Depends on the match ups and what the coach wants to accomplish. Seems like the coaching decision was to make it as tough as possible for Kobe and make the rest of the Lakers beat us. The best guy to guard Kobe is Deng or Thabo because of their length and height.
in general yes, but it's a bit different when you're talking about the other teams SG being the reigning MVP and one of the 3 best players in the league
Rose is a rookie. My observation is they're watching to see what he can do at the position at both ends. And giving him the chance to grow into the best at the position he can be. Something that was never afforded Gordon, which has been one of my biggest beefs with the team all along. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Gordon jock rider. I just look at the team and see him as one of the best two players on the team and if he was given the 100% chance and reached his full potential as a PG, he could be one of the better ones.
I think Gordon at PG = Steve Francis or Stephon Marbury... good looking stats, horrible team results.
That's fine, I just feel like he's been given just as many chances as everybody else. All I seem to hear about is how he should be starting, how he should be PG. He has below average handles for an nba point guard, and is a defensive liability at either guard. These are things he can improve on in the summer, but it's his 5th year now, and the problems are still there. He may be the second best player on the bulls, but I wouldn't say that makes him a starter on a championship team or even a starter against the better teams in the league, which is what the bulls should be aiming for.
Make sure to start Gordon tonight. Portland has the worst defense in the NBA and Gordon is due for a good shooting game.
Team results seem to have been pretty good with him anywhere on the floor. Putting him at PG would have allowed the team to pursue a bigger guard to complement him. Instead, they were schizo about playing Hinrich half-time at PG and overplayed Duhon (at PG).
Gordon doesn't have the handles to be a point guard. He is a good creator and good passer though, so you have to run a fair amount of plays with him handling the ball and creating from the top of the key. That's why Gordon is a pure combo guard. His defense has been great all year, and it was better than anything else playing defense in the backcourt last year.
I don't agree he has below average handles for an NBA point guard. If the Bulls had put him at PG for 36-40 MPG come hell or high water, he'd have learned the position as Hinrich did. Hinrich suffered from turnovers early on while they force fed him at the position - he had a 9 TO game, if I do remember. In college, both Hinrich and Gordon played a lot of SG, but their hands type numbers were similar. The thing is, ideally you'd want the ball in Gordon's or Deng's hands at the end of plays (scoring opportunities). May as well get the ball in their hands at the start of the shot clock. When Skiles was coach, the team was quite effective at setting screens for Hinrich on that pick and roll play. If those same plays were set up for Gordon, he'd obviously be the more deadly scoring threat using those screens to get space. Instead, they got him the ball on the left wing, he would drive across the FT line to the right (I guess that's the designed play) into a triple team: Gordon's defender, the pick/roll big man's defender, and Hinrich's defender. It's surprising he didn't have double the turnovers and score less...
Sorry, but these are excuses. BG had every bit as much opportunity to be the point. His one true skill is shooting, so naturally the team tried to emphasize and take advantage of that. It's up to BG to improve his ball handling and defense if he wanted to be the point. And he hasn't. I don't think they should trade him necessarily, but I don't think they should start him or pay him the 13-15 mil he is looking for either. And if it's development minutes that cost him, isn't starting BG costing Thabo the minutes he needs to develop? This is supposed to be a development season after all.
Internal politics have been his demise, not his play on the court. Paxson drafted Hinrich, Hinrich was going to be the PG no matter what. Cartwright basically lost his job because he saw Hinrich as a sub. Paxson hired Skiles and traded away Rose leaving Hinrich and Crawford and hot garbage at the G spots to force a situation Hinrich had to play. When Boylan was made interim coach, Paxson publicly said he'd be telling Boylan who to play. He traded away Crawford to assure there was not a really good player to compete for the PG spot. Gordon was pegged as 6th man instant offense because he had those skills right away (6th man of the year, in fact, as a rookie), but was never ever given the chance to be the complete player at PG he should be. Not a Marbury or Francis type player tho, Baron Davis is the closest player to what I see as Gordon's potential. Maybe even Arenas lite. With the drafting of Rose, that Hinrich has to be the PG era is over, obviously. I don't dislike Hinrich in the least and always felt he could be a pretty decent SG if he were groomed for the spot. The 82games.com stats for Gordon's defense show he has been a better defender than you claim. He played a lot of minutes for our teams that were among the top defensive teams, too.
BG still can't pass or dribble effectively out of a double-team. I still don't see how that is anyone else's fault but his. And as far as his defense goes, his stats look better when there is a shotblocking big like Chandler or interested Ben Wallace playing behind him forcing his man to pull up. Otherwise, he gets beaten off of the dribble. BG's defensive numbers also benefit from playing so much against second teams. This season is no different. His numbers have come way down since he has been starting. And the Hinrich thing is lame. Hinrich was jerked around just as much by having to play half the game as pg and half as shooting guard, and guarding the sg the whole time. You don't think Hinrich would have looked better playing strictly as the pg, and only guarding pgs?
Hinrich was jerked around? The organization has kowtowed and built around this average player since they drafted him. Team captain. Announced last. Other players jettisoned to make way for the Captain. A 6'2" SG like Gordon poses matchup problems, but he's so damned productive, especially this year. Noah and TT on the other hand are of the proper size more or less for their positions, but they are playing like crap. Ah.... the great fruits of the Eddy Curry trade. We really rocked the Knicks on that one. I have not seen the PG skills from Gordon and I think some of that is natural, not coached, but they certainly never let him play the point much. I think he's great for 30 minutes a game in his current role. Just a really, really good scorer. That's why he was the #3 pick in the draft after all. I say play and keep the good players. Gordon is one of the good players. The reason we've been winning games this year is because of Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose. To be ragging on Ben Gordon for his play over the first 1/10 of the season is ludicrous, IMO. The eye should be turned to the disappointing Deng (Paxson made sure to lock this guy up), Hinrich (average play, hurt, Paxson took care of him right away), Larry Hughes (highest paid player on the team), Noah and TT (Paxson lotto picks).
Couple of things, but I mostly agree with the last part. BG had extensive time at the pg last year. BG is productive, but needs to be to not be a drag. I've been ripping Deng, too, there just seem to be more BG apologists out there. And Hinrich took what was a below market deal at the time, too. It's just that he accepted. His offer probably would have gone down, too, if he had waited until after last season. If Pax had given BG a $12 mil deal last year, would anybody feel like he was earning it right now? I wouldn't. Deng isn't exactly living up to his deal, either.
I don't see what there is to apologize for. 45% FG shooting, 38% from 3pt, 2.7 RPG, and 3.8 APG (for a guy who can't pass out of double teams, he's in the top 3rd of all SG's at APG) and 21.5 PPG leading the team in scoring in just 33 MPG.
