http://www.nba.com/preview2002/top10_best_benches.html 10. Rockets: Moochie may be hurt, but they have size (Kelvin Cato), interior scoring (either Mo Taylor or Kenny Thomas), and outside shooting in Oscar Torres. And if Glen Rice gets back to old form ... 9. Hornets: Still looking for a solid backup point guard, but Courtney Alexander and Lee Nailon give them great scoring pop, while Stacey Augmon, George Lynch and Jamaal Magloire are excellent defenders. 8. Spurs: Malik Rose is one of the league's top subs. Whoever doesn't start between Steve Smith and Emanuel Ginobili will give them points. Mengke Bateer, Speedy Claxton, Danny Ferry and Kevin Willis are solid as well. 7. Lakers: Decent on paper, but would you bet against a group that included Devean George, Robert Horry and Brian Shaw? Tracy Murray and rookie Kareem Rush could also blossom as bench players. 6. Pacers: So many options, with Jonathan Bender, Austin Croshere, Jeff Foster, Al Harrington, Ron Mercer and Erick Strickland all battle-tested and ready to contribute. Rookie Fred Jones is an intriguing wildcard. 5. Wizards: So deep. Youngsters Kwame Brown, Juan Dixon and Jared Jeffries have had strong preseasons. Tyronn Lue, Bryon Russell and Chris Whitney are great backcourt options. And Charles Oakley, Etan Thomas and Jahidi White bring strength and size. 4. Nets: Rodney Rogers won the Sixth Man Award for 1999-2000. Chris Childs is pure intensity. And Jason Collins, Lucious Harris and Aaron Williams will all play with confidence coming off a trip to the Finals. 3. Blazers: Depth could actually become a problem. How do you find minutes for Derek Anderson, Antonio Daniels, Ruben Patterson, Arvydas Sabonis and Damon Stoudamire? A quandary most coaches would like to have. 2. Pistons: Perfect blend of depth, talent and experience. Corliss "Instant Offense" Williamson won the 2001-02 Sixth Man Award. Chucky Atkins has been stellar in the preseason. Jon Barry and Zeljko Rebraca could start for most teams. 1. Kings: Adding big man Keon Clark to a group that already included Bobby Jackson, Scot Pollard and Hedo Turkoglu is downright scary. Jackson is one of the league's most underrated players, and Turkoglu is a star in the making. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Personally I think the Rockets bench is a bit better than a few they have listed before it. Any thoughts? Chris
I would definitely rate ours above the Wizards. They listed mostly unproven players. Sure we have plenty of them, but ours have more potential, along with the veterans.
Where are the Mavs? And why are the Lakers here at all? Deep bench? They don't even have a deep starting-5. Would you bet against a group that included Devean George, Robert Horry and Brian Shaw? Yes, I think I would.
ditto and ditto, Juan. Van Exel is easily the leading candidate for 6th Man of the Year. Who writes these things??
I think the writer is assuming that Griffin will start with EITHER Taylor or Kenny Thomas as the other forward. Chris
Yep. Ty Lue and Kwame are starting. However, Hughes will be coming off the bench and what about Laettner? So, that still gives the Wizards 14 players! Jahidi's hurt right now, so I bet Jefferies, Thomas, Dixon, or Whitney will have to start the season on the IR. When Jahidi comes back another one of those guys will have to go to the IR. That's how deep the Wizards are! It's possible their two number one draft picks will spend much of the season on the IR because they have too many players. Wizards Depth Chart: PG: Lue/Whitney/Dixon SG: Stackhouse/Hughes SF: Jordan/Russell PF: Brown/Laettner/Oakley/Jefferies C : Haywood/White/Thomas Rockets Depth Chart: PG: Francis/Norris SG: Mobley/Maddox SF: Rice/Thomas/Morris/Nachbar PF: Griffin/Taylor C : Ming/Cato
Is the Pistons writeup suppose to be a joke? Corliss is now "Instant" offense instead of "Scoreless"? Blazers definitely have the best bench in the business. They always do. Most of their backups are good enough to be starters on some playoff teams.
I don't know if it's Unseld or Jordan, but whoever is making these roster decisions for the Wizards is a ******* imbecile. Their whole team is made up of swing-men: Jordan, Stackhouse, Russell, Hughes, Dixon, Jeffries. Wonderful!!! 2's and 3's out the ass!!! Now get some big guys, and don't tell me they have Kwame Brown and Jahidi White: they suck. I think a lot of these analysts are being awfully optimistic about how good they'll be.
The Spurs and Lakers have better benches? How does Malik Rose define a whole bench? Do the Lakers even use there bench? We are number 6 minimum.
But remember where they are...The East! Where having big men just doesn't really matter. Anyways, I think Kwame is going to be one of the most improved players in the league this season.
I can understand the argument against the Laker bench, but how can you call the best defensive team in the NBA not deep(if you include our playoff rotation)? Defense is the reason we have rings and 4 of the 5 starters are excellent defenders with Fisher only being slightly above average(except against Bibby).
