RealGM

Don't hate on me too much, unrealistic, albeit silly idea...but with Noah aging and his body giving up on him while Paus game compliments age well..should the Bulls start Pau at center and Mirotic at PF? It'd be good for Mirotics development, Noah's health, being a sixth man high energy big would probably be a less strenuous role, and he'd be guarding PF's less since he'd like barely be on the court with Gasol.

The only problem would be defense, but swapping one or both of them out for Gibson/Noah early in the quarter would fix it. Mirotic would open up the floor for Butler, Rose, and Brooks slashing inside and Pau in the post making it a tad more fluent on offense.

I don't think you bench your best defender in Noah. He's not that old at 30. I mean, Pau's 34 and his body's been through hell too. I think your best bet is MAYBE Niko starting at the 3 next season if Dunleavy's not back. I could go for a starting 5 of Rose, Butler, Mirotic, Gasol & Noah. Probably not realistic, but that could work if Niko can play the 3. I think though, they pretty much have what they want where they want.

Gibson's most likely gone, though and then Niko becomes your 6th man (unless he starts). Also, if Thibs is fired or traded, things could be shaken up.

I'd like to see what they're realistically working with in a rotation of 8 or 9 next season and who's coaching them before thinking about stuff like this.

This seems to be working well. Not sure where that leaves Taj, but setting that aside I'm fine with the current rotation of the 3 bigs.

No. He should finish.

Noah has been playing really well. What do you mean, his body is giving up on him?

Mirotic should pair with Noah while Taj should pair with Gasol which will allow both Taj and Mirotic play at 4 while Noah and Gasol play at 5. You will also have good defense and offense pair.

The problem is Gasol is playing well this season and Thibs won't move him to the bench.

One of reason Gasol and Noah pair struggle early season is Noah is shifted to 4 which doesn't workout as Noah wasn't 100% and doesn't have the leg to cover all the ground.

I don't know why Thibs is blind to Noah and Gasol being horrible together. Is it like a seniority thing? I thought Thibs is all about the Ws?

logical_art wrote:I don't know why Thibs is blind to Noah and Gasol being horrible together. Is it like a seniority thing? I thought Thibs is all about the Ws?

They've been on a role. Maybe them being terrible had a lot to do with Noah's healthy and/or a reasonable adjustment period? Maybe Thibs knows what he's doing.

logical_art wrote:I don't know why Thibs is blind to Noah and Gasol being horrible together. Is it like a seniority thing? I thought Thibs is all about the Ws?

nah, thibs is all about that bass

No, but he should be finishing the game. Let him try to get it going against other teams bench, and play him in the 4th

Mirotic - Gasol would be terrible, but I would consider starting Mirotic-Noah. Won't happen until next season though if we trade Taj.

No. I think he should be the first big off the bench though.

Mamba4Goat wrote:Don't hate on me too much, unrealistic, albeit silly idea...but with Noah aging and his body giving up on him while Paus game compliments age well..should the Bulls start Pau at center and Mirotic at PF? It'd be good for Mirotics development, Noah's health, being a sixth man high energy big would probably be a less strenuous role, and he'd be guarding PF's less since he'd like barely be on the court with Gasol.

The only problem would be defense, but swapping one or both of them out for Gibson/Noah early in the quarter would fix it. Mirotic would open up the floor for Butler, Rose, and Brooks slashing inside and Pau in the post making it a tad more fluent on offense.

I'd consider starting Mirotic as soon as next season, but with Noah at Center.

Niko's not good enough to start.

mhsiao wrote:Mirotic should pair with Noah while Taj should pair with Gasol which will allow both Taj and Mirotic play at 4 while Noah and Gasol play at 5. You will also have good defense and offense pair.

The problem is Gasol is playing well this season and Thibs won't move him to the bench.

One of reason Gasol and Noah pair struggle early season is Noah is shifted to 4 which doesn't workout as Noah wasn't 100% and doesn't have the leg to cover all the ground.

So this is a problem? Hopefully next season we can sign Boozer again with a crazy contract and trade Gasol for nothing so Niko can be the starter, forget about contend, but we will see Niko playing more so we will be fine.

if he plays like last night then no.

Dunleavy should not start.
I would give Snell or Mirotic an opportunity at the position. MDJ is sucking it up and I do not think he warrants a starting position.

Im a huge Niko believer but I dont think he should start this season at this point or even next season. A minutes gradual increase is more likely, the guy is going to be a stud, but dont throw him in that quickly, its a long season so let him adjust

The only reason I wouldn't start Niko is that he might get into foul trouble playing against starting forwards, and foul trouble could reduce his effectiveness on the offensive end.
I do think that Niko should be playing starters mins tho. 31-35 mpg is when Niko has been most productive.

He's killing all second units against he play, so why change that? Thank God we have 4 quality bigs, and our starters are doing also well. Obviously, he should finish.