We have Montrezl Harrell. We didn't get killed on the boards in the first game of the season, it was actually dead even in total rebounds. Hopefully we play Nene a little bit less and see Harrell at the 5 when we go small. It's one game, adjustments will be made.
Maybe it would be better if Harrell backs up Anderson instead of Dekker, And Dekker should back up Ariza, INSTEAD OF BREWER. And KJ should back up Gordon, instead of anyone else, as Gordon moves to point when Harden sits. Or at least play Brown. Playing Ennis and Brewer are recipes for disaster. Harrell earned his spot minutes in the preseason while those two didn't. Clint and Nene will be fine at center, and do better with Harrell as the PF to help on the boards better than Dekker would at that position. Clint should play at least 30 minutes or more, and Nene the rest at center. As you noted clearly, we didn't get out rebounded last game. If we shot more than 25% 3s, and if MDA used better rotations and players, we would have easily won that game by ten or more. Also, Ryan is not a beast, but not as bad at rebounding as many have suggested. He will probably average 6 or 7 for the season, which is about all you can honestly expect from a true stretch 4. Clint can average 12 or more if he gets to lay 30 plus minutes. He's no Dwight on the boards, but he can average double digit boards.
Absolutely agree with this. But don't see it happening a ton. Guys these days love the whole "small-ball" idea, and MDA is the president of that concept if you will. But Dekker isn't anything close to Shawn Marion or a PF. In short (very) stretches it could work. But the reason it works for GSW, or the Heat/Cavs at times with Lebron, or the Thunder previously at times with KD... is they have great freaking players at the 3 that can also be great at the 4. Didn't get outrebounded on the whole, but look at the Nene/Clint difference, and Anderson/Dekker difference. Clint had 9 boards and was plus 8 for the game. Nene had 3 boards (freaking 3!!!) and was -14 for the game. Very similar minutes. Andersen wasn't great generally, and was -2 for the game and isn't a great rebounder, but did pull in 6. Dekker player 1/3 the minutes, but still rebounded even worse than Andersen with just 1, and was -4 for the game. You can't win with just offense. They played no defense and then within the game had some horrible rebounding stretches. If they're going to play bad defense (they are), then they have to be above average in rebounding in order to get to high 40's+ win total, otherwise you are asking them to play even more defense. Alternatively, they can get better at rotational defense and defensive intensity and be bad at rebounding and still get to that high 40s/low 50s wins. They'll be lucky to hit their win total of 41 from last year if they are going to both be bad at rebounding and bad at defense. The other obvious problem was Gordon on his time on the court without Harden. Which was -1 in the first half and -6 in the second half... I think. The biggest problem obviously at the start of the 4th quarter when MDA decided he could roll with 4 bench players plus Gordon. Which was idiotic. Gordon is not Harden. The only starter on this team you can be comfortable with rolling out there with all bench players is Harden. That's it. Gordon + Dekker, Brewer, KJ and Ennis is quite possible the dumbest lineup you could throw out there. I mean it's moronic. Which isn't Gordon's fault... but hopefully it only takes MDA 1 game to realize this. Yes, the Lakers were rolling with all bench players, but they at least had size and skill out there. But the point remains.... I actually really quite like Gordon alongside Harden - certainly offensively. If healthy, I like him as a pickup. But MDA has to realize his limitations. If he's out there without Harden, he needs to be still with Ariza and Clint, imo.
I agree with most of what you said here, which is why I said that those players need to move a position back, so to speak: Harrell to PF, Dekker to SF, etc. Playing Nene with Dekker as your PF is a recipe for disaster, but Nene plus Harrell would be better. I'm fine for most nights with Capela in with Anderson because I think Capela will average double digit rebounds if given 30 plus minutes and Anderson will be around 6 or 7. DMo would only get 2, 3 or 4 in 30 minutes of play, even if he is a better positional defender than Anderson. Of course if DMo was here, I would feel much better with him playing with Nene, and/or Clint than Harrell. But Dekker is NOT a stretch four and if we continue to play him as one we will get destroyed everytime. His advantage in the NBA right now is at the SF position, otherwise he shouldn't be in games yet imho.
To clarify, Harrell should play the 4/5. I agree that KJ should get more minutes over Brewer, but Ennis is the only other primary ball handler we have. Bev isn't a true PG, but is competent enough when not injured. The problem with Clint is still conditioning, maybe it improves as the season goes on or maybe it doesn't. I would be surprised if Capela averages more than 30 minutes a game, which is why Nene/Harrell should man the back up center spot. Nene is 34 years old and doesn't defend well as he use to, hence Harrell should slide over to the 5 spot for like 8 MPG.
In football terms, Anderson helps get Harden open lanes to the goal like Will Fuller helps Hopkins. Anderson is popping the top off the opposing defenses like no other Rocket can now or could for many years. It's not something DMo is anyone close to helping with, or Dekker, or Harrell or Terrence Jones or Dwight Howard.
I'm not saying I'm TOTALLY against Harrell also backing up the 5, but if he does, it can only be against teams when they have no real true center in the game. If they do, Harrell will get killed against real NBA centers, and he doesn't have enough offensive game to even it out on the other end. KJ should get ALL of Brewer's minutes, period, IMHO. Ennis is no an NBA level player yet to me at all. I hate we gave up Beasley for him. I was hoping John Lucas could work with Beasley if there was any attitude problems or adjustments needed. Beasley on a talent level is a 100 to 0 compared to Ennis, and we need all he talent we can get on this team. He scored and rebounded decently last year for us with a crap system and horrible coaching, who knows if and what he could have done with MDA coaching him. Ennis sucks, plain and simple. That was just like cutting Beasley for no reason because we got nothing for him and he would definitely in our rotation right now. I would play Brown before Ennis, but actually Gordon should play point for the 10 minutes per game that Harden doesn't play point. No one else on the team can handle the ball as well, drive to the bucket as well, shoot as well, and thus therefore be better at helping teammates get more open shots. He's no Harden, but he's the best we have to play PG at the moment, even better than Bev IMHO. Clint should be played into shape until he gets there. He is young and only game play will get him used to the minutes he will be needed to play down the line. So just play him 30 minutes, winded or not and force him to give his all. It's better to do it now and build his stamina early in the season, than to have him not able to do it when it matters most. And get Calvin to work with him on free throws. Those other free throw coaches aren't getting the job done. Run him after practice, make him stay later, and make him shoot free throws in between sprints....build stamina and the ability to shoot free throws when tired.
i diagree. ariza is getting slow so why not move him to pf and trade anderson for nikola "who's a b****" vucevic? bev/gordon kj/sewer harden/dekk ariza/harrel who's a b****/capela nene, pennis, brown as resrves. send wilt to the dleague. morey enjoys his donuts and cheeseburgers while passing some my way. harden enjoys his strippers. ariza enjoys not guarding 4 guys simultaneously. clutch bear enjoys smashing cakes in laker fans. errbody happy, cept rockets fans.
I think you rebuild and try to draft a team like this or get some free agents. 2003 - 04 Kings http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SAC/2004.html
If you believe that, you are oblivious. This team, coach, and play style all fit with Morey's analytics and thoughts on basketball.
No.... MDA was a Les hire. Morey was going for a defensive minded coach and we may have had a different roster if we had gotten Vogel instead.
Greg Monroe always seems to be in trade chatter. Kind of the anti Ryno and basically the same player as Nene if Nene was in his prime. On paper Capela, Ryno, and Nene with Harrel sprinkled in isn't bad if each are playing to their potential. But Anderson's shot isnt falling and Nene is showing his miles.
