You know, minus having a legitimate back court parter and SF. So 40% of the lineup is different. And I doubt you see all 5 of them on the court at the same time. Even if they do, McCollum can't automatically have 2 defenders run at him with Mo Williams on the floor or Dorell Wright. Good 3pt shooting makes a huge difference.
Why? Wes, CJ, and Damian will take all the minutes at Off-Guard on offense. There is absolutely no reason to play Nico there. However, on defense, I suppose I could see a situation where Wes has to sit and Nico is needed to guard an opposing SG who our other guards can't handle. Maybe. I think Stotts is more concerned about offense though so he'll live with it for a few minutes a game, and he will manage the rotation so Wes can sit when the other team's starting SG sits. I was all for playing Nico at SG when we didn't have any other good options and we thought we might add a starting SF. Now we've only got two SFs and Nico is the best one. No need to play him out of position.
So, maybe we'll see Nic at SG when we play HOU (Harden), MIA (Wade), and...um...oh yeah, there aren't any other good SGs in the league! Nic will guard SFs and PGs during the vast majority of the time he's on the floor.
Well I think Nic could dominate at the SG position. He has shown that he can play it very well in the past and he's bigger and faster than most SG. If there is something Nate did right, It's put Nic at SG. I really think this lineup could be quite good. Lillard or Willaims. Probably Lillard, Batum, Claver, LA and Lopez.
Actually no he can't. I thought he could too until I saw the 82games stats. He allowed his man get high PERS playing the 2. Nic is best at SF. He has the ability to be a 2, but he isn't aggressive enough to take advantage of his man.
Steve Nash was able to guard Batum effectively. I actually think Batum would be fine at SG if we needed him there, if we had some stud SF or whatnot. But he doesn't have some sort of advantage at that spot. He can play the 2 or 3 and the team will be best with whoever the best playing teammate is.
Context: Nate McMillan was our coach in that Phoenix series. Andre Miller absolutely killed Steve Nash in game 1 of that series, and Batum also had a very efficient 18 points. Alvin Gentry made one simple adjustment, he swapped defenders on Miller and Batum and Nate never adjusted - until opening night of the next season, 6 months too late. He steadfastly refused to exploit the Batum/Nash mismatch. I've never seen an NBA head coach so incapable of making mid-game or mid-series adjustments. But hey, give him an entire off season and he finally realizes that the young athletic 6'8" forward has an advantage over the old 6'3" white guy. BNM
Batum couldn't "exploit" Nash. That was the problem. Batum's post game still isn't that good, either.
He isn't a post player. Not every small forward or guard can work with their back to the basket. It's an acquired skill.
He didn't have to against Nash. Face him up and take his dumb ass to the hole. He needs to work on using his height to shoot over a team that puts a smaller defender on him. Also, posting up can work. Players can develop that skill. Aldridge used to be a face up player for his first 4 years in the league.
Well, it's really a non-issue now. At the time it was a problem because they would put Nash on Batum and Grant Hill on Miller. If a team put someone like Grant Hill on Lillard, he would blow him the fuck up. Miller was slow but crafty, Lillard is fast and athletic. Go ahead and put your small forward on him. It won't matter.
