Lineup change could be coming soon

[The Sixer Fixer]

Apparently Cheeks is considering changing up the starting lineup tonight.

"We haven't made a lineup change today," Cheeks said yesterday after the team's light workout and film session at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "We will think about it a little more this evening and tomorrow if we will do something."

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/2 ... ineup.html

[Ganon19]

Miller
lou
Iggy
Smith
Dalembert

[ITK9]

i would like

lou at sg
or
iggy at sg and thad at sf

[freshie2]

Miller
Iguodala
Young
Smith
Sam

[PrimeTime21]

I agree with the Miller-Iggy-Thad-Smith-Sam lineup because you still have Lou for a pop of the bench but it also requires Sam to stay out of foul trouble.

Personally I don't think Cheeks will make two changes in the lineup but as long as Green doesn't continue to start I'm ok with it.

[SendEm]

Young and Smith definitely need to start. Evans has no potential to develop into anything better than what we have seen already, while Smith atleast has the potential to be a better overall player than Evans with some more NBA experience. Young is already a better basketball player than Willie Green. Willie Green just has that potential to have a 30 point night like he has already shown he could do in his past before the knee injury. PLUS Willie WAS being showcased for potential trades, but I think that the Sixers are now accepting that there will be no takers for Willie Green... Lou Williams inserted into the starting lineup would be the easy move to make but it makes no sense to do it NOW instead of earlier in the season when he was actually outplaying Willie Green. Right now Lou Williams is playing horribly, so is Jason Smith for that matter, but Evans is such a career bench player its best to develop the one young healthy Big man on the roster instead of continually starting a career bench rebounder.

Right now Lou Williams also doesn't look like he can play the SG. All of the development and reprogramming he has been receiving to become a PG has actually made him slow with his trigger finger. That hesitation in his trigger finger has made him an easier guard for defenders because he is far too concerned with making the "right" play instead of chucking the darn ball and driving to the basket with only thoughts of scoring the ball and dishing it ONLY if like 3 people collapse on him ala Allen Iverson, John Starks, Vernon Maxwell.

[ChuckS]

I'm not arrogant enough to think I know more than Mo and Jim, but I might, personally, question replacing Willie Green with Lou Williams, even for reasons other than their obvious defensive differences.

Lou has averaged 36% shooting in his last twelve games and 41.3% for the year. Keep in mind that much of this has been against second stringers. That is about as bad (in the same time frame) as Willie's last seven games (that someone pointed out), and worse than Willie's 41.8% YTD. Maybe it looks better because Williams played 124 less minutes, so it may have hurt less.

Again, because of the defensive problems it creates (and a tiring effect) by having Andre have to play the strongest backcourt scoring threat, I do not see it as an upgrade. Mo, however, might see different potential in practice...or in his game observations.

I might, with some reservations (because I think Green is a better defender than he is given credit for), go with Young at the three and AI in the backcourt. This would help our size and rebounding, and, in Willie, give us another scoring threat off of the bench, and a defender who might somewhat compensate for Lou Wil.

At least Thad is currently shooting 50%. But of course, because of his limited minutes, the opponent "book" on him has not yet been written...except for the knowledge that when he or Smith comes in for Reggie, the opposing PF should attack the rim. Currently, I could probably live with him at the three, particularly since Carney seems to have lost the offensive potential he showed in college. I can see giving it a try the way Willie and Lou have been shooting. He was at least a relatively high first round draft pick.

[eyeatoma]

Hallefackinlujah!!

[The Sixer Fixer]

I have a bad feeling we are all on the wrong track with thinking it could be Lou, Smith and/or Thad in the starting lineup. I'm getting the feeling it could be Carney getting the start over Green. With the recent comments from Stefanski about not having a good read on Carney, I think they may be inserting him to get him more run with the starters.

[The Guilty Party]

I'm hoping that the change will be Willie OUT.... Thad IN.

[PhillyRocks1]

Hallefackinlujah!!

God bless you. Next time cover your mouth because of the flu going around.

[Hewy29]

I have a bad feeling we are all on the wrong track with thinking it could be Lou, Smith and/or Thad in the starting lineup. I'm getting the feeling it could be Carney getting the start over Green. With the recent comments from Stefanski about not having a good read on Carney, I think they may be inserting him to get him more run with the starters.

why would you think its Carney?? He hasn't played in like 4 straight games. So why would they just all of a sudden insert him in the starting rotation? And besides, they have already done the Carney starting experiment for like 5 games when willie was hurt. That went nowhere. I hope and honestly believe it could be the starting of Thaddeus because in these past few games I have noticed Thad's minutes have gone way up. He has been in these past couple of games longer than Lou.

[The Sixer Fixer]

-= original quote snipped =-
why would you think its Carney?? He hasn't played in like 4 straight games. So why would they just all of a sudden insert him in the starting rotation? And besides, they have already done the Carney starting experiment for like 5 games when willie was hurt. That went nowhere. I hope and honestly believe it could be the starting of Thaddeus because in these past few games I have noticed Thad's minutes have gone way up. He has been in these past couple of games longer than Lou.

Hey, I hope I'm wrong, but I just have a bad feeling. They said they need to evaluate Carney more and there's really no better way to do that than to give him minutes with the top unit. Also, Carney started 6 games when Willie was out and the Sixers went 4-2 in those 6 games. Not saying he had anything to do with that since he didn't play that much, but the team did win games with him starting.

My hope is it's Thad inserted as a starter at SF. My 2nd choice would be Smith over Evans at PF. I think Lou needs to stay on the bench as the scoring spark for the 2nd unit.

[dbodner]

why would you think its Carney?? He hasn't played in like 4 straight games. So why would they just all of a sudden insert him in the starting rotation?

Because they already did that once this year, when Willie Green got injured? Between December 3rd and December 19th, Carney got a DNP-CD 7 of 9 games. When Green went down, Carney started 6 straight games. We're not that far removed from that. It's conceivable Mo could go with Carney because of "experience" (despite the fact that Thad is already a smarter, more well rounded player).

[9th Wonder]

Well, if I had to guess, I think Cheeks goes with a lineup of...

Evans
Booth
Iggy
Williams
Dalembert

The definite lack of ball handling in the backcourt is a clear deficieny, but I think it could easily be offset by their ability to take their man into the post and back him down for easy scores. I think we might finally realize how good of a post player Evans actaully is. Also, Andre can handle a large amount of the bal handling duites as a point-forward type.

I also like Lou at the 4, no big man can come out and guard him without getting burned off the dribble. Definite mismatch in our favour.

And of course, Sammy in the middle. I shouldn't have to explain that he's the man.


Seriously though, I think it'll be WG swapped for Thaddeus. That makes the most sense, given the recent pattern in minutes played.

[tk76]

-= original quote snipped =-
Willie was out and the Sixers went 4-2 in those 6 games.

It's amazing this team can win without Willie Green.

Seriously though, I don't think inserting Young, Smith or even Lou will lead to more wins or better team play.

I'm for the change soley because we need those players to get minutes with the starters to help their development and to better evaluate what role they might play in our rebuilding.

[The76thDegree]

It'll be Thad in place of Silly Green

[will]

Andre, Iggy, Thad, Smith and Sammy D.

Evans and Lou Will coming off the bench.

Willie Green playing scrub minutes.

Please.

[Fire BK]

It'll be Thad in place of Silly Green

agreed.

But I'd ideally like to see Mo run this small lineup and make teams match-up to the up-tempo style:

Miller
Lou
Iggy
Thad
Sammy

These are their best 5 basketball players, bar none. Why not start them all together? Things can't possibly get any worse. At least this squad would be fun to watch. They might even run some teams out of the gym with their length, athleticism and speed.

Yes, Thad is an undersized 4. But people seem to think Josh Smith is a PF, and Thad is a younger, greener version of Josh Smith with a superior basketball IQ. Also, Shawn Marion plays a lot of 4, and Thad could very well be a matrix-type player one day. Do it, Mo.

[freshie2]

You may see Thad @ the 4, but I don't think Mo would put LW in the starting lineup...it would be a straight Thad for Evans move.

I would definitely like to see what the AM/AI/TY/JS/SD lineup could do over the next month...tough stretch and no lineup probably wins a ton of games, but let's see how they play together and if there is improvement over time.