Not only did Stotts not play Collins against Morris for the end of the 4th quarter and during OT, this was the final lineup at the end of the 4th when Beal hit his game typing shot. Turner Harkless Aminu Lillard McCollum 3 of the better Blazer defenders combined with 2 of the....shall we say, more defensively challenged are on the court. If you put your best offensive players in for an offensive possession, why not have your best defensive players in on a defensive possession? Dame and CJ (no matter how much we like them on offense) have little business being on the court for a defensive stand even if they are somewhat improved. Not if you are doing your best to win. Now if you are placating a star's ego, that is another thing....but then winning is no longer the absolute priority.
What's your best 5-man defensive alignment in that situation? Baldwin, Turner, Harkless, Collins and...I think you still have to go with Aminu.
Turner and Harkelss for sure as they're our two smartest defenders. Collins is climbing up there too because of his mobility and size. I just don't trust Chief. I wonder if Stauskas can be trusted to play good team defense. Man, this roster is so flawed-- so many holes everywhere and the guys who might be capable of being good defenders just don't get the reps to earn trust from the coaches (or refs, probably. Hence the Baldwin doubt).
Probably even though certainly in Baldwin's case, experience/reps would be an issue. That said, can you imagine a way to play that possession worse than Dame did? I suppose he could have fouled Beal in the follow through but that rarely gets called in that situation if it is after the shot. Collins ABSOLUTELY should have been in there so either Harkless or Turner could have been on the perimeter.
Recap for the Pacers game just went live. East coast back to backs are hard, due to the limited time it gives me to upload a recap.
