Game 19: Indiana Pacers (7-10) @ Phoenix Suns (10-8)

[gaspar]

Yeah, let's bench our best player this year and start a 12th-man journeyman. That will surely solve all of our problems... Tolliver shouldn't even be in the rotation.

While i agree Markieff is far superior in most aspects to Tolliver, there is one thing that hasn't been going for him so far. His 3pt shooting. It has reached an all time low at 23%, and he takes career high 2.3 threes per game. And we all know how much Dragic and Bledsoe can profit from having a stretch-four with them on the floor. I think it's worth a try, but that doesn't have to mean Kiff will play less, he would just play at different times. Also i wouldn't mind someone else take that place instead of Tolliver, like Warren, but we still don't know if he's a legitimate 3pt threat (small sample so far).

I'm just gonna quote my post from a different thread:

This is **** nonsense. Goran Dragic's biggest problem is... Goran Dragic. Not Isaiah Thomas, not the Morris twins (definitely not Markieff), and not Jeff Hornacek. When Goran plays aggressive and makes his jumpshots everything looks different, like last night against the Pacers. But most the time Dragic looks passive and lost on the court, he can't turn the corner on the pick-and-roll or hit a jumper beyond 3 feet from the basket. His backcourt partner, the Morris twins or anyone else have very little to do with that. It's Goran who's dragging the team down, not the other way around.

Markieff on court, Dragic on court: 108.9 OffRtg, 100.7 DefRtg, 7.2 NetRtg
Markieff on court, Dragic off court: 111.5 OffRtg, 99.6 DefRtg, 11.9 NetRtg
Markieff off court, Dragic on court: 89.7 OffRtg, 117.8 DefRtg, -28.1 NetRtg

Dragic's stats per 36 minutes:
with Markieff on court: 19.3 pts, 4.5 reb, 4.2 ast, .541 FG%, .441 3P%
with Markieff off court: 12.7 pts, 1.5 reb, 1.8 ast, .294 FG%, .176 3P%



Markieff Morris in the starting lineup is the least of Goran Dragic's worries.

[suns91fan]

Yeah, let's bench our best player this year and start a 12th-man journeyman. That will surely solve all of our problems... Tolliver shouldn't even be in the rotation.

While i agree Markieff is far superior in most aspects to Tolliver, there is one thing that hasn't been going for him so far. His 3pt shooting. It has reached an all time low at 23%, and he takes career high 2.3 threes per game. And we all know how much Dragic and Bledsoe can profit from having a stretch-four with them on the floor. I think it's worth a try, but that doesn't have to mean Kiff will play less, he would just play at different times. Also i wouldn't mind someone else take that place instead of Tolliver, like Warren, but we still don't know if he's a legitimate 3pt threat (small sample so far).

I'm just gonna quote my post from a different thread:

This is **** nonsense. Goran Dragic's biggest problem is... Goran Dragic. Not Isaiah Thomas, not the Morris twins (definitely not Markieff), and not Jeff Hornacek. When Goran plays aggressive and makes his jumpshots everything looks different, like last night against the Pacers. But most the time Dragic looks passive and lost on the court, he can't turn the corner on the pick-and-roll or hit a jumper beyond 3 feet from the basket. His backcourt partner, the Morris twins or anyone else have very little to do with that. It's Goran who's dragging the team down, not the other way around.

Markieff on court, Dragic on court: 108.9 OffRtg, 100.7 DefRtg, 7.2 NetRtg
Markieff on court, Dragic off court: 111.5 OffRtg, 99.6 DefRtg, 11.9 NetRtg
Markieff off court, Dragic on court: 89.7 OffRtg, 117.8 DefRtg, -28.1 NetRtg

Dragic's stats per 36 minutes:
with Markieff on court: 19.3 pts, 4.5 reb, 4.2 ast, .541 FG%, .441 3P%
with Markieff off court: 12.7 pts, 1.5 reb, 1.8 ast, .294 FG%, .176 3P%



Markieff Morris in the starting lineup is the least of Goran Dragic's worries.

I never said Dragic had a problem because of Markieff or anyone else. He entered a season a bit slower (which is not unusual, he gets better as the season goes on), and it was completely on him. The reason why Dragic still works well with Markieff could be explained by the fact that a player guarding Kiff still perceives him as a three point threat. That way, he still gives the space to our guards to do what they do the best.

But...

The moment other teams scout our team based on this season (and not the last) is the moment they'll let Markieff completely open at the three point line, and be completely fine with it, letting him shoot as much as he wants (similar to what teams are doing to Josh Smith).

If he improves his 3pt shooting and proves that this was just temporary, then he should be a definite starter next to Dragic and Bledsoe. But if he doesn't, then it might become the problem. One extra man in the paint will make all the difference in stopping our guards while they drive to the basket.

EDIT: Concerning "Dragic on the court, Markieff off the court" stats (or vice-versa), i don't think it's very useful since it's a very small sample. Most of the time they are on the court at the same time. Only time where it might have happened, is in those games where Dragic wasn't at his best, so his minutes in the 2nd half were given to IT, forcing unusual rotations where Dragic played with the bench at some point.