I'll concede this year's team will be more athletic and I think some of the guys will be better individual defenders (Davis, Aminu) but they are going to be seriously offensively challenged. I'm not sure how Stotts is going to generate offense with this crew.
Harkless is a very good defender also. Will be fun to see what Stotts can come up with, I feel like we have way more option's on the offensive side than last year. Can come up with all kinds of line ups with these guys. Olshey might even add more pieces but I'm cool with what he has done to this point.
Pick and roll is also predicated on the threat that the roll man might pick and pop. Otherwise defenses will sag back and clog the lane. Damian is going to get a healthy dose of double teams, forcing him to get rid of the ball early which is going to put the onus of handling the ball and scoring on guys like Aminu, et al. Offense is going to be a problem, because teams that can't shoot in the modern NBA almost always have trouble generating offense.
Dame and CJ should take this friendship to the next level and work together on defense. They are both excellent players to get their shot off on their own. Both are quick and strong, which can go above the rim. If they can contain each other, then they can contain those around the league.
I think Aminu is pretty much guaranteed to start along side dame....the other three spots are open. I'm not so worried about CJ's lack of defense, defense can be learned but his knack for the offensive can't....
Are you seriously advocating that Damian and McCollum be a starting backcourt? You can't play those two together full time; sure spurts of small ball are possible, but not all the time and especially because it would be a disaster defensively.
NOt saying he was or wasn't advocating them playing together, but if they never shared one minute on the court together, its still one hell of an idea!
Do you really think this team is going to make the playoffs, let alone beat SAS and GSW to then beat CLE for the championship if only we don't start CJ?
It may be beneficial for CJ to acclimate himself as a back-up pg while sliding into the 6th man scoring role. It'll depend on Coach Stotts game plan. In that case, they would probably start Henderson at the 2.
Good points... trading for Henderson gives Stotts an excuse to start "the vet" over the more offensively potent CJ.
That is my biggest concern, hoping for open competition and that determines the starters. I just want the 5 best team players to be the starters. Whoever plays the best together and go from there. Stotts has work to do if anyone is on the hot seat, its him.
A new team is a good excuse to give him one more chance without Tex in the lineup dominating his offenseive strategy... but if we don't overachieve, I'd say he's probably gone.
Well you don't put all your eggs in one basket....Stotts has to put together the starting lineup and second strings by balancing out the offensive and defensive....it is not always the best strategy to start all the best players...there has to be something left for the bench
He is hardly the first one to advocate that, first of all. Second of all, McCollum is a capable defender - that said - It would be not very good for our defense to play them together; however, we will be better defensively at SF, PF and possibly center to cover up for a poor defensive back court. You could even play Dame/CJ/Harkless/Aminu/Davis as a small ball lineup and arguably be pretty solid defensively, substitute Vonleh in as well.
Plumlee is the only who couldn't pick and pop, correct? Everyone else is capable of the midrange jumper, as far as I know. Davis - Vonleh - Meyers - Kaman - Aminu. I'd actually start Dame/Henderson/Aminu/Davis/Meyers if I wanted to win games. Double Dame on the pick and roll? Great, Henderson becomes the outlet, whose speciality is attacking the basket, you can use Davis or Meyers as the pick n roll guy to bring the big guy out of the paint, opening up a clear lane to the hoop for Henderson. Could even use Davis in the PnR, pull meyers out of the middle as Aminu excels at rebounding for his size. Thus; we would have a Dame // Davis PnR (pulling Davis guy out of the middle) Henderson high wing for the outlet if they trap -- if he gets it, attacks the basket -- also has a solid corner 3 shot. Aminu ready to crash the boards - from the corner 3 spot. Meyers on the perimeter because his 3pt MUST be respected. If they don't trap Dame on the PnR, then it becomes a simple 2 man game with Davis rolling to the basket with a wide open middle because Meyers is floating on the outside. Our offense should be fine.
