Yes or no? I personally do not see D-Mo making any steps towards becoming a reliable, consistent back-up 4 or 5 for that matter. He has shown flashes and you cannot argue he hasn't gotten the chance, so if he keeps this up, I truly like Papanikolaou as a permanent back-up 4. He rebounds well, can spread the floor and work perfectly with any combo of Terry, Canaan, Beverley, Harden & Ariza. To me this would also open up some time for Garcia to see what he has left as a back-up SF. Yes, flame me all you want but truth is, he was hurt last year and shown great promise in the FIBA games. As one of the veterans who is reportedly very professional and just being a good team mate, I think he deserves another shot. (Bill & Bull were talking about him during sixers game, that he's a great locker room and hasn't been asking for playing time or anything). I hated his play as much as everybody else last year, but with some D and some threes, who knows, it might make it even easier for Papa and other guys to make cuts and open up the lane. I'm not saying no more Papa as a back-up SF, but when Ariza is out and we cannot have a small ball line-up for whatever reason, have Garcia and Papa at the forwards, Terry and whoever at guard etc. What do you guys think?
I'm really conflicted on Papa's ability to defend the 4. My inclination is that he won't be able to do it, but then again, he played very good defense on Bosh in the 1st half last night. I guess "wait and see" is the name of the game.
When Dwight is on the floor, it suits him and James more to have floor spacers, if we could actually get a real PF that could do that great, but it was always sort of the idea to run him delfino like minutes. As a permanent fixture? nah, as a 10-15 mpg in the right matchups? yeah
Pap is versatile and strong. I think if he and Lebron were to go after a close rebound, this guy can secure the rebound due to his desire and energy at the moment... We'll see
He can defend the type of player Bosh has turned himself into. I don't think he can defend Z-Bo and the likes.
How many minutes do we need a backup 4 to play Jones looks like he'll play 30 - so that leaves a maximum of 18. Can Papa play 10-15 of those minutes? Means our backup C plays 10 behind Dwight, and 3-8 at the 4.
Papa is going to fit in that Delfino role he had in 2013. Unless Jones is having a Jonesing night, Papa going to finish games for us as he is a better three point shooter and can move the ball well.
Paps will play 4 in only certain situations/match ups. No need to force it just to give Garcia minutes that he does not deserve. Garcia did not deserve it last season either. Make him a coach or something but there is no room in the rotation for him at this time. Rather get a quality 4/5.
I'm not sure any of our other 4s can defend Z-Bo, who's basically a tank, so I wouldn't necessarily count Pap out. I don't know. With our improved defense, maybe they all can all now defend somebody like that. *shrugs shoulders* As far as Pap as a back-up PF, sure, fine with me. But I'm not sure I'd stop there. On the entire team, he looks to me to be one of the top three when it comes to court awareness and vision. He's an excellent assist man who knows where his teammates are. I love it. He made a three yesterday. He missed a lot of them beforehand, but Terrence hasn't shown significant ability beyond the arc, and D-Mo is throwing up more bricks from downtown than he did two seasons ago. If Pap continues to adjust to the NBA three-point distance, he may quickly be another threat, thus making him the ever-desired STRETCH 4 OMG. There's no guarantee, but they clearly are setting him up to take those shots now, so they must have some faith that he can make them soon enough. I've been impressed with his intelligence and his effort on the court. Terrence has also had some great games already. D-Mo's been...D-Mo, although his defense looks better for sure. I'd have no problem with Pap and Jones competing for the starting spot or switching out as starters depending on the team we play. I like what I've see so far, and I want to see him get as many minutes as possible, so he can acclimate to the NBA, and so we can see if has staying power. If he put on a little more muscle, he'd be right there as a decently-sized 4 anyway. Looks like another promising pickup for the team.
Garcia is way more valuable than Dorsey/ Motie/ Black. If we lose a wing to injury, Garcia can step straight in, and we keep rolling. If we lose a big, then runDMB won't be walking any which way (really? that's horrible.) Perhaps Capela flourishes down the back end, and can provide us that rim protection off the bench?
Also consider putting Papa at the SF and Aria at SG. Jones Dwight, Papa Aria and Harden is a good line up.
They played Ariza and Papa at the 2 and 3 spots vs Philly for a few minutes I think? Terry might have been the point? Think Jones/ Howard were the bigs? Or maybe my memory is bad.
Considering how bad Terrence Jones is at defending PFs with post-up ability, I don't see why Papanikolaou shouldn't be considered for even the starting 4 spot. He might even be a defensive upgrade considering he actually boxes his man out. I know it's a ridiculously small sample size but I absolutely loved the way he looked with the starting line-up, and I really hope we get to see more of that.
Definitely. With the lack of bench depth the Rockets have it would be madness for McHale to play him any less than 30MPG.
Yes he needs to get mins @ both the 3&4. I think DMo might get more back up center mins if black ends up included in a trade.
I like him there when the matchup allows it, but don't want him to get beat up playing a ton of minutes against starting 4s.
He'll do fine for some matchups. Others he'll be useless at the 4. We really need to add more to the 4 spot.
He can play the 4 as well as Parsons did last season, perhaps better. However, it definitely seems to me we have given up too many offensive rebounds when Pumpernickel is at the 4 (though, this is a small sample size at the beginning of his rookie season), and there is no way he is going to be able to defend bigger and better PFs like Griffin or ZBo -- but that is the case with any SF trying to play PF. I think in certain scenarios and matchups he gives us exactly the type of SF that can steal minutes from our weak backup bigs (which we need, and which I was afraid we lost when Chandler left).
