You actually have to ratchet up the dork level by a notch and put it into a proper flow chart:
Dork ops field agent here. Walking through the
game flows Flip tended to play McGee until his first foul then look for someone to replace him. That's the first sub. Late in the season this was Kevin Seraphin, often playing next to fellow 'Bruise Brother' Booker. Whenever McGee gets foul happy or makes a d1ckhead move Flip will yank him for whomever is next on the bench. This generally means the 6th man is whomever is McGee's back-up.
As an overall rule no more than 3 players left the bench in the 1st quarter, I'd bet Nick and Crawford will flipflop that 7th-8th man role next to whomever is the PF.
I suspect with a shortened season likely we'll see Flip under another 'developmental year' mandate, finding time for young players. However, Rashard Lewis is key to this team as the only other player after Nick who can hit a long J. I'd bet he plays as many minutes as he is healthy to play sliding between the 3 and 4. He gives John the option to drive and dish, allows Flip to drop in other non-shooting platoon players at the other forward spot.
Fortunately though we have redundancy at the other forward position, we also have versatility. Book, VSkilly, and 1ton all can sub at either forward position depending on team need. Whichever of these three shows the better ability to hit a midrange jumper and make the high-post screen/pass above the freethrow line is the guy that Flip is gonna run with. Coaches talk about toughness all they want but (other than the San Antonio disciples) the numbers show they are going to play the guy who can score a little. I suspect by year's end Flip is playing VSkilly in this role, dropping in Booker when he wants to send a message to opposing teams and 1ton when we need that HPTFZ one-man zone guy on defense more than elsewhere. Early on he'll run with Book though until Ves picks it up.
In the 2nd quarter Flip started John Wall and whichever two starters had the most rest (JaVale usually) with other players joining off the bench or sticking with which ever player has the match-up so far.
Code: Select all
LINEUP
| 1ST QUARTER | 2ND QUARTER |
TIME|2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 |2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 |
PG |JW----------------------|-------------JC---------|
SG |NY----------------JC----|------------NY----------|
SF |RL----------------------|------------JVes/TB------|
PF |AB-------------TB/JVes--|-----------AB-----------|
C |JM-----------KS----------|JvMcG----------KS-------|
Third quarter is much like the first, though he'd slide to match-ups that showed promise in the first half. 4th quarter has been catch-as-catch-can, with John Wall the only real constant, otherwise here Flip rode the hot hand or went with whatever match-ups looked like they worked, then switching to whomever proved most reliable in the clutch over the year. I won't try to figure the lines at this point except to guess at his finishers by year's end:
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LINEUP
| 3RD QUARTER | 4TH QUARTER |
TIME|2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 |2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 |
PG |JW----------------------|----------------JW------|
SG |NY----------------------|---------------JC/NY-----|
SF |RL----------------------|------------------RL----|
PF |AB----------------------|-----------------JVes----|
C |JM----------------------|------------------McG----|
McGee by default at center, having subbed liberally with KS to ensure we have McG with few fouls at this point, needing a true Big. The rest of the minutes are offense/defense and match-up tweaks.
Offense:
JW -- dribble drive threat, clear-out option
N1 -- spaces the floor, if he can figure out how to run a pattern Flip will play him as the Rip guard off curls
RL -- Wing gunner from the corner, 2nd post screener
JVes/Dray -- Midpost passer and pick/roll threat off the double screen
McG -- go get it guy, alley oop threat. He'd be far more useful if he would ever commit to solid picks. Maybe now at 265+ he won't flinch away from the little guards running by at testicle height. Punish them for trying it.
Defense:
Johnny -- Long armed and feisty he'll improve at this end. Best steal threat.
Nick -- Still the best one-on-one defender, too bad it's a team game...
1gleton-- On the hope he lives up to the billing. Vskilly doesn't look hopeless in this role either.
Book it. -- Nuff said.
I guess McGee? -- Unless that extra 20 lbs of muscle Hamady put on makes a world of difference, or something. Or Seraphin similarly figures out how not to foul, when and where to be appropriately beefy. McGee would be an intimidating presence, and can be a difference maker, if you could rely on him to make the smart read.