charlie32 wrote:The line-up that could save Eddie Jordan (no, I don't think these guys are all Pisces): Brendan Haywood, Andray Blatche, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, AD/RM/GA.
If Butler's going to guard James, then Stephenson is unnecessary -- trust me when I tell you he's not going to shoot the lights out again, in fact, I am fairly sure he will regress to the 19% shooter he generally is in the playoffs by the middle of game 5. Jamison can guard Wally. Lebron would be forced to guard Butler (or Jamison) which if nothing else would tire him out, but I don't think he can guard either of them anyway. Our PG defends Gibson, Brown or whoever else they throw out there. With Wood and Blatche their offensive rebounding is neutralized and James has another shot blocker to deal with. Foul trouble could be an issue but that's a risk whether Blatche and Haywood are in at the same time or not.
This line-up creates all sorts of problems for the Cavaliers; unfortunately, I doubt we'll see it in this series.
Actually, if Arenas is out for the next game, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a little of Butler at SG. We only have a 3-man rotation in the backcourt right now since EJ apparently doesn't trust Nick Young (and I can understand why).
I don't know if you'll get that lineup with Blatche at the 4, it might be DSong. But I agree that with Jamison at SF and Butler at SG, it'll put pressure on Lebron to play D. That said, Lebron has done a pretty good job of defending Jamison in the past.
You can't start with that lineup because it takes Jamison out of the PF spot. If Jamison plays SF all game long, it leaves only Haywood, Blatche and DSong to split the 96 available minutes at PF and C. Foul trouble will probably keep Haywood and Blatche at around the 30 minute mark so DSong will have to play 36 or so minutes. It doesn't make much sense to bench Stevenson so we can play DSong 36 minutes.
It's a lineup worth trying in spurts - especially when Blatche is playing well and avoiding fouls.
