We have some filler players and a big clog at the swingman position. We really need to address those problems in the offseason. One of Battier, Ariza, or Budinger has to go. One of Jeffries, Armstrong, or Andersen needs to go as well. We also need to find out what exactly we are doing with our NBDL guys.
agreed with battier getting moved (even though i like him a lot)... ariza is pretty much a younger, cheaper, more athletic battier and bud is a very good player who needs more pt. i still think morey goes strong for bosh or amare and we lose scola, battier or both along with some picks and another player.
ice Thread! The only thing that would make the plan even better is..... BOSH!!!! :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:
Who is the 3rd bad defender in the starting lineup? I start Brooks over Lowry in part because Brooks is a better 3 point shooter. The bigger part is because Lowry is the clear choice to lead a bench brigade. The 4th quarter is a different, more important animal. I think Adelman will go with the hot hand and matchups, and I suspect he will close with Lowry for the reason you stated -- more defense, less importance on Brooks offense. Lowry is a difference maker. He changes tempo, pace and attitude. I think you need all of those things when times get tough in the 4th quarter.
It's commonly used in trial lawyer parlance -- lead/first chair lawyers are referred to as lead dogs. Hence my signature.
I'm not so sure I'd be so quick to move Battier. He is a good entry pass and 3 point shooter. Ariza is a gambler on defense and not so sound at times. The elite teams have elite wing scorers -- Kobe, Melo, Roy, Lebron, Carter, Pierce. It sure is nice to have 2 quality defenders to rotate, stay fresh and give different devensive looks. I'd only move Battier if we could get a quality rotation PF/C that would be the primary bench player at that slot. Armstrong and Andersen sit at the end of the bench. They have no bearing on our future.
Love the thread. We definitely need to give Yao plenty of rest in the upcoming season, and let RA's offense carry us when he's out. And pray {(insert your diety choice here)/also knock on wood} that this whole team can have some healthy seasons to come.
Dear Lord! It's like you have no idea what the offense is built around. Adelman's offense is all about opportunity and ball movement. It doesn't matter who scores, it's about finding the easiest points available on the court. I know reality dictates that certain players score more than others, but if you are playing according to something other than team ball, the points start becoming harder. If you truly want to get at the root of the "equation" you shouldn't be thinking in terms of simple math. This team's success was never and will never be based on an equation. It's a living variable flexible set of players that work well when the players buy into getting each other easy baskets based on the flow of the game.
great thoughts, really interesting, but r we gonna have jeffries next year..?? I don't think so we, he might be packaged with battier for a trade... I don't know... But great post bro
Hill will be a slow developer, but he will be a 20/10/2blks/1steal player in about 4-5 years. His development will progress about as fast as Jermaine O'Neal did which took him about 5 years to become the player he used to be. Bigmen usually take atleast twice as long to come around.
Great analysis, rileydog. Now does anyone know Coach Adelmann's email? I think we need a defensive big presence inside, someone who can spell Yao in battling the Howards and Shaqs of this league. We have Lowry's defense for PG and Shane/Trev for SGs/SFs, but we need size inside. I'm not counting on Yao returning to form right away. Big Z had to limit his minutes to 20 per game for the first year or even two years, according to an interview he gave.
OP's plan looks okay but Adelman, for whatever reason, likes to throw in random rotations that appear to make no sense. I can only guess that he likes to preserve the lineups he uses in scrimmages, though I personally prefer putting the best players on the court. I can forgive him because he is an offensive guru, but all this needs to be set by next season. Theres really no reason for Armstrong to see the court at all. His minutes should go to Hill. I would personally rather start Battier with Brooks/Martin/Scola/Yao in a slow grind em out half court offense centered around Yao in the post, similar to what the Magic run. Off the bench I would run small with 3 wings and no true center. Either Lowry/Brooks/Budinger/Ariza/Jeffries Lowry/Martin/Budinger/Ariza/Hayes One thing I would NEVER do is put more than 2 of Battier/Ariza/Hayes/Jeffries on the court at the same time. I cant justify 3 defensive oriented players on the court at the same time. All this is moot though, because the acquisition of Bosh will change most of this
great OP, but where's battier? does he come in only on defensive assignments? do we trade him? either way, even with Martin, we're still NOT contenders for a championship. we still are not better than Dallas. we need to improve through the draft, let our young guys develop, and or trade our assets into another all-star border line all-star type player a la Martin. otherwise, we'll be back here next year talking the same thing.
Unless we land a quality big to rotate with Yao and Scola, I think it's unlikely we beat LA. Gasol, Bynum and Odom are too big and talented inside. However, we would probably match up against LA better than anyone because (i) we feature a PG that has proven to be a problem for LA, (ii) we have 2 defenders to wear down Kobe and (iii) Yao, if healthy. This is enough to keep games close. In the 4th quarter, I think Battier/Ariza might just be a able to contain Kobe. I would predict we could push LA to 6 or 7 games and probably lose. But we'd have a puncher's chance. But don't stop at LA. Consider how we match up against Denver, Portland, OKC (I can't believe I'm typing OKC), Utah and SAS. More on those later.
Overreact much? I never said that Yao, martin and Brooks will score all the points and the rest of the team will run around like Iverson's teammates with no desire or hope to score. Let's take the starting lineup: Brooks/Martin/Ariza/Scola/Yao - You definitely post yao over scola. - You definitely look for martin as the first option curling around a screen over Ariza. - However, just because they are your first options does not mean that the defense cannot scheme/cheat to take that away. If they do, it creates opportunities for Ariza and Scola. There will be ball and player movement. My premise is that next year, the will be three players that are more talented than the others. in contrast, this year, we have brooks and a whole lot of inept scorers and one of the problems is that they don't know how to maximize their roles because they are miscast (e.g., Ariza as a perimeter creator).
