Potential Three-Guard Lineup?

[KF10]

Kings coach Paul Westphal offered a little more into his thinking in how he plans to map out playing time at small forward.

Beno Udrih. Kevin Martin. Tyreke Evans.

The Evans-Udrih backcourt has been used in the preseason before Francisco Garcia's injury. Without Garcia, those two along with Martin will help fill the void at small forward.

"Obviously Tyreke and Beno and Kevin are going to play a lot of those minutes at the two and the three spots," Westphal said. "And then there are minutes available and the candidates are (Andres Nocioni) and (Omri) Casspi and Donte (Greene) and Desmond (Mason)."

The Evans-Martin-Udrih combination makes sense for Westphal is his fondness for versatile players that make them interchangeable in his offense.

During Sunday's scrimmage the trio was on the floor together with Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes up front. And each of the guards brought the ball up at some point during practice.

Who plays the role of shooting guard or small forward, however, makes no difference.

"The two and the three are the same on our team," Westphal said. "It depends on who you match up with defensively. There's really not much difference."

Westphal said Evans and Udrih are both playing well, so expect to continue seeing them together on the floor.

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/sp ... nd%20Q%26A

Thoughts?

[pillwenney]

Interesting. The lack of size will definitely hurt us at times, but probably not too consistently. Tyreke has decent enough size for most SF's (not as tall, but exceptionally long, strong, and down to get the friction on). I'm more worried in that I don't see Tyreke and Beno being very complementary of each other offensively.

[Nicky Nix Nook]

I think it could work. I hope Beno thinks pass first though.

[SadKingsFan]

Interesting. The lack of size will definitely hurt us at times, but probably not too consistently. Tyreke has decent enough size for most SF's (not as tall, but exceptionally long, strong, and down to get the friction on). I'm more worried in that I don't see Tyreke and Beno being very complementary of each other offensively.

But Evans is playing the two in this situation right?

[Smills91]

Interesting. The lack of size will definitely hurt us at times, but probably not too consistently. Tyreke has decent enough size for most SF's (not as tall, but exceptionally long, strong, and down to get the friction on). I'm more worried in that I don't see Tyreke and Beno being very complementary of each other offensively.

But Evans is playing the two in this situation right?

The two and three are 'interchangeable' in Westphal's offense. Which I totally understand. They're just 'WINGS". The caveat is how to DEFEND and MATCH-UP with other teams. I think this takes away Tyreke's mismatches there. That's why I REALLY like him at the one. If Beno Udrih was a SF, I'd be ALL for this.

We need a Hedo-like SF, maybe Casspi, becomes that?

[RoyalCourtJestr]

I just wounder how Tyreke would do as a SG without the ball :/

[Smills91]

I just wounder how Tyreke would do as a SG without the ball :/

The Point Guard doesn't hold the ball exclusively. He'll have the ball up. Beno will probably just dribble the ball up and pass to Martin or Evans on most possessions.

[perezident]

what i gather from the article is that Beno plays the three Martin remains and Tyreke plays the one.

So the lineup looks like this> Tyreke/Martin/Beno/JT/Hawes

Beno really is playing well though, his outside shooting and ball handling skills have really improved a lot. Also I really think Stromile should be signed, and get those stiffs we have here at camp i.e, Ely and Davidson

[pillwenney]

Well Beno would never really play the 3 since now team would be dumb enough to put their SF on him and their PG on Tyreke/Kevin.

The Point Guard doesn't hold the ball exclusively. He'll have the ball up. Beno will probably just dribble the ball up and pass to Martin or Evans on most possessions.

But then, like, what's the point? I'm not worried about Tyreke bringing the ball up. I'm much more concerned about when he has to actually make plays for others

[_SRV_]

Beno is a smart player, I think he'll be able to live with 2 scorers at the wing. I'm worried that Evans would bulk up intentionally for this, which he shouldn't.

[Silver Man]

Might be a good thing to test out. It doesn't work, it doesn't work. We have the ability to change things up with the situation we're in this year.

[Smills91]

Well Beno would never really play the 3 since now team would be dumb enough to put their SF on him and their PG on Tyreke/Kevin.

The Point Guard doesn't hold the ball exclusively. He'll have the ball up. Beno will probably just dribble the ball up and pass to Martin or Evans on most possessions.

But then, like, what's the point? I'm not worried about Tyreke bringing the ball up. I'm much more concerned about when he has to actually make plays for others

To initiate the offense, which does take some effort, especially if opposing defenses press the ball. Let Beno exert that effort and allow him to be more of a spot shooter in the offense. Both Martin and Evans can make plays from the wing or pass the ball to either the high or low post and cut off of their. The pick and roll can be run from either wing side OR the top of the paint. It's really not an issue, as the offense is so fluid these days that you basically run through a set or two and get your guys where they're most comfortable with the ball.

[pillwenney]

I guess, I just don't totally know how much that plays to Beno's strengths. His PG stats got significantly better when Salmons was traded, and he had the ball in his hands more. That, and he wasn't a very good spot shooter last year. I just don't think both can really benefit from this.

[OGSactownballer]

I think that this all ponts back to what I had said before about Westphal's style of offense being uptempo and dependent on lots of flexible players who are in shape and athletic and can play at the 1-4 without a problem. Don't be surprised if we don't see anyone averaging 40 minutes a night - at least for the first half of the season - because of the constant movement and running that will be required.

I always saw Westphal as a Western Conference offense (if you will) type of guy. Not complete run 'n gun like Nellie or D'Antoni, but definately wide open and scoring oriented, not half-court and grind it out. But it does require an open mind to not categorizing guys into one position, but rather allowing them to showcase their strengths and cover their weaknesses by flexing between roles in the offense.

[KF10]

I think this is an interesting move by Westphal. I think both Beno and Evans are going to share the point guard duties during the course of the game. And Martin will be Martin. So, I see this as a "two point guards and one shooting guard" lineup not "one point guard, one shooting guard and one small forward" lineup. On offense, technically the guard positions are interchangeable but on defense is not interchangeable. So, they need to stick with the defensive matchup that suits them positively/ideally.

It's good to experiment this during the preseason, if it garners success, I would support it. If not, I will be against it. Simple as that. Guys like Greene and Casspi should be given a chance at the starting small forward role. Their competition is basically Nocioni and Mason. If they can't beat them out for minutes, god save us haha jk But seriously though, I think both of these guys (Greene/Casspi) can merit minutes if they can produce well. And I think they can.