Good luck, Dr P!
RotationsPG: Luka Doncic (38) / Jason Terry (10)
SG: Mikal Bridges (28) / Jason Terry (20)
SF: Peja Stojakovic (28) / Mikal Bridges (10) / Thabo Sefolosha (10)
PF: Al Horford (28) / Peja Stojakovic (10) / Jerami Grant (10)
C: Bill Russell (38) / Al Horford (10)
OffenseWe run a PnR/PnP-heavy offense. Luka is one of the best floor generals of all time. Horford has a physical advantage vs Dr P's small-ball PFs. He can either roll to the basket or pop from 3. Russ would have been an elite roll man in the modern game thanks to his freakish athleticism. Was also a terrific ball handler and facilitator at the C position sorta like a rich man's Bam (and a rich man's Hakeem on defense). Peak Peja finished 4th in the MVP voting and made the all-NBA 2nd team. Can either stretch the floor for Luka or provide secondary shot creation. I'd argue he provides comparable impact to Tatum who has also peaked at #4 in the MVP voting. Terry brings additional scoring and shooting off the bench averaging an impressive 60.6 TS% in his selected season on 50/42/84 shooting splits. Bridges is the ultimate glue guy. He's perfectly happy in a low-usage role feeding off of Luka's gravity.
DefensePlan A
We switch all the non-Hakeem and Amen Thompson actions. Bridges is at his absolute defensive peak finishing 2nd in the DPOY voting and making the All-Defensive 1st team. Can comfortably assume POA duties and switch on wings. Russ and Horford are mobile switchable bigs who can defend both the paint and the perimeter. When one of them is involved in screening actions, the other pre-switches to Hakeem. This way, Hakeem is always facing a reliable post-up defender. Luka and Peja peel switch to the corners. Their primary job is to contest the corner 3. They may lack the lateral quicks to stay in front of slashers, but they have the positional size at 6'7'' and 6'10'' respectively to reliably contest shots on the perimeter. If they are beaten off the dribble, Russ and/or Horford got their back in the paint. We risk the 3 from Amen Thomspon to blitz the ball handler or double Hakeem. As great as Hakeem was, he lacked the court vision to consistently find the open man when doubled.
Plan B
Amen Thompson and Smart are unreliable shooters, to say the least. Hakeem and Kert Thomas are non-3pt shooters. When three of those guys are on the floor, we don't need a switch-heavy scheme anymore. Horford drops back to protect the paint vs Hakeem. Russ roams to provide cover wherever necessary. Bridges/Thabo assume primary POA duties.
FGA1965 Bill Russell 10.7 (=12.6x0.85)
2022 Luka Doncic 21.6
2004 Peja Stojakovic 17.1
2018 Al Horford 10.5
2022 Mikal Bridges 10.5
2005 Jason Terry 9.3
2012 Thabo Sefolosha 3.7
2017 Jerami Grant 4.1
Total: 87.5
