No he can't....Lee is way too short to play SF....he is 6'5"...but is 6'7"...Shane is 6'8"..... Lee is an athletic SG, that is it. DD
If Bud actually played bigger/taller than Lee on defense, I'd agree, but he absolutely does not. I think we would get same or better results with Lee at backup 3 as Bud.
Height doesn't matter when the player blows by you. Bud lacks the lateral quickness and when he's not shooting it well he's more or less not worth being on the floor.
I agree with that, hope that day is sooner than later. Honestly if it wasn't for the leadership I'd bench him in a heartbeat.
Budinger has the size and hops to play defense. What I can't understand is why he DOESN'T DO IT. After all isn't he supposed to be the black Larry Bird?
His D has been pretty good this year, getting blocks and rebounding well, lots of improvement for those that are looking. His ankle injuries though are a concern. DD
With Brooks and Budinger out, there are more minutes for defensive-minded players in the rotation. This better defense I think results in wins vs. lower-tier teams that have a tendency to implode under pressure (like Indiana and New York). However, the lack of offensive weapons will probably be hard to overcome against better teams in the league. Adelman's got a tough job figuring out this rotation.
If were trying to be a top-tier team we need D and having every decent pg and sf in the league light us up gets us nowhere, we don't have that much offense. Brooks is always and up and down player only thing consistent about him is his lack of D.
Actually, you argued all Summer long that the Rockets did not need Carmelo (or any star), and that our glorious depth would be enough to make us contenders. I like our depth, but we need to kill two birds with one stone by trading some of our assets for an upgrade.
Lee should be starting right now with Kyle Lowry with Martin rotatiing defensively to the opponent's weakest link. For instance, tonight, the Knicks had Landry at G and Gallinari at SF. Sure Gallinari is 6'10", but he was playing face up from the perimeter. I would have been all for having Lee on him. The mismatch on the other end offensively would have been more in our favor and Lee is active enough to overplay Gallinari. Lee should be starting with Lowry and Battier should come off the bench with Yao and Brooks when those guys get healthy.
On the other hand, Brook's offense has carried this team more than a few times. Fortunately, we haven't needed him these past few games. But I do like the balance of offense and defense in the starting lineup with Lowry as starting PG so far.
