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you can just talk about who starts and who's in the rotation or you can go further and break down how many minutes they get, or you can go even further and break down the specific minutes like when guys come in or out. This is only for the 4 & 5 spots. Pierce was a solid 4 last year but Witt hasnt shown that he's a small ball guy. Couple that with the fact that Gooden was a pleasent surprise, KS was actually playing pretty solid before he got hurt, and the fact that we have what should be 4 consistent studs in front of them, I just dont see us going small any except for one specific game here or there.

Who do you think starts and who do you want to start? To me its all bitter sweet because I think our top 4 bigs especially could all be really good. I really believe in Hump & Blair but its bitter because I think its hard to play well if you play alot of guys. I just think guys need minutes and its hard to shine in limited run. The good thing is Hump talked alot about how he tried to be so effecient while getting limited minutes last year and Blair is use to playing that role. I know he wants more with us but it shows me that he can play quality ball even if its limited.

I dont want us to have 2 true units but its almost looking like we will. Like the starters play and then we come in with like Dre, Porter, Hump, & Blair and hey play a long stretch. I would like to see us mix up the groups more but I think its gonna be a lil hard and thats not even including if Rice may get some run. The only team to pull off something like that is the recent Spurs but maybe we can

I don't see the starting lineup changing at all. It should still be Nene and Wartat. I don't see KS sniffing the court unless there's an injury. We'll probably see Gooden sparingly as well in that Wittman will probably use him to stretch the defense instead of Blair. I know many here will probably still want Nene off the bench, but I'd rather him start. He's always the first to the bench anyway and Wittman is going to reduce his minutes.

Everyone is excited to see how much Wall and Beal will grow, but we should keep an eye of Wittman as well. Ted basically said "You are our guy" this offseason and I think we underachieved last year. Randy has a lot of toys to play with this year, so no excuses. Let's see if he can get the maximum from this roster.

My frontline rotation would be crazy good

PF- Yi Jianlian, Andray Blatche, Pecherov
C- Peter John Ramos, Kwame Brown, Etan Thomas

Since the frontline is stacked, I would make room for Javale McGee at the point guard slot.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f69IDWEyBek[/youtube]

Let's not count out Jahidi White from the frontline. Have heard he's making large strides this offseason.

Don't forget this guy

JWizmentality wrote:I don't see the starting lineup changing at all. It should still be Nene and Wartat. I don't see KS sniffing the court unless there's an injury. We'll probably see Gooden sparingly as well in that Wittman will probably use him to stretch the defense instead of Blair. I know many here will probably still want Nene off the bench, but I'd rather him start. He's always the first to the bench anyway and Wittman is going to reduce his minutes.

I don't think it matters much as long as one of Gortat or Nene are in the game at all times. Start them both, sit Nene early and then bring in Nene for the 2nd unit. Or simply bring Nene off the bench. Either is fine. I think any of our other bigs (Gooden, Blair, Humphries, Seraphin, Pierce) can play with either one of those guys except I wouldn't be too thrilled to see a Blair/Gortat combo.

nate33 wrote:

JWizmentality wrote:I don't see the starting lineup changing at all. It should still be Nene and Wartat. I don't see KS sniffing the court unless there's an injury. We'll probably see Gooden sparingly as well in that Wittman will probably use him to stretch the defense instead of Blair. I know many here will probably still want Nene off the bench, but I'd rather him start. He's always the first to the bench anyway and Wittman is going to reduce his minutes.

I don't think it matters much as long as one of Gortat or Nene are in the game at all times. Start them both, sit Nene early and then bring in Nene for the 2nd unit. Or simply bring Nene off the bench. Either is fine. I think any of our other bigs (Gooden, Blair, Humphries, Seraphin, Pierce) can play with either one of those guys except I wouldn't be too thrilled to see a Blair/Gortat combo.

Wittman is salivating

I know Witt is going to do things dramatically different but if it was me I'd have the big man rotation like this:

C Gortat (32 minutes) Humphries (16-20 minutes) Blair (5th big - in rotation when Nene is inevitably out)
PF Pierce (20 minutes) Nene (24-28 minutes depending on his health)

Extra depth: Gooden & Seraphin.

I'd start Porter at SF. Pierce would get about 8 minutes there and I would be pushing really hard to acquire another SF (Jae Crowder for example) to get the rest of those backup minutes.

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Pierce at PF really helps spread the floor for Wall and gives him & Beal more lanes to the basket. With the additional spacing, Wall's game could really take off as he'd no longer be driving into a lane with two bigs packing the paint. We really don't lose much defensively because Pierce is always in the right spot and is really hard to post up at PF because of his strength & position defense. Pierce is also like a coach on the floor that can be vocal and direct teammates into the right spot.

Nene as Pierce's backup would abuse backup bigs as an oversized PF and fits well with Humphries who can space the floor abit out to 18-20 feet. Humphries is a net-negative defender but works better at C and would have a defensive stud in Nene to cover some of his weaknesses and take the better opponent.

Blair would not be in the rotation when Nene plays but would see significant minutes over the course of the season as the 5th big who steps into the rotation when Nene is out. I'm not crazy about how Humphries & Blair fit together defensively which is why I'd look to limit that pairing as much as possible.

Humphries should start 23 Nene 25 either Blair/Gooden or Seraphin as Center backup. Gortat 28-30 ? 18-20.

Dat2U wrote:I know Witt is going to do things dramatically different but if it was me I'd have the big man rotation like this:

C Gortat (32 minutes) Humphries (16-20 minutes) Blair (5th big - in rotation when Nene is inevitably out)
PF Pierce (20 minutes) Nene (24-28 minutes depending on his health)

Extra depth: Gooden & Seraphin.

I'd start Porter at SF. Pierce would get about 8 minutes there and I would be pushing really hard to acquire another SF (Jae Crowder for example) to get the rest of those backup minutes.

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Pierce at PF really helps spread the floor for Wall and gives him & Beal more lanes to the basket. With the additional spacing, Wall's game could really take off as he'd no longer be driving into a lane with two bigs packing the paint. We really don't lose much defensively because Pierce is always in the right spot and is really hard to post up at PF because of his strength & position defense. Pierce is also like a coach on the floor that can be vocal and direct teammates into the right spot.

Nene as Pierce's backup would abuse backup bigs as an oversized PF and fits well with Humphries who can space the floor abit out to 18-20 feet. Humphries is a net-negative defender but works better at C and would have a defensive stud in Nene to cover some of his weaknesses and take the better opponent.

Blair would not be in the rotation when Nene plays but would see significant minutes over the course of the season as the 5th big who steps into the rotation when Nene is out. I'm not crazy about how Humphries & Blair fit together defensively which is why I'd look to limit that pairing as much as possible.

i believe Blair could be a stud and maybe even a better player than Pierce at this point so Im not a fan of him getting 0 while Pierce gets all those minutes at the 4. Also, if Pierce is playing 20 at the 4 then who's getting all those minutes at the 3? You comfortable with Pierce playing like 32mpg this year and Porter getting 36mpg at the 3 or you going to let some other guys play the 3 also? Im not saying Im against it. Just want to know your real thoughts

dlts20 wrote:i believe Blair could be a stud and maybe even a better player than Pierce at this point so Im not a fan of him getting 0 while Pierce gets all those minutes at the 4. Also, if Pierce is playing 20 at the 4 then who's getting all those minutes at the 3? You comfortable with Pierce playing like 32mpg this year and Porter getting 36mpg at the 3 or you going to let some other guys play the 3 also? Im not saying Im against it. Just want to know your real thoughts

I disagree... strongly on Blair. He's a top notch rebounder but in terms of defense, offensive skill set, & overall b-ball IQ, he falls far short of what a 37-year old Pierce brings to the table. Pierce defends the post better than Blair & even Humphries. Also Pierce's ability to force PFs to guard him on the perimeter is something that shouldn't be overlooked, especially if you want to have Wall in the ideal position to suceed.

I'd cap Pierce's minutes at 27/28 minutes a night. He'd steal a few minutes at SF each night. I see Porter as 24-28 minute player to start. That's why I'd love a guy like Crowder or similar type of defensive minded SF to backup for 10-15 minutes to either Webster's back or Rice is ready to assume a good chunk of minutes backing up the wing positions.

Dat2U wrote:I know Witt is going to do things dramatically different but if it was me I'd have the big man rotation like this:

C Gortat (32 minutes) Humphries (16-20 minutes) Blair (5th big - in rotation when Nene is inevitably out)
PF Pierce (20 minutes) Nene (24-28 minutes depending on his health)

Extra depth: Gooden & Seraphin.

I'd start Porter at SF. Pierce would get about 8 minutes there and I would be pushing really hard to acquire another SF (Jae Crowder for example) to get the rest of those backup minutes.

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Pierce at PF really helps spread the floor for Wall and gives him & Beal more lanes to the basket. With the additional spacing, Wall's game could really take off as he'd no longer be driving into a lane with two bigs packing the paint. We really don't lose much defensively because Pierce is always in the right spot and is really hard to post up at PF because of his strength & position defense. Pierce is also like a coach on the floor that can be vocal and direct teammates into the right spot.

Nene as Pierce's backup would abuse backup bigs as an oversized PF and fits well with Humphries who can space the floor abit out to 18-20 feet. Humphries is a net-negative defender but works better at C and would have a defensive stud in Nene to cover some of his weaknesses and take the better opponent.

Blair would not be in the rotation when Nene plays but would see significant minutes over the course of the season as the 5th big who steps into the rotation when Nene is out. I'm not crazy about how Humphries & Blair fit together defensively which is why I'd look to limit that pairing as much as possible.

OK, pretty innovative. But without a trade, would you then breakup all the wing minutes to Porter/Rice/Beal until Webster comes back? Definitely a risky move but the risk/reward could make it worthwhile.

Dat2U wrote:

dlts20 wrote:i believe Blair could be a stud and maybe even a better player than Pierce at this point so Im not a fan of him getting 0 while Pierce gets all those minutes at the 4. Also, if Pierce is playing 20 at the 4 then who's getting all those minutes at the 3? You comfortable with Pierce playing like 32mpg this year and Porter getting 36mpg at the 3 or you going to let some other guys play the 3 also? Im not saying Im against it. Just want to know your real thoughts

I disagree... strongly on Blair. He's a top notch rebounder but in terms of defense, offensive skill set, & overall b-ball IQ, he falls far short of what a 37-year old Pierce brings to the table. Pierce defends the post better than Blair & even Humphries. Also Pierce's ability to force PFs to guard him on the perimeter is something that shouldn't be overlooked, especially if you want to have Wall in the ideal position to suceed.

I'd cap Pierce's minutes at 27/28 minutes a night. He'd steal a few minutes at SF each night. I see Porter as 24-28 minute player to start. That's why I'd love a guy like Crowder or similar type of defensive minded SF to backup for 10-15 minutes to either Webster's back or Rice is ready to assume a good chunk of minutes backing up the wing positions.

no, I would love to play small ball with Pierce but I just dont ever see Witt doing it even if we had scrub bigs, let alone capable one's. I also see Blair as more of a 5 than a 4 but I think his overall play may suprise you, especially his IQ. I think he's mostly just been trapped behind 2 hof's in Dirk & Duncan his whole career and in team oriented systems. I think he could shine with us if given the time but he wont be because Nene, Gortat, and Hump are very good also.

I also think there is a flip side with him thats a huge plus and that is he learned from 2 ATG's, learned from 2 great coaches & orginizations, learn how to play the right way, gained huge playoff experince, and did this while all still being super young. I think he could be awesome right now if given the minutes. Him and Hump. I think we could still win alot of games if Nene & Gortat went down and we played with those 2 starting

Well, I would be surprised if we aren't starting Gortat, Nene, Pierce.


What I would do is start Gortat at C and Humphries at PF, with Nene off the bench as C/PF 6th man. Then use Blair (C) and Gooden (PF) as additional depth as needed.

SF I just go with a straight Pierce/Porter rotation.

Once Webster comes back a small ball unit of Webster at SF and Pierce PF could be a useful option to throw out there at times.

I would have Gortat 32mins, Nene 26mins, Blair 15mins humphries 20mins. Honestly I would rather Nene be the 1st big off the bench or even start Humphries who can stretch the floor better and have nene off the bench. I think Nene and Blair can really hurt a lot of teams. Blair has real great hands and get a lot of steals from being active. I've seen games of him getting 30 and 20 so he's really good when he's locked in. He will set great screens for Wall and is good in the pick and roll.

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For the guys who want Pierce to play PF alot he is not good there offensively it helps,however defensively he cant rebound as well as other PF and hes in the right place but just not strong enough.This is my favorite player but hes playing out of position defensively at the PF unless you have a huge defensive force in the middle like Anothny davis hes really not fit to play the Power Forward role full time.Yes he can get by in certain games and certain match ups but throughout a season there will be nights he will be abused...

Id recommend using gortat/nene/Porter bring in Pierce for nene then when porter sits play PP at Sf and end of game lineup should be gortat/nene/PP

There was actually a stat sheet put out there not long ago that showed Pierce as having an incredibly good defensive year at the PF position last season

Dark Faze wrote:There was actually a stat sheet put out there not long ago that showed Pierce as having an incredibly good defensive year at the PF position last season

But if we play Pierce at the PF slot a majority of the time, I would then call into question many of the other FA signings - no? You may be right, but then it is #soEG

dckingsfan wrote:

Dark Faze wrote:There was actually a stat sheet put out there not long ago that showed Pierce as having an incredibly good defensive year at the PF position last season

But if we play Pierce at the PF slot a majority of the time, I would then call into question many of the other FA signings - no? You may be right, but then it is #soEG

i doubt he plays pf much--its just not wittmans thing

Dark Faze wrote:

dckingsfan wrote:

Dark Faze wrote:There was actually a stat sheet put out there not long ago that showed Pierce as having an incredibly good defensive year at the PF position last season

But if we play Pierce at the PF slot a majority of the time, I would then call into question many of the other FA signings - no? You may be right, but then it is #soEG

i doubt he plays pf much--its just not wittmans thing

Yep, I don't think that Wittman is going to play a lot of small ball and the best indicator is who we grabbed in free agency.