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Based on what you've seen up to this point, who do think our starting five should be? I think at this point, Baron, Jack and Monta should be a given (at least I hope so) so it really boils down imo to 4 and 5. Here's your choices (not including CWeb since he's currently out which some of you might consider):

Baron, Monta, Jack, BWright, Andris.

Andris, Al, Jack, Baron, Monta

I like Al coming off the bench... He plays with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, and on most nights he can help keep the offense rolling.

BW benefits more from being on the court with playmakers like Baron, Jack and Ellis.

BW makes mismatches for short periods of time that can really benefit us... BW needs to start along with the people who move the ball around well, and not log so much time with the bench players..

I voted option 3. The option 1 people make a good case, but the decider for me is that Gadget is our only other rim defender. I want him available when Goose is getting a blow.

#1 is for next year, but #3 is for this year. We're talking Nellie here.

I think that once Brandan is a fixture next year, we will truly take that next step up.

The Franchise (including Al) know that in THE NEAR FUTURE, Wright will be the starting PF.

But for now, only based on matchups, should he start.

I'm not sure if Al is indeed looking better off the bench. He has that mental block associated with himself there...

wright and andris together don't work in nellieball. neither has proven they can consistently hit a jumper. if both are in then the lane gets clogged for baron, monta, and jackson. a clogged lane also kills our screen and roll game because the guy defending whichever big who isn't screening will be able to rotate over and check the rolling screener. we'd be looking at more chucking.

I think Wright can play perimeter, at least midrange.

Wright and Biedrins could play very well together, so long as Baron isn't on the court. I think Baron needs the lanes much more than either Monta or Jackson. Tay just goes by people, and unless their C is a good shot blocker, they rarely have a chance. Jax is great at waiting for Biedrins or the low post man to run out, and then just uses his crazy length to get a decent look. Baron on the other hand, well barring the last 3 games where he's turned it on, he really needs those lanes to get his momentum rolling.

Which is a priority... but I'd rather have Al in there in a 3 forward set. But thats not Nellieball It'd be an extremely tough 5 man lineup to counter...

I hate to say it, but I'd even prefer Pietrus or Buke in the game when/if we use Wright/Biedrins together. You definitely want the ball in Tay's hands in that case, and you want Pietrus/Buke behind the arc along with Jax, Wright in the midrange and Biedrins as the wandering big man... there's a lot of 'traditional' possibilities here that we just aren't taking advantage of.

510Reggae wrote:Which is a priority... but I'd rather have Al in there in a 3 forward set. But thats not Nellieball It'd be an extremely tough 5 man lineup to counter...
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So you would start Tay, Jax, Al, BW and AB?

That's something I never really gave much consideration to as a long term prospect (partly because Al almost seems desitned to be moved for cap-room eventually, and because when would Nellie ever go big?), but yeah, that's a lot of complimentary skills in a frontcourt with some real size. Al and Wright can share various forward responsibilities on either end, with Al challenging some of the more powerful guys for position, and Wright using his length and athleticism to bother scorers inside and out. Dre as the last line of defense, and also protected from being ganged up on when such as when he's surrounded by mini-forwards.

It's easy for all of us to get down on Al because his bad games can be SO bad. But he has a lot more good games than bad, and he's pretty clearly one of the glue guys in this crew. Everyone plays better when Al plays better. The team really does like playing with Al, and they want to succeed with him. One of the things I've noticed recently is that whenever the broadcast shows Monta between plays or on the bench, he's most frequently communicating with Al.

If Al were just a little bit cheaper, he's the kind of presence and attitude that could be really good with a young team for the long haul.

I don't think you can start that lineup because Jack is our SF, and Baron isn't going anywhere next year, but I'd be very interested to see that lineup as a part of our rotation.

rone415 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



So you would start Tay, Jax, Al, BW and AB?

I cant tell if this is bitchy or not?

No... bandwagon said that they couldn't play together. I'm saying they could, and should, but the best way to use that particular lineup is w/o Baron. That's a pretty big lineup there - 6'3, 6'9, 6'9, 6'9, 6'11.

PG - Brandan Wright
SG - Brandan Wright
SF - Brandan Wright
PF - Brandan Wright
C - Brandan Wright

It is what it is. Hate it or love it, the underdogs ontop.

i didn't say they can't play together in general. i specifically said that i was talking about nellie ball. if brandan can consistently hit midrange jumpers then it could work. otherwise you now have 2 guys who have a very limited range and aren't very good creating off the dribble. if we ran sets where we entered the ball into the low post (even when we post someone, its usually baron or jackson 15 feet from the basket) it'd work. we rely on guards creating off the dribble and this would clog the lane.

510Reggae wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



I cant tell if this is bitchy or not?

No... bandwagon said that they couldn't play together. I'm saying they could, and should, but the best way to use that particular lineup is w/o Baron. That's a pretty big lineup there - 6'3, 6'9, 6'9, 6'9, 6'11.

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Nah, I was just wondering what you were thinking that's all. Right now, I don't think that lineup would work as well. Maybe next year. Tay has developed as a PG, but not to a point where he would start over BD. If a team put some pressure against this lineup, I think we would have a ton of TO.

GSWbandwagon wrote:i didn't say they can't play together in general. i specifically said that i was talking about nellie ball. if brandan can consistently hit midrange jumpers then it could work. otherwise you now have 2 guys who have a very limited range and aren't very good creating off the dribble. if we ran sets where we entered the ball into the low post (even when we post someone, its usually baron or jackson 15 feet from the basket) it'd work. we rely on guards creating off the dribble and this would clog the lane.

Well I mean in Nellieball... didnt mean to misquote..

That 5 man team would have a lot of length, and one of our biggest lineups. We'd have our best rebounder in Biedrins, best seal out big man in Harrington, and our tipper, Wright.. there would be a ton of breaks with Tay on the court..

If Nellieball is just being uptempo and pushing the break, this should definitely fit in it...

no problem. i just wanted to clarify that i'm not against andris-brandan, just that i don't think it'd work well in nellie's offense.

as for the defense and rebounding, absolutely. especially if brandan can handle a small forward so that al can guard chunkier 4s; then it works even better. without two chunky posts on the other team, we can take out al and run baron, monta, jax with those two. baron and monta can gamble for even more steals knowing they have 2 guys who will protect the rim.

the problem with brandan-andris on the break is that i'm not sure nellie trusts them to handle the ball. usually we have 4 guys who nellie is comfortable with handling on the break. we'll play 5 at times. i don't know if nellie would voluntarily go down to 3 voluntarily for a prolonged stretch. nellie likes to have the option of the rebounder dribbling it up himself. it kills the break if the rebounder has to look around for a guard and helps if the guards can release and look for an outlet pass or just fill the lanes. the issues i see are more in the half court offense.