Wrote about it after the game, the issue is that our roster is horrible and there's just no way to put playoff level lineups out there most of the time.
Almost everyone on our roster is fundamentally flawed for modern basketball requirements.
Jeremy - He's easily our best non-big rebounder on both ends of the floor and he's easily our best non-Wemby defender, even thoug he's far from elite. He did a great job on Edwards last night, can't take that away from him.
Is he a negative on offense? Yes. But it's not like we didn't generate enough open shots and it's not like he's the reason we can't attack the rim. Noone except Castle and Keldon attacked it even when Jeremy was out, so that's a non-argument.
We just can't afford not to play him against physical teams with size. Even with him we lose out on the boards, without him it's just a disaster.
CP3 - 14 assists with no turnovers is ridiculous, he's the reason why this team looks functional. But he's playing way too many minutes and is often gassed at the end of games. That's on Mitch. He's got no legs left and is a non-threat in the paint, can't even iso on slowest bigs anymore. Nothing against him, he's amazing for his age, but those are the facts.
Castle - Rookie wall, I'm not worried long term, but Mitch has a really short leash on him and it's something that needs to be dealt with. Castle's development is more important than a few extra wins, we need him to become a high-end starter and not just a role player. He can't shoot, he lost his confidence and he has a horrible whistle, but he has to play through it. We know what we have with older players and we know they won't get us anywhere. Castle might. But still, he's more or less unplayable together with Jeremy.
Tre - Why is he even in the rotation anymore? Great guy, developed into a solid backup, but if we have one point guard on the floor already, what's his purpose? He's just a negative as a secondary playmaker due to his size and lack of reliable shot.
Keldon - Tank commander. Nothing less, nothing more. Even when he scores a couple of important baskets by attacking the paint, you know he'll give them right back by awful defense or dumb decisions. He just has to go.
That's 5/8 perimeter rotation players who are fundamentally flawed and had to be put in specific roles in order to be useful.
Devin, Barnes and Champagnie are fundamentally solid, but have their issues.
First two tend to completely disappear from games and Devin is an injury risk. Also bad defensively when not engaged. But I can understand trying to play him back into form, he's got the highest scorer ceiling on the team.
What I don't understand and just can't accept is why is Champagnie getting shafted? He literally won us the game just the other night and he's still behind Keldon in the rotation? Why?
Champagnie is our only textbook shooter with great off-ball movement, he also has solid cuts and isn't a negative defensively, unlike Keldon. He simply must play because opponents are starting to respect his shot.
But no, he's earning $3M and Mitch doesn't have the balls to DNP Keldon. Just to be clear, Pop also wouldn't do it.
Comment of the season on this forum was when someone said they completely forgot about Keldon's existance during a win while he was injured. That's how impotant he is to the team. We simply must get rid of him and all of his horrible tendencies.
With all their flaws, it's one occasion where it's actually addition by subtraction and we have the personnel to replace him without adding anyone.
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