Pretty awesome, especially considering a made a Morey t-shirt design with a similar phrase. That may be the one I get for myself now lol.
dmorey: I know he's friends with Simmons, but I love how he's not afraid to take on their analysis publicly.
Agreed, but depth encourages everyone to play all out because minutes aren't guaranteed to anyone. And effort matters, especially with so many players on cruise control until the playoffs. The morale issue can be mitigated by having quality, mature players in the locker room. Brad Miller, Yao, Hayes, Battier, Scola, these are not premadonnas and they will not tolerate b****ing and moaning. Notice how Battier never complained when he lost his spot to Ariza, or Brent Barry when he lost his spot to Von Wafer. It helps that all of these guys are getting paid. If you need minutes to prove your worth (Jermaine Taylor, Patterson), it will be tough to stay positive riding the pine. But it's clear that Adelman is very merit based. If you deserve minutes, you will get minutes. That's all you can ask for as a player. Plus, our knuckleheads get shipped out pretty quick (Ron, Ariza, Bonzi).
Flaws in Simmons article: Jared Jeffries is not a rotational player and isn't going to destroy chemistry when he doesn't play (he can complain all he wants, I don't think it will affect chemistry overall). He is a niche/role player that will get minutes with certain teams, but currently Chuck Hayes does everything that JJ does (and better than JJ except maybe shooting). -15 minutes Patterson will not be a rotational player for at least a few months, if even then. His time will come after injury or trade to clear a spot for him. -15 minutes That's 30 of the 60 minutes that BS allotted that our players should get. He's right that we have a lot of players to work in, but Adelman has always given minutes to the most deserving and has never had any major chemistry problems. Other than that, Simmons doesn't really consider that we can get PT for those that deserve it based on matchups, though they won't average what he suggests they should: Brad Miller will be a matchup player (might play more at first, but not as much when the rotation shakes out), and only get heavy minutes against other true bigs...and he'll start when Yao sits, which will keep him happy. I think he knows he's past his prime and is willing to be a spot player ...on any given night he might play 20-25 minutes, or play 5 (or even none). Depending on matchups, Hill or Chuck might get more minutes as Miller gets less. I also expect Budinger and Lee to take a few minutes away from Battier depending on matchups. And the sheer thought that Battier not getting 35 minutes will disrupt chemistry is laughable. Bottom line is that winning will keep chemistry high, and deserving players will get their minutes even if it is not on an every night basis.
which i think would be awesome- it would mean that our young guys are good enough to give them longer breaks, spell them and keep thier legs fresh, also less wear n tear on thier bodies. even ironman scola was tired aftr this summr and it IS a looooong season
How bout keep attacking the media and making them look more stupid, once Morey's wrong he can say, well I was right about the other 1 million things I argued.
I thought most Nba Players say as long as we're winning it doesn't matter how many minutes we play? Plus I think our team chemistry is so incredible that none of our players will argue about a 12 man rotation if that's the direction we're heading in.
How about this proposal? Center: Yao -- 24 Miller -- 14 (more when Yao doesn't play in b2b games) Hill -- 10 (more when Yao doesn't play in b2b games) Jeffries -- gets some minutes when Yao doesn't play in b2b games. PF: Scola -- 28 Hayes -- 12 Patterson -- 8 Jeffries -- gets some minutes when any of those PFs are unable to play. SF: Battier -- 24 CBud -- 24 Jeffries -- gets some minutes when any of those two SFs are unable to play. SG: Martin -- 30 Lee --18 Taylor -- some minutes when Martin or Lee are unable to play. PG: Brooks -- 32 Lowry -- 16 Smith -- some minutes when Brooks or Lowry are unable to play.
Simmons' math works only if everyone plays 82 games. And we know that, most likely, won't come close to happening. So there will be minutes available.
Yeah, this team is hand selected for quality character. They may be slightly disgruntled, but I don't think it'll be anything that would cause them not to give their all when called upon. I mean, if you're Jermaine Taylor and you only get a few minutes to shine and prove your worth, especially when you know how well Adelman rewards performance, you are going to try your best out there. On top of that, keeping a stocked roster helps out for the inevitable injuries throughout the season. Why would you intentionally get lesser talent so that you get stuck with that when someone goes down. We may not see much of Ish Smith come the regular season, but if Kyle goes down again like he did last year, at least we won't suffer a 10 game downward spiral.
I think that applies mainly to the average NBA personality. Morey did his best to find good talent and good personalities and still keep flexibility. The chances of any of these guys complaining about minutes is very low, especially past the best 8 or 9, since they dont have reason enough to complain. Yes, there's always a chance a player wants more money or more freedom to become a better player, but those, especially the former b/c Les has been paying, are also minimized with these guys. The flexibility allow guys to be moved and "replaced" when they're goals/play clashes, like Ariza. In the end, winning shuts up a lot of people, including players. If they're losing, then they need changes anyway, so it's good to know who's not happy. It's definitely quite the experiment, but im looking forward to seeing it develop.
My concern is that neither Patterson or Hill will get the minutes necessary to develop their game and increase their trade value.
Yao won't average 24 mpg for 82 games. There will be nights he plays less than 20 minutes. And he won't play on back to backs. And there will be times when they take precaution on some minor injuries and sit him. I think he will average around 18 mpg over 82 games.* That leaves 30 minutes per games for Miller and Hill. * Unlike how NBA calculate mpg (by dividing total minutes by games played), I think it makes more sense, at least in Yao's case, to divide total minutes by ALL games.
