payitforward wrote:doclinkin wrote:nate33 wrote:Maybe, but I think there are other factors at play.
Last season was the peak of "smallball". There were a ton of teams playing undersized centers and power forwards, leaving nobody on the court with the size to stop lobs to Gafford. So far this season, we've played frontcourts with a lot more size (Toronto with Birch and multiple rangy forwards (twice), Indy with Sabonis and Turner, Boston with Theus and Williams, Atlanta with Capela and Collins (twice), Cleveland with Jafro and Mobley.
We've got a bunch of smaller teams ahead of us on the schedule (New Orleans without Zion twice, Charlotte twice, Miami twice, OKC, Dallas, San Antonio). It'll be interesting to see if Gafford's production picks up.
Telling you. It's a big man resurgence. Teams have to have high percentage low post scorers nowadays because the easy points from outside, and dribble drive guards are not there anymore.
I'm convinced. & this may be another reason why we should keep all three of Gaff/Trez/TB -- & an argument for experimenting w/ 2 of the 3 on the floor together.
Another hopeful sign though is that players who score well in the mid-range or in traffic are still earning their points. Guys like DeRozan can eat in this new rule set. Brad makes adjustments, it is part of what has made him successful. Mid-range and scoring contested shots are in his toolkit. he is not getting easy points anymore, and won't until he can both shoot outside and score through contact --refs like to do their jobs, if you score despite the foul you are more likely to get the call-- but still I expect him to adjust and score the way playoff Brad used to.
I still don't see that a TB/Trez or TB/Gafford combo works except in rare situations. TB hits outside shots but only rarely and when he is wide open, it's not something that happens consistently enough to provide space for the ballhandlers to work. And we have been doing well defensively with Deni/Kuz' mobility at PF. A guy like Bertans still provides more utility by forcing bigs to chase him outside. Nobody needs to chase Bryant, he hits a standstill 3 if at all. I trust Wes though, if he sees something I don't then I bet he would try it at least in practice.
Can we keep all 3? Do we have the minutes for it? Do we have the roster room and cap room? I guess I'm like this. At every position it is useful to have quality depth. Players go down. Pick up fouls. If Gafford or Trez simply needed a day of rest on a back to back, who is our center? We are winning in part from quality depth, waves of reserves, a dynamic bench, fresh legs for defense. Brad goes out and we have 2-3 guys step up as ballhandlers and wing scorers. And on any given night a player is hot. We have a different player of the game every other night it seems. The squad is low-ego about it, and best of all both the players and the coach seem to recognize who is hot, who has a mismatch. Plays are designed to find them. I full expect Wes would find a good use for 3 high energy Bigs, would know which one to feed the ball on a Tuesday night in Cleveland or whatever.
In my daydream TB comes back, gives a few high energy quality minutes a game, he finds chemistry with players here and there. With minutes siphoned from either big, giving rest days or when fouls stack up. Advanced numbers look good, while counting stats are suppressed, and of course the contracts lag a few years behind the metagame, bigs are not yet the commodity they should be, so the market is not as robust as it may be. Teams don't offer a huge deal for a recuperating traditional Big who doesn't defend in space.
So given the chemistry and camaraderie of the team TB decides, all things being equal, he will re-ink here on a reasonable and fair contract with options and incentives. Likewise Trez who looks like he has found a home here, though he has surely earned his next contract. Once under contract, I have no doubt opportunity would arise for each of these players to have a spotlight. To have the upgraded version of last year's 3 headed mosnter in the middle.
To me though Center is like PG. If you have a good one you can ride them, but if that guy goes down you are sunk. And it is a vulnerable position when they play heavy minutes. Makes sense to me to not treat the back-ups as an afterthought, but to use every guy on your roster. Keep them fresh. Seems like there is a formula for success there, and it will become increasingly important to have all 3 in the chamber ready to go. And will become a coveted asset for teams who are dangling trades.
But yeah: if you can afford it.