What Changes Would You Make? (Non-Trades)

[Trader_Joe]

I posted this in the game thread on some things I would experiment with and am expanding on some of them.


A. We need some speed and athleticism in the starting 5. Johnson has been stinking it up and used to play with our bench. I would move Anderson into the starting 5 over him. I like Anderson's D and ability to get off a 3 quickly. He also plays with intensity out there.

B. When AK is back, look to make him the starting PF to again add defense and athleticism into the starting 5. KG is a liability right now on offense. He's not hitting his shot and his confidence is shot. I don't think it's physical, I think it's mental. Sure a bench demotion won't help his confidence but if he accepts his role and plays better against 2nd units, perhaps we bring him back into the line-up

C. When D.Will is back, look to play D.Will alongside with SL more. D.Will is fine off the ball and it would be nice having two play makers out there. Both can also either score in the post or from the perimeter.

D. Don't play Terry. He is done and a major liability on D. If we need a 3 in a end of quarter/half situation, sure, but otherwise he cannot be counted on for long stretches.

E. Starting shopping everyone other than Lopez, Livingston and AK. Blatche and KG can block any trade and no one is taking JJ so by default they won't be shopped. But everyone else should be fair game including D.Will. Maybe just hearing their names in trade rumors will motivate these guys.

F. Play as slow as possible. We can't run with teams and get back on transition D.

G. Post up non-stop. Lopez, Livingston, JJ, PP, D.Will. The long 2's and the 3's lead to long rebounds and more transition points for the other team. Get to the line and get the other team in foul trouble. Even if the post player kicks out for a 3 at least they and hopefully others are there to rebound.

H. Limit Blatche's minutes so he doesn't get too comfortable out there. I don't think he's been as bad as many make him out to be, but he definitely loses focus over time, especially on D.

I. Ride Lopez like a pony. If he's in the game he needs to touch the ball on essentially every possession. He's our most efficient scorer by a mile. He gets the opposition into foul trouble and he gets to the line. We can't go away from him for stretches. Also, players like D.Will and Pierce need to work on the shovel pass off their penetration. Just give him the ball close in and generally good things happen.

My minutes..

D.Will (24) / Livingston (24)
Anderson (10) / JJ (28) / D.Williams (10)
Pierce (28) / Anderson (10) / AK (10)
AK (18) / Garnett (20) / Blatche (10)
Lopez (32) / Blatche (8) / Plumlee or Evans (8)

Overall, we need to make changes. Players cannot think they can stink up the joint and there not be any repercussions.

[CalamityX12]

there's just so much to change or adjust....

One adjustment I know for sure, is that if Lopez is hot, keep feeding him inside and low... i thought egos were checked, got to keep feeding Lopez while he's hot inside the paint.... Stop the stop feeding of him that happens often in the 2nd....

Lineup wise, IDK, its hard to move any of the 5 to bench. So for giggles, I would entertain PP to the bench with AK at SF if healthy. JJ still provides the outside scoring while we have length and ball creativity with AK who's not a scorer alone but someone who can set up KG n Lopez or get open for the pass/bucket. He can concentrate defensively and won't "take away" offensive opportunities from Dwill, JJ n Lopez. KG will get his when they come to him.

Dwill-JJ-AK-KG-BL.... does it work? in my head it looks good.

2nd unit will have Shaun, AA/Terry, PP, Plumlee/Evans, Blatche. What we have here is weak defense outside of PG n SF, that would be the catch 22. But a lineup like this, Livingston can still create for the Evans/Plumlee/Blatche or pass to a shooter in AA/Terry/PP. PP can now be the #1 scorer on this unit and can rely on Terry or AA to get open for 3 pt shooting.

SL-AA-PP-MP-AB... not sexy, may be too faulty defensively, however the ball movement should not be hindered as Shaun n PP with AA too being the ball distributors... allows Plumlee to be a finisher as well as Blatche can be a go to guy from the elbow or inside.

I would play AA more over Terry right now, think their 3pt shooting is about even with a nod to AA but AA does more defensively.

[therealbig3]

The biggest thing is our commitment towards defense...the effort from everyone aside from KG and Lopez has been atrocious.

Offensively, once we get healthy...I would use Deron and Livingston together more, and I would use AK as the first PF off the bench for KG instead of Blatche. When it's time for Blatche to come in a couple minutes later, I would bring him and Livingston in for Pierce and Johnson, and would really ride Deron and Lopez together. Deron-Johnson-Pierce-AK47-Lopez would work great imo, as would Deron-Livingston-AK47-Blatche-Lopez. I think KG should get a couple of more mpg...closer to 30 than 20 imo, and should get more consistent playing time (aka, don't pull him out after like a 3 minute stretch).

I would really limit the minutes for Terry, Evans, and Plumlee...they're pretty much scrubs at this point, useful for very short stretches for a quick spark off the bench, not guys who should be trusted for extended periods of time.

Other than that, it's just effort. Kidd is going to suck no matter what imo, the players just have to make up for it. Most notably, they need to figure things out defensively...the offense will come around, since Kidd's excuse is actually true for the most part regarding the offense...guys are just missing shots that they've made their entire careers. So that will inevitably get better. But defensively, we need much better effort from our team collectively.

[Ronito]

You touched on everything. The most important is slowing the game down. We have to use our size advantage. Playing fast doesn't do that.

[Ronito]

Also, I'd fire Kidd. I said that before he was hired.

Putting the ultimate "paper" team and expecting players to figure it out is so confounding I don't know where to start. What ran through Billy King's head when he hired him? He said Kidd had a gameplan, etc. etc. -- please, PLEASE, hint as to what was said in those interviews.

Coaching is criminally underrated in the NBA. You can't win a ring with a bad head coach. OKC has 2 top 10 players, but, sorry, you guys aren't winning anything with Brooks. Game plans, adjustments, and just making it all work is so crucial. Of course we can only comment on a coach's tactics and not the managing of egos and all that behind the scenes, but it's not like Kidd is known for that -- maybe because he's never coached at any level in his life. We have a NEGATIVE at head coach. Not a zero like PJ. I better stop...

Man, the Kidd hiring upsets me more than the Wallace trade. I got over that. I don't think I'll ever get over this. This is going to be the greatest 30 for 30 on ESPN once Kidd is fired, whenever that is.

[therealbig3]

Well, to be fair, many would argue that Erik Spoelstra is a terrible head coach, and he's won 2 championships.

Although personally, I think his in-game and game-to-game adjustments are criminally underrated, and that overall, he's a solid head coach.

[Ronito]

Well, to be fair, many would argue that Erik Spoelstra is a terrible head coach, and he's won 2 championships.

Although personally, I think his in-game and game-to-game adjustments are criminally underrated, and that overall, he's a solid head coach.

I think people only argue Spo is a bad head coach because he doesn't win every game with that roster. Just out of jealousy and hate. I see it all the time -- "Spo for coach of the year? No way, look at that roster!".

As you said, his adjustments are excellent. You can see them from game to game, but it's incredible how much they've changed from season to season.

But even then, those that think Spo is a poor head coach can't deny his ability to break down film and gameplan. At least he brings something to the table (if you think he's a bad head coach). What does Kidd bring?

On another note, we might be better off just going to our offense from last season. ISO away. Ironically enough. I'd try whatever Kidd's system is for a little longer, but at some point you need to recognize we *have* to make the playoffs regardless of what seed it is.

[PaulieWal]

Well, to be fair, many would argue that Erik Spoelstra is a terrible head coach, and he's won 2 championships.

Although personally, I think his in-game and game-to-game adjustments are criminally underrated, and that overall, he's a solid head coach.

He's definitely a solid coach. I do think that there aren't many who think he is a terrible coach, just some who still don't think he is a good coach. I think he's a top 5 coach in the league now behind Pop, Carlisle, Thibs, and tied with Doc. He struggled in 2011, especially in the Finals but he has definitely become a lot better since then. He also personally brokedown LeBron's shot chart apparently and told him to become more selective with his shots.

Do you think Kidd gets canned if the slide for the Nets continues? Although I didn't see the Nets dominating right away, I also didn't see them being 3-7. They better get their **** together soon since I maybe going to a game in the near future.

[N Ireland Nets]

To many cooks spoil the broth.

Our starting unit spend so much time defering to each other and making sure we each get looks and shots up instead of passing the ball to find the best opportunity to score or riding the hot hand.

I'd make a drastic change in the rotation and look to split up our starters across two teams.

Starting unit:

Williams
Johnson
Kirilenko
Blatche
Lopez

Believe it or not Blatche and Lopez have always looked decent together so I'd have no problem starting with this team. D Will runs the show, attacks constantly with AK cutting to the rim, Johnson the spot up shooter and all is fails iso at the end of the shot clock guy with Lopez the main threat and guy we look to run our offense through.

D Will attacks the rim a whole lot more while we look to play more of a inside out game with Lopez being fed often.

2nd unit:

Livingston
Anderson
Pierce
Plumlee/Evans
Garnett

As my 2nd unit. Let Pierce be the go to guy and get his touches up and into rhythm. Let KG play the 5 like he has the last few years rather than back to the 4 where he hasn't looked comfortable.Anderson is the spot up shooter with this lineup. Plumlee/Evans the energy guy with Livingston the distributor. It would also limit Pierce and KG's minutes naturally rather than the stupid rotation as currently constructed.

I know i'd feel very confident about our 2nd unit as above outplaying every other 2nd unit every night which is a huge advantage.

[Keith Van Horn]

Trader Joe and NIN, I like both of your ideas about spreading out the scorers more.

Maybe we need to either have Pierce or Johnson come off the bench. I used to say it should be Johnson... but maybe it should be Pierce. And the more I think about it now, why not have KG come off the bench too?

Start with

DWill
Johnson
Kirilenko
Blatche
Lopez

What needs to happen with this lineup is kill the low post. ALL of this guys will be able to post up at their positions. But mainly I would have Johnson and Lopez kill it down low and kick out to Williams and Blatch for jumpers.

Then bring in Pierce for AK and KG for Blatche (at PF to start)... Let them work it for a few minutes with the starters to feel comfortable. Then put in Livingston, Anderson, and Reggie (So Reggie plays PF now and KG center). This lineup will allow Pierce to get more looks without having to worry about feeding DWill, Johnson, and Lopez.

By the end of the game have Deron-Johnson-Pierce-AK or KG-Lopez.

I agree too about Terry, the less the better. And I just can't stand seeing TT out there. Lillard was killing him then TT would try to take it on the other end and just throw up bricks.

I mentioned this in the trade thread, but if there's any way we could get Faried, that would be awesome. To start him with Deron and have some young legs to run the floor with him and another option on the PnR other than Lopez, that would be great. Terry/Blatche for Faried if at all possible.

[bobbyc]

Starting unit:

Livingston
Williams
Pierce
Garnett
Lopez

Bench unit

Terry
Johnson
AK/ AA
Blatche
Plumlee

[DrazenForThree]

Bench dwill or give him a Healthy DNP-CD. See if that lights a fire under him.

Bring pierce off the bench and start alan anderson.

Dwill
Anderson
Johnson
KG
Lopez

Hide Dwill on their worst wing offensive player and put anderson defensively on their PG. should help defensively. then you have some ammo with livingston/pierce/blatch coming in off the bench and pierce can hero-chuck for a few minutes.

Play dwill as much with livingston as possible and try and make dwill more of a spot up 3 point shooter then an offensive creater. let livingston run the offense as much as possible.

Remove Terry from the rotation completely. His defense is too big a liability.

i really dont see that doing much. we just have alot of low effort guys. even when they are going well, they arent really busting it on both ends. thats a major issue. would love to see kidd bench these guys, but he wont cause they are all buddies

[DrazenForThree]

Oh, and id post up Lopez and Johnson pretty much any possesion where livingston isnt on the floor. those are the only 2 that can consistently get in the paint, draw a double, or beat their defender(even though jj doesnt finsih it well)

completely scrap the pick and pop. bench anyone who take a pick and pop 2 pointer with more then 8 seconds on the shot clock.

[DrazenForThree]

Also, I'd fire Kidd. I said that before he was hired.

Putting the ultimate "paper" team and expecting players to figure it out is so confounding I don't know where to start. What ran through Billy King's head when he hired him? He said Kidd had a gameplan, etc. etc. -- please, PLEASE, hint as to what was said in those interviews.

Coaching is criminally underrated in the NBA. You can't win a ring with a bad head coach. OKC has 2 top 10 players, but, sorry, you guys aren't winning anything with Brooks. Game plans, adjustments, and just making it all work is so crucial. Of course we can only comment on a coach's tactics and not the managing of egos and all that behind the scenes, but it's not like Kidd is known for that -- maybe because he's never coached at any level in his life. We have a NEGATIVE at head coach. Not a zero like PJ. I better stop...

Man, the Kidd hiring upsets me more than the Wallace trade. I got over that. I don't think I'll ever get over this. This is going to be the greatest 30 for 30 on ESPN once Kidd is fired, whenever that is.

yup... i said it right when we hired him too...

how can we expect the players to hold themselves accountable when the head coach doesnt hold himself accountable? we are already seeing it. kidd is the ultimate excuse maker.

[DrazenForThree]

Well, to be fair, many would argue that Erik Spoelstra is a terrible head coach, and he's won 2 championships.

Although personally, I think his in-game and game-to-game adjustments are criminally underrated, and that overall, he's a solid head coach.

He's definitely a solid coach. I do think that there aren't many who think he is a terrible coach, just some who still don't think he is a good coach. I think he's a top 5 coach in the league now behind Pop, Carlisle, Thibs, and tied with Doc. He struggled in 2011, especially in the Finals but he has definitely become a lot better since then. He also personally brokedown LeBron's shot chart apparently and told him to become more selective with his shots.

Do you think Kidd gets canned if the slide for the Nets continues? Although I didn't see the Nets dominating right away, I also didn't see them being 3-7. They better get their **** together soon since I maybe going to a game in the near future.

kidd wont be fired. PR wont allow it. King is the next in line to be fired, or possible a player is traded. kidd is safe IMO

[GetItDone]

The Kidd hiring even makes less sense as this past offseason was probably the best offseason for coaches.

You have guys like Karl, Hollins, SVG, etc out there and you hire someone with no coaching experience? Not a Nets fan, but I think it will be one of the FO's biggest regrets.

[DrazenForThree]

The Kidd hiring even makes less sense as this past offseason was probably the best offseason for coaches.

You have guys like Karl, Hollins, SVG, etc out there and you hire someone with no coaching experience? Not a Nets fan, but I think it will be one of the FO's biggest regrets.

im not sure those guys would consider us. i know SVG didnt. no one wants to coach a team that fired 2 in one season and has a huge coach killer as its star

[Paradise]

The Kidd hiring even makes less sense as this past offseason was probably the best offseason for coaches.

You have guys like Karl, Hollins, SVG, etc out there and you hire someone with no coaching experience? Not a Nets fan, but I think it will be one of the FO's biggest regrets.

It is but Kidd was the guy who made Pierce, AK, Livingston interested in joining the team. So, it's obviously a bad hire right now but then again, we probably don't get Livingston either.

[JMaine518]

Livingston needs to either start or has to get more mins off the bench.

Joe Johnson or Pierce should come off the bench.

[Paradise]

Let's be honest. None of these change a single thing.

The fact remains we have lost 7 games due to poor 3rd quarters. When we won the 3rd quarter, we won the game.

I don't think a lineup change helps that. It is a isssue that has been here since a year ago.