Will 82 games be enough for us to get our wings right?

[og15]

Starting has no implication on how many minutes you play though. So Wesley starting has no effect on still being able to use Pierce as a third shot creator in those situations.

The Clippers were the best offense in the regular season last year with Matt Barnes as the starting 3, so at least in comparison to most other teams, the Clippers offense was not as stagnant and predictable as often as others in the average game. So when you do have those situations, there's nothing that is forcing you to keep Wesley Johnson in the game, you can bring in Pierce or Lance to give other options.

Even early in the game, if in the first 5 minutes the offense is having issues, then you quickly bring Pierce or Lance in. The good thing about a guy like Wesley is that you don't feel the pressure of having to keep him on the court for an extended period of time. It's sort of like starting Willie Green, if he's working you keep him, but you can be quick to pull him out if needed.

This is why I'm never stressing about this whole starting thing. Wesley won't be finishing games, but on the average game, strategically it helps to maximize everyone by giving Wesley minutes with a lineup where you can possibly use his defense and he doesn't have to create so he's placed in a role where he can be maximized offensively. On the other side, since Doc likes to use full bench lineups, assuming Blake and CP are out for 12-14 mpg, for that quarter of time they are out it also helps to maximize the team productivity by having a guy like Pierce along with guys like Rivers and Stephenson, etc as opposed to having Johnson.

[madmaxmedia]

You're right- ultimately minutes is more important, especially since all these guys we acquired can play multiple positions.

[nickhx2]

wing-related: team signed luc richard mbah-a-moute, so we'll see him in training camp. funny, cause for the longest time he's been a guy i thought would help us out dramatically, but that was many years ago.

i haven't seen him play so i imagine he's not the same guy i wanted on the team back then.

[QRich3]

Yeah, Mbah a Moute has been on my favorite player list ever since his rookie year, and when the Bucks matched the offer sheet from Denver he went into my bargain salary list too. Sadly, injuries and the natural development of the game to banish guys who can't shoot at all, made him lose a ton of value, and he went from a top 5 wing defender in the league to a guy barely playable on a winning team.

In any case, he did play quite a lot of minutes for the 76ers last year, and we have the kind of team where we can compensate for a guy who hurts your offense but improves your wing defense dramatically. If his knee is ok and he can still play very good defense, I'd be happy to see him spend the whole season with us, he has more upside than Chuck Hayes in this team, I think. But his knee is probably not that ok

[madmaxmedia]

Man, I've always liked him as well! Thanks for letting us know, I hadn't seen that posted anywhere.

I also imagine he's not the same guy as a few years ago, but like QRich says maybe he can still have a role, if only in spot minutes. I guess it's all his knee is probably good for now-