Reply With Quote
It’s a hot take bc it’s premature based on what I saw in one game. Derozan hustled the least and didn’t look good.
Hot take or take? Now that's podcast segment.
It’s a hot take bc it’s premature based on what I saw in one game. Derozan hustled the least and didn’t look good.
Disagree a little bit about Bertans' defense and Rudy just doesn't have the quickness to stay in front of truly elite wings anymore.
I'm honestly fine with your lineup, just disagree with your statement that they'd be okay defensively. I'd maybe go with Murray/White/Derozan/Gay or Bertans/Lamarcus.
Spurs will be absolutely obliterated by wing scorers this year, they literally don't have a single body to put on a competent scorer out there.
How they were able to go from arguably the best wing defense in the league to likely one of the bottom 3-5 is mind boggling. Trading away Kawhi/Danny and losing Fathead without getting anything back to cover up what they did on the perimeter is actually a pretty impressive up from Pop/RC this offseason even with the ty cards they were dealt tbh....
Ugh. A lineup with DeRozan and Mills in it would get torched.
I doubt they'll be that bad. I'd say maybe middle of the pack, (tho wouldn't be surprised if they sneak in the top 10 barely) mainly because they will still protect the paint/rim well and Murray will likely improve a bunch on that end. Team defense/communication will be big for these guys, it's going to have to be a group effort.
This is interesting. I wonder why Pop wont experiment with Bertans at the 3
Is there any combination of lineups that doesn't cause either the starters or bench to get royally screwed over on defense? Just seems no matter what, there has to be compromises defensively so one-trick ponies like Forbes (who's not even that good at what he does) may or may not get it going offensively for any individual game. Seems like that's going to be the narrative for this year.
If you try to form the best defensive team with this roster it will probably be:
Murray, Blossomgame, Cunningham, Aldridge and Poeltl.
Absolutely atrocious, and the worst thing is they probably wouldn't even be that good on D.
I agree that Spurs don't have anybody to stop an all-star wing. I don't think Cunningham or Pondexter are cut out for that job. Gay is too old to do that full time. DeRozan needs the energy for offense. Murray, Walker, White aren't big enough for the likes of LeBron, Durant or Leonard.
Bertans rates as a plus defender overall and was 15th in defensive fg% at the rim last season. As an aside, Gasol was 3rd, Poeltl was 8th, Aldridge was 10th . . . https://stats.nba.com/players/defens..._FG_PCT&dir=-1
White-DeRozan-Gay-Bertans-Aldridge, is probably the most balanced, well rounded lineup possible on this team. Saying that speaks to how poorly constructed this roster is and because of the lack of balance, they won't be able to get to it often.
New Starting Lineup now that the Spurs are playing like a lower tier lottery team:
Poeltl
Aldridge
Derozan
Forbes
White
This line up has the best combination of shooting and playmaking along with defense to surround Aldridge and Derozan. Like TIMVP mentioned earlier, Derozan, Aldridge, and White need to be regulars. Forbes is young and shooting well from the 3 but he should be limited to around 20 mpg as well because he is a defensive liability eventually. Derozan will fill in at the SG the other times with a combination of Gay/Bertans/Metu for the 3 the other times. I insert Poeltl (still limited minutes) because Aldridge likes to play the 4 although he has been playing the 5 capably he seems to gaurd most 4's ok but on offense he is such an isolation long midrange guy that when he misses (been a lot lately) there is abo ely no chance of offensive rebounds. Poelt'l should help in that regard.
Bench (sooner than later)
Gasol
Bertans/Gay
Metu
Walker
Mills
Gasol is a decent backup 5 and can help with communication, chemistry, and ball movement. Metu is young and athletic and needs to be in there purely for those reasons alone. Bertans is a solid backup 3/4 to couple with Metu and Gay. (Please no Cunningham) Since Derozan will play half his minutes at SG/SF that leave good minutes to split between Metu, Bertans, and Gay each getting around 15-25 mpg. Walker should probably just get his legs under him and get experience with Gasol and Mills in the 2nd lineup but if he is playing and defending well he can replace Forbes in the finishing line with White, Derozan, Walker, and Aldridge. Depending on who we need we can choose between these other 5 to play along with them finishing the game: Metu, Bertans, Gay, Poelt'l, Gasol.
If you're using our best player like a Band-aid your ideas are not even worth discussing.
We haven't seen this lineup once all season.
What are you talking about? Im just saying he will be starting SF and playing SG at times during the game. That is probably what he has been doing his whole career. Although he really acts like the pg on offense.
Im all for starting poodle/white or bertans. At this point let the tinkering begin
Sorry bro, but that lineup sucks.
-Only two players that can hit threes.
-Two defensive liabilities on the perimeter.
-And an awkard fit of two traditional bigmen. We have already tried that and failed miserably.
this team has already proved that the problem is not with the rotations tbh
When we tried that Forbes, White, and Poeltl were all playing worse. Each of them took a good step forward since the beginning of the year.
Well if you think Belli and Cunningham deserve tons of minutes, then I'll disagree with you. They had their moments but the point I'm making is we need to get the best combinations on the floor that will: maximize our wins and give young guys experience. I think these lineups do that. Will we miraculously be a 50 win team. Nope. My expectations are set we are likely a lottery team anyway this year.
You could argue we will actually lose more playing Cunningham, Belli, and Mills so much this making our tank even better but tanking should include giving our young guys on the roster experience. It so happens our young guys could probably outplay our older guys even if they dont grasp the system as well.
It's actually the opposite, I agree with you about it, these players do not even deserve to be on the team (and another 4 or 5), so I say no matter how much you try to change the lineups, the scrubs will still have minutes on the court.
We'll see. Pop has never faced lottery times since the 90's so at some point it only makes sense to give the young guys burn. Unfortunately my expectations of this team are lottery. I have never seen such an incredible jump in depth around the league especially the West. Well you could probably blame these league rule changes. Gives young loweriq players more freedom to do what they do best, jack up 3's.
At this point I would play this rotation:
Start game: Forbes, DeRozan, Gay, Bertans, Aldridge
6 minutes in: White, Mills, DeRozan, Bertans, Gasol
9 minutes in: White, Mills, Belinelli (or Walker), Aldridge, Gasol
Start 2Q: White, Mills, Belinelli (or Walker), Aldridge, Gasol
3 minutes in: Mills, Forbes, DeRozan, Gay, Gasol
6 minutes in: White, DeRozan, Gay, Bertans, Aldridge
Repeat on the second half.
DeRozan - 36 minutes
Aldridge - 36 minutes
Bertans - 30 minutes
White - 30 minutes
Gay - 30 minutes
Gasol - 24 minutes
Mills - 24 minutes
Forbes - 18 minutes
Belinelli (or Walker) - 12 minutes
25 games in and we have yet to see this lineup.
no matter the adjustments, the lack of talent causes that at some point all the effort is lost (besides Pop's insistence on keeping the small and useless shooters in the court in every ing minute), it is useless
Start Poeltl or Bertans. Anyone but Dante Cunningham for s sake. He shouldn't even be in the rotation much less starting and playing 30+ a night.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions