So who's going to start on opening night and what will the final roster look like. I know we haven't seen a single game yet, but what the hell. I say they wind up buying out Ager and KVH. No trades. Starters: Harris, Carter, Simmons, Williams, Boone Depth Chart: PG: Harris, Dooling, (either Gill or Hodge) SG: Carter, CDR, Hayes SF: Simmons, Najera, Hassell PF: Williams, Yi, Anderson C: Boone, Lopez, Swift First 5 bench players in 10 man rotation: Dooling, Yi, Lopez, Najera, CDR If Frank wants Sean's energy off the bench I think Williams and Yi could trade places in the line-up. By the end of the season Lopez and Boone will flip positions on the depth chart.
Starting line-up PG Harris SG VC SF Simmons PF Yi C Brook Lopez But eventually PG Harris/Dooling/Hodge SG VC/CDR/Hamilton/Agger SF Swat/Simmons/Hayes PF YI/Anderson/Najera C Brook Lopez/Boone
Opening Night will be Devin Harris/Vince Carter/Bobby Simmons/Sean Williams/Josh Boone And eventually Devin Harris/Vince Carter/Bobby Simmons/Yi Jianlian/Brook Lopez for most match-ups, with Sean Williams coming in for Simmons when they decide to go big.
Ager will not be on the roster on opening day, Gill probably will. Opening night starters: Harris/Carter/Simmons/Yi/Boone Others getting playing time opening night (in rough descending order of minutes): Dooling, Williams, Lopez, Anderson, Najera, CDR
Swat will never play SF this season. That doesn't mean he won't guard the quicker of the two forwards on the other team when playing with Yi. But he'll still play PF. Opening night: Harris VC Simmons Yi Lopez
Starters PG: Devin Harris <hr> SG: Vince Carter <hr> SF: Yi Jianlian PF: Sean Williams <hr> C: Brook Lopez
Bench PG: Keyon Dooling <hr> SG: Chris Douglas-Roberts <hr> SF: Bobby Simmons <hr> PF: Ryan Anderson <hr> C: Josh Boone
Thanks. I think both Starting and Bench lineups provide a good mix of defense and offense on both the perimeter and post. Devin Harris and Sean Williams are the surefire defensive stalwarts in the starting lineup and hopefully Yi is long and quick enough to be adequate. Same goes for Brook... hopefully he is able to commit enough energy on defense to use his big, intimidating body and huge wingspan to clog the lane and block shots. On offense, the starting line up shouldn't have too many problems with Harris, Carter, and Brook. Yi and Sean should be the beneficiary of many pick and roll/pops as well. For the Bench defense, Keyon Dooling should come in and replace Devin's defense with no drop off (or even become an increase). CDR should be at least adequate on defense, if not good with his energy, wingspan, and toughness. Josh Boone will continue to become a positional defensive anchor and boxes out and gobbles up rebounds. Ryan Anderson is a great rebounder who will complement Boone on the offensive and defensive glass. Bobby Simmons is supposedly an above average rebounder for his position and is hopefully at least OK on defense. On offense, there is definitely a drop off, but here's hoping Dooling and CDR truly thrive in the new dribble-drive-motion offense. Ryan Anderson and Bobby Simmons should provide reliable outside shooters for kickouts and Boone should the recipient of many pick and roll passes. Of course, the staring lineup won't always play together exclusively and same goes with the bench. Frank is smart enough to mix it up depending on match ups and stagger minutes so that Devin and Vince will probably be on the floor 90% of the time. Either way, I think these lineups complement each other well.
see... im not the only one that thinks Yi can start SF... i was in the GM draft and i picked Yi to start as my SF... and people wanted to burn me because they said he wasnt fast enough blah blah blah!!! thank you kdub for making me feel normal again hahaha
I like your posts kdub, but I need to ask: where does that leave Najera, Hayes, and Ager (if he's on the roster still) , Swift, heck maybe even Hodge? What an exciting year..
Haha, no problem. I actually should have put SF/PF: Yi Jianlian and Sean Williams, because their position really depends on match ups. I like Yi as a SF on offense, and Sean as a SF on defense, but like I said, it'll depend on who the opposition is. Najera will probably play more early in the season, but I'm confident the young players will do well enough to warrant the most playing time. He'll hopefully play spot minutes and take Ryan's place if Ryan tires out, but Ryan is also a hustle player and his shooting and rebounding abilities are too good to not play him more than Najera. Najera's biggest contribution will be in practice and in the locker room. Hayes will be injury insurance for SF position. That statement in itself is an oxymoron from reading all about his nagging injuries during training camp, however. He's a nice guy, but I don't think he's better than Simmons. I think Ager will be bought out/cut/used for trade filler. Same goes with Swift. Hodge (hopefully he makes the cut) is the third point guard and overall injury insurance for positions 1-3. He's the guy they'll sign to emphatically cheer the team on from the bench.
Starters - Harris, Carter, Simmons, Yi, Lopez Bench Rotation - Dooling, Hayes, Najera, Boone, Williams Active - CDR, Hodge Inactive - Swift, Hassell Gone - Gill, KVH, Ager
Anderson inactive or in the D League. I don't see him playing on opening night unless there is an injury.
I'm a big Ryan/Cal guy so of course I'll be a little biased. However, I forgot to mention that my roster is for the second half of the season. By then, we'll be needing offensive firepower off the bench to keep us going, or we'll be so bad Frank might as well let the rookies play. Either way I think Ryan's in.
