My Starting 5

[jumivi]

[jefe]

Let's be real: Conley, Zbo and Gasol are locks to start - the only real question is the wing rotation.

I think I would start Tony & Qpon and bring Lee & Carter off the bench - matchups and whoever is playing well that particular night would dictate the closers for any individual game.

Tony seems to be a more tuned-in and productive player as a starter, and I like the idea of Carter being a playmaker / offensive catalyst for our bench unit. Qpon and Lee are slotted in where they are to complement Tony and Carter in terms of matching up with the opposition's 2s and 3s (i.e. Lee and Allen are probably too small together to cover the opposition's wings effectively).

[jumivi]

If Qpon is healthy and making 3´s im ok with Allen and him. But, AT THIS MOMENT, i chose Carter, couse Q didnt play last year, we know that he didnt get well with coach, and the Little time he played last year, he didnt do so well.

[Zordor]

Where Q-Pon could potentially get the starting position as a "try out" and I do think barring injury and poor play he will start atleast 20-30 games, but I think your best rotation would be of course having Conley, Randolph, and Gasol out there, but i think your starting wings depends on the health of the team, the amount of minutes they played the game before and the matchup.

The starting 5 I see getting the most start is
Conley
Allen
Carter
Randolph
Gasol

Simply because apart from Gasol (who is a big man) and conley, this is an older starting 5 and they can play that slow it down ball the grizzlies like to play along with grinding it out. This would be the starting 5 if the team is tougher, more physical, or if they have a star wing as Allen and conley have proven their defense on the perimeter and Vince carter is not one to be underestimated on the defensive end, I think in this situation Allen will always be on their best wing, mike will be on the 2 best option or their fastest option barring SF, and Vince Carter will defend your slower option or their 3rd best on the perimeter. Vince carter gives that scoring option to this starting 5 and saves Q-pon, Lee, Leur, and adams to help score for the second unit, however, your second unit will be more defense deprived and so this might not be good against a team with a very good bench like the spurs, but it would be good against a team with a top heavy amount of stars in the starting unit like the Cavs or the heat or the clippers or even the thunder

Other starting 5 you will see
Conley
Lee
Beasley (if he gets through training camp)
Randolph
Gasol

The reason for this is Beasley even though he was brought on as a backup PF for training camp, he can play the 3 with ease with his athleticism, i also think people undervalue Courtney Lee's Defensive skills, he isnt just a 3 point shooter, he is definitely a 3 and D guy who has also a very good slashing game most people dont know about because he doesnt use it as often as he probably should. Beasley also adds an amount of rebounding to this unit that despite their slight lack in offensive productivity, if he can grab a couple offensive boards (like he is great at) then that could definately help, plus this leaves two vets in Allen and Carter coming off the bench, both who can play defense and Carter can add to the scoring of the second unit. (It would make it one of the tougher second units behind maybe only the spurs)

Another one you might see would be
Conley
Allen
Q-Pon
Randolph
Gasol

Normally I would have said Lee or even Carter to start at the 2 and they definitely could in this scenario (Lee would add spreading the floor with more guys having to defend the perimeter and he would bring the second best wing defense for the grizzlies wing spot, and Carter would add a slashing aspect that would leave the floor open for Q-Pon to shoot the corner 3s) because of their scoring abilities and defense. However, I see Joeger using this particular one because even though having Lee Conley and Q-Pon spreading the defense across the perimeter would be nice, you are lacking 2 major grizzlies ideals, where this might space the floor and it will give Gasol at a few more outlet passes back out to the perimeter from the post, I am not sure this is the best offensive method for a team that needs to get back to using more of their post up game and it would leave them with a gap on defense against tougher matchups on defense. Q-pon has developed his D better than it used to be, but he is still not where it needs to be to be a solid starter at the 3 man position every game. Allen adds that defense however and leaves a plethora of scorers in the second unit with Lee, Carter, Leur, and Adams

I just think all in all your wings will switch based on who you just played and who you have left to play and the strategy and fatigue on each player, I think it will switch up a couple of times

Wings (Barring injury)
Lee (40 starts SG)
Allen (25 starts SG) (4 starts SF)
Carter (10 starts SG) ( 40 Starts SF)
Beasley (if he makes it out of camp) (8 starts SF)
Q-Pon (2 Starts SG) (27 Starts SF)
Prince ( 3 Starts SF because I do think he will get to start a couple games)
Adams (5 starts SG)

[vanjulio]

I'd like to see

Conley
Lee
Allen
ZBO
GASOL

They want to start fast.
When second season begins I'm hoping Vinsanity has acclimated himself to the starting SF position

[Zordor]

The only problem with Allen playing the SF for more than a couple of special cases is that he is very much undersized, on the defensive end he can manage and I know offensively he isnt a threat anyway really, but he still doesnt have the length to do it on a night in night out basis without tiring himself out, Carter has a bit more length and can play the SF position, but again he is going to have to switch off with other players and he wont be starting at SF every night for that reason.

Normal Minutes Distribution chart

Conley 35
Allen 26
Carter 28
Randolph 32
Gasol 33

Lee 25
Udrih 12
Koufus 12
Q-pon 11
Leur 10
Adams 8
Beasley 8

Bench
Calathes
Stokes
Prince

[Dynomike]

Conley
Allen
Q-pon
Zbo
Gasol

If Q-pon is ineffective after 20 or so games I'd like to see Lee as starter at SF. Lee, while undersized for the position, is serviceable as a 3&D guy. Carter can probably still give starter minutes but I'd rather keep him fresh for the playoffs.




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[Zordor]

I agree, where Lee might be undersized, this would play to memphis strength of occasionally faking the opponent out and playing small ball, and what this does is it makes matchups for the opponent (albeit slightly advantageous toward size) is it makes the matchups very difficult to determine. Also this adds an element to the grizzlies as you essentially have arguably (by case of lee) your 3 best perimeter defenders on the team and you have zbo and gasol locking down the middle, so in essence, it might be more taxing on Allen and Lee fatigue wise because I think they would switch defending the 3 spot, we have seen in training camp all the guys are a lot more fit than last year and in essence the other team is going to score almost a minimum. I played this setup a couple of times in NBA 2k14 and where I scored about normal for the grizzlies lacking offensive weapons in the starting lineup, (scored about 25-30 ish points in the quarter) , I held the nuggets and the blazers to just 4 points in the first quarter and many other teams similarly, of course i had to rest allen and lee a bit more after the first quarter, but that was some lockdown defense. So there is a good possibility you might see that as well for some games, especially at home, if they want to shut down a hot offense.