Paradise wrote:Net Sentence wrote:Most people are overly concerned with the front court issues but I see SG as the biggest question mark going into the season.
Bogs isnt comfortable playing there.
Ellington should not play more then 10-14 minutes a night IMO and is better suited to come off the bench.
The best bet might be to start Markel again. Jack is going to handle the ball most of the time in the back court and Markel just has to make spot up shots. His defense and rebounding is the best asset we have at the position.
I also think a Sloan/Jack back court is something we should consider. Sloan is the best true PG on the team. He had a 3:1 Assist to TO ratio last year and can help balance Jack when he is loose with the ball. I much prefer Sloan to Larkin.
Harper needs to make the team at this point over Reed. Reed isnt the type of guy worth waiting around for to get healthy. T-Rob has proven to be a more then capable backup center so far. Bargs might be listed as the backup center but to me he is the backup 4. It would be wise to keep Harper as insurance for Bargs being on the IR for any given period.
Thad Young has looked great so far this preseason and looks like a bargain. Ive compared him to Millsap a number of times and you can see the similarities in their games. He has been rebounding at a much higher rate during the preseason and he has 2 or more steals in 3 out of 5 of the games.
RHJ might need to be brought along slowly. I could see him getting the Markel treatment for the 1st 2 months. If I were the Nets I would feature Joe Johnson early in the season and let RHJ learn from the bench. This way we can build Joe's trade value and trade him at the deadline.
Here is how I would start the season. Cut Reed for Harper and DNP-CD RHJ for the first month or so. Have Sloan be the first guard off the bench.
Lopez - TRob
Young - Bargs - Harper - McCullough
Johnson - Bogs - RHJ
Markel - Ellington - Karasev
Jack - Sloan - Larkin
We don't have a legit PnR center with Plumlee gone and Reed is one. He's not going anywhere. Also, we aren't playing for anything but pride this season. So, bringing RHJ along slowly would make our season more pointless than it already is. Sloan and Jack are inefficient scorers and shooters. I'd rather see more size lineups with more effective shooters like Wayne and Joe than Sloan/Larkin and Jack...Although, I'm sure Hollins will do it anyways
But I agree, we have the biggest weakness with the SG/PG positions. At this point, we have no real answers for it until we hit the off-season. We need to get the get the most out of our frontcourt. I'm glad T-Rob is looking like a real keeper but we need alot more to keep Thad and Brook away from heavy usage because everyone else looks absolutely awful right now and even at their best, it will be below average production.
I couldnt disagree more with you. Plumlee was a good PnR option because he could stretch an offense vertically with his ability to catch an oop. Reed isnt doing that and he cant pick and pop. He has no value on offense other then offensive rebounding. He is set to miss 1/3 of the season baring any setbacks. Hell by that point McCoullogh will be close to returning and if we arent playing for anything,like you said, then playing C-Mc would make more sense by your rationale no?
We can afford to lose Reed. Ideally, he wouldnt play much when healthy anyway since Lopez needs to get most of the minutes at center. What we cant afford is to lose Bargnani. We desperately need a big to stretch the floor with our subpar shooting guards. When you consider Bargs injury history, Harper is a must add to our roster to insure we maintain that aspect of our offense.
The numbers dont back what you are saying. People are in for a big let down from Ellington. I dont know if you know this but Ellington is one of the few players in the NBA who shoots better off the dribble then spotting up.
Ellington's stats as a catch and shoot shooter
36.2% on 2.8 FGA per game
Ellington's stats as a pull up shooter off the dribble
39.2% on 4.4 FGA per game
Ellington takes twice as many shots off the dribble then he does in the traditional catch and shoot manner. He isnt a guy who just grips it and rips it. He needs to take a rhythm dribble which gives the defense a chance to recover.
Jack's stats as a pull up shooter off the dribble
39.9% on 5.4 FGA per game
Everyone wants to throw shade at Jack but he is good at what he does. If we have to chose between two guys taking shots off the dribble then I will take the guy with the higher average on higher volume every time. When you look at Joe's numbers the situation gets even bleaker.
Joe's stats as a catch and shoot shooter
38.1% on 3.7 FGA per game
Joe's stats as a pull up shooter off the dribble
39.1% on 4.5 FGA per game
Joe at least mixes up his shot attempts but he didnt do either well. We are going down in flames if you want to see Wayne and Joe shoot. This brings me back to the original point of how important it will be to insure we dont lose shooting from the front court if Bargs goes down.
Bargs stats as a catch and shoot shooter
46.4% on 6.3 FGA per game
Bargs stats as a pull up shooter off the dribble
44.4% on 1.6 FGA per game
We desperately need Harper who has shown the ability to mimic this aspect of Bargs game.
