The Rotation

[geiger]

Rush is a slightly better three point shooter than Williams right now, but what else does he do? He is a poor defensive player, he is a terrible rebounder, he is a gunner, he is a bad ball handler, he does not draw fouls, and he is a poor percentage shooter and a very inconsistent jump shooter. He is in other words, a situational player. If we have injuries he will get some PT. If we need someone to take a few quick 3's, he'll get PT. I just don't see him getting a lot of playing time or becoming a top 8 rotation player. He is simply not that good a player. If his 3 point shooting was prolific, perhaps he would get on the floor more in spite of his other flaws, but it's just above average. He would have to hit about 42% of his 3's to justify giving him major minutes.

[is1531]

(Minutes)
PG: Miller(34), Lou(14)
SG: Iggy(18), Lou(12), Green(12), Rush(6)
SF: Young(22), Iggy(20), Rush(6)
PF: Brand(26), Evans(10), Speights(6), Young(6)
C: Sammy(32), Brand(10), Speights(6)

This rotation you have here is unrealistic. At the most this is what it would look like in the first 2-3 weeks, but after that all solid playoff teams settle on nothing more than a 9 man rotation.

Counting Iggy, you can expect to see your main guards be Miller and Iggy starting, with Green and Williams playing the signifiant minutes depending on matchup. If Young starts, then he and Rush will hold down things, with Rush getting little to no burn as Iggy will probably slide to the 3 before Rush gets plugged in as a 3.

In terms of bigs, Brand and Sammy getting main minutes with Evans backing up both of them. Considering that Brand and Evans aren't as foul prone and tend to bring it quite often, you'd only see Young move to the 4 or Speights get in at the 4/5 only if matchups and foul trouble are an issue. Don't expect the rookie to make a major impact in minutes unless the Sixers are running away with the season or there is a major injury and he shows that despite his youth that he can brawl down low with vets. Normally speaking, that doesn't happen. His minutes shouldn't even factor into the rotation.

That all being said, this is more realistic

Starters: Miller, Iggy, Young, Brand, Dalembert
Top Reserves: Williams, Green, Evans

Rush and Ivey would be situational guards; Speights will ride the back of the bench.

If you followed Ed's style last year, Speights will not ride the bench. He will back up Brand. Do not get scared if you see this format put into play. I have faith in Speights offensive game. We need his post play for 12-14 minutes a games.

[geiger]

Evans will not be relegated to being a 40 game a year, 6 minute a game player. That would entirely destroy whatever little trade value he has left. Speights will likely back up Iggy, but considering that teams often go small and without a real center on the floor at times, and that a healthy Dalembert is likely to play 35 minutes a game, it's doubtful Speights gets more than about 12 minutes a game, if that much. If injuries strike or if he exceeds expectations and Dalembert relapses to being the Dalembert of a few years back, he might get more minutes. He'll get more time if Evans gets dealt. Otherwise, don't expect him to play 24 minutes a game as a rookie.

[monks]

Kareem Rush being added to the SG/SF rotation almost guarantees two things: a decrease in PT for Willie, and even more versatility in Iggy's minutes...that has a ripple effect on Young, who really shouldn't need to see more than 30mpg yet anyway.

A few years ago Iggy was seeing some time at PF because of how thin it was, so playing a Rush/Iguodala/Young 2-3-4 combo shouldn't be too messy if Mo picks the right time to use it. Three guys that similar in size should let Mo pick favorable match-ups and get out and run.
Other than that:
- Green, Ivey and possibly the 12th man will just play garbage time and situational minutes.
- Lou should see some more time at point, and Evans and Speights will basically split Smith's minutes now that he's likely out for awhile.
- Speights will probably be the main backup to Sammy aside from Brand playing some spot minutes at center.

The most interesting thing, as others have said, is whether Young should be relied on to play starter's minutes yet when he was so effective in his role last year. Adding Brand should be enough that Mo shouldn't need Thad playing out of position as much, as he needs a little bit more time and seasoning to readjust to playing the SF spot, especially on defense.

[tk76]

On one hand, I think Young will struggle more than people might think as the starting SF. His handle and defense on the wing still need refining. Fortunately, he's a smart kid who unlikely to try and do to much before he is ready (sort of like Iguodala on the wing his rookie.) Also, he can hide his deficiencies behimg the other talented starters. Even if he just gets opportunity baskets, open jumpers and makes smart passes he can still be effective. He won't be asked to do much more than that surrounded by so much talent.

I expect Young will improve rapidly, and be ready to take on a more assertive, Prince type role by the playoffs- but expect Iguodala to handle most of the wing ball handling and slashing for the fiorst 1/2 of the season.

[Philly_King]

Rush is a slightly better three point shooter than Williams right now, but what else does he do? He is a poor defensive player, he is a terrible rebounder, he is a gunner, he is a bad ball handler, he does not draw fouls, and he is a poor percentage shooter and a very inconsistent jump shooter. He is in other words, a situational player. If we have injuries he will get some PT. If we need someone to take a few quick 3's, he'll get PT. I just don't see him getting a lot of playing time or becoming a top 8 rotation player. He is simply not that good a player. If his 3 point shooting was prolific, perhaps he would get on the floor more in spite of his other flaws, but it's just above average. He would have to hit about 42% of his 3's to justify giving him major minutes.

Rush is a way better 3pt shooter than Williams. It's not even debatable, not only does he shoot(and make) more but his % is higher as well making him much more of a threat. He'll come in and spread the floor with his shooting, he doesn't need to draw fouls or do anything else. And his FG% is only low because most of his shots are 3s. His D is OK(Pacer fans have said he was their best perimeter defender last year) too, not a liability at all(ala Korver). I'm not saying Rush is God's gift to Earth but you're underestimating him without looking at the full picture and his potential contributions to the team(spreading the floor and making things easier for Brand)

[is1531]

Evans will not be relegated to being a 40 game a year, 6 minute a game player. That would entirely destroy whatever little trade value he has left. Speights will likely back up Iggy, but considering that teams often go small and without a real center on the floor at times, and that a healthy Dalembert is likely to play 35 minutes a game, it's doubtful Speights gets more than about 12 minutes a game, if that much. If injuries strike or if he exceeds expectations and Dalembert relapses to being the Dalembert of a few years back, he might get more minutes. He'll get more time if Evans gets dealt. Otherwise, don't expect him to play 24 minutes a game as a rookie.

How can Speights back up Iggy, when they do not play the same position? Go back and listen to the llast podcast and hear what Ed said about Speights. Nobody said Speights would play 24 minutes. He could get up to 14 minutes, if Brand plays 34 minutes. The 76ers will bring in a back up center to back up Dalembert. Evans will get minutes depending on the flow of the game.

You were big on Jason Smith, but the guy went down without anybody touching him. Try and keep an opened mind.

[geiger]

Most of his shots are not 3's and he isn't a much better shooter than the 21 year old and still improving Lou Williams.

Rush shoots 40% from the field and 36% from 3 for his career. He averages 7 shots a game, with 2.4 of those shots being 3 pointers. He attempts less than 1 FT a game.

The reason why he shoots a poor percentage is because he is not a threat to put the ball on the floor and drive successfully and because he has no offensive moves, post up moves or ability to gain seperation with dribble moves. He is purely a jump shooter who does a poor job using screens and tends to be a gunner to boot, getting waived in a middle of a season by a bad Charlotte team in spite of putting up 11 points a game and being a low salary player, because he kept breaking down offensive plays by gunning.

Last season, the 21 year old Williams, not only shot .359 from three point range on a team with zero low post scoring and almost no open looks, but he also showed ability to get to the line, which together with Brand, will open up more open looks for him. And Williams took 1.9 3's last season, which is only slightly less than what Rush takes. I would be willing to bet that while Rush's game at soon to be 28 years of age, will remain what was know it to be, the 21 year old Williams will continue to improve.

Danny Granger by the way was the far superior perimiter defender, and when Tinsley played, he was too and it wasn't even close. When compared to Mike Dunleavy, being forced to play SG, Rush's defense didn't look too bad, but he is still a far below average defender and he is no where near the prolific 3 point shooter that Korver is.

However, I'll agree with you on this point - IF Rush can duplicate or improve on his 39% 3 point shooting of last season, a big if since it was his career high, and IF his defense is better than what Willie Green provides (he doesn't have to be better than Artest, he only has to be better than Willie Green to play here), then he will end up getting some minutes as a back up designated shooter. He will have to learn how to play under control and understand that the shots belong to him last and that his job is to take open 3's and not to fire up 11 shots a game to get 11 points. In fact, his career numbers speak poorly of his scoring efficiency. He needs exactly 6.8 shots to average 6.8 points - and this is for a guy who can shoot the 3. But again, he'll be competing against Green and not against Williams, and Green puts up 9.8 points on 9.6 shots, so not much better.

What I will think will happen however, is that presuming Iggy is re-signed, and Miller is not traded, Lou Williams, who I am very high on, will take another jump and will command more minutes, reducing those available for Green and Rush.

[arjwdotcom]

If you followed Ed's style last year, Speights will not ride the bench. He will back up Brand. Do not get scared if you see this format put into play. I have faith in Speights offensive game. We need his post play for 12-14 minutes a games.

The rules for evaluating coaching are not the same as last year; in addition, its not a matter of faith, its simply what is. Cheeks, despite popular opinion, has more faith in vets than rookies. He had to be prodded to play Young; that would only be the case with Speights this year if we put on a horrible show from the three current and one most likely signed vet before him. As skilled as he is, he's mechanical and at this point has done nothing to deserve 14min a night.

The Sixers need another center with Smith going down; you can bet that puts even more pressure on Speights to have to prove to get minutes because one can make the (usually correct) assumption that the Sixers will bring in Booth or some other vet that can back up Sammy and be a compliment to Brand.

Again, the rotation will be no more than 9 players. Only in NBA Live can you get away with playing 12 guys every night with the 11 and 12 guys getting more than 10min per night.

[tk76]

Last year the team went 9 deep. The First eight, err, seven, were Miller, Green, Lou, Iguodala,Thad, Evans and Sam. Those guys averaged 20+ minutes. But Carney and Smith each averaged nearly 15 min appearing in 70+ games: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/phi/s ... NdUduI0bYF

There have been teams that go 10 deep- like the Memphis (Hubie Brown) team a few years back. If they want to play pressure defense and run then going a bit deeper into the bench is an advantage.

[jmon]

The First eight were Miller, Green, Lou, Iguodala,Thad, Evans and Sam.

That is 7.

[tk76]

The First eight were Miller, Green, Lou, Iguodala,Thad, Evans and Sam.

That is 7.

The crowd is the sixth man.

[geiger]

Typically, teams with a star player like Brand, and an up and coming star like Iguoala, rarely go beyond 8 in a regular rotation, although with injuries, 9 ends up being the norm. I doubt we go 10 deep on regular basis this season, but at the end, it's a long season. Players get hurt, players under perform, get tired, there are match up issues, etc. It's good to have at least 10 guys on the roster who are ready to step in and play a fairly significant role. There is a reason why teams carry 13, 14, or 15 bodies.

[sec-106]

I wouldn't be surprised if Green starts at SG, and Iguodala at SF, with young getting around 22-25 mpg off the bench.

I don't think Stefanski is a big WG fan.

Here, here.

It was Silly Green starting (instead of AI at 2 and Thad at 3) that caused the mismatched (Prince on AI) that F-ed up the playoffs.

[geiger]

Young wasn't ready to start at SF and we had zero offense from PF when Evans was there. Young has to show SF skills to start at SF. Hopefully he will, but he struggled to do so in the summer league. He continues to drive only to his left, his ball handling is suspect, and he doesn't know how to shoot off the dribble, pop off screens, and has a relatively poor jump shot period, especially from 3.

[sec-106]

While the above may be true, I would have rather seen Thad back Hamilton down on the low block, than watch Green anywhere on the court.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Yes i'm hoping that Iguodala is playing the two and Thad plays the three. I want no part of Willie Green starting unless he's improved his perimeter game and can take smart shots, but I might as well be asking a dog not to bark.

[freshie2]

Ed was on WIP about a month ago talking about this. If Thad isn't ready to start, it sounds like Iguodala will be the SF and Lou the SG. WG never was brought up from what I recall. I am with everyone else that Iguodala/Thad should be the 2/3 combo, but if that isn't the case I don't think Green sneaks into the starting lineup.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

Ed was on WIP about a month ago talking about this. If Thad isn't ready to start, it sounds like Iguodala will be the SF and Lou the SG. WG never was brought up from what I recall. I am with everyone else that Iguodala/Thad should be the 2/3 combo, but if that isn't the case I don't think Green sneaks into the starting lineup.

Ed Stefanski is really fan smart. He knows Willie sucks, he just needs to get whatever Willie has that's blackmailing us and tear it to shreads . Then we can make Willie ride the pine.

[Philly_King]

Ed was on WIP about a month ago talking about this. If Thad isn't ready to start, it sounds like Iguodala will be the SF and Lou the SG. WG never was brought up from what I recall. I am with everyone else that Iguodala/Thad should be the 2/3 combo, but if that isn't the case I don't think Green sneaks into the starting lineup.

Dear God Lou and Miller starting would be suicide on defense.