Front Office to Ty: Make Some Lemonade with this!

[reapaman]

Defense wise it didn't really matter. Offensive and Intangibles dictated the lineups this season.

With that said, who would you start then?

[Inigo Montoya]

Defense wise it didn't really matter. Offensive and Intangibles dictated the lineups this season.

true. unfortunately, being a vet counts as an intangible and was a deciding factor.

With that said, who would you start then?

the problem is i can't just limit my answer to the back court because to me it is all related and each position affects all the others. so the best answer i can give you is:

mo (begrudgingly)
hayward
marvin
favors
al

since marvin is passive and lives off others, and favors demands the ball less on offense than millsap, this leaves hayward with a larger role - the one he had to go to the bench to get.

another option is
mo
burks
hayward
favors
al

this way you get the most athleticism and length, get rebounding at the 2 spot, while not sacrificing much perimeter shooting. you also get penetration which was sorely lacking in a mo+foye+marvin lineup, and more options for playmaking which is always a good thing when mo is your PG. the more playmakers on the court, the less the ball is in mo's hands, thus relegating him to a finisher as a spot up 3pt shooter - a role he is well suited for.

either way, you get better rebounding and defense. then your bench is kanter+millsap+marvin+foye+tinsley, which still gives you a decent blend of offense, rebounding and outside shooting.

[reapaman]

I honestly think Corbin wanted to bench Millsap but thought it would cause problems. We all remember Millsap getting upset when he got benched in the 4th quarter vs san antonio and houston. He pouted on the bench both times and was fustrated because his minutes were down from last season. If you benched him on the regular then he gets even more fustrated. Sure he gets paid to play so he should deal with it but your taking a chance with an older veteran with an expiring contract. This is why I blame the FO, why put a coach in that situation? Your right, its hard for Hayward to do his thing with Mo, Millsap, and Jefferson in the lineup which is why Foye replaced him in the lineup.

As for the second line up, even if we pretend Millsap wouldn't cause problems being benched. Thats a disaster waiting to happen, someone is going to struggle. You got 3 guys who operate best with the ball in their hands along with Jefferson who needs his touches. Mo in no situation this year showed a willingness to relinquish the primary ball handling role. Remember this is a guy who said in the off-season he would actually do the role you suggested but instead he did the opposite and went dribble crazy. This guy is a long time starter and really only played a backup role to chris paul in which he still got 28 mpg. He's not being a spot up shooter to hayward and burks, no chance. Plus if Hayward or Mo shots are not falling then your offense can really come to a halt. This is why ideally you want 3 guys who can shoot in the starting lineup. Also a trade-off with Burks is his decision making and costly turnover which with Mo doing the same would be painful.

Not feeling the 2nd lineup but the first lineup could work depending whether you care about Millsap's happiness and whether he could somehow cause problems if he's benched. Assuming he feeling he got to start Millsap then you can see why his lineup was the way it was and not just because he wanted to start the vets. It just kinda came together that way.

[StocktonShorts]

I blame the front office for Mo. Ty had no choice there, really.

But I blame Ty for playing Millsap and Foye so many minutes when both were underperforming. Hayward or Burks should've been starting over Foye.

Foye would've been a great guy to have off the bench to handle the ball a little and to knock down threes when the second unit struggled to get anything else going offensively.

More importantly it would've split up the terrible twosome of Mo and Foye.