of Brooks, McGrady, Novak, Scola, Hayes wins that game going down the stretch with Battier substituting in for Novak on dead balls on defense. Better yet, I would have been tempted to run McGrady out for a couple minutes and seeing what Brooks/Battier/Novak/Scola/Hayes could have done.

Of course, the only way Novak turns positive is if he comes into the game gunning like he did against Utah. When he comes in, he should come in firing, designated assassin, kinda like Microwave Johnson used to do for Detroit, except from deep range, just come in guns blazing and totally torque the game into a different game.

The other move that has got to be made at some point this season if we are going to go anywhere is Brooks' minutes have to go up to 30 and Rafer's minutes have to go down to 20 or less. That's for another thread though. I want to read bout game situations and lineups that we can use to get Novak out there shooting a 60% 3 point shot and spreading the floor for 111 and Brooks.

One other point I want to make about Novak. He's a 3, not a 4. There's no use bringing him in to play the 4 unless the opposing 4 is a stick like Rashard or Hedo. The matchup with Novak we DO NOT WANT is him trying to defend a post up 4. However, I would be game for trying him in a lot of other spots, where he is defending a spot up type player or in some sort of defensive scheme designed to funnel his man into Battier and Hayes. Here's another situation to think about, Battier and Hayes are two of the top 15 defenders in this league. Why couldn't you use their defensive prowess and team defensive help skills to help a guy like Novak defensively while getting him out there to spread the floor offensively?

I think Adelman has to pursue getting Novak on the floor........at least until his shooting cools off. It's the same thing I think about Rafer/Brooks. If Rafer is this guy that supposedly plays so much better when he plays a lot of minutes, well, then let him play 2 on 2 with the 3 practice squad players for a solid hour before gametime. Then he can come in the game all lathered up and ready to knock down some shots. I don't see that myself. I see a guy that if he gets started good, he plays well, and if he misses his first two shots, you'd better yank him before he turns it into a 3 for 11 night. If I was Adelman, that's what I would do with him. He takes and misses two long jump shots, sit him down. He's either got to drive and make plays, or he's got to hit the long ball, or he's got to sit down. Same thing with McGrady. If he misses his first two long jump shots, he should either sit down or drive to the rim, and we should get in a shooter to take the open look when he dishes it out. It's that simple. If guys can't make shots, you can defend your way right into oblivion. Somebody's got to knock 'em down. We've already seen what missing shots and playing all this defense brings. It brings Van Gundy first round exits in the playoffs when other teams crank up their D and everybody's shooting percentages dive 10 percentage points.

Read my signature for Rafer's playoff shooting stats.

 

Please keep it real. Offering suggestions of having Novak defend B.Diddy and Dwight Howard are a waste of bandwith. Battier will have a difficult time guarding David, and he's one of the best defenders in the league. Let's discuss real situations where playing Novak makes sense.