Larry_Russell wrote:If we meet Denver I expect to see us run a 2 big lineup a bunch with Jrue or White off the bench.
White/Jrue
Brown
Tatum/Hauser
KP
Horford/Tillman
and lets KP just defend that dunkers spot (Gordon) with his 7foot3 height.
Jokic has Horford and Tillman all game long to deal with. Smart, heady defenders.
And Murray has White and Jrue to deal with all game long.
Also, I have to assume that Denver would want Gordon on Tatum, so that would mean MPjr would have to defend KP, which is a mismatch for us.
I don't know that I'd go that far.
Mazzulla has gone with the Jrue/white/JB/JT/KP starting 5 in *every* game where those 5 guys have been healthy and available to play.
You don't get all the way to the NBA finals and then decide you're gonna switch the starting lineup out of nowhere..and bring a guy off the bench who has started every game he's played for you, is used to starting and has had an awesome season.
There's a balance between adjusting your rotation and gameplan based on your opponent and adjusting your rotation and gameplan for your opponent *too much* that it takes you out of the rhythm of how your team is used to playing..ideally, you are making your opponent change their rotation/gameplan based on you - not the other way around.
With that being said, I do think that we would probably play more double big lineups than we usually do if we face Denver in the finals. I think you would still have the normal starting 5 in there for the first 6 mins or so of each half..as well as the last 4 or 5 mins of the 4th quarter (for reasons I mentioned above) but throughout the rest of the game (the other 32 mins or so of the game) I do think we would probably go mostly double big lineups, with either KP, Al or Tillman defending Jokic at all times. And we'd want to have either Tillman or Al on Gordon for pretty much every minute he is in the game..perhaps we might see a *little bit* of Brissett in there defending Gordon.
And I would only want KP defending Jokic if it's frist few mins of the 1st/2nd half and if it's last few mins of the game. KP isn't very good at defending Jokic - and we need KP's offense so we wouldn't want him using too much energy having to defend Jokic, plus he might get in foul trouble having to defend Jokic too much. The other 32 or so mins I would want either Tillman or Horford defending Jokic.
KP defending Gordon with Al or Tillman defending Jokic could also work at times..
I don't love the matchup of Tatum defending Gordon. Gordon at times has been too big, too physical, too active on the glass for tatum. Only time I want Tatum (or Brown) defending Gordon is if it's first few mins of the half or last few means of the game.
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