rcklsscognition wrote:Probably a large part of the reason Fournier's legs were not with him on offense last year:
Question for 19-20: Can Fournier get his conditioning up to play both sides?
It doesn't look like Clifford's system has any accommodations for hiding a guy on defense.
Could you explain that more? I've always regarded Clifford as a coach that has been very good at masking his team's defensive weaknesses.
In his video series, Fournier and his agent stated that defensive load factored into his shooting.
Being a 2-way player is not something that many players can pull off when they have the level of offensive role that Fournier had. Guys that are good defenders nearly always drop off when they are given a bigger offensive role - and vice versa. Usually really good teams adjust to that with depth or have a good mixture of guys that are very good 1-way to balance off the equation.
Fournier was usually put on the most active guard/wing, while DJ was often hidden on the least mobile threat. That meant Fournier did a lot more running - at fast pace, fighting through screens designed to slow the defender from chasing that primary threat. Gordon did that for the bigger forward/wings. Both ran more than everyone else on the roster and led the team in minutes.
Fournier: 2490 min / 86.30 total defensive miles ran at a 4.02 average speed
Gordon: 2567 min / 84.90 total defensive miles ran at a 3.79 average speed
This is were I believe depth will help. Aminu and Fultz (hypothetically) might give Clifford two better options to allow both Gordon and Fournier to carry a more balanced load (both in minutes and defensive assignments). If Iwundu can become a more reliable offensive player, that could help as well.