Speights Inactive

[9th Wonder]

Geiger: Mo and every else, have Speights as the first big off the bench after Theo. Ivey just happened to be an idiot and we signed him .

According to whom? And by extension, would that not put Marshall on the inactive list?

Anyways, it's nice to see that we're debating who in our deep front court should be inactive, rather than the merits of starting Sam Dalembert and Steven Hunter together.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

No, Marshall is strictly a SF. Put him at the PF position against elite teams in the league and we'll be annihilated.

[9th Wonder]

No, Marshall is strictly a SF. Put him at the PF position against elite teams in the league and we'll be annihilated.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that. I can't see Marshall keeping up with any of the top small forwards in the league.

[Skates]

No, Marshall is strictly a SF. Put him at the PF position against elite teams in the league and we'll be annihilated.

Let's be serious, Marshall could not guard elite SF or PF in his better days, right now I doubt he can guard average players at either position. He is strictly a limited minute spot shooter and veteran presence on the floor. You can probably hide him in a zone, but that is about it. Ratliff is on his last legs. Reggie couldn't be traded when they tried to give him away with a first rounder this summer. No one wants salary for the summer of LeBron and there is little out there that is desirable to match up with his salary/years (unless you want a worse contract like Matt Carroll's).

I like Reggie and have no problem with him starting the season as the first big off of the bench. He brings, energy, defense and rebounding and won't be so overmatched as he was as a starter. Once Speights gets some minutes I think he and Reggie will make a nice pairing on the second team since Speights can provide the scoring that Evans and Ratliff can't. I expect Speights to begin earning his minutes at C before he gets time at PF, barring injuries. Given Ratliff's shaky health I think we will see Speights sooned rather than later as the back-up to Sammy.

[geiger]

Marshall is largely a PF who will play on occassion when we need spot up shooting and when the opposing team has a perimiter oriented PF on the floor. He's not physical enough to compete with post players and he's not much of a SF these days, althoug he can still do a decent job of staying infront of guys like Bargniani when they play SF. He's a crafty veteran and he's there for more than just his play, just like Kevin Ollie was.

I'm a little surprised about Theo. Speights is not a very good defensive player right now and I don't expect big minutes or numbers out of him in the first 25 to 30 games, but I thought that it would have made more sense to activate him and give him a few minutes and hold Theo out. Theo is a one dimensional player at this point - a shot blocker and little else. He has a long and illustrious injury history and his value as a defender and shot blocker would come in handy in the latter half of the season and in the playoffs when spot defensive minutes need to be filled. Would make some sense to reduce the wear and tear on him early on and let Speights get his feet wet and see where they are.

But we don't know the whole story. We aren't there in practice everyday and pre-season games and stats mean absolutely nothing. There are a few guys who had good numbers in the pre-season who likely will never put on an NBA uniform again. I remember when Jason Williams was putting up 24 and 15 in the pre-season and Kenny Payne was raining 3's from all over the court. Then the regular season began. So perhaps there is a reason why they feel Speights shouldn't be playing right now. They took a cautious approach with Thad and it panned out. Also, some guys are more sensitive than others and might react differently to early season struggles. I don't know that this is the case, but perhaps they want to build up Speights's confidence level and comfort first before feeding him to the wolves.

Obviously I'm just speculating here. I would have liked to have seen him play and I still think that he will by the end of the season. But I can't get all over them for this move in games 1 and 2.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

Geiger: You pointed it out for me: He can't guard 3's or 4's, so anytime you put him out there. He's a defensive liability. Antawn Jamison? That's me being nice. Imagine him against David West?

So the best way to use Marshall and Rush? Is to insert them with 1 or two of the starters, at least 1 legit big man. Especially in the case of Marshall. Because we'll need that big to protect the basket. And we most certainly don't want to open things up for teams inside for Marshall to back down.

Kind of like how LB had a defensive oriented team around AI in 2001, to mask his defensive defenicies. This is how true coaching is done.

[Sixerscan]

I can't really imagine a scenario where we are going to have to worry about Donyell Marshall covering Jamison or West for an extended period of time.

Speights' PER right now is 38.83. Pretty good.