1. Pace of offense 9th in the league in scoring. UPGRADE 2. Ball movement/player movement Batum's scoring is up 2ppg, Matthews is up 5ppg. Lillard is getting 21 ppg. Seeing these guys score well is encouraging not just because it's producing wins, but points=player value in this league. Batum and Matthews just look like much more valuable trade assets when they score more. UPGRADE 3. Fewer postups for Aldridge The plan seems to be evolving. In the last game there were several legit post plays run for LMA, and he was clearly more effective there. Stotts realized they just didn't have anyone who could handle him there and they went to town. For this team to succeed it needs to look more like the Spurs than the Mavs.. JURY STILL OUT 4. No bench minutes Maybe Stotts is just dealing with the shitty hand that was dealt him. But I can't remember a McMillan team so completely giving up on using the bench so early in the season. I think Nate would have used guys like Jeffries, Pavlovic, Smith and even Leonard a lot more (probably in one of his really annoying B-Team rotations.) We've got 4 starters averaging over 38 mpg. It's working so far, but is this really a viable 82 game strategy? I'm hoping Stotts is just trying to buy time with his starters until the bench can become viable through practices. SHORT-TERM UPGRADE. LONG-TERM? Overall, hey, the record is 2-1. Not bad given the schedule and the talent on this team. I'm looking forward to bumping this when we've got some more data points to look at.
I worry about bench minutes, out of the things you posted. It looks great to play guys big minutes right off the bat, get some good wins, and put up good stats. But they'll tire, and you need to develop some of those players on the bench. Not too concerned with it, though, right now. We're 3 games in, and I am sure he will start to. Could very easily be a feeling out process on rotations. Barton played last game, not earlier, so just rotating through, perhaps, before deciding?
5. NBA offense rather than kinder basketball offense As for your 4, fewer post ups for Aldridge is bad. I think once the offense gets clicking towards the all-star break, you will see Aldridge down in the post from the motion. No bench minutes is winning us games, but also losing us draft position and development opportunities.
Outside of Leonard, there's not really anyone to develop, and he's leading the team in minutes off the bench. Claver and Freeland are both older guys.
Barton deserves a few minutes a night. Now that Nolan has basically failed his audition, play three or four off the bench: Barton as backup SG; Leonard as backup C; Price as backup PG; and Claver as backup SF. Always have one of Hickson/Aldridge in the game at PF.
The fact that this team actually ran real basketball plays at the end of the game against Houston to close out a victory was especially fun to watch. That back door cut that Lillard made in OT for a layup was particularly nice to see.
Biggest difference in my mind is that the players aren't looking over their shoulder if they make a bad play. Mid season this will do wonders to this offense. Players will gamble a little more defensively and won't hold their head down if they have an off game. I think this Scotts guy is going to do well in Portland. He seems to have a handle on the psyche of this team. For the most part, Houston had control of the game in the first half. After the half, Portland seemed to take control and the players played even better D; knowing their offense wasn't going well for them. Just fundemental basketball man!
Well, if this season proves out that Batum, Lillard and Wes are legit 35 mpg starters on a good playoff team, that is player development, and that draft position is well worth losing. There's a chance that nearly all the key players for a championship run are on our team right now. If Leonard explodes and Lillard establishes himself as one of the top 3 PG's....it's certainly in the realm of possibility (although not likely). If we have a miracle season where we finish out with 50+ wins, I think management goes into "veteran role player mode" in the summer. We use our cap space, MLE and vet minimums, and the hodgepodge of young bench players, to go out and get quality vets at 6-15. Player development doesn't have to mean giving minutes to Luke Babbitt and Nolan Smith. It can also mean giving guys like Batum and Wes much bigger roles to grow into, which is what's happening now.
So if Leonard explodes (like so many other centers have taken near the bottom of the lottery) If Lillard becomes a top 3 PG in the league (so one of the top 10 players in the league)
...those are two possibilities. Or maybe Aldridge takes another big leap under a new coach, or Batum does under a new coach/contract. I'm not saying the odds are fantastic, but better odds than us getting a decent lottery pick with a team that already has Aldridge and Lillard. Truth is our starters are just too good for us to tank hard enough to make tanking worth while, whether those starters play 33 mpg or 38 mpg.
I already said this is another thread, but I think bench minutes will increase as our rookies get a little bit more seasoned. I really like Barton and Leonard, and I think Freeland could still be a serviceable backup. I just think Stotts is trying to let the starters gel, and as the season goes on, he will give the rooks more burn.
Excellent post. I have never in my life thought about player development in this light. I've always thought about player development as giving minutes to guys that wouldn't normally play on a team that's trying to win. I've never thought about it as playing a mediocre starter HUGE minutes to see if they can become good starters. I'm not sure it's a good idea, but it's certainly interesting. With that in mind I would be ok seeing Batum, Lillard and Wes playing 40 minutes a game as all three of them are developing players. But I feel like we know what we have with LaMarcus and I'd really like to see us keep him under 35 a game. My worry is that playing guys that many minutes is going to wear them out and then they'll get hurt and then your back to square 1 or worse. That's why I'd like to see Leonard, Freeland, Claver and Barton playing 10+ minutes a game.
Thanks. Yeah, if Wes and Batum had different skill sets even at the same talent level, I'd be less excited about extending their minutes. But the two things they do best--perimeter shooting and defense--are the kinds of things that seem to get better with more minutes. If you put two better-than-average slashers on the court for extended minutes, or two better-than-average post players, you reach a point of diminishing returns pretty quickly. But three pointers and defensive stops never go out of style. And remember, these guys are only 24 and 26. Bruce Bowen didn't start logging 1500+ minutes until he was 29. Bowen is something of an anomaly, but you kind of have to wonder if he could've been a much more significant NBA player if he'd had a chance like Batum and Matthews do now.
