Team A or B

[GeorgeMarcus]

TEAM A

Starters:
Manute Bol
Charles Barkley
Andrei Kirilenko
Michael Redd
Baron Davis

Bench:
Al Horford
CJ McCollum
Nate McMillan

Rotation:
Bol (24) / Horford (24)
Barkley (40) / Horford (8)
Kirilenko (32) / Redd (16)
Redd (16) / McCollum (28) / McMillan (4)
Davis (32) / McMillan (16)

VS

TEAM B

Starters:
Domantas Sabonis
Anthony Davis
Detlef Shrempf
Sidney Moncrief
Terry Porter

Bench:
Jeff Hornacek
Theo Ratliff
Boris Diaw

Rotation:
Sabonis (24) / Ratliff (24)
Davis (40) / Diaw (8)
Shrempf (32) / Diaw (16)
Moncrief (36) / Hornacek (12)
Porter (32) / Hornacek (16)

[udfa]

Team A in 5

[Fadeaway_J]

Why is Horford not starting for Team A?

[GeorgeMarcus]

Why is Horford not starting for Team A?

He still sees 8 more minutes than Manute, but I consider it to be a better allocation of skills.

[Fadeaway_J]

Why is Horford not starting for Team A?

He still sees 8 more minutes than Manute, but I consider it to be a better allocation of skills.

Manute is playing way too much for my liking. Horford is a perfect fit for that frontcourt anyway.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Why is Horford not starting for Team A?

He still sees 8 more minutes than Manute, but I consider it to be a better allocation of skills.

Manute is playing way too much for my liking. Horford is a perfect fit for that frontcourt anyway.

Rookie Manute was a defensive force who sustained 30+ mpg in the post season. His rim protection would be a useful addition to the SL, while Horford's play-making/versatility/general demeanor would translate well off the bench. Even if I dropped him to 20 min and gave the other 4 to Horford or AK, I still think it would make more sense to start him. He compliments Barkley well in the front court in that he's basically an exactly opposite player.

[Fadeaway_J]

He still sees 8 more minutes than Manute, but I consider it to be a better allocation of skills.

Manute is playing way too much for my liking. Horford is a perfect fit for that frontcourt anyway.

Rookie Manute was a defensive force who sustained 30+ mpg in the post season. His rim protection would be a useful addition to the SL, while Horford's play-making/versatility/general demeanor would translate well off the bench. Even if I dropped him to 20 min and gave the other 4 to Horford or AK, I still think it would make more sense to start him. He compliments Barkley well in the front court in that he's basically an exactly opposite player.

He's just a horrible offensive player though. Horford also brings high-level defensive play and spaces the floor alongside the other two forwards. You've already got an amazing rim protector in AK.

I mean I still think Team A is better overall but Bol playing half the game is a sticking point for me.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Manute is playing way too much for my liking. Horford is a perfect fit for that frontcourt anyway.

Rookie Manute was a defensive force who sustained 30+ mpg in the post season. His rim protection would be a useful addition to the SL, while Horford's play-making/versatility/general demeanor would translate well off the bench. Even if I dropped him to 20 min and gave the other 4 to Horford or AK, I still think it would make more sense to start him. He compliments Barkley well in the front court in that he's basically an exactly opposite player.

He's just a horrible offensive player though. Horford also brings high-level defensive play and spaces the floor alongside the other two forwards. You've already got an amazing rim protector in AK.

I mean I still think Team A is better overall but Bol playing half the game is a sticking point for me.

I'd consider Manute/Horford pretty close in the spacing department. As limited as Bol was offensively, he almost exclusively operated away from the basket. AK was a great rim protector but his length/mobility was even more useful on the perimeter.

McMillan was a seriously low-volume scorer for a guard, so staggering his minutes with Manute's would make the most sense IMO.

[Fadeaway_J]

Rookie Manute was a defensive force who sustained 30+ mpg in the post season. His rim protection would be a useful addition to the SL, while Horford's play-making/versatility/general demeanor would translate well off the bench. Even if I dropped him to 20 min and gave the other 4 to Horford or AK, I still think it would make more sense to start him. He compliments Barkley well in the front court in that he's basically an exactly opposite player.

He's just a horrible offensive player though. Horford also brings high-level defensive play and spaces the floor alongside the other two forwards. You've already got an amazing rim protector in AK.

I mean I still think Team A is better overall but Bol playing half the game is a sticking point for me.

I'd consider Manute/Horford pretty close in the spacing department. As limited as Bol was offensively, he almost exclusively operated away from the basket. AK was a great rim protector but his length/mobility was even more useful on the perimeter.

McMillan was a seriously low-volume scorer for a guard, so staggering his minutes with Manute's would make the most sense IMO.

Bol may have operated away from the basket but he wasn't very good at it. Horford is a 35-40% 3-point shooter and also very accurate from deep midrange. I don't think they're close at all.

[GeorgeMarcus]

.

Also, playing next to 3 'offense first' players like Baron, Redd and Barkley (+ a useful weapon in AK) wouldn't require much usage offensively. He would just need to hit the occasional open 3/mid range J.

[GeorgeMarcus]

He's just a horrible offensive player though. Horford also brings high-level defensive play and spaces the floor alongside the other two forwards. You've already got an amazing rim protector in AK.

I mean I still think Team A is better overall but Bol playing half the game is a sticking point for me.

I'd consider Manute/Horford pretty close in the spacing department. As limited as Bol was offensively, he almost exclusively operated away from the basket. AK was a great rim protector but his length/mobility was even more useful on the perimeter.

McMillan was a seriously low-volume scorer for a guard, so staggering his minutes with Manute's would make the most sense IMO.

Bol may have operated away from the basket but he wasn't very good at it. Horford is a 35-40% 3-point shooter and also very accurate from deep midrange. I don't think they're close at all.

He's clearly worse than Horford offensively, but I think you're downplaying Bol's defensive advantage. He really adds dimension to the defense as a whole.

[Fadeaway_J]

I'd consider Manute/Horford pretty close in the spacing department. As limited as Bol was offensively, he almost exclusively operated away from the basket. AK was a great rim protector but his length/mobility was even more useful on the perimeter.

McMillan was a seriously low-volume scorer for a guard, so staggering his minutes with Manute's would make the most sense IMO.

Bol may have operated away from the basket but he wasn't very good at it. Horford is a 35-40% 3-point shooter and also very accurate from deep midrange. I don't think they're close at all.

He's clearly worse than Horford offensively, but I think you're downplaying Bol's defensive advantage. He really adds dimension to the defense as a whole.

I just don't like having a guy playing big minutes who's so one-dimensional. At 7-7 he doesn't even rebound well. Guys like that tend to become unplayable at the highest levels. I think there's a good reason Bol only started around a fifth of his career games despite playing mostly on mediocre-to-bad teams.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Bol may have operated away from the basket but he wasn't very good at it. Horford is a 35-40% 3-point shooter and also very accurate from deep midrange. I don't think they're close at all.

He's clearly worse than Horford offensively, but I think you're downplaying Bol's defensive advantage. He really adds dimension to the defense as a whole.

I just don't like having a guy playing big minutes who's so one-dimensional. At 7-7 he doesn't even rebound well. Guys like that tend to become unplayable at the highest levels. I think there's a good reason Bol only started around a fifth of his career games despite playing mostly on mediocre-to-bad teams.

RAPM data suggests he really wasn’t that much of a liability offensively. The reason it looks so bad by BPM standards is because BPM heavily weights efficiency/ORBs, which looks worse for bigs who play away from the basket. Embiid always ranks as a superstar in RAPM, RPM, PIPM, but never quite as impressive in BPM for similar reasons. In reality Manute did draw his defender away from the basket in a way that helped open up the offense. He played significant minutes on 5 playoff teams, most of which surrounded by underwhelming talent. Sure endurance was an issue for Manute but this is a guy who averaged 5 blocks in only 26.1 mpg (and 5.8 in the playoffs over 30.4 min). XRAPM is only available starting in his 5th season, but it still paints him as a firmly positive court presence.

[euroleague]

I would also start Horford. He’s an all-NBA player at his peak. Bol wasn’t an all star...

[GeorgeMarcus]

I would also start Horford. He’s an all-NBA player at his peak. Bol wasn’t an all star...

Ginobli was the 2nd best player during the Spurs dynasty, but came off the bench. Why? Because of optimal skillset allocations. It would be a different story if Horford wasn't playing more minutes.