Playing a well-balanced game.

[lilfishi22]

I'll give the Cats this game since we were on a B2B and our starters never showed up and they did play very well but these losses are frustrating. I know I said we should be happy with the record we have considering the expectations at the start of the season, but I *know* we're better than some of the teams we play yet we still find a way to lose.

I don't think we NEED a lineup change since we are winning the 1st half of games but we gotta make use of guys who can help us win the 2nd half games. The only lineup change I would like is Frye for Collins/Rolo or JRich for Barbosa.

Consider these front court and back court lineups that gives us a better balance of defense and offense. With a big lead we shouldn't still be playing heavy minutes of Amare and Frye at the 4/5 or Nash and JRich at the 1/2.

-Frye(PF) with Rolo/Collins(C) gives us some defensive toughness and rebounding and allows Frye to stay out in the perimeter to shoot while giving us more of a chance to rebound his misses.

-Frye(C) with EC/Lou does much the same. Not as good as Frye with Rolo/Collins but still gives us more defense than Frye/Amare and Lou gives us offensive rebounding.

-Nash with Dragic has been playing very well as of late and Dragic's offensive game has really blossomed with Nash doing a lot of the ball handling. I really don't like it when Dragic plays with LB, LB handles the ball way too much and since he's not much of a passer Dragic is stuck playing a defense only role. I have a feeling that LB isn't comfortable Dragic handling the ball as well, he doesn't move around as much and only stands around to receive the ball with which he uses to dribble down the shot clock and get off an awful shot.

-Nash with LB is a good back court offensive team. LB works really well off Nash and LB's speed with Nash's passing makes them a very dangerous back court partner. They also have very good chemistry when playing with each other, they know each other's tendencies which is why we see so manyNash passes to a baseline cutting LB.

-Dragic with JRich is not my ideal back court lineup but it'll have to do if we want to keep scoring up while not giving up too much in defense and allowing Nash to rest. I think JRich will play well without a ball dominating PG like Nash. He turned into a star with the Cats, being the main offensive option and I think he can bring back some of that offense when playing with our 2nd unit.

-Nash with Dudley(2) is a good back court lineup since Dudley will play the Raja role of shooting 3's and playing D. This would probably be my ideal backcourt lineup late in the game.

-Amare with Collins/Rolo should work fine since neither Collins nor Rolo really need the ball so their only job is to get out of Amare's way and bang for boards. Defensively we're much better since we know Amare plays his best D when he's not guarding the main offensive player in the post and he's a pretty good weak side defender.

There's more I could have listed, but you get the idea. I'm not a huge fan of when we are resting almost all our starters at the same time and playing our entire bench. We're better defensively but we have very little offensive chemistry in our 2nd unit, especially when Barbosa is dribbling down the shot clock. To be honest, we only ever need our staring lineup of Nash/JRich/Hill/Amare/Frye when we start and when we're down and need to get a run. Other than that, we should be playing a lineup that gives us the best combination of defense and offense.

1st lineup change
Nash
JRich for LB
Hill for Dudley
Amare
Frye for Rolo/Collins

2nd lineup change
Nash for Dragic
LB for JRich
Amare for Lou
Rolo/Collins for Frye

Late game lineup
Nash
Dudley
Hill
Amare
Collins


Thoughts?

[DBrimstone]

I've noticed alot of the same things about the Dragic line-ups. I hate when he's in with LB, but don't mind when he's in with J-Rich... And Nash. I like when he's in all the time actually

I've liked Rolo with Frye or Stat, as he's actually been making hook shots and his defense has been surprisingly good as of late.

[sunfire0112]

Nash/Dragic - Great playmaking backcourt. By far my favorite line-up. Dragic has already shown he can score but his playmaking skills make this backcourt much more dangerous offensively. His defense is also a plus.
Nash/Dudley - I agree that Dudley compliments Nash in a Raja-type role
Nash/LB - Good chemistry with LB in a natural scoring role
Dragic/Dudley - Love the hustle. Doesn't happen much but when it does...

Nash/JRich - Defensive liability. Only effective if offense is flowing
Dragic/JRich - Decent
LB/JRich - Bad Defense. LB is not a good enough playmaker to make this consistently effective.
LB/Dragic - Just don't seem to click. It's like LB doesn't trust Dragic to create for him and just calls for the ball to create his own shot.

(Amare or Frye)/(Rolo or Collins) - Good mix of Offense and Defense/rebounding
Lou/Amare - same as above
(Lou or Rolo or Collins)/Frye Decent. Frye doesn't seem like he can carry the offensive load unless he's on a hot streak.

Amare/Frye - Bad interior defense and rebounding. Only effective if both are on their games offensively or fully committed to D/rebounding.
EC/(Amare or Frye) Meh. The lack mental toughness makes me wary.
Any combo of Lou/EC/Rolo/Collins - Too much of an offensive liability

[hunterxaz]

Collins can't play.