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Now he's the starting SG with Kobe moving to SF but until last night he played less than 10 mins a game in each of last few starts in this new role. Is this for defense or having Metta's scoring off the bench. This kind of reminds of how Keith Bogans was the starting SG in Chicago but when you looked at his mins they weren't starter mins.

I'd say it's pretty much strictly get provide an early game cushion allowing for MWP's minutes to come staggered with the starters minutes. It seems to be working, but not for any benefit of Morris. More for Meeks and Ron to come together more than not and bolster the bench.

When you look at the lead guards in the west D-Mo can stay in front of most of them. Him starting is to set the defensive tone, once he gets better at reading the defense and learn how to funnel his man into the interior so Dwight doesn't have to hedge so far we'll get better.

And the minutes played was a byproduct of how the games went along with matchups. Morris is still only going to get about 15-17 minutes a game.

I wonder if this continues for the rest of the season if the Lakers will bring him back in a similar role next season or give DJO a look in this role. Some Laker analysts have said they like DJO's defensive potential.

He's done a great job defensively. The only problem I have with him starting is when he guarded Melo for the first 3 minutes. Like seriously Coach?

darius thabo morris

it works against smaller teams with fast guards...but it'll falter against teams like okc, miami, and new york. we need metta to start against durant, lebron, melo

I disagree with regards to OKC. I don't think Metta really stops Durant to begin with, so at the least play Morris so you can slow down Westbrook. Westbrook didn't do all that well against Morris in their one matchup this year. In fact he's got the exact profile Westbrook struggles against:

- Long
- Athletic
- Strong getting through screens
- Aggressive

I'd like to see how Earl Clark matches up with Durant. He's reportedly done a good job on him in the past.

As far as Westbrook, when he's on, there's not a whole lot you can do to stop him, but he's also his own worst enemy, because when things start to go bad for him he often tightens up and goes rogue or makes momentum killing lapses of judgement.
I think Morris plays too small to really lock him down but he might be pesky enough with enough length to take him off his game and possibly force some of those lapses of judgment to the surface.

Anytime you can contest Westbrook's shot it frustrates him. If you put Sessions or Blake on him he's going to destroy them but it's really simple to me:

The vast majority of the players Westbrook plays against at PG are pathetic on defense/athleticism/etc...

- Imagine if Dwight were to face Bargnani in the post on defense. He'd eat him alive.

Westbrook at PG gets some of the easiest match ups in the NBA. Every time I've seen him play against a guy his size or larger like Kobe has to do in almost every matchup, he's inefficient. Imagine if Kobe faced a 6-3 combo guard every night on defense with limited athleticism and you have an idea of why Westbrook does well against 6-1/mediocre athletes.

Morris did a decent job against a red hot Westbrook. I'd like to see that matchup again.

Jajwanda wrote:I disagree with regards to OKC. I don't think Metta really stops Durant to begin with, so at the least play Morris so you can slow down Westbrook. Westbrook didn't do all that well against Morris in their one matchup this year. In fact he's got the exact profile Westbrook struggles against:

- Long
- Athletic
- Strong getting through screens
- Aggressive

which leave nash and kobe on martin and durant??

think before you post

Martin is a shooter not someone who is going to take the ball to the rim and blow by you so I don't see the huge deal with him.

Durant is a nightmare for anyone, not much you can do about him. His release point makes it impossible to defend him, you just have to hope his shot is off that night.

The best way of beating OKC is by having Westbrook play out of control, so if you have a good defending guard you put him on him.

Bingo^ Thanks Lucky

and what stops the thunder from passing the ball to durant and watching him abuse everyone instead of watching westbrook break the gameplan?

I have no idea what you're saying. The fifteen or so minutes Durant will be guarded by Kobe versus by Metta are not dramatically different in terms of the final result of the game. The Lakers made their run against OKC this year with Duhon-Meeks-Bryant-MWP-Dwight. They'll do it this time around with Nash-Morris/Meeks-Bryant-MWP-Dwight.

I'll put it to you this way:

With Kobe guarding him, Durant scored 8 points in the final 8 minutes against L.A. in that stretch including four on FTs. All in all OKC scored 12 points in a frantic 8 minutes. Over the course of a game that would be 72 points.

The only thing that gives you some hesitance is that Kobe might get into foul trouble and that's why you have to play that lineup only at selective times (10-12 minutes max per game). You can start with it and end with it.

KingLakers wrote:Now he's the starting SG with Kobe moving to SF but until last night he played less than 10 mins a game in each of last few starts in this new role. Is this for defense or having Metta's scoring off the bench. This kind of reminds of how Keith Bogans was the starting SG in Chicago but when you looked at his mins they weren't starter mins.

Pretty much but I'd like to see him get more minutes when he's playing well

Aki wrote:and what stops the thunder from passing the ball to durant and watching him abuse everyone instead of watching westbrook break the gameplan?

Durant abuses everyone but what stops OKC from going to him on every play?

Part of the reason why Durant abuses everyone is he takes a very low percentage of bad shots compared to most scorers. He plays very much like the Kobe from the Portland game with a gorgeous stat line but not necessarily as dominant as say a 45-50 point night.

his new role is healthy for his growth. some points:

-as a PG he doesn't really provide much positive aside from his defense on opposing PG's because of his length, strength and quickness. they have Nash, Duhon, and Blake and Kobe still does pretty much the facilitating if the 2 former PGs are not with him

-he can be effective with his drives when he dribbles less

-Lakers doesn't really have much depth at the 2 and 3 positions

there, start Morris at the 2. gives the Lakers a solid defender against opposing PGs and let Nash defend the "less gifted teammate". this also gives him the confidence he needs and just focus on his play and not worry on creating for others. the move also gives them depth at two positions.

Aki wrote:

Jajwanda wrote:I disagree with regards to OKC. I don't think Metta really stops Durant to begin with, so at the least play Morris so you can slow down Westbrook. Westbrook didn't do all that well against Morris in their one matchup this year. In fact he's got the exact profile Westbrook struggles against:

- Long
- Athletic
- Strong getting through screens
- Aggressive

which leave nash and kobe on martin and durant??

think before you post

It leaves Nash and Kobe on Thabo and Durant. Martin doesn't start and Morris doesn't play more than 10-15 min a game.