Sura to 2 Guard?

I personally would rather not see Sura guarding neither the elite point guards of the league nor the elite shooting guards. That's why we put David Wesley next to Sura last year. So he could take on the tougher defensive assignment while Sura took on the easier player to defend.

While many of the point guards around the league are much quicker than Sura, his height advantage at least gave him somewhat of a buffer. Match him up with the great shooting guards of the NBA, and not only is he still going to have to deal with players much quicker than him, he's also going to deal with guards bigger and stronger than him, as well as much more athletic.

Sura's height advantage really helped Sura's game last season, since he's not particularly quick or athletic. Being matched up with smaller guards allowed him to get more rebounds, see the court more easily to make passes, and get his shot off more easily. Being matched up with guards that are physically better than him in every way can only hurt his game.

Damon Stoudamire is a very underrated rebounder. He gets 3.8 rebounds a game and has averaged over 4 rebounds a couple of times in his career. He's an above average rebounder for a guard, despite his size.

I don't see Sura's ballhandling as a positive with Stoudamire and Mcgrady here. Between the 2 of them (Mcgrady/Stoudamire), they will take on pretty much all of the ballhandling duties, which really hampers Sura's game since he's best with the ball in his hands. At shooting guard, I would much rather have a player that is more of an off-the-ball offensive player, like Wesley but taller.

Like I said, I don't consider Buckner to be a better player than Sura, just a better fit next to Stoudamire. A good defender that moves well without the ball on offense and doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective. If we add Stoudamire and Swift to the starting lineup, those 2 along with Yao and Mcgrady and the offensive firepower on the bench should provide all the offense we need. So Buckner's lack of scoring wouldn't bother me too much as long as he can do the little things to help the team, like Mario Elie.

You've said many times before that if the guards don't get the job done, we can always trade them during the trade deadline, but there's really no way to tell if they'll cut the mustard until it's playoff time. I'm confident that the guard rotation you listed would do well in the regular season, so once the trade deadline comes, we'll probably not be looking to make any changes.

But them doing well in the playoffs is a completely different story. Playoff time is when a team's biggest weaknesses are exposed and I think with a guard rotation of Stoudamire, Sura, James, Wesley, and Barry, many of the same weaknesses that Dallas exploited (too old, unathletic, and small) would still be exploited in the playoffs next year.

I also don't think there's any way we can get away with a 7 guard rotation. That rotation needs to be trimmed down to about 3 or 4 guards.

 

I'm with New Jack on this one. We don't need backcourt players with the best individual talent, we need ones that will compliment the team as a whole. You can look at a Sura/DS backcourt and say "Wow, adequate defense and MONSTER rebounding. We'll get every defensive rebound now!!" But you can get similar defense and rebounding while getting a better fit on offense.

Sura and DS both most effective when handling the ball, good taking it to the hole and creating a shot for themselves and others. But Sura's not the spot up shooter that Wesley and Barry are. That's what we'll need because of all the wide open kickouts Tmac and Yao will get them. Sura's defense can't make up for DS's defensive faults. Our backcourt will be beat.

If DS is our starting pg, we need a player like Bruce Bowen who'll take defensive responsibilties off Tmac's shoulder's while creating space for Yao with his three point shot. If Sura is our starting SG, we need a Derek Fisher-type player who can defend well, hit the open three, dribble up the ball, and post feed Yao easily, and let either Sura or Tmac create shots. The problem with Fisher is that he can't guard fast players, but I'm not suggesting we get him, just someone like him if Sura starts. The teammates just have to fit well.

 

I don't think it takes until the playoffs to have idea if we have enough guard play. SA recognized they needed interior help, they get Nazr right at the deadline. Suns pulled the Jackson deal. We pulled Wesley, Barry and James moves. All these moves put their teams in much better position to gun for a title (IMO the Spurs don't win the title w/o that move). We will have a good idea if Sura is healthy, if DW and JB have any gas left (if he is still here), if Head or Glover can contribute, if Mike James is executing well off the bench. DS (if we get him), James, Barry and Wesley have all been in the playoffs before and most have been deep into the playoffs.

Sura is just slightly inferior as a spot up 3 shooter than Wesley. JB is far superior than both. However there is a way BS ballhandling and drive ability is important even if the ball is mostly in TM, DS and Yao's hands. With Wesley all you have to is cover the open shot (like how Detroit took out Bruce Bowen as an offensive threat). You can spot Sura out there, and if he is wide open he hits enough to keep the D honest, but on overaggresive rotations he can also get to the basket. It is why his overall shooting efficiency is better than Wesley. With Sura and DS out there they will do damage if you leave them alone for the 3 ball, but with overaggresive rotations they will get to the lane for high % shots and drawing fouls. Easy buckets gallore, the kind real important when that 3 isn't falling, and something DW just can't produce much anymore.

I agree by playoff time we will have 4-5 player rotation max. Think SA with Parker, Manu, Barry, plus Udrah or Brown. For us what I would like to see is DS, James, Sura, Barry and either Wesley/Head/Glover depending on how they do. Of course I think we might have to lose DW to acquire DS--and I asm fine with that.

One of our major problems with our playoff rotation last year is we had to play a beat up Sura, a worn down Wesley, Barry and James (the only young fresh one) across three positions pretty much. In the new group not only do we have to only spread them between just the two positions, we are in much better position to keep guys like Sura and Wesley them healthy/fresh. Yeah having a worn down Sura, Wesley or James, and Barry across the 1-2-3 was a big part of getting burned by Dallas, we will never have to do those combinations again because we have two legit PFs with other sound (athletic) alternatives in the guards/swingmen in Head and maybe Glover.

 

Frankly, I luved sura, barry , wesley and especially james. But we gotta do what we gotta do. Nobody really wanted to lose mobley, but you nhave to give to get. Except Isaiah of course. he's the gift that keeps on giving. sura off the bench with james would be killer, but jon barry's level headed play and killer instincts, now that would REALLY be missed !

 

How would you distribute the minutes with a guard rotation like that?

I see some potential problems with playing time.

Damon Stoudamire is used to playing 35 minutes a game. Mike James I’m sure is not going to accept playing less than 25 minutes a game, especially if he’s playing for a big contract next summer. Sura will probably get his PT reduced from 31 minutes to about 25. But we can’t really play a backcourt of Stoudamire and Wesley/James for an extended amount of time, so that will limit the amount of minutes they can play at the 2.

I also think it’s crucial that either Head, Glover, or some other young guard that the Rockets acquire play significant minutes instead of just garbage minutes. This backcourt desperately needs an infusion of youth. As is, I don’t see any playing time available for either of them.

The Rockets are really going to have to clear the glut in the backcourt before the season starts or we are going to have a problem similar to last year with both Taylor or Howard not knowing what their role is. At least 2 of the guards from last years rotation is going to have to be moved.

Also, what happens in the likely case that Sura goes down to an injury for an extended amount of time? Do we have any viable options at shooting guard to start in the backcourt with Stoudamire? Barry would get destroyed guarding the top 2-guards of the league every night and Wesley/Head/James might make our backcourt too small.

I think we could pretty much solve all of these potential problems simply by moving Wesley and/or James in a trade for a taller starting shooting guard that can play some backup minutes at the 3 (Buckner, Hassell, etc.).

 

Offensively, I'm not sure Glover is a great fit next to Stoudamire either since he, like Sura, is most effective with the ball in his hands, but he does provide the youth, athleticism, and size that we greatly lack in the backcourt. I wouldn't be opposed to giving him a try as the starting 2 guard if he could develop into the defensive stopper we need.

 

No, you've got it backwards: Jason Terry is a 2 guard masquerading as a point guard.

 

OK, I'll assume DW is traded. I agree there is too many with DS, BS, MJ, DW, JB, LH and DG.

4 or 5 man Playoff rotation.
I would say something like this would be solid:
PG: DS (28), MJ (20)
SG: BS (24), JB (16), player X (8)
SF: TM (40), player X (8)

Now we have 16 minutes available in the swingmen. Glover could pick up these minutes or Head could pick up some minutes, but probably not both. If both falter (no other guard or swingman we are comfortable with playing in the playoffs), we probably ask Sura to pick up another 8 (32 total) and JB to pick up 6 (20 total) more two more of Tracy (42 total).

BTW Make James averaged 20MPG on his world championship team and by all acounts did well in that role. BS career average is 24MPG and JB's is 17MPG. DS's career is 35MPG, but he is 31 year's old now. If he wouldn't be happy with the starting job, but noneless accumulating about 28MPG as a role player, we don't want him here anyway. Personally I think reducing these vets minutes some is better. All the guys get enough minutes to get into a rythum, but not so much they can't go all out every minute they are in there. That clearly worn down Sura and Wesley from their peak form by the time the playoffs rolled around.

As far as Hassell and Bucker. Hassell has no 3 shot whatsoever. I am not saying he wouldn't be useful, but I certainly think Bob Sura as our starting 2 guard keeps the offensive balance much better. But if Minn wants to trade him to us for Wesley + NY 2nd I'd do it (not for James or Sura though, unless we had landed DS). If last year was not a fluke, Bucker would be a good addition. I would talk to him, but I wouldn't overpay for him in a sign and trade, as it is not unlikely Glover and Head (or Wesley) won't be able to give you what Buckner or Hassell can.

They guy I really wanted was Raja Bell, but obviously Phx moved quickly and I wouldn't have done it for the MLE which would have cost us Swift anyway. We could also try Travis Hansen if we think he has more potential than Glover. Maybe we could get Gerald Wallace too (more legit 3 size than Buckner or Hassell).

I'd also be interested in giving Spree, Kittles, Houston or Finley a try as a late bargain/low risk addition.

In short we can take our time and look for bargains late in FA with the LLE, and certainly don't need to overpay for a defense-1st, offensively weak, swingman. To me additing a guy like DS is more important than any of these other less proven, less productive, guys.