Putting aside the Tracy McGrady saga for a minute, let's assume he comes back more motivated and ready to get busy on the court. What do we do with Von? Does he continue to start, or does he go to the bench as extra offense? Realize that Tmac is a good passer and Von would benefit from playing with a player who passes well. The 2nd unit already has Artest and Brooks, would Von work better there? Where would you put this guy? What would you do with him? Personally, I think unless he falls off into the ocean, he deserves the starting SG spot, he has earned it. And if you are going to start him, post a lineup that supports it. Mine: Brooks - PG Wafer - SG TMac - SF Scola - PF Yao - C Bench Battier Artest Rafer Landry Situational bench Barry Hayes Deke Deep Freeze Luther Dorsey DD
The real question will be where do we put Tracy. We know how Von is playing, Tracy on the other hand who the hell knows.
Off the bench for instant offense. He definitely should stay in the rotation. They question is who is out of the rotation when everyone is back?
So with that, Rafer is out of the rotation right? I'm not sure T-mac would go with it neither. I honestly don't see that knee every healing enough for him to be a PG. He might could run the offense as a PG, but I don't think he could handle guarding Point Guards.
I think Battier should be moved along with Alston, the team needs a better PG badly. This isn't likely to happen so that said I would go with something like. PG Alston(Hopefully once everyone is back he stops shooting so damn much, aside from shooting he is a better PG than Brooks.) SG: McGrady SF: Battier PF: Scola C: Yao Bench: Artest, Wafer, Brooks, Landry, Mutombo, Barry, Hayes. All of these guys even the last three can contribute something in every game. The league requires you have a good bench, the lineup you posted was too offensive and the bench would rely too much on Landry/Artest imo. Artest and Landry aren't really specialist at creating their own shot Wafer is better than both at that so he would probably mix in well with them. Man the team is really deep it's too bad McGrady is a punk on paper we are the best team in the league!
I would keep either artest or battier as starter personally because both Tmac and Wafer are not known for their defense. Tmac can be an above average defender but he wont put in the work. Wafer can be too and may develop into a decent defender but he is a bit undersized (isnt he like 6'4 6'5) to guard the larger 2 guards. so: brooks tmac Battier scola yao to start bench barry wafer artest landry situational hayes/deke wish to be traded for any asset rafer luther see ya next year on the court dorsey
On average, I think the rotation could look something like this with everyone healthy: PG - Alston(26), Brooks(22) SG - McGrady(30), Wafer/Barry(10), Artest(8) SF - Battier(25), Artest (20), McGrady(3) PF - Scola (18), Landry (23), Artest(4), Hayes(3) C - Yao (34), Scola (8), Hayes (6) Minutes: Yao - 34 McGrady - 33 Artest - 32 Scola - 26 Alston - 26 Battier - 25 Landry - 23 Brooks - 22 Wafer/Barry - 10 Hayes - 9 I think Wafer has played himself ahead of Barry. But, knowing Adelman, he may prefer Barry's experience over Wafer's scoring ability once we get back McGrady and Artest. Deke will be situational at backup C. Adelman will stick with his small lineup usually, but in case of foul trouble or when facing a big team (e.g. Lakers), Deke will see some minutes. Hayes may end up being situational as well, once Artest returns. Ideally, Adelman won't want to use more than about 9 players once the playoffs come around.
You'd hate to keep a guy who might be having a huge break-out year on the bench. You'd want to start a guy who looks like he'll be POW soon. What do you do? I understand why you asked. (crap...going to have to get back to this) Good question though.
i would leave him in as the starter. He makes the defense respect the 3 and the drive, thus preventing one more man to Hack yao at will. But i'm not the coach, otherwise I would be wearing a cool jacket with a monacle. Von Wafer is like cuttino without the ego, the last of the 'mohawk-ians'.
I don't think it makes sense to put t-mac at pg except during crunch time or end of quater situations. But I do think you will see Von Wafer and T-mac in the game at the same time. Von Wafer won't be a starting SG during the playoffs - he still makes too many mistakes defensively but I must admit he is growing at a pretty rapid rate.
If Von was erased from the rotation, he will not sign with the Rox due to disrespect, he knows how good he is.
I'll wait for another two weeks, and see if Wafer keeps on shooting above 60%+ (hell 46% would suffice) and drop 20+ few more times.
Yes, I think he has gone from a player who hoped he belonged to one that "KNOWS" he belongs. We need more of those, and less of the ones that hope...ala Luther. DD
well i think it depends on two things. One, does Wafer continue to shoot well? He's been accused of being streaky, so if he's starts having long slumps consistently then you put him on the bench, but gives him minutes every night. Two, does Tmac come back as "TMAC", or does he come back because he has to and is still not himself? If he's not himself, then I'd put Battier as a starter and bench Tmac to play with the second unit. Brooks Wafer Battier Scola Yao Rafer Tmac Ron Landry Deke/hayes Might even put Landry as a starter and Scola as a backup because although Battier/Scola/Yao hustle their butts off, that's not a very athletic front line. this has nothing do with how i think is better, just which 5 fit better. I would always play Ron with Rafer because Ron dominates the ball at times, which means Rafer gets it less in the halfcourt.
DD, this lineup would be an open invitation for the other team to score 40 points a quarter. Brooks - PG Wafer - SG TMac - SF Scola - PF Yao - C No matter how much McGrady recovers, he'll never be a consistent defender. I'm loving Wafer but his lack of experience causes him to miss assignments and switches several times each game. I've argued that Brooks' defense isn't bad enough that it should keep him from starting over Alston but, at the same time, I never argued that he was a great defender. Scola is a piss poor defender. His rebounding only compensates for some of it. Yao is an average, at best, defensive player. The starting lineup I'd like to see is... Brooks McGrady (if he truly returns to form, otherwise Wafer) Artest Scola Yao with some combination of Alston, Wafer, Barry, Battier and Landry filling out the rotation. Deke and Hayes are situational players. Trade pieces include Alston, Head and Battier. Try to get a better PG than Alston (doesn't have to be a great PG) or more size for the frontcourt. Maybe we can get Andre Miller for the right package.
I'm on board w/ everything here. If Tmac is on the court you need a complimentary defensive asset (Battier or Artest), and in this case I'd start Battier and let Artest give the 2nd unit more firepower. Considering Tmac will be less and less of a penetrator, I think starting Brooks gives you that slasher to the basket to keep the defense honest. Wafer has stepped up as another offensive threat off the bench so we can now move Brooks up to start.
PG - Alston SG -T-mac SF - Battier PF - Scola C - Yao Second Unit PG - Brooks SG - Von Wafer SF - Artest PF - Landry C - Whoever Our second unit is WAY WAY ahead of anyone else at the moment if everyone is healthy
A guy that has played better than the 20 million dollar allstar only gets 10 minutes in your rotation wow that so sad its impressive
