its better to start the season with bev and see if he can still play consistent hard defense now that his team wont be in a season long funk. his regular season 3pt shot is still good for a starter. gordon after nonstop injuries and losing some of his athleticism, would be better off the bench and torching 2nd units. this is the kind of pg rotatin i wanted for the past 2 years. bev starts with defense since the startinglineup has plenty of offense, and the backup pg would be offensive oriented.
Most of the best teams that we need to beat to contend as best as possible, HAVE an Elite PG. While I can understand the many that want Bev to start in order to guard the elite PGs, the problem is that most elite PGs will play 35 minutes per game or more. If we want Bev to always be guarding them, then that means Gordon will only get to play 13 minutes approximately to back up Bev, and then another maybe 10 minutes to back up Harden; and you have to time those perfectly when the other PG is resting....hence also dictating to a degree when Harden rests. While I'm sure and it is no question that Bev is a better defender than Gordon, the problems are that 1st) Bev has proven over and over again that his body probably can't hold up to that many minutes through a whole season with his particular style of play, and 2nd) Bev was not a great one on one defender last year against the elite PGs and got beat consistently and easy by them on just about everything. Gordon is not just a better pure shooter than Bev is, although Bev has a decent 3pt shot, Gordon is also a scorer, can break down the defense, and pass much better than Bev can by a long shot. Sure Bev is a better "hustler" and will get more rebounds than Gordon, but I expect Gordon to ultimately score better and get more assists, and draw more FOULS (which will help Harden get to the line more), than Bev could ever dream of. So ultimately, I think our defense will be mediocre regardless of who is on the court because if we will be better defensively, it will be a team effort, scheme and communication that make it so, not better individual defenders. But another part of being better defensively is wearing the other team down with our offense, and that is where Gordon will imho be much better than Bev. Gordon will put as much offensive pressure on opposing PGs to guard either him (bigger) or to have to guard Harden, thereby wearing down elite PGs on the defensive end in order to take away some of their offensive effectiveness on the other end. Imagine Curry, CP3, Lillard, Tony Parker, etc. trying to guard either Gordon or Harden for most of their time on the court. They will use up way more energy than if all they have to do is guard Bev on the 3 point line and then use their energy against Bev on the offensive end. I fully expect MDA to play Harden is normal 38 minutes per game all season, and would like to see Gordon get 35mpg if he can stay healthy. That would still leave 23 minutes at the PG and SG, but honestly I think even KJ should get some of those minutes over Bev; like 10 and keep Bev down to about 13 minutes a game and fresh/healthy for the playoffs. Therefore, while I understand what seems to be the majority view that Bev should start, I hope that MDA takes a different approach and starts Gordon and goes all offense to start the game. I would start Nene for some of the same reasons, but I don't want Capela coming in at the end of of quarters when we are in the bonus and getting Hack-a-Capela. (did they change any of those rules yet?)
While I don't think this is going to happen, I would really love if we could trade Brewer and any of Dekker/Harrell/Ennis/Picks for Rudy and let Rudy and Ariza fight for starter minutes. I want an all offense team that can score 120 a game all season and force teams to have hot shooting nights against us to compete. I doubt we win any games on defense alone this season. We only need to be able to play lock down D during end of quarters and crunch time. Then we can put in our best Defensive players for those moments. I would love a rotation of: Gordon(35mpg)/Bev(13mpg) Harden(38mpg)/KJ(10mpg) Gay(28mpg)/Ariza(22mpg) Ryno(32mpg)/Dmo(16mpg)[hope he comes to his senses and signs soon, or we need a backup PF] Nene(30mpg)/Capela(18mpg) Barring injuries, fouls, etc. I think that team would get us to at least the second round of the playoffs, and that would be this season a huge success to me.
i think gordon off the bench makes the most sense. mostly because we need the scoring when james comes out, and we also need bev's defense next to james when he's in. however, i think they will be playing a lot of time together as well. i imagine a rotation of minutes in the backcourt like this: james (36) (gordon 32) bev (28)
We just need beverley to play in a handful of games to catapult us to the upper echelon of the league. His mission, which he will gladly accept, is to take down the top point guards in the league. Curry, Paul, Lillard, Westbrook, Irving, Wall, Parker. He plays those 7 games and we have a real shot at the title this year! Just playing of course.
Not many teams have an elite SG in Harden. So they may have an advantage in PG but for most nights we'll have an advantage at SG (technically ... I know Harden officially is a PG now)
I would love to have rudy gay too but I would want him to come off the bench as the back up 4 and have trevor starts unless rudy can use his long ass wingspan and tools to play good defesne then I would like for him to start
I guess I would be okay with Rudy as a backup 4, but I question his ability to defend and rebound from that position until I see it myself. I like him at the 3 because of the size advantage there, even if he can't really stay in front of his man. Having bigger, taller, and/or stronger players at their position may help some with the defensive lateral quickness that this team lacks. All of our defensive schemes will have to be based on help defense because no one on this team will really keep their man in front of them and from penetrating. That includes Bev, Gordon, Harden, Ariza and Ryno. No matter what their reputation is, both Bev and Ariza consistently got beat one on one last year, and I don't expect that to change this year much. Maybe KJ can do a decent job, but Brewer certainly won't either. The only way our defense will be decent will be based off rotating, help and communication, IMHO. That's why I'm for the ALL OFFENSE TEAM, the best offensive team we can have on the court at all times, with the best defense team only in certain crunch situations.
I wish I was an insider and knew the answer to that question. I do believe that if DMo isn't signed soon, we need to get another PF one way or another. We don't have to get another wing with Ariza, KJ, Brewer and Dekker, but I would like to trade out the last two for an upgrade if we can do it by only adding a second rounder and maybe an overseas prospect. But we know Morey may hold out for another star, instead of just another upgrade. I would love to add two more borderline All-Stars or very good players like Ryno or Gordon and make the team stronger that way. In any position btw, but preferably PG, WING or PF.
I would agree with this rotation too except as much as the Kings want to deal Gay.. I don't know if Morey would actually agree to that contract. Also Gay is able to opt out of his contract this year right? Anyways, if we put Gordon primarily at the PG we would really be testing his durability. I can't see him begin to start to try to guard Paul, Westbrook or Curry. If last year was an indication of anything, it was that Beverley is not the same player he was when he first joined the team. Whether it was because he wasn't able to come back 100% from the injury he's had or maybe he's lost his athleticism. Not sure, it's definitely possible that it's a combination of both. We'll either have to trust that Harden will play enough defense that the other players on the team won't have to make up for it OR Beverley is able to at least make it extremely difficult for the opposing PG's to score. I agree with the majority here, it's in our team's best interest at the moment to start Beverley and have Gordon off the bench. Points have been made about those respective players and their strengths they bring to the team. If you want to keep Harden playing at his best you need to compliment his game with someone who can effectively play off the ball. Having EG off the bench to help with the second unit is the best thing we can ask him to do right now. He's pretty much what Harden's role was in OKC. This way his career may be extended a bit too.
I think a trade for Rudy makes a lot of sense. Could clear up some roster spots and makes sense financially. Just not sure who I'd want to package with Brewer to get it done. Brewer and Beasley Would've been cool. Or Brewer and Ennis and let GP be the third PG.
Corrected my own new "positions" mistake and preferred minutes distribution. But while most think of how we will guard other teams IF we had this lineup and starting/subs structure, let's see how they would defend us: First, matching up with GS: Harden/Bev vs Curry/Livingston Gordon/KJ vs Klay/Ian Clark Gay/Ariza vs Durant/Iggy Ryno/DMo vs Green/West Nene/Capela vs Paculia/Varejo Looking at these depth charts, we can easily see why they would still be heavy favorites to not just beat us, but to beat every team in the league save maybe the Cavs. Two keys points of notice are that Bev can neither guard Curry, and even worse Livingston. Too slow for Curry to follow around the screens and then too short to challenge Curry on jumpers once he catches up; and no chance to guard Livingston even straight up. No one on our team can guard Curry, so it has to be a team effort of switching around those screens with a definite plan and purpose. But we have to keep Livingston from posting up our guards when he comes in off the bench. The only hope to do that is putting either KJ or Harden on him. He will have a hard time posting either of those two up. But defending us, Neither Curry or Klay can guard Harden or Gordon one on one imho. Now when Harden plays with Bev, they can double team Harden to get the ball out of his hands because Bev is not a playmaker quick enough with the ball to make them pay when their defense moves around to help. Gordon changes this because he has a quicker more accurate 3ball, and can make a play off the dribble quicker to score or pass better than Bev. So while, Harden and Gordon can't guard Curry and Klay, Curry and Klay can't guard Harden and Gordon; but Curry and Klay CAN guard Harden and Bev because of Bev's lack of playmaking ability. Durant and Iggy will be a killer against all teams. Trying to have Ariza and Brewer guard them will be a lose lose. Putting Gay's size on Durant won't stop him, NO ONE WILL. But then having Ariza to guard Iggy will definitely slow Iggy down a lot instead of letting him kill our bench. GS many times grew their lead against us when their bench unit went against ours. Adding Gay with Ariza to face them gives us a better chance over what we had last year. Ryno and DMo against Green and West will be much better for us. While of course Ryno can't guard Green (way to fast), well neither can most PFs in this league, so again we will have to look for help and team defense to do the job as Ryno or DMo would both get beat consistently off the dribble by Green. But having Ryno defended by Green will make Green work harder than guarding DMo, and make him less able to give help defense because Ryno doesn't just shoot the 3, but he will shoot it from several feet behind the 3pt line, keeping Green closer to him at all times. Ryno can also pull up off the dribble to shot the 3, while DMo is more f a set 3pt shooter. Then, DMo can defend West inside the paint out to 10-12 feet. I am comfortable with that, while not comfortable with him trying to guard Green anywhere. But West won't be able to guard DMo in the post, or if he tries to stop him from getting a set 3, West is not quick enough like Green to get back and help on defense against other players. I will take Nene and Capela over Pachulia and Varejo any day of the week, so I think we win that battle on talent, but overall coaching will determine who plays better in their perspective team scheme. GS is easily the hardest team in the league to match up against. But I would like this team and scheme much better against their improved team this year, 100 times over the team we had last year and their scheme...mostly because of our offense, not defense. They still win a series, but I see us in games and taking maybe a couple just off of offense alone. I was going to give my opinion of how this team and scheme would match up against the Spurs, Clippers, Portland, and Grizzles, but this was too long and I think you get my point and picture. lol
Gordon should probably get more minutes. But as many of his minutes as possible should be with bench units, to keep things running when Harden and Anderson are off the floor. So I'd plan on starting Bev, but still playing Gordon, say, 30 minutes and Bev 26.
Anderson at the 5? Anderson isn't Draymond Green; he isn't able to guard centers and rebound well with bigger guys around him. I don't you could put Anderson as the lone "big man" on the court unless its the final offensive possession.
