Laimbeer wrote:I'll agree the backcourt blows. Poor planning. And I don't hate the verdict. Wack has two "bigs" of his owm in more optimal roles.
But why the general comments about overlap and not being viable? How so? What match-ups am I losing? What's going down on both ends of the floor? Embiid is a great Giannis defender and fully capable of guarding wings, particularly the ones he's facing in this match-up. Does this team win any with a better (not great) backcourt? Genuinely curious.
Well for starters, where is the evidence of the part in bold? Outside of the first couple of years of his career when he was slimmer and more athletic, Embiid has not struck me as especially mobile or active as a defender - he's just great at the "traditional" stuff (rim protection and defending the post) when he's locked in. I would actually buy it more if you put a young Duncan or Ewing there. As far as being a great Giannis defender, Giannis has routinely put up outrageous numbers against Philly, and to my recollection they normally resort to Embiid because they don't have a great alternative.
Beyond all of the above, starting Wilt/Embiid/KG is pretty much gifting transition points to Giannis (to say nothing of Korver and DDV as trailers). I can promise you Embiid isn't getting back to stop those.
Offensively, it's even more of a problem. It's one thing to say Embiid can shoot threes (he shoots them OK but he's not exactly KAT out there) or KG is great from midrange, but those skills provide a lot less value when you shift them a position down. And how much room are you giving them to play "bully ball" when the paint is completely cluttered?
I don't think this approach would work even with the right bigs, but to me these definitely aren't the right bigs (KG aside).
