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I'm having a little debate about Paul Millsap. I'm a big fan, and his emergence over the past year or two has been impressive. It seems there are those that think he's too small to play the PF position effectively, basing their entire point on the fact that he's only 6'7". I would like your reaction to this. I feel his size and strength and bulk do not hinder his effectiveness, and the fact his productivity made the jazz re-think the boozer situation is testament to that. So, what is your reaction to somebody saying Millsap is too small and hurts your team defensively?

That's the only position he plays. He wouldn't be a good SF at all.

Watch him play the Lakers and than try and tell me his height doesn't kill him.

There's times where that's the case, but as a general rule? No. He'd be better off playing with a true center, as opposed to Al, but Millsap's defensive issues are overstated. And on offense, size is rarely ever an issue for him. Dude just has a knack for getting the ball up around the basket.

oaktownwarriors87 wrote:Watch him play the Lakers and than try and tell me his height doesn't kill him.

Isn't that the case with most teams who face a Bynum/Gasol frontline? I'm asking in general, does his height make him ineffective as a PF in the NBA?

Well, do you think he is an ineffective player?

DelaneyRudd wrote:Well, do you think he is an ineffective player?

No, I think he's a very productive player. The guy I'm arguing against thinks he's not much better than Landry and not a good fit at the PF position because of his height.

gold_leader64 wrote:

DelaneyRudd wrote:Well, do you think he is an ineffective player?

No, I think he's a very productive player. The guy I'm arguing against thinks he's not much better than Landry and not a good fit at the PF position because of his height.

Well, in that case he is an effective Power Forward in the NBA since tha's the only thing he does at all.

gold_leader64 wrote:

oaktownwarriors87 wrote:Watch him play the Lakers and than try and tell me his height doesn't kill him.

Isn't that the case with most teams who face a Bynum/Gasol frontline? I'm asking in general, does his height make him ineffective as a PF in the NBA?

No. He is very efficient and rather consistent. He shoots over 54% from the floor, and many of those shots are 16 - 18 foot jumpers. He has great touch, is a solid finisher in traffic and very rarely takes a bad shot. The fact that he always plays hard gives him an advantage in that he is ready anytime his opponent lets up. As previously mentioned, Millsap would be fantastic on both sides of the floor alongside a behemoth like Hibbert.

Yeah, he's an effective 4 until the meets title contending front courts. Gasol, Garnett, Nowitski. These guys make his size a major issue. In most other contexts, he plays bigger than his defender.

I think Millsap is less affected by big guys then Boozer was. Odom was the one to give Sap fits and that was because of his speed + length combination.

dr0welf wrote:I think Millsap is less affected by big guys then Boozer was. Odom was the one to give Sap fits and that was because of his speed + length combination.

Good point. Odom seemed to destroy Millsap, even on the boards. He would just outmaneuver him, making whatever strength advantage he had useless for boxing him out. I still think he had trouble with longer defenders, but Odom's speed was the real weakness that I saw in the recent series.

He is better off comming off the bench. Starter size hurts him.