Ivey may be out of starting lineup (defense)

[tmorgan]

With Monty, it could be a matter of playing *smart* defense rather than *good* defense, ie playing to your potential on the defensive end.

Bojan isn’t a stupid defender — he takes some charges, plays the scheme, gets in the right spots, he’s just physically incapable of being even an average defender at the 3 or 4.

Ivey is inexperienced and also takes way too many chances as a defender. He should be a lot better than he is right now in time, with his size, wingspan and quickness. He’s the one you can require to be an average+ defender, because he should be capable of it.

It makes sense to me.

[Mr Peanut]

People who are accepting of Ivey being benched for lack of defense, but then OK with Bojan/Burks having guaranteed starting spots are suffering from some form of cognitive dissonance.

But Ivey isn't in Bojan's league as an overall basketball player at this point. On top of that, he's a 2nd year player vs. an established vet. There is no comparison.

I'm specifically referring to the defense aspect which is what people were commenting on. Obviously appreciate that Bojan is the superior offensive player.

The counter argument to your second sentence is weighing up the benefits of starting a guy who is going to turn 35 this year and is not a part of your future over your second year top 5 pick, but that's a different story.

[bstein14]

I'm fine with starting Bojan over Ivey up to the trade deadline. He's still someone I hope we can get a future asset for eventually. Once the trade deadline passes, if he's still here, he should likely get moved to the bench unless we're close to .500 ... so you can bring in Ivey (or Killian or whoever) into a starting role.

That said, Monty has said he likes at least one vet out there with each young group so I could see him not wanting to start the Cade/Ivey/Ausar/Stew/Duren lineup which is give guys 22 and under.

[ComboGuardCity]

I am playing armchair psychologist but Ivey does not look happy out there

[joedumars1]

I am playing armchair psychologist but Ivey does not look happy out there

I haven’t watched but from what I seen in college I could definitely see him being upset at coming off the bench and especially if we losing and imo deservedly so, like he was a 5th overall pick we going to play these old guys over him and not try to get the chemistry going with cade duren ausar, but they have practice for that, so maybe he just a little pussy and doesn’t like coming off the bench, my knock when we got him was idk if his head wil always stay on.

[vege]

I am playing armchair psychologist but Ivey does not look happy out there

That's a huge red flag on him if true. He does not deserve to start and he need to get his **** together. He should be thankful for getting any playing time, because his defense makes him a negative impact player.

[NYPiston]

not sure what the actual starting lineup will be but i don't think it's the end of the world if ivey comes off the bench. he's still going to get minutes and he'll likely finish a lot of games anyways. him coming off the bench makes him the primary ball handler while still having guys like morris and burks to help make plays. i don't think it would necessarily be to punish ivey for his defense.

I agree but how will Ivey take it? From what I've seen of Ivey having watching him for years now is that he tends to pout at times and has bad body language when things don't go his way, kind of slumps his head a lot. Would he take to his new role or see it as a demotion? Ivey doesn't seem like the type that will take it well but Monty would have a better read on that than I.

From a "fit" and balance perspective, I actually think Ivey running the 2nd unit might be beneficial to the team. He's better with the ball in his hands and with him in the starting lineup, there's just too much defensive deficiency. I'm not sure if Ausar is ready to defend starting forwards/guards but if he is, it just seems like a better fit to have his defensive presence balance out the lack of defense from Cade and Bogey. I'd like to see if they could make the Cade/Ivey combo work but there's some merit to Ivey leading a bench unit.