Changes to the roster and rotation must be made

[darkangle901]

CHANGE# 1:

The Big Man Rotation

We should be taking advantage of our depth inside by keeping Marc and Zach very rested (and assumably, diminishing the chance of injury). Ed Davis had 10 minutes tonight against the Suns, even though Gasol was in foul trouble, while Randolph played nearly the whole game. That shouldn't be happening.

Not only do we need to keep Randolph and Gasol rested and healthy, but we're gonna need Davis and Arthur in the playoffs. We have to get Davis comfortable and familiar with our system, and let the other players learn what his strengths are and where he should get the ball.

Imagine a scenario where any of Randolph, Gasol, or even Arthur gets injured around playoff time. Ed Davis has to be ready to play huge minutes.

CHANGE #2

Tony Allen

I don't agree with the idea of starting Allen anymore. If the focus of our offense is going to be in the post, we simply have to put 3 point shooters on the floor. We are too easy to defend like this. Rudy Gay was able to bail us out sometimes when teams sank into the paint and the game got ugly. But he's gone.

I think ideally we start a pure shooter at SG. Chris Johnson can definitely sling it, and he looks fine defensively. He doesn't appear to be a very good ball-handler, but with Conley on the floor we don't need it. And when Pondexter comes back, Johnson can go back to the bench.

While a reduced role for TA would definitely help offensively, he is still perhaps too big a liability, especially since there isn't much shooting off the bench right now either. Ideally, I'd try to move him. It's possible the Bulls - a defensive minded team - might have interest when Rose comes back and makes Hinrich expendable.

Alternatively, the Lakers might look to improve their stable of perimeter defenders. Allen for Duhon or Blake also makes sense.

An Allen-for-veteran-PG swap also addresses the next problem:

CHANGE #3

Backup PG

I really like what Bayless is doing as a scorer, and I feel like we really need that off the bench. But it's clear that his game really suffers if he's asked to play point, so I'd like to keep him on the wing full-time.

Hollins has been trying to do that, but it's problematic because we only have one other PG behind Conley. Tony Wroten is a promising player, but the word is out on him - he can't shoot yet. Teams are simply running way under any screen set for him, so it's basically like playing 4 on 5 offense (3 on 5 if Allen is also on the court).

I definitely think Wroten is a keeper, but he needs to ride the pine for another year or so (and he needs to stay AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE from whoever calls himself Tony Allen's shooting coach). So this is just one more reason to deal for a veteran PG.

CHANGE #4

Add a big-time catch-and-shoot player

While pounding it into the post over and over and occasionally running pick and rolls is an okay offensive strategy most of the time, it leads to a lot of standing around. It's important to make teams work when they're on defense, if for no other reason than to wear down their scorers.

The thing that's missing from our offensive repertoire is off-ball motion. We do it some, but it's what I call "boilerplate" motion. In other words, it's something of a formality, and is generally run simply to get a post player a slightly deeper catch.

What I really want is to add a true catch-and-shoot guy like J.J. Redick. With most of the offense in the Western Conference coming from the perimeter, we could wear down some opposing scorers by running Redick off screens, or make teams waste the talent and energy of their best defender by making them chase a guy around who doesn't even have the ball.

I don't know what it'd take to get Redick, but I think something like cash (lord knows we have enough now) + a future protected 1st (that turns into a 2nd after a couple years) should be enough. We don't have to give up a player since we have that 7.5 mil TPE from the Rudy Gay trade.


So my ideal rotation is:

PG Conley / Hinrich
SG Redick / Bayless
SF Prince / Pondexter
PF Randolph / Arthur
C Gasol / Ed Davis


Then we would have 3 guys on the floor to hit threes at all times, and we could platoon our bigs a little bit so that either Gasol or Randolph is on the floor at all times, and we can run a nice combination of sets involving the post, high P&R, and motion. Few teams would be able to boast such offensive balance.

We'd still be a top defensive team because Prince matches up very well against most wing players, and Pondexter is also developing into a stopper. Maybe neither is quite as good as Allen, but they're close. Redick and Hinrich are not great defenders, but they are not liabilities either. And we still have Gasol (a dark-horse DPOY candidate) and Ed Davis for shot blocking.

And at the same time, offensively we go from bottom of the barrel to something respectable. I think teams would be very afraid to collapse in on Gasol and Randolph. The better spacing would increase efficiency, and reduce turnovers, which would also help our defense.

[vanjulio]

I agree. Bayless is no longer backup PG (THANK GOD) but then when conley isn't out there we have no point guard.... it's chaos. without Wroten playing we are stuck in the mud. If hollins won't play a backup center (haddadi) or pg then I think they need to change roster too. At the moment I don't want to see Daye or Ed Davis get any minutes. Give their minutes back to Wroten and Chris Johnson. They are minor league players but have been with the Grizz longer and look alive. Davis is a stiff but when Arthur goes 1/10 you might wonder could Davis do better.

I wouldn't hit panic button yet and let's see if they bounce back tonight in ATL. They need til the allstar break before we know what we really have here. I love what Tayshaun is bringing but the other guys are look more and more like filler and usesless.

[darkangle901]

I agree that we need to see what the new guys bring. It makes sense that Prince is fitting in fast and the others aren't - he is, after all, a very experienced player with a clear role, and they are still pretty green. Austin Daye is probably a career-scrub, but Davis needs some minutes, if for no other reason to but see if he is the future at PF.

My criticism, however, wasn't really about the new guys. It's about guys we already had.

I just don't think we can afford to play both Allen and Wroten. It's not fair to Gasol and Randolph to ask them to sumo wrestle 2-3 players in the post on every play.

And it's not just unfair; it won't work. Every great post player in history has been surrounded by shooters for a reason. It's that post players are more or less stationary offensive players working in a small area, so it's very easy for defenses to swarm them if they are free to leave someone open.

We just have to put some guys around them who can knock down shots.