We know about the starters and the franchise players and what they do for their team. But the bench play's a big role in a team success. So I figured I started this thread to give the bench some love. Well we have 29 different benches in the NBA. So I was thinking who has the best bench? Well I would say the Indiana Pacers have the best bench. I think they provide the Pacers with alot of depth. Who do you think have the best bench? Give your reason why. I don’t want this to be another post-padding thread. <u>Pacers Bench</u> Kenny Anderson- A veteran and a pretty good floor leader. He ran the show in the Celtic's Playoff run back in the 2001-2002 season. Still capable of being a starter on a team. Jonathan Bender- Improved his game from last season and provides the Pacers with some toughness. Austin Croshere- For his size he has a pretty good jumper. He’s no threat in the paint. But his jumper opens up the perimeter for others. He can also hit the 3 Ball. <font color="red">Al Harrington</font>- Along side Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest he's going to be the future of the Pacers. He's proven he can be a legit basketball player. He came up short for the sixth man award. But he’ll be back next year. Anthony Johnson- Has a decent jumper. He looks for the open guy, and take very good care of the ball. Fred Jones- Gives the Indiana Pacers a lot of energy. He’s the energizer bunny for this team. Scott Polard- Hampered with injuries all season. He’s hasn’t got much time in the playoff’s. But he’s a good a center off the bench. <font color="Red">Red</font>= Sixth Man
The Pacers bench is weak compared to the giants in the western conference. Spurs, Kings, Dallas and even Wolves when they have Hudson heathly all hae much better depth. Pacers don't even have the best bench in the east. That honur goes to Detroit. Al Harrington is the only guy on that Indy bench that I would be worried about heading into a match-up or a series. Guy can score, rebound and can get out on the break and finish very well. Fred Jones has good jumping abilty but he can be stopped. The rest? not really worth being mentioned. Not consistant enough for my liking.
ok allnet, if u think the pacers dont have anything besides al and freddie off the bench then u obviously didn't watch the pacers 1st round sweep. the bench was what won the series for them. Go back and watch those tapes, then come and argue your point. im not saying the pacers have the best but much better than detroit. as for the western teams, there's the compitition. i would put dallas and indy at the top.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jermainiac:</div><div class="quote_post">ok allnet, if u think the pacers dont have anything besides al and freddie off the bench then u obviously didn't watch the pacers 1st round sweep. the bench was what won the series for them. Go back and watch those tapes, then come and argue your point. im not saying the pacers have the best but much better than detroit. as for the western teams, there's the compitition. i would put dallas and indy at the top.</div> Tell me Jermainiac were the Pacers playing a team like New Jersey or Detroit or were they versing a team like Boston?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jermainiac:</div><div class="quote_post">ok allnet, if u think the pacers dont have anything besides al and freddie off the bench then u obviously didn't watch the pacers 1st round sweep. the bench was what won the series for them. Go back and watch those tapes, then come and argue your point. im not saying the pacers have the best but much better than detroit. as for the western teams, there's the compitition. i would put dallas and indy at the top.</div> You were also facing one of the worse 8th seed's in NBA history. Anyone could look better than they actually are against that team. To say Pacers have a much better bench than Detroit is very idiotic Feel free If you want to compare for every top team Anthony Johnson is good at times but he is not a guy I would want with the ball at any moment.Mike James can run the point very well and play the two...very good shooter that brings good defense anytime he enters the game Williamson and crosphere- Williamson scores consistantly...does Austin? not from my memory. Williamson is a decent defender and is a very good post player, teams have to be ready when he comes into the game..but crosphere? hardly Hunter is a much better defender than anderson and he can still run the point and hit the three, something Kenny can't do. Pollard is completely crap at least campbell can hit jump shots and rebound the ball. Pollard does neither Harrington is the only stud on that bench, bender isn't bad and jones can jump but really nothing speical yet And I havn't even mentioned Okur who can put up a double double every night when given minutes. Dallas, Kings, Spurs, Wolves all have much better benches than Indy.
Anthony Johnson was a nice addition to the Pacers bench imo. He is a solid ball-handler, he is a good defender at pressuring the ball. And his jump shot is much improved from his last few seasons with the Nets. You cant sleep on the importantance of him as their backup PG. Kenny Anderson is my man but after he got injured & lost his starting job. He basically just became a insurance pg. Scot Pollard was a disappointment in that Brad Miller trade. And Austin Croshere has been a disappointment since the 2000 finals. And Jonathan Bender lives on the injured list. So Al Harrington, AJ, & Fred Jones have been the key parts to Ind's bench this season.
ok, we'll see who's bench prevails when indy faces detroit. Freddie Jones is an extrememly underrated player and what he does off the ball is what makes him great. you cannot always look at stats. Another thing, at the time the pacers are healthy, so all i am saying is that the pacers healthy bench could take any other team's healthy bench in the league. to say that mike james is any better than the pacers PGs is bull. Detroit has been looking for a decent backup! dont compare williamson and croshere. compare williamson and al. that is a great matchup, but al prevails. he held michael jordan to 8 points a couple seasons ago and also is a much better scorer and rebounder than corliss. bender, when healthy, can smoke opponants offense, however does, even tho a great shotblocker, need work on defense. campbell does beat the crap out of pollard, but that is the only posision in which i see the pistons prevailing.
One series wouldn't decide who the better bench is, that should be decided over a whole season. Defense also must be taken into account which is why Detroit bench is above the Pacers bench. James and Hunter are very good defenders and much better in that area than Anderson and Johnson. They also are better shooters than the Indy duo The only spot where Indy have a huge advantage is Harrington v Ham thats about it. Campbell/Pollard is the only match-up that Pistons prevail in? Don't see it that way at all. But this shouldn't be about Pacers/Pistons as neither have the best overall bench. Dallas with Delk, Howard, Jamison Nejera, Best, Bradley e.t.c to me have the deepest team followed by the Spurs.
dallas does have a great bench. but about the defense-al harrington and freddie jones are great defensive players.
you guys are neglecting the most underappreciated bench in the L... the Raps... come on... You got guys like Milt Palacio (can't BELIEVE he didn't get an allstar nod this year)... Archibald... who could be a starter on any team that didn't run a KO-tight ship... and Moiso... nobody rides the pine like Jerome Mo... alright, so I'm a little bitter... in all seriousness... I honestly think Detroit's got the most threatening, and efficient, bench. First of all... when you've got SIZE coming off the bench.. that's always a bonus. You got Memo and Darko (eventually...in theory... he'll hold it down... and even still... a 7 footer helping out with foul trouble is just that... helping out in foul trouble, while occupying floor space)... Then there's Elden. You've also got wide-one-williamson... I'm not a fan... but he's got game and bulk. You got Hunter, a man who won't lose his man... Mike James, if you wanna throw some speed and a spark... dude's only gonna get better, too... ...I could keep going, but I'd seem redundant. These guys all can play D (oh so valuable from bench-riders), and don't try to do too much... that's all I ask for. When healthy... in the West... you gotta give bench honours to the Kings... and Mavs... (and Spurs...) I think the Wolves and Lakers are short... but whatever... stellar starters. -edit- and for the record... My vote went to Harrington as 6th man
You know what team would have a great bench if healthy, The Warriors, check it: Depending on who the starters are, so lets say the starting lineup is: C - Dampier PF - Cliff SF -Dunleavy SG - J-Rich PG - Nick Van Exel <u>Bench:</u> <font color="Red">Speedy Claxton</font> Mickael Pietrus Troy Murphy Brian Cardinal Adonal Foyle Calbert Cheaney Avery Johnson A Healthy Wolves Team also has a Killer bench: <font color="Red">Troy Hudson</font> Wally Szczerbiak Michael Olowokandi Fred Hoiberg Mark Madsen <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">dallas does have a great bench. but about the defense-al harrington and freddie jones are great defensive players.</div> Al-Harrington is not a great defensive player, Fred Jones is alright but also definately not great. Indiana Also has a pretty good bench: <font color="Red">Harrington</font> Jonathan Bender Fred Jones Scott Pollard Austin Croshere Kenny Anderson Anthony Johnson <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Al Harrington is the only guy on that Indy bench that I would be worried about heading into a match-up or a series. Guy can score, rebound and can get out on the break and finish very well. Fred Jones has good jumping abilty but he can be stopped. The rest? not really worth being mentioned. Not consistant enough for my liking.</div> I'd also be worried about Jonathan Bender with him being a 7'0 shooting guard and actually being able to more and guard on the perimeter, he also causes crazy mis-match problems.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">You know what team would have a great bench if healthy, The Warriors, check it: Depending on who the starters are, so lets say the starting lineup is: C - Dampier PF - Cliff SF -Dunleavy SG - J-Rich PG - Nick Van Exel <u>Bench:</u> <font color="Red">Speedy Claxton</font> Mickael Pietrus Troy Murphy Brian Cardinal Adonal Foyle Calbert Cheaney Avery Johnson A Healthy Wolves Team also has a Killer bench: <font color="Red">Troy Hudson</font> Wally Szczerbiak Michael Olowokandi Fred Hoiberg Mark Madsen Al-Harrington is not a great defensive player, Fred Jones is alright but also definately not great. Indiana Also has a pretty good bench: <font color="Red">Harrington</font> Jonathan Bender Fred Jones Scott Pollard Austin Croshere Kenny Anderson Anthony Johnson I'd also be worried about Jonathan Bender with him being a 7'0 shooting guard and actually being able to more and guard on the perimeter, he also causes crazy mis-match problems.</div> for the 2002-2003 season, the blazers have the best bench PG Damon Stoudimare/ Jeff McInnis SG Antonio Daniels/ Qynetly Woods SF Ruben Patterson PF Zach Randolph C Dale Davis all of those players except for Ruben and Q.Woods are starters for their team this year 2003-2004
Except for Rubeun, Qyntel Woods, Antonio Daniels and Dale Davis. Antonio Daniels only started for a while in Seattle due to injuries, Theo Ratliff is the starting center in Portland this year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I'd also be worried about Jonathan Bender with him being a 7'0 shooting guard and actually being able to more and guard on the perimeter, he also causes crazy mis-match problems. </div> The guy has good potenial, good size and great jumping abilty but again he is alot like the Darius Miles that played for Cleveland. Every year is suppose to be his break-out season, one of many of those high schoolers making the jump and the media expected the guy to produce to the level of his hype. That has never happened, Bender will be a soild NBA player that can give you 7-12 points per game but certainly not an impact player.
Bender's problem has been more injuries than him not producing, unlike Miles he also can shoot, and I really think that without injuries he would've been the Pacers 7th man all year and putting up some good numbers. If he can stay injury free he can still be a scary player, he definately isn't a Nikoloz Skitishvili, and not even Daruis, but Miles is improving.
Dallas is deep, way to deep for Indiana, Kings is deep espesially on guard position, and center, Spurs is deep, great defensive roster, Lakers is as Indiana, not to deep, but have some great guys. Indy won't get past Detroit this year, they are to great on defense. To bad, Indy deserves it as well this year.
i will admit to being a bit biased , but i really think alot of you would change your opinions on the indy bench if u saw them play more. remember, they dont get much national TV time. I'm rooting for the pacers but i do have to say that my odds are on detroit in the east this year...wallace squared has made that team great...indy's still got a chance tho!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jermainiac:</div><div class="quote_post">indy's still got a chance tho! </div> indy has a hell of a chance. But I think the Detroit bench, defense and the Rip Chancy 1-2 punch is what will be the story of the series.
