ezzzp wrote:Blue_and_Whte wrote:FFBlitzace wrote:Payton is the best point guard on this team by a mile. If he's not starting and playing big minutes, then Skiles is doing a bad job. It's very cut and dry. I don't care what kind of changes there are in the offense this year, Payton is still our point guard. If Skiles thinks it's better to bench him instead of figuring it out, then he's incorrect and he's being stubborn and lazy. There's really no debate on that topic.
WHOA....Those are tons of preconceived notions. I disagree with you, it isn't that cut and dry and there is plenty of room for debate. I think you're completely ignoring the fact that coaches have to figure out the lineups and how each player fits. First of all, I'm not advocating that Napier or Watson start over Payton, nor that they are "better" than him. That said this team needs to start winning NOW and if that means starting the game with a PG that can spread the floor so be it.
I have no problem with bringing Payton off the bench if its going to put us in a position to win more games and I have confidence that Skiles will figure out which lineups will do that for us and when. Payton was given the starting PG job under Vaughn not Skiles and he needs to show improvement and that playing him will generate wins for us in order to keep his starting job imo.
I agree with you that Skiles needs to win, but he also has to manage his future.
Benching Payton might have an adverse effect to his confidence. I can't really explore his psychological make-up since I don't know Payton personally, but benching seems like an extreme over-reaction. Payton's minutes can be managed in the same way that Popovic managed Tony Parker's minutes until he fixed his shot...and there's no reason that Hawk type offense can't be adapted to fit this roster.
Plus, Payton has shown he can be a difference maker on the defensive end, and at a crucial position. Skiles knows that elite defenders win games too.
I'm not disagreeing with anything you're saying. You're 100% right. What I'm challenging is the premise that benching Payton automatically means Skiles is a lazy bum and a failure. There is some legitimacy to a scenario in which a starting PG who can spread the floor could possibly give the team a faster start on offense while relying on Skiles's proven method of team defense to keep the opposing team at bay. Also, if Payton is if such weak mindedness, (which I don't think he is) that he couldn't handle coming off the bench for the betterment of the team, especially to the point that it threatens the future success of the team then he doesn't need to be a starting PG in the NBA anyway. I think that scenario is a bit extreme and certainly worst case. While I do think part of his duties should be to manage the future of the team I don't think it should be at the expense of winning games. This season isn't just about Payton, and I think going through another losing season you're not talking about just one player's confidence, but an entire teams. I don't think these guys can handle another losing season.
Again, I'm not advocating for this to happen, I don't think we're better without Payton starting, or think that Skiles has decided to go that route, I'm just making the point that its a possibility. I'd also like to point out that if, hypothetically speaking, if bringing Payton off the bench led to more wins and Skiles ignored that and started him, wouldn't that be the equivalent to being lazy and stubborn, and essentially not doing his job?
