Thybulle is averaging 16.8 minutes, which is 1/3 of available minutes with a high of 20 and a low of 11 minutes. These numbers, while a small sample size, are bearing out that even if he is the best defender on the team, they have little use for him. Now, he has started every game. Maybe the strategy is to make sure a player doesn't get hot early on and then bring Camara in to do the heavy lifting. Does he enter the game at the end to lockdown on defense? I think Portland only matched him so they didn't lose an asset with no return. He is probably a good player on a playoff team. He is a player not needed on a rebuilding team.
Maybe but as I watched the Pistons put up 59 in the first half as Cade and Harris scored at will on the perimeter I thought to myself..... Ant could defend about the same but actually score a couple of points. It seemed like they hit their first 8 threes without missing.[/QUOTE] Cunningham and Hayes were 11-33 on FG's for the game. Cunningham had 4 assists & 6 turnovers; he's just been on an aberration of a hot streak from the arc so far. He's shooting 44% when his career mark is under 32%. But 11-27 and an assist/turnover mark under 0.7 suggests some good defense was being played on him. And, since he's 6'6 having the 6'5 trio of Sharpe/Brogdon/Thybulle to defend him was beneficial. Ant gives away too much size the guy who hurt the Blazers last night was Sasser. But he kind of seems like an ultra-quick chaos agent and he beat Scoot off the dribble, badly, a couple of times Ant was the worst defender on the team last season, and he's been coached by Billups for 2 years. The notion that some how, some way, he's magically found some defensive mojo during the summer is pretty far-fetched
All of those guys plus Camara still could have guarded Cade if Ant had played. But I was talking just about the first half when the two of them torched us from the perimeter. At one point Cade was 5-5 from deep and then Harris came in and hit his first three 3's. Hard to stop hot shooting no matter how good of a defender you are. But if you can score....... at least you can stay close when it happens. I like Thybulle off the bench....not as a starter.
We don't have a lot of history on Camara. But Precious is 6'8, but thick, very athletic, he's a very good defender and rebounder. He plays center a lot as well.
Our defense rating is because of our actual effort, which is good Our offense rating is because of a ton of mistakes (missed cutters, lost dribbles, etc.) which is fixable We will be good in a year.
Because we'd be replacing him at the 4 with a really good rebounder. Ayton, Precious and Williams are 3 very good rebounders and defenders. Grant is sort of undersized as a PF, but is a large SF. He's a crappy rebounder as a PF but mediocre as a SF.
Thybulle is this really good defender, but how many "additional misses" is he actually generating per game? Especially with his limited playing time. Contrast that with how many points are sacrificed by our own team for having such a limited offensive player on the floor.
I don't think the position is a factor any longer, because both forward spots are guarding the perimeter, and there are so many long rebounds. Look at Hart, he is a great rebounder at 6'5" because he tracks the ball so well. Shae is good at it as well. I think Scoot and Camara will be too. Grant is a poor rebounder for sure, but whether or not he plays the 3 or the 4....not sure it matters. We just need to make sure the other forward is physical and is quick to the ball. Camara seems like he will fit that bill, especially if he is consistent from the 3-point line.
Toronto shooting half of their normal percent from three and not because we were forcing bad shots is the biggest reason why we're flying so high right now. I think we should have won against Detroit. Wins against Detroit, Washington and Houston are about a 50/50 proposition, wins against any other team in the league will either be because our guys are on fire or the other team royally fucks up (see Raptors, Toronto).
I think it's possible that later in the year we'll be a tick more competitive as guys get familiar with each other and the Scoot's and other developmental type players cut back on the turnovers and bad shots. Not to mention Ant's gravity helping create space. But yes, a lot of Portland sucking this year will be related to being in the western conference which is a no-nights-off type of proposition.
Right around the time Scoot is getting it and the team is starting to gel we will trade Jerami, Malcolm and Tisse. I don't think anyone will even have to sit games out at the end of the season because we'll have one of the three worst records in the league locked up. We'll see though, weirder things have happened than this squad ending up with around 35 wins.
I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just saying that the games will probably be closer. The hope is you are a lottery team and not getting completely housed every night—even after the deadline.
The key question isn't so much size as it is what the player brings to the court. Teams need rebounding, players that can finish inside at a very high rate, and interior defense is helpful. About 40% of points are still scored in the paint....even more when you consider most FTs are the result of fouls in the paint.
