I can't wait to see some of the big lines Mitchell is going to run with this season. i know i've always been hopeful of the mythical "big lineup" coming to fruition for years but i truly believe that this is the year that we take it to the next level - physically. Sam is adamant about keeping Moon in the starting lineup and you can see way. That team is freaking long and athletic. So much so that it allows him to go even bigger at the 2, possibly, with JK as the starting shooting guard. This is starting to look like a fantastic option as it gives the young second unit such great veteran leadership. It also pairs AP will Solomon, which is a euroleague champion backcourt. That's a damn tall starting unit. 6'5, 6'8, 6'9, 6'11, 6'11. Tall and lanky with a great skill and athleticism levels. Now off the bench you're going to bring AP, Hump, and Bargnani primarily and Solomon to finish your quarters. That's got to be his 9 man rotation to start the season, no? You want to keep your best players on the floor but 4 of them are "bigs". Yes, Hump and AB are two of our most important players and it's going to be their size and versatility that are going to complement our big 2 so well. JO and Kapono pick up a couple of fouls in the first, depending on the matchup Sam will bring on two of AP/AB/KH. Now, Jose-Moon-Andrea-Hump-Bosh probably won't get much run because it's a little over the top but man it's fun to imagine. Surround CB4 with 2 offensively dangerous garbage men and 1 shooting giant to space the floor. It would probably be AP at the two and AB at the 5 with Kris coming in for Bosh later. But then you've got to get your big guns back in the game. Well what if Hump and Andrea get rolling like I expect? You've got 1 swingman to get back into the game but you've got two bigs. What do you do? Push Andrea to the 3 and roll with AB, CB4, and JO while Jamario and Kapono wait to come on together. or Andrea with Hump and Bosh/JO. these lineups are huge and they are going to be tough to slow down. they're going to make opposing forwards all over the court at some substantial size mismatches. Of course all this hinges on AB and Hump being good players. Active players. They need to benefit from the additions of Moon and JO, whose additions have made this "increased physicality" possible. I mean, Andrea, Moon, JO/Bosh is the frontcourt that teams are going to have to play when one of our allstars goes to the bench. I mean, forget Hump for now, that's a lot of length. I just love the look of our bench right now. We don't have that many bodies but we don't need them. These rotations are looking tight and I'm looking for AB and Hump to be the guys leading the charge. Oh yeah, and the other guys fighting for minutes are a lanky young PG and Joey, Adams, and Jawai (prayers to the basketball gods). We've got the muscle and the athleticism to make up for our weak link at the point of attack (sorry jose). Tough, physical teams win in the NBA. Sam has shown a desire to play big (with Andrea in the playoffs especially) and he is equipped with some uber talented tall forwards. AB and KH are going to need minutes. This is going to happen. I can't wait to see how some of these matchups break down. AB vs Adam Morrison off the bench would be sick...
Great points sky. It helps that both our big man have had excellent camps so far and really seem to have committed themselves to improving over the summer. I agree about our bench too. Its nowhere near as deep as the last couple seasons, but its really much more focused and roles have finally been properly defined. I think we can get a lot out of these "wildcard" players.
Both? We've got at least two and a half and the early reviews about Bargs have been positive. Good points Sky. I think we'll see JO and Bosh start with Bargs being the first big off the bench when one of those goes off.
In that case, I totally agree. Both look good so far and that would be a big boast to Sam's D rotations.
AB in two big lineups tonight - with JO/CB and CB/Hump - and they looked pretty good against cska in the 4th. still, i can't wait to get Joey and Jawai back to fortify our bench.
It's easy to keep track of two big guys on the court but lots of teams will have trouble following three. We saw a bit of this in the CSKA game. JO was at the top of the key. Their offensive big rolled off of Bosh and right into Bargs for a block. hey wait, sky ... are you sky of walk fame?
alright, you caught me. with Joey back we're just waiting on Jawai's return to complete our bench in terms of size and strength. this is the biggest team in raptor history i reckon and it's going to pay some hefty dividends. bargnani is showing that he will be a two-way player this season and that is as huge as the man himself. he was flying around the court on defense tonight. he looked more than a little out of control but man he's got wheels for a big guy. it looks like he's overcommitting but he can apply some major pressure going charging like that. hilarious - i've never seen anything like it. roko looks more and more like he could have backup point locked down before the allstar break, if not sooner. he make our bench rotation that much more length and he's probably the most creative guy on the team with the ball. bargs is shooting with confidence and he's knocking them down. he's ripping boards with some confidence too and is even better coming in with speed from the perimeter. our big line finally starting to come together. Ukic Joey Kapono Hump Bargnani man i love our bench. (even more if when AP is moved there)
Sky, it's good to see you man. We've got to everyone at the same place soon. I missed yesterday's game but appreciate the comments about Bargs on the defensive end. I'm really liking what I see out of Roko as well. He's so much more creative than Soloman and seems keen to learn. In would have liked to seen what Joey offered yesterday. That's the biggest mystery to me.
