Jalen Bluntson wrote:Hart to the bench is kinda open for discussion. I am not calling for it after one game though. Randle single handedly killed Minnesota tonight. I don't think our lineup was the cause. It was Randle doing Randle things like he ALWAYS did here. He must have been saving it for tonight and playing more of a back seat role but, this game was more about him being a terrible person than Precious starting.
I get why people are thinking it but subs can handle any issue people have. Hart is a better player and has earned his starting gig IMO.
it's not so much an issue with who starts but thibs being overly loyal to hart and playing him 35+ mins a game and having him always close games etc. to me hart can either come off the bench or start, but should be getting closer to 25 mins unless deuce is having a bad game.
i want to see a true 5 out offense which simply doesn't exist with hart out there - despite his very good 3pt% this year. teams still ignore him and often guard him with their center or worst defender. he still hesitates to take the open catch and shoot 3s too often.
i love hart and he's a big part of the team. but i think thibs should lean more into the 5 out offense. even if it's just 20 or so mins a game. that cam-deuce-bridges-og-Kat lineup was unstoppable. swap out cam with brunson for some of it obviously.
i think someone posted the stats but we've barely played that lineup at all (brunson,deuce,bridges,og,kat) - why?? the simple answer is thibs plays hart nearly 40 mins in most games. hart brings a lot of positives to the game and has value. but i don't think he should be treated as automatically getting 35 mins while deuce gets 20-25. should be the other way around imo or at least ride the hot hand or what is working. some matchups will require more from hart where as others deuce should get more burn.