Point Guard Dilemma

[milesfides]

I don't think Sasha is one of the best defenders in the league, no. But he's just as good if not better than any of our other point guards, imo.

All Sasha has to be is a better option than Fish, because Farmar is too good with the bench, and I'm not sold he'll be anywhere as successful against starting point guards.

We should also be open to trades. We should do it sooner rather than later, and not be afraid to improve our team despite our good start. It's not how you start, it's how you finish, and it's not like our starting lineup has been demonstrating great chemistry so far, quite the opposite.

I'd hate to put so much responsibility on Fish, but it's a combination of him and Radmanovic. They're both too one-dimensional. And they have trigger fingers, which is understandable because that's the only thing they can do - shoot. But opponents obviously want those two to take our shots. If Radamn and Fish were the best shooters in the league, it'd be one thing, but they're frankly too inconsistent to justify starting roles.

In this league, you can get away with being a starter despite being just a 3-point shooter. But you'd better be elite, and/or you'd better be a great defender.

Radmanovic and Fish are just too one-dimensional to be starters (or have a major role) on a championship contending team.

On this current team, Ariza and Vujacic are the best replacements to take over.

Ariza will make any team pay by cheating off him - he moves that well without the ball. And when he's shooting like he is now, there's absolutely no reason why he shouldn't join the starters. Vujacic IS an elite shooter, and he WILL consistently shoot well, and he is increasingly taking it to the rack to mix it up.

If not them, then make a trade. I have serious doubts we can consistently beat top teams with two one-dimensional players with some serious drawbacks, especially in the playoffs, which quickly exposes and exploits weaknesses.

We keep talking about how stacked our team is, and how much depth we have. Well, let's use some of it to fix our starting lineup.

[Erik Eleven]

Whom for who, miles?

I do worry a bit about this quite a bit, too. At least until PJ plays his PG less defensive line-up soon again. It worked well to close out the NO game with Ariza on Paul.

Again, someone please name the players in the league (position 1-3) that Ariza can't guard. LBJ? Pierce? In my opinion, we have that stopper in Ariza, but are you rather talking about the starting line-up PG? I agree that our PG depth is very unbalanced compared to our SF depth. One injury *knock on wood* and we'd be in quite a bind at the one.

I'd happily give up Yue/Walton/Radman for G Wallace and Steve Blake, btw. Do it, Mitch!

[Erik Eleven]

This is why I've wanted Lindsey Hunter the last few off-seasons. Not so much more, because of his age. Is he finished or do you guys think he has another year? He has run the triangle under Phil before.

[dockingsched]

the bulls seem to think he has another season in him

[Slava]

We've had our opportunities to get Steve Blake but we squandered all of them. Now that he's playing his brand of efficient basketball in Portland, I don't think he'd be made available at a reasonable cost.
I've been lobbying for Kirk Hinrich and when it did look like he could be had for a good trade from Chicago, he's injured himself for 2 months (Feb. trade deadline may be). Other than those guys, almost all semi-efficient PGs have been locked up to starting positions everywhere else in the league.

[Erik Eleven]

I'm hoping for a disgruntled one to start complaining and demanding a trade before the deadline. Maybe we'll stumble upon something good.

You know, if we can lure Zo here, that changes who we need to keep in our frontline.

[microfib4thewin]

I don't think Blake would solve our issues. He's a shooter first and foremost and is just as unathletic as Fisher is. It would be harder for opposing guards to take advantage of his size, but he's generally not a guy who can put a stop against speedy PGs.

[Erik Eleven]

They picked him up?

[Slava]

If you're talking about Blake, he's starting in Portland I suppose.

[dockingsched]

if you're talking about l. hunter, the bulls signed him on thursday.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ba ... 5107.story

[Mindflayer]

Portland fans want to trade to shore up their PG position just as much as we do. I would trade Fisher for Blake every day of the week but we all know Fisher is untradable because of his daughter.

[Erik Eleven]

Thx, I meant Hunter.

[Sedale Threatt]

Never been much of a Blake fan. He's clearly nothing more than a career backup, so I never understood why so many Laker fans clamored for him. He's cut from the same inconsistent cloth as Fish -- decent one night, not so much the next.

If a trade is our only option, I'd estimate that Hinrich is probably the best answer. Decent shooter, decent defender, decent size. A change of scenery would probably do him some good. But he just had thumb surgery and is out until February or March, so that scratches him for the immediate future.

Otherwise we're probably just going to have to grit our teeth and go with what we've got.

[Slava]

Blake is not like Fisher. He's more traditional PG while Fisher is an undersized SG playing PG. Blake is a much better passer and makes minimum mistakes while being a decent to good defender depending upon match ups. playing alongside Kobe and in the triangle, defense and consistency with the ball is the most we need and he fits the bill perfectly.

But trading for him would almost make a huge dent in Farmar's confidence.

[Sedale Threatt]

I didn't say he played like Fisher. I said he was inconsistent like Fisher -- or consistently mediocre, depending on how you look at it. Big difference.

I agree that he's a better pure point than Fish -- but in the triangle, how necessary is that? Otherwise I fail to see how he's a significant upgrade, or an upgrade at all.

Like Fish, he's a decent defender depending on matchups. Like Fish, he'll have his nights where he hits and others where he doesn't. Like Fish, he's a starter who would otherwise be coming off the bench if his team had a better option.

To sum up, he's not the answer we're looking for. I can buy Hinrich. But Blake? Dude is straight-up average. I'd rather either stand pat or toss Jordan into the fray.

[Slava]

Well his shot selection is much better than Fisher's and his ability to get the ball to the scorers on a superstar oriented team makes him a better player imo. The half season he played in Denver, he averaged 6.6 APG alongside AI and Melo, something Fisher is not capable of and he's a much more active defender and what I like the most about him is that he maintains his Ast/TO ratio pretty high wherever he's played.

But yeah I do get the point that he's not a "significant" upgrade over what we have now.

[Sofa King]

Was thinking Hinrich should be available but his salary might be too much.

[Erik Eleven]

Ha ha. Here we go again. Blake continues to be the most under rated point guard in the league, in my opinion. He's not the best PG in the league, but he's vastly under rated. Very good and hungry perimeter defender, never turns it over, always makes great decisions with the ball, reluctant but very good shooter, moves extremely well without the ball, has extremely high hoops IQ, a very low profile yet efficient game.

He's by no means an all-star, but would he solve our depth issue at PG? Hell yeah. Just ask Nate McMillan about Blake's game. Or milesfides. It's almost become like a standing joke around here for the last four years or so — miles, myself and a few more have been accused of greatly over rating him while we accuse the rest of the world for under rating him.

Could there be an outside chance somehow that we could bring Crittenton back? Isn't he riding the bench right now? I'd offer them Sun Yue and sign and trade filler. Critt can defend a little bit and he'd be a great depth addition.

[Sedale Threatt]

That last thing we have is a depth issue at PG. We have two solid players. We just don't have a clear-cut, 36-minute-a-night starter who excels at both ends. Crittenton doesn't solve that issue, nor does Blake.

I don't think Blake is bad. I think he's decent, solid, serviceable, average -- any other word to convey good in some areas and not-so-good in others. Just like Fish, and just like Farmar. And I think he's been generally overrated here. For example: A "very good shooter" does not hit on 40.5% from the floor for his career.

At any rate, I didn't mean to rehash the old Blake debate. I had forgotten all those threads. Suffice to say that I don't think he's the answer to our problem.

[G35]

I like Sasha in the lineup because he is a better shooter than Rad or Fisher. It seems the Lakers go with their 3 pt shooting. Look at the Lakers 3 pt shooting this year:

Blazers 7-10
Clips 10-19
Nuggets 6-17
Clips 8-22
Rockets 9-17
Mavs 2-13
Hornets 6-16
Pistons 4-19

The Lakers 2 worst games were the Dallas and Pistons games and look how they struggled from 3.

While I know this isn't the sole reason for why the Lakers struggle or don't struggle but I think it is significant. How many times has the 1st unit struggled in the 1st quarter and it's up to the 2nd unit to come turn the game around. Teams are leaving Radman open and he isn't hitting. Fisher has been better but still not consistent enough; he's just too hot and cold imo.

Sasha's defense just has to be adequate nothing spectacular or shutdown type D. But his shooting with that 1st unit? Come on that's exactly what they need; someone that is going to make teams pay for packing in the middle. Sasha also doesn't have to be a great passer either, the triangle doesn't require you to be a great passer. Just recognize how the defense is playing you.

I'm not worried yet because the season is still young and they are going to improve naturally but it's something to keep track of. Phil should put Sasha in with the 1st unit just to see how he plays every now and then.....