Or Aminu comes out at the 6 min mark, Zach subs in, plays with Nurk for 3 minutes, then Aminu subs in for Nurk, moving Collins to C, then Harkless plays 5 minutes or so of PF at the end of Collins shift at C so that Aminu is rested to finish the last 6 minutes of the half with Nurkic.
Sounds like Zach playing the "4 or 5" instead of "5 or 4". Regardless, I like it. As Zach gets the lion's share of backup 4 and 5 minutes, I'm good. However, I do think it's possible Biggie gets a few minutes each game, too.
I'd like to see Zach on the high post with Nurk working corner to corner base line and three guards working the Princeton wheel. Where there are a lot of plays to get the ball to Nurk, many to guards in motion to the rim, and Zach keeping the defense honest or he takes it to the rim or out to the open gunner. Need a coach for this though.
There will be injuries, at least temporary ones. A 3 guard rotation, book it. A 3 C/PF rotation? Expect problems.
A 3 guard rotation works because our starting backcourt deserves and can play 36 minutes a game, and are all interchangeable between the two guard spots. None of that can be said for our frontcourt.
What I'd go with: Lillard (36) / Curry (12) McCollum (35) / Curry (13) Harkless (28) / Trent (16) / Curry (4) Aminu (33) / Collins (10) / Harkless (5) Nurkic (32) / Collins (18) I think they'll have Turner playing instead of Trent though.
Yeah, when you think about it our whole defense is predicated on guarding the 3 and at the rim, and giving up contested 2s. A 6'1 guy can throw a hand in somebody's face at the three point line just as easily as a longer guy in most instances, especially when it comes down to fighting through screens. Size and length are most useful for swingmen contesting midrange jumpers and drives to the rim. If you have Nurk and Collins inside, it shuts down the rim. So the 3 guard/2 center rotation accomplishes most of what we need it to on the defensive end. On offense, it's mostly 3 guards bombing away with our bigs fighting for boards and dump-offs. With the size advantage we'd have over most teams, and Lillard/CJ doing much of the bombing, I like our odds. The odd man out I see this coming year is Turner. There's not enough space to play him with 2 centers, which is awkward because Collins is coming off the bench. So you try to get him in when Collins and Aminu are together, but that's not enough time for a guy who handles the ball a lot to get into the flow of the offense. Normally you don't give a shit about what you do with an average defender who had a 9.9 PER season on 2000+ minutes, but when you still owe him $36m over two seasons you kind of have to.
I'm fairly confident his defense is good enough for him to have a long, useful NBA career. To be a real impact player, he needs to make huge strides on offense. Does anybody else sorta wish we had traded for John Collins instead?
Absolutely! Check out this side by side: https://www.basketball-reference.co...lins&y2=2018&player_id2=colliza01&idx=players I don't think there's a single stat Zach outperformed John last season and I know, I know Atlanta wasn't good, but neither was Zach really.
Exhale. Ok, let me get this out there. Regardless of you and I being on the opposite side of the Olshey thing, I really like you a lot as a poster. In that spirit, let me say, respectfully, you've completely gone off the rails here. I like John Collins as a player, A LOT. But, a side-by-side stat comparison makes no sense because... 1) Hawks Suck: JC played EXACTLY ZERO meaningful games. The Hawks were the worst team in by far the weakest conference. 2) Blazers Rock: ZC OTOH played meaning minutes on the team that finished 3rd seed (albeit by a thin margin) in by far the toughest conference. 3) Different Roles: I'm not sure if JC had to defer to any teammates, but ZC sure had to. ZCs role was to play defense and fit in on offense, not take shots. 4) Different Stages of Development: It's been well understood that JCs body was much more NBA ready than Zachs. Zach's body will catch up in time. 5) Summer League: The Hawks with John Collins went ZERO wins, FIVE losses. He scored a lot, showed he belonged, but he couldn't get them a single win. In fact, their first win game in the first game JC didn't play in. Contrast this with ZC. The Blazers went undefeated. Their only close game came in the one game ZC didn't play in. Of course, this was all with ZC wearing a mask, hindering his abilities. Random Notes: The Hawks are in serious trouble. They got destroyed in SL who had Trey Young and John Collins, who are likely to be starters for their real team. JC and ZC are both still very young, and their career arcs project to be very different. ZC will be a vital cog on a playoff team. JC looks to become a good scorer on a terrible team.
DRtg!!!!! Zach = 107, John = 108!!!! Take that stat man! Seriously, that stat is influenced highly by teammates and system. So, not really all that meaningful, but I didn't really expect Zach's stats to compare favorably to John's in any way. Different players, different strengths, different roles, different places in their development. It's not just a physical thing. John also had 2x the college experience Zach did (2 seasons and 1324 minutes vs. 1 season and 673 minutes). John was considered much more NBA ready, with a lower ceiling. Zach was considered a project with a higher ceiling. It's not surprising, at all, that John had a far superior rookie year, stat wise. It was what was expected. BNM
Thanks, man. (Before I continue, I'll say I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I like Zach just fine. That being said...) 1. JC had better defensive stats on a shit team. Give the guy some credit... 2. Can't deny this at all. On top of this I'd argue that Zach's leash wasn't all that long. So he really didn't have the freedom to show what he was capable of. 3. See above. I agree. Although JC did both much much better in his role. 4. Whatever. They're the same age and so we are hoping Zach's body will catch up in time. No matter what ZC will never the athlete JC is but he can get stronger, obviously. 5. I don't like your Summer league points. JC played like 2 games and averaged 300 points and 75 rebounds a game. Zach showed his defensive acumen in Vegas, I agree. All the other stuff he contributed to, but wow other guys stepped up. Switch ZC and JC on those teams and I'm not so sure the team result differ. You could argue that we need another go to guy and JC could've been that guy; Zach most likely will not be. But hey, let's just appreciate ZC for what he does well. At least, no matter what, he'll fit in and play stellar D and hit the occasional 3. A great role player.
It's really hard to get a handle on JC's performance. The raw stats look good, for a rookie, but the advanced stats show otherwise. He put up some truly horrible +/- numbers, but then ATL was a truly horrible team. So, it's hard to pin that on him (although ALT's total +/- was worse with him on the floor than off, and his +/- was considerably worse as a starter). At this point, it's hard to tell is he is as good as his individual stats, or if he's just the next Shareef Abdur-Rahim. I guess time will tell, and it's not like getting the next Shareef Abdur-Rahim with the 19th pick in the draft is a bad thing. BNM
