Scoot McGroot wrote:One_and_Done wrote:Scoot McGroot wrote:
Indy, Boston, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Detroit would? Heck, OKC would've started him with Chet at C rather than starting Hart/Cason.
Barnes is really good. His defense and passing, along with positional flexibility would all get him a starting spot. He may not be a great shooter, but he can slash and get to the rim to score enough to be a threat.
Yeh, I don't agree with most of those; only Indy, OKC, Cleveland, and Boston were contenders last year, and with his lack of shooting and need to hold the ball Barnes would have started for none of those teams. It would have substantially hurt their offence. The whole reason Siakam was traded was because he was a bad fit next to Barnes, and you're not taking you automatic 3&D small forward out of the line-up for Barnes.
If Indy had Barnes, Nesmith would have never started. He would've been the 6th man all year, though it all depends on
who Indy would've had to deal for Barnes.
Boston isn't benching Tatum or Brown for Barnes
They wouldn't have to. They'd return White to the bench as the super duper sub.
nor is OKC benching Jalen or Chet.
They wouldn't have to. They'd have been benching Cason Wallace or Isaiah Hartenstein, as I said in the post.
The last thing Cleveland needed next to their 2 bigs is a non-shooter.
They absolutely would've started Barnes over Hunter/Strus. 1,000%. The lack of shooting wouldn't have been as much of a problem as they'd have just subbed out one of the guys a little early and run with 2 of Barnes/Mobley/Allen at all times, and often with 3.
Teams aren't running hard and fast hockey line substitutions. They're on the fly, and often times adjusting based on matchups and who's playing hot on any given night. In the playoffs especially. Cleveland would've been in an awesome spot being able to sub out Allen and run lineups with Mobley/Barnes against Turner/Siakam, whereas Allen was a bad matchup in this series.
Don't overthink it. Teams play their talent whenever they can. Barnes would play.
Yeh, I don’t agree with any of this.
Your argument RE: Barnes starting over Nesmith is weird, as it seems to concede that Barnes starting over Nesmith would be a terrible idea, which would completely muck up the Pacers Scheme. Instead it proceeds from the position of “well, if Barnes had been there before Nesmith broke out, then Nesmith never would have started… ok, but that would have been a terrible outcome in hindsight. I could say the same thing about Draymond Green. If David Lee was healthy in 2015, he wouldn’t have started… but in hindsight it’s clear Green should have started all along.
As for Derrick White. 1) Derrick White is better than Barnes, and 2) White fits better than Barnes. I can’t imagine the Celtics benching White so they could start a non-shooting forward when they already had Brown and Tatum at the forward spots. White was there to run their offense, and can actually hit 3s. He’s also frankly a better defender than Barnes.
OKC was great with Hartenstein. They’re not benching him just to start another version of Giddey at the forward spot. That’s why they moved on from that player archetype. Wallace also makes more sense, because he shoots 3s well.
As for Cleveland, when you say “they’d sub one out really early”, you’re basically admitting that they shouldn’t be starting them together. The Cavs need an actual 3, one who can shoot, not a ball holder who can’t.