Indomitable wrote:jnrjr79 wrote:MGB8 wrote:
Except that Donovan plays Giddey at the 3, next to two guards, most of the time. Sometimes at the 4 next to 3 guards/wings. And he needs to so that Giddey is a neutral type defensive player rather than an attackable liability; the decision isn’t because of lack of forwards.
So the Bulls now have 5 forwards for Billy’s purposes, guys who will only defend the 3 or 4 absent a switch or something unique - Giddey, Matas, Essengue, Pat, and Phillips. Phillips and Pat are likely not considered locks for moving forwards.
Next to them in the backcourt are Coby, Ayo, Lonzo, Huerter (though he isn’t great at POA D), Terry and Carter. Carter is not part of any future, but I isn’t clear who among the others, if any, is “locked in” beyond this season.
I don't know about the bolded. Billy plays Giddey where he does based on the roster as it exists now. With a different roster, he may play Giddey differently. Giddey will effectively play the 1 on offense, and on defense, he's basically just put on the least threatening wing player on the other team.
I could pretty easily see a long-term lineup that was:
1) Ayo/Lonzo or whatever PG
2) Giddey (if Coby traded/not retained)
3) Matas
4) Essengue
5) Whoever is at center
That lineup could pretty well continue to hide Giddey defensively, while retaining a lot of switchability. If you have some actual rim protection at C, that's probably a good defensive team in the long-term.
If Coby is retained, then I could see the same here with Coby playing the PG, given Giddey will actually be the primary ball handler. But I really hate that defensively, which is why I'd like to trade Coby if Giddey is retained. If Coby is around, it becomes all the more important to add a rim protector.
Giddey guarded the unthreatening Luka both games last year.
Luka is an actually good physical matchup in terms of someone Giddey can defend. Similar size and speed, so Giddey just has to be disciplined. He doesn’t have to run around too many screens, and will get some help, too.
Luka, like Giddey, is “physically” a 3.
Where Giddey will have issues is guarding, say, a Kyrie, Ant Edwards or Herro or Ja or Bane or SGA etc. etc. And if it’s him and Coby next to Matas and Noa, well, one of Coby or Giddey has to match up with that high end, speed/quickness based opponent. If it is not Coby, who handles the scoring load?
