Donte Greene as a SG?

[cl24]

I was just thinking about it today. Donte Greene is really unique, with his combination of size, speed and athleticism he'd be a great mis-matching shooting guard. Yes, he's a legit seven footer and most shooting guards are around 6'5 so he'll be a huge match-up problem. Do you think he should start?

PG: Tyreke.
SG: Greene.
SF: Casspi.
PF: Landry.
C: Sam.

?

[pillwenney]

I guess we could have our own thread for this.

The big concern is that Tyreke really needs another ballhandler next to him--not a full-time ballhandler, but somebody like Beno is really ideal. Donte really isn't that right now. Also, positions are defined by who the other teams put on our players. I wouldn't be surprised to see teams put their SGs on Omri in that scenario, although either way, we'll have the size mismatch.

Over all, I think it's an interesting lineup to try through stretches, but I don't want it to be the starting 5. Too vulnerable right now.

[cl24]

You think so? I think that they could start for a few games, but as you said Beno at the point guard distributing to Tyreke sounds marvelous.

[sacking101]

I think it's interesting. If we had cousins at the 4 instead of landry we would have tons of size and no reason to be out rebounded. I think that westphal has so many differnt linups to choose from that he may choose rotations from game to game depending on matchups.

[cl24]

I think Landry should start, I'm a big Landry fan as you can tell from my name. I think Demarcus is a bit raw, and Landry is already reliable.

[wiltchamberlain]

My main concerns are twofold. One, as has already been mentioned the lack of ballhandling in a lineup where Donte is the 2-guard is pretty suspect. I'd guess that a lineup like that will mean 4 guys standing around watching Tyreke try to create against two or three opposing players.

The other problem is that I'm not sure his size advantage would actually translate into anything especially good. What I mean is this, he like most wings has virtually no post up ability so I'd guess his size won't mean a lot of extra points in the paint. I assume we've all seen similar instances where a coach has a size mismatch and tries to feed the ball to his man to get the easy score, the problem with this often is that the player on offense has no post skill/experience. It usually just takes a second or two for the player to make a stupid mistake and turn the ball over.

At the same time I'd guess his size on defense could be a benefit, I'm just not sure it would be worth the possibilities of stagnation on offense you might have to pay for it.

I'd say right now I'd be totally against him starting at SG during the regular season. I would however like to see donte being subbed at the two experimented with in the preseason and even try it in spurts in the regular season.

[rpa]

I think Landry should start, I'm a big Landry fan as you can tell from my name. I think Demarcus is a bit raw, and Landry is already reliable.

Landry's a far better option off the bench than he is starting. When he's starting his lack of size (which means poor defense & rebounding) are going to be compounded by playing against bigger, better players. Not only that but since he'll likely be playing the majority of his minutes next to Evans his 1 on 1 offensive abilities won't be taken advantage of as much as they could be off the bench.

Further, consistent bench scoring is a major key to winning in this league. The Spurs play Manu off the bench for the same reason that we should be playing Landry off the bench:
- He'll provide scoring while Parker/Duncan are gone in the late 1st/early 2nd.
- He'll provide a main offensive option on a team of role players.

I personally think it's a must that Landry comes off the bench at the 4. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'd highly, HIGHLY consider starting a Dalembert/Cousins frontline at this point. JT & Landry then come off the bench to provide solid rebounding and scoring while playing against worse players.


As for the question at hand:

In stretches you can play an Evans/Greene/Casspi backcourt but as someone said before: Evans needs another ball handler on the floor with him. So if you want to play Greene & Evans together for long periods you're going to need a guy at the 3 who can handle the ball like a PG.

I will say, however, that sticking those 3 guys out there does provide a major (and obvious) benefit: it truly punishes teams that put their best defender (usually a SF) onto Tyreke. With Beno playing the 2 teams can stick their SF on Tyreke, their PG on Beno, & their SG on Casspi/Greene. Beno may be bigger than most PGs but he's not big enough to make a team pay for putting a smaller guy on him. Greene/Casspi could definitely make teams pay.

[cdt3]

In spurts it is a great idea. In matchups have Donte guard too big for Tyreke SGs at times like Kobe because Donte is very versatile. Having 2 guys who can make stops against different sized scores would be huge against some of the playoff teams. Like a Boston or even Miami.

[Silver Man]

Spurts? Yes good idea, but for starting I'd rather have Udrih at point and Evans at shooting guard, with either Casspi or Greene starting at small forward and the other coming off the bench. I'll think

Udrih
Evans
Casspi
Thompson
Dally

would be the best fit for us starting and having Greene off the bench.

[SacKingZZZ]

I still like Donte at PF and I think his best "mismatch" possibilities are there. At SG he has size but I just don't think this team is truly built to utilize it properly with a PG like Tyreke and especially now with a big like Cousins.

[longfellow44]

Donte at SG is terrible if Tyreke is on the floor. I love tyreke but I also recognize that he is playing at his best when he isn't the sole offensive creator on the floor. In fact when he has Beno on the floor with him the entire offense just runs more smoothly. Donte is a nice finisher defender and shooter but he simply isn't a creator or a ball handler. Leaving Evans out there by himself without another ball handler exposes him to even more double teams at the PG spot which will cause our offense to stagnate.

[ICMTM]

I don't think that assessment is inaccurate about Beno. I just see it a little different. I think Reke needs to facilitate better. It's not something I don't think he will never get. He will. Beno actually slows down that process for Tyreke. If Evans is going to be a lead guard facilitation is a big part of it.

About DG I really think he's a 2 guard that grew to 7 feet. Because he's tall he's been playing out of position. I really feel that as a 2 guard is where he can be the best pro player. He's not going to be a PF. He's quicker than most 3's. A 7ft 2 guard would get him PAID. He needs to fit into that role.

[Cassius]

Like Jonathan Bender

[alden19]

Play Donte like Lamar odom. Ball handling PF. Then we can use landry as trade bait.
How bout a 3 way deal

Tor- trade calderon, get diaw

sac- trade landry, get augustin & brown

Cha- trade augustin & brown & diaw, get landry and calderon

[longfellow44]

^^landry has way more value than a complete and total bust like augustine. If the goal was to move landry in favor of getting greene powerforward tume that would be a big mistake.

Personally im interested in the idea of landry for jeff greene, which leaves us open to trading casspi or donte greene for a combo guard that can help beno and evans in the back court.