Enough time has gone past now so that we can take an honest look at our team without looking at it through the eyes of pain or dissapointment of losing to the Pistons in the E.C. finals.
It's now conventional wisdom that a trade will/must be made to ease the glut of players we have at the small forward spot. It has been spoken by Carlisle, Bird, Walsh, local & national newsmedia. We've even talked about it on here.
What I want to do now is challenge that wisdom & see if that really is the best & only way for our team to take the next step.
Obviousley the trade fodder in the press & even somewhat the management has been Al Harrington.
Al himself helped get the ball rolling by asking that if more playing time weren't made available he would prefer a trade. Everybody assumes that by him stating "more playing time" he means starting. That's not what he said, reportedly, but I think it's a safe assumption.
The team does seem to have a glut of players who are what I call tweeners. This is not an accident btw, Walsh started in the late 90's drafting players who could fill multi-role capabilities. He felt that that was the future of the league. Watching Garnett, O'Neal, etc. it's hard to argue against him, to a point.
But I wonder if it's necassary to make the big changes that most people think we need.
Could we not make a drastic change in our team structure just by altering the starting lineup?
Instead of being forced to trade Al, who we have a lot of time & money invested into, could we not accomodate his desire to start?
People are always telling me that it doesn't matter who starts, it's just about who finishes & gets the min. Of course I have never ever agreed with that because it absolutely matters to the players & if it didn't matter they would have no problem with the following.
Bench Jeff Foster & Reggie Miller. Start Fred Jones & Al Harrington.
This gives you
C- Jermaine O'Neal
Pf- Al Harrington
Sf- Ron Artest
Sg- Fred Jones
Pg- Jamaal Tinsely
I know some are going to come on here & talk about lack of size in that starting lineup & I agree. However, I want to point out to those people (U.B.) you keep saying it doesn't matter who starts but who finishes & plays the min.
If this lineup became overwhelmed then a change can be made during the game. Besides, other than Fred, this is the lineup that finished a lot of games last season.
Now the one thing this does not do is address the outside shooting that we need. Fred seems to have grown as the season has gone on & if he works on it this summer he may get even better.
What this does do though is hold fast the fear of some (U.B.) that trading for a s.g. would affect our defense. Fred is a GREAT defender. Actually when Fred & Ron are on the floor at the same time the peremater players of the other team are usually thrown into chaos.
Al has shown time & time again, that if he starts he goes out of his way to blend into the system. Sometimes he does this to the teams detriment, but if he knew he was starting all of the time then I think he would adjust.
Offensive spacing I don't think will be that much of a problem either. Al does like to play on the blocks but he plays more on the wings while J.O. plays more to the front of the rim.
This also assures that Ron sticks with the team as well (smile U.B.).
Why is this a bad idea.
Also back to the size thing, I am going to use the whole argument that you guys use with me about Foster. How many teams really have that many big players that Al couldn't handle? How many of those same players would Al cause problems for?
Now the problem with this is several fold. Let's do this one at a time.
1. Reggie Miller. His fans won't let it go. If he stays 5 more years they are going to want/demand that Reggie start & get big min. Most of you on-line came to the realization that he should probably come off of the bench. You are in the minority. Carlisle already said he sees him starting. I'll be honest with you this is the biggest obsticle to overcome & I'm not sure it can be. Reggie Miller may cost us Al Harrington.
2. Jon Bender. This does nothing to help Jon get the solid min. he needs. Unless they relegate Foster to the 9th or 10th man spot I don't see Jon getting more than 12-15 min. a game with this lineup.
3. Jeff Foster. Foster deserves better than this. He played well all season long & did make big improvements. But at this point in time it has to come down to what helps the team the most & right now the lineup I've given you above solves some of our problems.
4. Austin Croshere. I'm not sure this is a problem because he's spent so many years now with inconsistant min. But this would be another year of that.
I'm sure there are more issues that some of you will come up with.
Ok, that is option # 1.
Let's look at another option.
Trade Al & filler for shooting guard & filler.
First off, let's erase the name T-Mac out of our minds. Al ain't going to get it done. Let's just assume Al will bring somebody like Flip Murray from Seattle (I'm not saying him but along those lines).
Thus you still have...
C- Jeff Foster
Pf- Jermaine O'Neal
Sf- Ron Artest
Sg- _____________
Pg- Jamaal Tinsely
This does solve some of your outside shooting problems. But we don't know about thier defense.
The bench does become thinned out & Bender does get his chance to get more min. per game.
Now let's look at the downside.
1. Reggie Miller. His fans won't let it go. If he stays 5 more years they are going to want/demand that Reggie start & get big min. Most of you on-line came to the realization that he should probably come off of the bench. You are in the minority. Carlisle already said he sees him starting. I'll be honest with you this is the biggest obsticle to overcome & I'm not sure it can be.
2. Jon Bender. He gets his shot, but what if he flops. What he shows there is nothing more to it & that he does not get it. You go from having a solid bench to now having your 6th man be very unreliable.
3. Austin Croshere. You now have to depend on a player who has yet to show that he will be consistant. He won't hurt you, but he may not help much either.
4. Shooting guard. The player you trade for (if it is for Al) will most likely be an up & coming player or a lesser known player. What if they don't produce. What if they can't hit the outside shot, what if they turn out to be like Ron Mercer?
That's option # 2.
Option # 3.
Ron Artest & filler is traded for star shooting guard. Insert T-Mac trade here.
Let's assume that Ron will bring a top flight player so our lineup looks like this.
C- Jeff Foster
Pf- Jermaine O'Neal
Sf- Al Harrington
Sg- T-Mac (or other star)
Pg- Jamaal Tinsely
This certainly helps the offense. Some will argue that our defense drops way down & without a doubt it will. However Carlisle's system can overcome the loss of any one player & not all s.g.'s are horrid defenders. Nobody will be on Ron's level, but they won't be on World B. Free's level either.
The other side benefit to this might be something we don't know about, it might improve team chemistry. We don't know, but it has been discussed.
Ok, the down sides to this.
1. Reggie Miller. His fans won't let it go. If he stays 5 more years they are going to want/demand that Reggie start & get big min. Most of you on-line came to the realization that he should probably come off of the bench. You are in the minority. Carlisle already said he sees him starting. I'll be honest with you this is the biggest obsticle to overcome & I'm not sure it can be.
2. Ron Artest defense. There can be no doubt, this will hurt.
3. Al Harrington. He has never had to stand up to be a starter for an entire season. Will it work?
Ok, those are just some ideas. Can we say that we really have to do option # 2 as opposed to # 1 or # 3?
It's now conventional wisdom that a trade will/must be made to ease the glut of players we have at the small forward spot. It has been spoken by Carlisle, Bird, Walsh, local & national newsmedia. We've even talked about it on here.
What I want to do now is challenge that wisdom & see if that really is the best & only way for our team to take the next step.
Obviousley the trade fodder in the press & even somewhat the management has been Al Harrington.
Al himself helped get the ball rolling by asking that if more playing time weren't made available he would prefer a trade. Everybody assumes that by him stating "more playing time" he means starting. That's not what he said, reportedly, but I think it's a safe assumption.
The team does seem to have a glut of players who are what I call tweeners. This is not an accident btw, Walsh started in the late 90's drafting players who could fill multi-role capabilities. He felt that that was the future of the league. Watching Garnett, O'Neal, etc. it's hard to argue against him, to a point.
But I wonder if it's necassary to make the big changes that most people think we need.
Could we not make a drastic change in our team structure just by altering the starting lineup?
Instead of being forced to trade Al, who we have a lot of time & money invested into, could we not accomodate his desire to start?
People are always telling me that it doesn't matter who starts, it's just about who finishes & gets the min. Of course I have never ever agreed with that because it absolutely matters to the players & if it didn't matter they would have no problem with the following.
Bench Jeff Foster & Reggie Miller. Start Fred Jones & Al Harrington.
This gives you
C- Jermaine O'Neal
Pf- Al Harrington
Sf- Ron Artest
Sg- Fred Jones
Pg- Jamaal Tinsely
I know some are going to come on here & talk about lack of size in that starting lineup & I agree. However, I want to point out to those people (U.B.) you keep saying it doesn't matter who starts but who finishes & plays the min.
If this lineup became overwhelmed then a change can be made during the game. Besides, other than Fred, this is the lineup that finished a lot of games last season.
Now the one thing this does not do is address the outside shooting that we need. Fred seems to have grown as the season has gone on & if he works on it this summer he may get even better.
What this does do though is hold fast the fear of some (U.B.) that trading for a s.g. would affect our defense. Fred is a GREAT defender. Actually when Fred & Ron are on the floor at the same time the peremater players of the other team are usually thrown into chaos.
Al has shown time & time again, that if he starts he goes out of his way to blend into the system. Sometimes he does this to the teams detriment, but if he knew he was starting all of the time then I think he would adjust.
Offensive spacing I don't think will be that much of a problem either. Al does like to play on the blocks but he plays more on the wings while J.O. plays more to the front of the rim.
This also assures that Ron sticks with the team as well (smile U.B.).
Why is this a bad idea.
Also back to the size thing, I am going to use the whole argument that you guys use with me about Foster. How many teams really have that many big players that Al couldn't handle? How many of those same players would Al cause problems for?
Now the problem with this is several fold. Let's do this one at a time.
1. Reggie Miller. His fans won't let it go. If he stays 5 more years they are going to want/demand that Reggie start & get big min. Most of you on-line came to the realization that he should probably come off of the bench. You are in the minority. Carlisle already said he sees him starting. I'll be honest with you this is the biggest obsticle to overcome & I'm not sure it can be. Reggie Miller may cost us Al Harrington.
2. Jon Bender. This does nothing to help Jon get the solid min. he needs. Unless they relegate Foster to the 9th or 10th man spot I don't see Jon getting more than 12-15 min. a game with this lineup.
3. Jeff Foster. Foster deserves better than this. He played well all season long & did make big improvements. But at this point in time it has to come down to what helps the team the most & right now the lineup I've given you above solves some of our problems.
4. Austin Croshere. I'm not sure this is a problem because he's spent so many years now with inconsistant min. But this would be another year of that.
I'm sure there are more issues that some of you will come up with.
Ok, that is option # 1.
Let's look at another option.
Trade Al & filler for shooting guard & filler.
First off, let's erase the name T-Mac out of our minds. Al ain't going to get it done. Let's just assume Al will bring somebody like Flip Murray from Seattle (I'm not saying him but along those lines).
Thus you still have...
C- Jeff Foster
Pf- Jermaine O'Neal
Sf- Ron Artest
Sg- _____________
Pg- Jamaal Tinsely
This does solve some of your outside shooting problems. But we don't know about thier defense.
The bench does become thinned out & Bender does get his chance to get more min. per game.
Now let's look at the downside.
1. Reggie Miller. His fans won't let it go. If he stays 5 more years they are going to want/demand that Reggie start & get big min. Most of you on-line came to the realization that he should probably come off of the bench. You are in the minority. Carlisle already said he sees him starting. I'll be honest with you this is the biggest obsticle to overcome & I'm not sure it can be.
2. Jon Bender. He gets his shot, but what if he flops. What he shows there is nothing more to it & that he does not get it. You go from having a solid bench to now having your 6th man be very unreliable.
3. Austin Croshere. You now have to depend on a player who has yet to show that he will be consistant. He won't hurt you, but he may not help much either.
4. Shooting guard. The player you trade for (if it is for Al) will most likely be an up & coming player or a lesser known player. What if they don't produce. What if they can't hit the outside shot, what if they turn out to be like Ron Mercer?
That's option # 2.
Option # 3.
Ron Artest & filler is traded for star shooting guard. Insert T-Mac trade here.
Let's assume that Ron will bring a top flight player so our lineup looks like this.
C- Jeff Foster
Pf- Jermaine O'Neal
Sf- Al Harrington
Sg- T-Mac (or other star)
Pg- Jamaal Tinsely
This certainly helps the offense. Some will argue that our defense drops way down & without a doubt it will. However Carlisle's system can overcome the loss of any one player & not all s.g.'s are horrid defenders. Nobody will be on Ron's level, but they won't be on World B. Free's level either.
The other side benefit to this might be something we don't know about, it might improve team chemistry. We don't know, but it has been discussed.
Ok, the down sides to this.
1. Reggie Miller. His fans won't let it go. If he stays 5 more years they are going to want/demand that Reggie start & get big min. Most of you on-line came to the realization that he should probably come off of the bench. You are in the minority. Carlisle already said he sees him starting. I'll be honest with you this is the biggest obsticle to overcome & I'm not sure it can be.
2. Ron Artest defense. There can be no doubt, this will hurt.
3. Al Harrington. He has never had to stand up to be a starter for an entire season. Will it work?
Ok, those are just some ideas. Can we say that we really have to do option # 2 as opposed to # 1 or # 3?
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