I wouldn’t get too caught up in the names of the positions, but what I look for is whether the necessary roles are being filled. With Rose, you want a guy who can score in general, but you also want a guy who can shoot. Noc does one thing pretty well to complement Rose, and that’s catch and shoot. Deng isn’t that classically good shooter, but he scores in a variety of other ways that Rose can set up. So offensively, that’s a pretty nice pairing. Defensively not so much, because you’re forcing Deng to guard the best perimeter defender and he’s not a good defender, and you’re forcing Noc to guard threes when he is better guarding fours most of the time. But with solid interior defense, it seems at least passable with a lot of room for improvement. Put it this way… I don’t see Deng as much, if any, worse at guarding 2s than Hughes, Hinrich or Gordon have been. In general I think there’s a lot to be said for pairing up one of Deng & Thabo (guys who can score but not great long-distance spot up shooters) with one of Noc and Gordon (guys who are good 3 point shooters). Between those four guys, I think we’d generally have our bases covered in giving Rose the right types of tools to work with. Obviously you’d like everyone to be better, but you’ve at least got some flexibility. You can go Gordon-Thabo or Gordon-Deng. or Deng-Noc. Maybe Thabo-Noc in a pinch. The only thing I don’t really want to see is Thabo-Deng, which gives us crap all for shooting. I've wanted Noc gone for quite a while, but through the pre-season, I'm starting to see how he could work. On the other hand, I'm starting to give up on Hinrich working. He seems unable or unwilling to try to actually play the SG role. Even with Rose next to him, I've seen him get the ball, pound it for a while, and scan the floor for his other three teammates (because he doesn't seem to look to give it back to Rose). Defensively, he's brought nothing to the table against twos.
Based upon last night, Rose is our #1 and #2 option. Surround him with players who'll pass him back the ball after he accidentally looses his dribble and who can make open mid-range shots. Deng needs to find his automatic jumper again. Hinrich needs a change of scenery and all will be good. This team has been so fucked up by Paxson and Skiles. There's room for some "right way" players on the roster, but it's not the way to win with Rose. Guards can make layups and dunks! The rest of the players shouldn't be pegged as role guys and should be allowed to play their games. How about Noc at the 2? We can always play zone when there's guys he can't guard.
Guess it depends on who he's playing with. Offensively, what I was trying to get at was I see him playing the shooting role if he's paired with Deng or Thabo. And they'd be guarding the more athletic 2 or 3, whomever it is.
Tyrus on the floor, eating souls. This season is lost. Get him some playing time, consistent minutes, and watch him improve. His free throw shooting has improved - a lot. He still needs to finish better, but that can come with more playing time (I hope). Plus... he gives someone who can run the floor with Rose. Cue the Tyrus haters - I don't care. Dude was a project when we drafted him. Figured it was a 3-5 year project with him. He aint a finished project yet, but he's improving. Dude gets to the foul line. Right now, he and Rose are the only ones who can probably do that. That's important to have.
On offense: Someone who can shoot the ball really well Guys who move well without the ball and can play second banana Guys who can run with Derrick A big guy who can score well around the basket, particularly off his penetration Based off of that, I would say the lineup should be this: Derrick Rose Ben Gordon Luol Deng Tyrus Thomas Drew Gooden That lineup has less shooting than I'd like, but otherwise I think it fits the bill pretty well. When you phrase the question the way you did, I think it makes Noc more valuable. If nothing else, the guy can catch and shoot. Looking at the lineup this way, we really have two problems: We lack a really good AD-type of player, and we have too much depth. Is there anyway we could trade some of one for the other? If we resolved those two problems, I'm not sure the short-backcourt problem is really all that important.
