nate33 wrote:doclinkin wrote:Wright - size, IQ
Johnny D - hustle, rebounding
Bilal - length, shot blocking
Deni - positioning, footwork, angles, team play, IQ
Gafford - rim protection
... Butler...
There's no offense at all though.
As you said, Gafford won't be with the bench, it'll probably be Muscala. But at least Muscala opens things up a bit and allows Deni, Coulibali and Davis to attack a closeout and get to the rim while their shotblocker has to stick to Muscala spotting up. But they're still going to need a defense bender to get the offense going. Presumably, that will be Poole, probably in place of Davis.
It will be interesting to see if Butler can be a defense bender in place of Wright. His off-the-dribble 3-point game looks real good in G-League and Summer League. If that holds up and teams have to go topside on the pick-and-roll, he can get the defense into rotation and create for his teammates.
Right, in college Butler was noted as a 2-way player, hitting 41% from 3 in his championship season, while noted for his defense.
That said while I was mostly sketching this as an exercise to highlight the defensive potential on the roster, I wouldn't say there is zero offense. Defensive stops lead to fast break opportunities. That is an area where players like Deni and Bilal have a useful skillset. Gafford too.
I expect Bilal to struggle while assembling an NBA toolkit on offense. What he can do well is outpace the defense with long smooth strides, has shown a bit of wiggle in evading defenses on the break to slam it home. Likewise 'Turbo' mode Deni runs past most 3's & 4's in the league. Gafford too has the athletic edge on most bigs. Johnny D runs his heart out every play.
The fact that none of these players easily create for themselves in a crowd or against a set defense is another reason I'd like to see each get more opportunities in a 'Stops and Sprints' sort of line-up. All of the players listed need opportunities for easy buckets, need to develop confidence. Nothing rewards a player more than seeing the ball go through the hoop. No doubt we don't see long minutes in this exact configuration, but I can see playing this line --with one sub here or there-- to build a defensive wall and rest the starters. I can see the core of this group able to stifle and stymie opponent lines that are based on skill and finesse, if not stop the super big power line-ups.
Personally, of course I want to land a skilled 2 way starting Center, so that Gafford can play with maximum effort in whatever minutes he can earn. But you know, everybody wants that guy. Still, just saying, with ironclad outside defenders who give max effort, a team can afford to play a drop coverage defensive Big where otherwise they'd be stuck to the bench.
