I don't think Cat will play 42 mpg again this season, with Pike onboard. The only reason Cat and Francis were played so much was because we didn't have quality backups in the backcourt. Now with Pike, I think Cat's minutes will be down to below 40, maybe somewhere around 36. If JVG is serious about defense, he will try to keep his main players fresh to play D effectively. So assuming Francis won't be used at the 2, Pike will play about 10 mpg at that position. That leaves him about 15 min. at the 3. Increaing his PT doesn't necessarily mean starting.
Bingo. Now we need to find a way to limit the minutes Francis plays. If Cat played a few minutes at PG (and I don't think he will), it would open up more minutes for Piatkowski and AGriff. Man, we need a vet PG.
I'd love to see Like starting. If MoT can get healthy, he really should be the 3rd option rather than Cat. He shoots a very high %, and can hit the midrange, while also going inside. His rebounding isn't great, but a quick look at Yao's numbers show that he's a pretty damn freakin good rebounder per minute. Around 13.6 rebounds in 48 minutes, so we could probably expect him to grab 10 rebounds in 38 minutes during his second season. Mo being the 3rd option, Pike is another player who would make life MUCH easier on Steve and Yao. I love this group: Yao MoT (healthy) xxxxx Pike Francis I'm thinking a 6'8 defensive SF who can handle the ball. I hate Pippen, but he'd be so perfect for this team. SAR doesn't fit the bill, but he'd definitely be a welcomed addition. I guess I just love how Pike and MoT would fit around Yao. At first, I wasn't very optimistic about Mo fitting in wit hYao and Steve. But now, looking at some games, and remembering Mo's healthy days, I think he would be a very nice compliment. Sure, I'd love him in a heartbeat if it meant we'd get a star in return (package deal of course), but if we're sticking with this lineup, I like the way he'd fit around Yao and Steve.
I'm not worried about facing the top "wing" players in the West now, Mobley, Hawkins and now A. Griffin will take care of that. Pike can pick up 25 or so minutes a game without starting, they'll just cut into Mobley minutes which is good since he was overworked, and he'll be one of 2 or 3 guys playing in the SF spot. I am VERY pleased we got Griffin, we needed athletic D. Van Gundy is going to have a ton of options on both sides of the ball to work with.
