Scottie isn't going to be a #1 option superstar in this league

[The Servant]

Scottie needs to go back to being used like he was in his rookie year lowkey. Non scoring primarily but can crash the offensive glass and attack mismatches. Push the ball on misses as the break starter or look to immediately attack before defenses are set.

No more pullup 3's or PnR's from the 3pt line where everyone goes under and no advantage is created. No more fake pg ball handling that leads to hot potato offense because the defense doesn't get sucked in and no one is actually open.

I agree with this. The Barnes as a point guard thing needs to end. He is a great passer, but he is not a threat to drive, not a threat to shoot the three, and it takes him away from some of his strengths like offensive rebounding.

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way? I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value. No one is going to guard him off-ball. He hasn’t shown big man skills like screening, rolling or posting up. Off-ball Barnes is a negative player on offense given what we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately on-ball Barnes has also mostly been a negative player too. If we’re going to minimize his role on offense we need him to be an all-defense level player or else he’s just a bad contract. I worry about Barnes capability to take on a new role given how he’s played up until this point. Maybe he can do it but I have serious doubts.

He shot 45% from the field and 27% from 3. His handle isn't that tight and the vision is so so. Not sure what kind of success a roster featuring that as their point of attack or primary ball handler will achieve, but it sounds like a 47 win/2nd round ceiling. To me, Scottie is a poor man's Chris Bosh and I can't imagine them going further than Bosh with Scootie.

Best bet at this point is set your pieces up to gain value on the market and blow it up and start the rebuild imo.

Scottie needs to go back to being used like he was in his rookie year lowkey. Non scoring primarily but can crash the offensive glass and attack mismatches. Push the ball on misses as the break starter or look to immediately attack before defenses are set.

No more pullup 3's or PnR's from the 3pt line where everyone goes under and no advantage is created. No more fake pg ball handling that leads to hot potato offense because the defense doesn't get sucked in and no one is actually open.

I want him taking those (2-3 per game), last year with the hand injury, it wasn't about making them, it was about getting comfortable in taking them.

I think those who want to go back to rookie year style are way to short sighted. His rookie year is where he should've got the PG reps.

He's a point guard at heart, and last year, Darko made things extremely difficult (on purpose) for him, the injuries didn't help.
Now, with the way the roster is constructed, it makes even more sense (to me anyway).

My opening day starting lineup would be.
Scottie / IQ / Ingram / CMB / Jakob

People are going to complain about the lack 3 point shooting, I can see this lineup working around that, and if the 3s are falling, that's a bonus.

I feel differently. The sooner Barnes recognizes and accepts he is not a PG, the better.

He doesn't have PG skills. His dribble is to high, he doesn't operate well as a PnR ball handler, he isn't elite in terms of vision (IQ is just as good, IMO), he is 0 threat if guys go under screens, etc.

He is a connector. A guy who is smart and can make great passes. But he is not a Point Guard.

A connector is exactly what he should be. Use him like Draymond Green and his on court value (in terms of winning) will go up. Scottie can crash the glass, get put backs, take advantage of his speed and size on mismatches etc. Hit wide open threes and keep the ball moving.

[tsherkin]

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way?

Lots of guys learn how to do basic things, yeah. I mean, he's not a good ATB player. He's not a good shooter, he's not an elite driver, he doesn't actually have a lot of guard skills. He has seemed comfortable around the edge of the key his whole career, though.

I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value.

He isn't a huge-value offensive player anyway. At least this way, maybe we can tailor his shot diet to make him an efficient mid-volume scorer who defends super well. And even though he's below-average at it, he can still shoot 36% from the corners. And he DOES have All-Defensive potential.

I feel differently. The sooner Barnes recognizes and accepts he is not a PG, the better.

100%

He doesn't have PG skills. His dribble is to high, he doesn't operate well as a PnR ball handler, he isn't elite in terms of vision (IQ is just as good, IMO), he is 0 threat if guys go under screens, etc.

He is a connector. A guy who is smart and can make great passes. But he is not a Point Guard.

Yeah, he doesn't have the on-ball proficiency to be a real primary playmaker. He is a guy who can be a nice hub on ball reversal, can press in transition and stuff, but he's not the guy you want attacking a set defense to start your offense.

[deck]

Scottie needs to go back to being used like he was in his rookie year lowkey. Non scoring primarily but can crash the offensive glass and attack mismatches. Push the ball on misses as the break starter or look to immediately attack before defenses are set.

No more pullup 3's or PnR's from the 3pt line where everyone goes under and no advantage is created. No more fake pg ball handling that leads to hot potato offense because the defense doesn't get sucked in and no one is actually open.

I agree with this. The Barnes as a point guard thing needs to end. He is a great passer, but he is not a threat to drive, not a threat to shoot the three, and it takes him away from some of his strengths like offensive rebounding.

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way? I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value. No one is going to guard him off-ball. He hasn’t shown big man skills like screening, rolling or posting up. Off-ball Barnes is a negative player on offense given what we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately on-ball Barnes has also mostly been a negative player too. If we’re going to minimize his role on offense we need him to be an all-defense level player or else he’s just a bad contract. I worry about Barnes capability to take on a new role given how he’s played up until this point. Maybe he can do it but I have serious doubts.

It's the other way around. Barnes was playing as a big in his first year, and that was when he was most successful. He has been trying to transition into a guard. I agree he would need to show more screening and rolling skills, but I've always seen him as a big man that is trying to force himself into a guard role.

[ontnut]

This year is certainly going to be a big determining factor as to Barnes' future. Unless he has a major breakout year scoring the basketball off of BI, I think he might start popping up in more trade rumours. CMB might take over his role as the wing stopper of the future, and we'd try to start working on deals with him and our picks for a superstar.

[TakeYourHeart]

Scottie needs to go back to being used like he was in his rookie year lowkey. Non scoring primarily but can crash the offensive glass and attack mismatches. Push the ball on misses as the break starter or look to immediately attack before defenses are set.

No more pullup 3's or PnR's from the 3pt line where everyone goes under and no advantage is created. No more fake pg ball handling that leads to hot potato offense because the defense doesn't get sucked in and no one is actually open.

I agree with this. The Barnes as a point guard thing needs to end. He is a great passer, but he is not a threat to drive, not a threat to shoot the three, and it takes him away from some of his strengths like offensive rebounding.

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way? I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value. No one is going to guard him off-ball. He hasn’t shown big man skills like screening, rolling or posting up. Off-ball Barnes is a negative player on offense given what we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately on-ball Barnes has also mostly been a negative player too. If we’re going to minimize his role on offense we need him to be an all-defense level player or else he’s just a bad contract. I worry about Barnes capability to take on a new role given how he’s played up until this point. Maybe he can do it but I have serious doubts.

Before Jak got here Scottie played the 5 quite a bit. This imo is the ideal Scottie possession

[ConSarnit]

I agree with this. The Barnes as a point guard thing needs to end. He is a great passer, but he is not a threat to drive, not a threat to shoot the three, and it takes him away from some of his strengths like offensive rebounding.

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way? I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value. No one is going to guard him off-ball. He hasn’t shown big man skills like screening, rolling or posting up. Off-ball Barnes is a negative player on offense given what we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately on-ball Barnes has also mostly been a negative player too. If we’re going to minimize his role on offense we need him to be an all-defense level player or else he’s just a bad contract. I worry about Barnes capability to take on a new role given how he’s played up until this point. Maybe he can do it but I have serious doubts.

It's the other way around. Barnes was playing as a big in his first year, and that was when he was most successful. He has been trying to transition into a guard. I agree he would need to show more screening and rolling skills, but I've always seen him as a big man that is trying to force himself into a guard role.

Is there any evidence of this?

Numbers that have stayed almost static across his first 4 years (including his rookie year):

Reb%
Screen assists
Post up frequency
Roll man frequency
Average shot distance

None of these things were all that different in his first year vs 4th. He got less on ball reps and shot fewer 3’s in his first year but that doesn’t mean he was doing more big man things. He wasn’t setting more screens or rolling more or rebounding more as a rookie. There is very little evidence he can actually do the big man things (on offense).

Obviously we should try and get him to do more traditional big man things on the offensive side but we don’t have much evidence he’ll actually be capable of doing it and most of what he’s shown so far is that he wants to play like a guard/wing.

[ConSarnit]

I agree with this. The Barnes as a point guard thing needs to end. He is a great passer, but he is not a threat to drive, not a threat to shoot the three, and it takes him away from some of his strengths like offensive rebounding.

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way? I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value. No one is going to guard him off-ball. He hasn’t shown big man skills like screening, rolling or posting up. Off-ball Barnes is a negative player on offense given what we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately on-ball Barnes has also mostly been a negative player too. If we’re going to minimize his role on offense we need him to be an all-defense level player or else he’s just a bad contract. I worry about Barnes capability to take on a new role given how he’s played up until this point. Maybe he can do it but I have serious doubts.

Before Jak got here Scottie played the 5 quite a bit. This imo is the ideal Scottie possession

He has to show he can protect the rim at a high level if we want to go this route (he has shown good flashes). That’s the hope this season. He should be able to become a very good roll man in that he has the size and strength to set good picks and the passing and ball handling to make good decisions on the roll. He just hasn’t done much of it so far. My question is will he have the mindset to shift roles given his predilection to wanting to play like a wing.

If Barnes can play small ball 5 and take on a more big man based role on offense I think that could really increase his value to the team.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

CMB starting to look good.

[YogurtProducer]

I agree with this. The Barnes as a point guard thing needs to end. He is a great passer, but he is not a threat to drive, not a threat to shoot the three, and it takes him away from some of his strengths like offensive rebounding.

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way? I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value. No one is going to guard him off-ball. He hasn’t shown big man skills like screening, rolling or posting up. Off-ball Barnes is a negative player on offense given what we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately on-ball Barnes has also mostly been a negative player too. If we’re going to minimize his role on offense we need him to be an all-defense level player or else he’s just a bad contract. I worry about Barnes capability to take on a new role given how he’s played up until this point. Maybe he can do it but I have serious doubts.

Before Jak got here Scottie played the 5 quite a bit. This imo is the ideal Scottie possession

This is EXACTLY how Scottie can be used. He in theory should be an incredible player in the short roll situations.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way? I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value. No one is going to guard him off-ball. He hasn’t shown big man skills like screening, rolling or posting up. Off-ball Barnes is a negative player on offense given what we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately on-ball Barnes has also mostly been a negative player too. If we’re going to minimize his role on offense we need him to be an all-defense level player or else he’s just a bad contract. I worry about Barnes capability to take on a new role given how he’s played up until this point. Maybe he can do it but I have serious doubts.

Before Jak got here Scottie played the 5 quite a bit. This imo is the ideal Scottie possession

This is EXACTLY how Scottie can be used. He in theory should be an incredible player in the short roll situations.

CMB would be dunking that shi...

[ConSarnit]

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way?

Lots of guys learn how to do basic things, yeah. I mean, he's not a good ATB player. He's not a good shooter, he's not an elite driver, he doesn't actually have a lot of guard skills. He has seemed comfortable around the edge of the key his whole career, though.

I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value.

He isn't a huge-value offensive player anyway. At least this way, maybe we can tailor his shot diet to make him an efficient mid-volume scorer who defends super well. And even though he's below-average at it, he can still shoot 36% from the corners. And he DOES have All-Defensive potential.

I feel differently. The sooner Barnes recognizes and accepts he is not a PG, the better.

100%

He doesn't have PG skills. His dribble is to high, he doesn't operate well as a PnR ball handler, he isn't elite in terms of vision (IQ is just as good, IMO), he is 0 threat if guys go under screens, etc.

He is a connector. A guy who is smart and can make great passes. But he is not a Point Guard.

Yeah, he doesn't have the on-ball proficiency to be a real primary playmaker. He is a guy who can be a nice hub on ball reversal, can press in transition and stuff, but he's not the guy you want attacking a set defense to start your offense.

Tailoring his shot diet doesn’t breed much optimism in my mind. We’re having the same talks about RJ. So now instead of having guys who create advantages for other players we’re talking about having to put players in roles to help themselves instead of the team as a whole.

I get we have to work with what we’ve got but it’s not overly confidence inspiring. If we’re paying guys $25m+ we need improvement, not mitigation.

[tsherkin]

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way? I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value. No one is going to guard him off-ball. He hasn’t shown big man skills like screening, rolling or posting up. Off-ball Barnes is a negative player on offense given what we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately on-ball Barnes has also mostly been a negative player too. If we’re going to minimize his role on offense we need him to be an all-defense level player or else he’s just a bad contract. I worry about Barnes capability to take on a new role given how he’s played up until this point. Maybe he can do it but I have serious doubts.

Before Jak got here Scottie played the 5 quite a bit. This imo is the ideal Scottie possession

This is EXACTLY how Scottie can be used. He in theory should be an incredible player in the short roll situations.

Yep, this is exactly the sort of thing which makes sense for him.

[tsherkin]

Tailoring his shot diet doesn’t breed much optimism in my mind. We’re having the same talks about RJ. So now instead of having guys who create advantages for other players we’re talking about having to put players in roles to help themselves instead of the team as a whole.

Scottie mostly doesn't create advantages for others when he's on-ball; that's a specific issue, beyond his horrendous inefficiency. There are other ways to use him, though, which leverage what tools he does have more effectively and with fewer problems in terms of his skill set.

I get we have to work with what we’ve got but it’s not overly confidence inspiring. If we’re paying guys $25m+ we need improvement, not mitigation.

Nor should it be terribly confidence-inspiring. This is what you get when you shoot yourself in the foot by trying to make a player into something he isn't, and paying him appropriately.

However, the optimistic scenario is that if we can pivot him into a guy who spends a lot of the time hovering in the top of the circle, setting screens and rolling back to the FT line, moving the ball and stuff, and otherwise occupying the dunker spot, then we can get offensive value out of him. And it frees us up to use the guys on the team who are better than Scottie to initiate the offense. And then he can focus on defense, and draw out his REAL value.

His playmaking is STARTLINGLY overrated because of the tools and skills he doesn't have, leastwise from the perspective of his ATB action. But if we start using him more like an old Karl Malone, his passing becomes a lot more interesting. Only he also does pretty well in transition, so we can use him there a bit, too.

[ConSarnit]

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way? I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value. No one is going to guard him off-ball. He hasn’t shown big man skills like screening, rolling or posting up. Off-ball Barnes is a negative player on offense given what we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately on-ball Barnes has also mostly been a negative player too. If we’re going to minimize his role on offense we need him to be an all-defense level player or else he’s just a bad contract. I worry about Barnes capability to take on a new role given how he’s played up until this point. Maybe he can do it but I have serious doubts.

Before Jak got here Scottie played the 5 quite a bit. This imo is the ideal Scottie possession

This is EXACTLY how Scottie can be used. He in theory should be an incredible player in the short roll situations.

This action works a lot better when you have someone like Siakam in the corner. It works far less effectively when you have Poeltl’s (or possibly CMB’s) defender camped in the paint. Ideally Sandro opens up some space but I still can’t tell if he’s a real rotation player or a 12mpg guy.

[tsherkin]

This action works a lot better when you have someone like Siakam in the corner. It works far less effectively when you have Poeltl’s (or possibly CMB’s) defender camped in the paint. Ideally Sandro opens up some space but I still can’t tell if he’s a real rotation player or a 12mpg guy.

Well, we'll see if CMB can hit the corner shot. But we can always also use these sets when Yak sits and Scottie is playing the 5, as well. There are options here. And considerations for the future, with other moves.

Or, when we get Mamu on the floor, that's another moment for it.

[deck]

I have a lot of doubts about this plan (even if it’s what we should be doing). What you’re talking about is turning Barnes into a “big” vs a “guard” (how he has been playing up until this point). Has there ever been a player who has successfully transitioned their play style in this way? I can’t think of any. If Barnes is not playmaking he loses much of his value. No one is going to guard him off-ball. He hasn’t shown big man skills like screening, rolling or posting up. Off-ball Barnes is a negative player on offense given what we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately on-ball Barnes has also mostly been a negative player too. If we’re going to minimize his role on offense we need him to be an all-defense level player or else he’s just a bad contract. I worry about Barnes capability to take on a new role given how he’s played up until this point. Maybe he can do it but I have serious doubts.

It's the other way around. Barnes was playing as a big in his first year, and that was when he was most successful. He has been trying to transition into a guard. I agree he would need to show more screening and rolling skills, but I've always seen him as a big man that is trying to force himself into a guard role.

Is there any evidence of this?

Numbers that have stayed almost static across his first 4 years (including his rookie year):

Reb%
Screen assists
Post up frequency
Roll man frequency
Average shot distance

None of these things were all that different in his first year vs 4th. He got less on ball reps and shot fewer 3’s in his first year but that doesn’t mean he was doing more big man things. He wasn’t setting more screens or rolling more or rebounding more as a rookie. There is very little evidence he can actually do the big man things (on offense).

Obviously we should try and get him to do more traditional big man things on the offensive side but we don’t have much evidence he’ll actually be capable of doing it and most of what he’s shown so far is that he wants to play like a guard/wing.

I form my opinions by watching the games, but yes there are also stats to substantiate this.

% of shots within 10 Feet:

Year 1: 57.5%
Year 4: 47.9%

Average Shot Distance

Year 1: 10.7ft
Year 4: 12.6ft

Offensive Rebounds Per 36 minutes

Year 1: 2.7
Year 4: 1.8

To be sure, I didn't make the argument that he was doing more or less 'big man things'. I made the argument that he came into the league as a big man / wing, and has been trying to do more guard things in the past two years. From watching the games, I would think this has been pretty obvious.

[ConSarnit]

Tailoring his shot diet doesn’t breed much optimism in my mind. We’re having the same talks about RJ. So now instead of having guys who create advantages for other players we’re talking about having to put players in roles to help themselves instead of the team as a whole.

Scottie mostly doesn't create advantages for others when he's on-ball; that's a specific issue, beyond his horrendous inefficiency. There are other ways to use him, though, which leverage what tools he does have more effectively and with fewer problems in terms of his skill set.

I get we have to work with what we’ve got but it’s not overly confidence inspiring. If we’re paying guys $25m+ we need improvement, not mitigation.

Nor should it be terribly confidence-inspiring. This is what you get when you shoot yourself in the foot by trying to make a player into something he isn't, and paying him appropriately.

However, the optimistic scenario is that if we can pivot him into a guy who spends a lot of the time hovering in the top of the circle, setting screens and rolling back to the FT line, moving the ball and stuff, and otherwise occupying the dunker spot, then we can get offensive value out of him. And it frees us up to use the guys on the team who are better than Scottie to initiate the offense. And then he can focus on defense, and draw out his REAL value.

His playmaking is STARTLINGLY overrated because of the tools and skills he doesn't have, leastwise from the perspective of his ATB action. But if we start using him more like an old Karl Malone, his passing becomes a lot more interesting. Only he also does pretty well in transition, so we can use him there a bit, too.

I’m not even sure how much “big man” Barnes will really help. We’re still looking at playing 2 non-shooting bigs a lot of the time. Outside of HOU (one of the craziest o-rebounding teams of all time) all of the top 15 offenses last season were getting some type of stretch element from their starting 4 or 5. We’re fighting an uphill battle on the offensive end if Poeltl/Barnes/CMB are getting the majority of minutes at the 4/5.

[tsherkin]

I’m not even sure how much “big man” Barnes will really help. We’re still looking at playing 2 non-shooting bigs a lot of the time. Outside of HOU (one of the craziest o-rebounding teams of all time) all of the top 15 offenses last season were getting some type of stretch element from their starting 4 or 5. We’re fighting an uphill battle on the offensive end if Poeltl/Barnes/CMB are getting the majority of minutes at the 4/5.

We need to be not-crap before we worry about fielding a top offense, man. Baby steps. We can't solve every problem all at once.

[ConSarnit]

It's the other way around. Barnes was playing as a big in his first year, and that was when he was most successful. He has been trying to transition into a guard. I agree he would need to show more screening and rolling skills, but I've always seen him as a big man that is trying to force himself into a guard role.

Is there any evidence of this?

Numbers that have stayed almost static across his first 4 years (including his rookie year):

Reb%
Screen assists
Post up frequency
Roll man frequency
Average shot distance

None of these things were all that different in his first year vs 4th. He got less on ball reps and shot fewer 3’s in his first year but that doesn’t mean he was doing more big man things. He wasn’t setting more screens or rolling more or rebounding more as a rookie. There is very little evidence he can actually do the big man things (on offense).

Obviously we should try and get him to do more traditional big man things on the offensive side but we don’t have much evidence he’ll actually be capable of doing it and most of what he’s shown so far is that he wants to play like a guard/wing.

I form my opinions by watching the games, but yes there are also stats to substantiate this.

% of shots within 10 Feet:

Year 1: 57.5%
Year 4: 47.9%

Average Shot Distance

Year 1: 10.7ft
Year 4: 12.6ft

Offensive Rebounds Per 36 minutes

Year 1: 2.7
Year 4: 1.8

To be sure, I didn't make the argument that he was doing more or less 'big man things'. I made the argument that he came into the league as a big man / wing, and has been trying to do more guard things in the past two years. From watching the games, I would think this has been pretty obvious.

I think we have a disagreement about what a “big” actually is and what they do on the floor. Taking shots closer to the rim doesn’t not make one play more like a big. Barnes did not do the things traditional big man do when he was a rookie. He wasn’t screening, he wasn’t posting up and he wasn’t acting as a roll man. Opportunistic garbage man type might a better designation but he wasn’t doing big man things (outside of trying to shoot closer to the basket because he couldn’t shoot from distance).

[ConSarnit]

I’m not even sure how much “big man” Barnes will really help. We’re still looking at playing 2 non-shooting bigs a lot of the time. Outside of HOU (one of the craziest o-rebounding teams of all time) all of the top 15 offenses last season were getting some type of stretch element from their starting 4 or 5. We’re fighting an uphill battle on the offensive end if Poeltl/Barnes/CMB are getting the majority of minutes at the 4/5.

We need to be not-crap before we worry about fielding a top offense, man. Baby steps. We can't solve every problem all at once.

Why? Outside of Roger’s making money why exactly do we need to be running out a middling team that has limited upside?