Well, I agree that logically Yao guards Boozer but this "Can Artest play the two" discussion kind of shifted into the "Can Artest guard Boozer" direction. While I think we're all in agreement Artest can guard Boozer, my point is how does that work with Artest/Yao on the floor at the same time? Artest guarding Boozer means Yao has to guard Okur, which you cannot allow. All I was doing was tinkering with match ups that could allow an Artest + Yao unit to do this.
Yao can guard Okur, but he has to protect the paint area, so he has to guard whoever in the paint. If we have a Sheed/KG type PF (good blocker/rebounder), Yao can go out guarding Okur.
Yao would get called for 3 seconds on every possession. Plus, that kind strategy basically dares Okur to hit his 15+ footers, which he's entirely capable of doing. .....and Battier on Deron isn't a good idea. He uses his strength and bulk to drive right by or into you. Battier isn't quick enough to stay out of foul trouble that way (and understandably so).
Offensively there is no difference in switching up TMAC, Batts, and Artest in the 2/3/4. Defensively I would rather have Shane guard SG/SFs who are better outside shooters since he is better in defending jump shots, while Artest would be more suited to play against more physical guys who likes to take it to the hole or post you up like Lebron. Either way it all depends on match ups.
I understand what you are saying, but by Yao playing down low, I mean that he guards anyone that gets close to the paint on a switch instead of having him to chase his man out to the three point line. I think Yao is not just a big man with low IQ, but exactly the opposite and can figure out how to stay of the 3 second violation when asked to focus not to do so. Also, if Utah sends no one into the paint, that means they are all out on the perimeter and that defensive team that we have out there would be long enough and quick enough to guard the three point line. As far as Battier on Deron, regardless if he will not be perfect, he will be 100% better on him than Rafer. Deron uses his strength to do what you said to everyone, but it will be harder for him to do it against Battier over Rafer, and that is all that we want....to make it harder for him. And remember, if he gets past Battier, Yao has never left the low post area. It's not a perfect solution against Utah when you have Yao on the court, but to me I think it is the best we have available. And our biggest defense is that they would have to work so hard on defense when we have that team on offense, so it would take something out of them on their offensive end.
Not to derail the thread because Artest CAN play the 2 but since we are playing the matchup game with the Jazz... I think this is best matchups. Starting: Yao on Boozer Scola on Okur Artest on AK47 Mcgrady on Brewer Alston on D.Williams First/Second Subs: Battier on Harpring Barry on Korver Landry on Millsap That's a legit 8 deep rotation right there for both teams. Damn, I always felt the Jazz were one of the deepest if not the deepest team in the league but we are just as deep if not deeper with 3 LEGIT Superstars as opposed to Jazz's 1 in Deron Williams. I didn't even mention Francis (if he comes back healthy), Dorsey, Brooks, Hayes etc Can we start already ?!?!
ron can play all the positions except 5. He has been hating to play 5 since 04's brawl because he doesn't want to match up with ben again.
Yao on Boozer is the worst idea ever. Boozer would drive on him and draw a foul every time. I'd rather have Okur shooting 3s than Boozer driving to the hoop for 2 and the foul. It's up to the other 4 players to protect Yao by rotating quickly to Okur if/when he does camp around the 3 pt line. I think Artest is our best man to defend Boozer. I'd be willing to say Artest is equal to Hayes in defending and being physical inside. Boozer kills us as much outside as he does inside. This is where Artest will be able to make Boozer one-dimensional. What makes Boozer a tough matchup is that he finds ways to beat us inside and outside. If Boozer has to stick to posting up on us every time, we can at least modify our defense accordingly. As it is, we don't know wtf he'll do because he kills us from 20 ft out or 2 ft in. Basically, with Boozer we don't have a defender who can shut him down. Neither does really any other team in the league. The main thing is to force him to either stay outside or inside and let our defense react. The other key is that we need T-Mac to guard Williams. I don't think Artest or Battier are quick enough to contain him. T-Mac's quickness and size could slow down Williams. Obviously, this would come at a cost on T-Mac's ability to help us on offense, but the whole point of getting Artest was to help T-Mac on offense, in addition to defense. In this case, T-Mac's defense might be more valuable than his offense.
I think it will be interesting to see Battier / Artest / Hayes in for 5-minute stretches, just to knock an opponent off their game. Plus, of course, Yao or Mutombo behind them.
