POLL: What would you like the starting backcourt to be?

[Snakebites]

Well, I'll give breaking this down a shot.

Knight starting is essentially a given. Drafting KCP over 3 point guards who were available and not reaches at the 8th pick (CJ, MCW, Burke) is to my mind a vote of confidence and an intention to roll with him for one more year. People may potentially want other alternatives but they aren't going to get them.

Beyond that, honestly we don't have the best options in the backcourt. I think Billups at his age and injury really isn't all that much more of a sure thing than KCP, they're simply question marks for different reasons.

KCP may not be ready or mature enough, and Billups most assuredly knows what he's doing out there but there's a good chance he'll either get hurt nor not have the capacity to play at a high level for many minutes anymore.

Starting Stuckey alongside Knight would be borderline suicidal given the shooting limitations the rest of our starting lineup already have. I see Stuckey as a bench player in our system for the last year in his contract with us.

So yeah, of the options, I'd probably just go ahead and give KCP a try. He's raw and really not prepared, but I don't really see Billups as that much more of a sure thing in terms of helping us win immediate games. Billups will only play 20 minutes per game (and who knows how many games he'll actually be logging those minutes), so this question may be a moot point other than the fact that a competent shooter is a MUST.

[Spider156]

Good Poll. Ideally, I'd like it to be Knight and KCP. But I can see us rolling with Billups and Knight to start the season. I can see Knight starting at the two and guarding the ones. After Billups sits down, I can see KCP coming in while Knight moves to the one.

[zeebneeb]

I cannot say enough to the fact that I hate the idea of starting Billups and Knight together. This is why im having us miss the playoffs this year, because I KNOW stupid **** like this will happen. two 6'3 guys defending the back-court, one is 36yo.

That is a recipe for disaster.

There is zero, and I mean zero reason not to start Pope at the SG slot this year. He is a shooter, and on a team devoid of shooters, it only makes sense to me. On most any other team, I would have him come off the bench, because he is a rookie, and he has to prove himself.

Here? Who in the hell should start over him? Its not like we have some older SG, who has earned his stripes by playing tough defense, and being a good teammate, or some all-star, superstar are borderline all-star.

We have who? Stuckey? Singler? Unless someone can give me a legit reason as to why anyone should start over Pope at the two(Unless its the Euro dude, Datome)I'll lose my damn mind when they DO start some boneheaded lineup in the back-court.

Im having nightmares about it. I don't want my return to basketball to be marred with an absolutely stupid starting back-court.

I am going to have to accept it though.

[StickAndMove]

Knight/KCP

Why waste our time starting a backcourt that will never lead to anything? Let them develop chemistry together, if the team sucks, so be it. We have 0 chance at a championship, and we might as well give ourselves a shot at Wiggins.

Chauncey wouldn't be able to handle starter minutes at this point anyway. As for Stuckey and Bynum...

[princeofpalace]

Id be fine with Knight-KCP to start the season and see if Knight has improved. If Knight hasnt improved then Id want to trade him for a guy like Kyle Lowry.

Ideally, Id like Lowry/Afflalo to be our starting backcourt or a similiar combination. Im hoping that Joe D isnt done making moves

[Part-time Lover]

If it were up to me, I'd like to start KCP and Knight. The frontcourt doesn't have any shooting as it is. Even if Moose were to improve his jumper this season, I'd prefer him working on the high post while having a respectable jumpshot than being a primary stretch 4

With Knight and KCP added to Dre, Monroe and Smith, they would be one of the best defensive teams on paper

lol if Bynum and Stuckey start with the current frontcourt, the paint would be too packed

But realistically, like most coaches I see Cheeks as the type of coach that makes players work for their minutes. So if a rookie in KCP or an unproven PG in Knight wants to start, they'd have to fight for it from the veteran players

Although knowing Chauncey would be best served at 15-20 minutes because of injury concerns and age. So I think Knight starts with either Chauncey or Singler

[Umbra]

Since I don't see a Jennings/Knight starting back-court option

Rightfully so.

[srt4b]

Billups/Knight/Bynum
Stuckey/KCP

[rmfc]

To start off the season:

PG/SG - Chauncey Billups
PG/SG - Brandon Knight

By mid-season:

PG - Brandon Knight
SG - KCP

[Notanoob]

I personally don't want to see Knight wasting time at SG at all. He should spend all year trying to be a point guard, and if at the end of the season it is apparent that he can't be a PG, then do as you wish.

I'd also like to see KCP starting, simply because he's the best SG on the team. Seriously, we have to have a shooter in the starting lineup, and Chauncey isn't playing SG anymore, so that leaves us with Knight and KCP (or Datome, but seriously guys, he's 6-9). Since I think that we all know that our offense is not going to be awfully good, we should try to maximize our advantage on defense, and that means letting KCP play. Sure, to start, he'll probably foul too much, as rookies are prone to doing, but by the end of the season it'll be clear that he's our best option there.

And since we need a ball handler to bring the ball up the court without risking an easy turnover, Billups should start over Knight. Knight's youth should give him an advantage defensively over Billups, but we can't rely completely on put-backs for our offense. We have to have someone capable of running the offense. Let Knight learn under CB1, but still give him major minutes.

Stuckey desperately needs to be traded. As a non-shooter, he has very little value to us, but he's a capable basketball player and needs to find a team where he can be the 6th man. At this point, I'd trade him away for almost anything.

[rmfc]

I expect Billups to play around 20mins per game. The rest will go to Knight.
Knight will play off the ball when Chauncey runs the offense and takes over the PG position once Chauncey hits the bench.
I anticipated this when the Calderon trade happened but Lawrence Frank went head over heels for Jose and let him end up hogging the basketball and making Knight play off the ball completely.

[zeebneeb]

To start off the season:

PG/SG - Chauncey Billups
PG/SG - Brandon Knight

By mid-season:

PG - Brandon Knight
SG - KCP

Yup. That is exactly what I see happening, and I say it takes around 15-20 games before everyone has a head slapping moment, and realizes;

"We have zero outside shooting on our starting back-court, and we are losing games in the first quarter. If only we had drafted a shooter/slasher...wait! I know, lets start Pope alongside Knight, or Billups!"

By that time we will be 8-12 and have a long road to hoe.

If we make the playoffs, its going to be ONLY because someone makes an adjustment early to the starting back-court, or doesn't do something asinine to begin with. Imagine our starters out there for a minute. Take a deep breath, and imagine our team on offense with;

Billups
Knight
Smith
Monroe
Drummond

Billups brings the Ball up the court, throws it down to Moose on the block. Moose then has the option of making a move and scoring, or passing to Drummond for a DYNAMITE DUNK! or, making a move and scoring, or passing to Drummond for a DYNAMITE DUNK! Our spacing(I cant believe im talking about spacing, but lets be honest here, its going to be a trainwreck form hell)is abysmal.

You can then try the same thing with Smith. The only way this works, is if teams collapse on Monroe, or Smith. If they don't, what happens? We are going to have a ton of shots going up with 1-5seconds left on the shot-clock, or run-outs from defensive plays. There is no one in that starting lineup, save for Billups, that can be a threat shooting the ball, who cannot drive to the lane like he used to, to keep the defense honest.

This may be the easiest team in the world, to defend. Getting a rebound may be a different story, or scoring on us, but lets be real here. So much cheating on defense can happen because we cant shoot the damn ball. Billups/Pope or Knight/Pope opens things up tremendously, as it provides a Shooter(s).

If Knight can consistently hit the open jumper, that helps as well. If he looks for his own shot, its even worse. I hope Billups teaches him that you can have a massive impact on the game, without shooting a single shot. How many games in the past did Billups run the show, not even taking a shot, and we were up by 10 at the end of the first quarter?

Now im just rambling, but im hoping the coaching staff sees the obvious and doesn't start Billups/Knight. It makes almost zero sense defensively and on offense it creates a trainwreck.

*sigh* Lets see what Mo' sees I guess.