Huh? They basically swapped Brezec for Ratliff when those moves were made. I'm not sure what scenario you're envisioning here.
I agree, I don't know why we don't go smaller. Rip can handle Lewis or Turkey for stretches @ the 3, just like Afflalo can. Tay should be the 4 whenever Lewis is @ the 4.
Don't forget Sheed in the post - he's a great passer from there. How he plays will be key to this game, too. If he abuses his man in the post then maybe a perimeter defender cheats over to him, setting up Hayes/Dixon for an open look. If he sets up along the 3pt arc most of the game then he's not helping.
Scoe, please explain why you don't feel that our "back-up SF" can't be benched (am I missing some sarcasm? - I AM a little slow sometimes.). I believe that AJ can contribute MUCH more in this series (with these match-ups) than Arvis.
Well, my point is, you don't only go 2 men deep at arguably the most important position. So Hunter and Dixon must be active. No sarcasm. Heaven forbid, what do we do if Tay gets injured? Play Hermann at the 3? What if he gets into foul trouble? Play AA at the 3? I think we need to be 3 deep at every position, Sheed/Max/Rattler/Dice are swappable at the 4+5, with Hermann as the 5th PF. Tay, Jarvis and Walt backup the 3, Rip, Aff, Dix at the 2, and Stuckey, Hunter and Dix at the 1. AJ has limited range, can be foul prone and is a lousy perimeter defender. Jarvis has range on him at the 3.
• IMO: Yes. Play Walt @ SF (perfect size matchup with Turkey and Shard). • And another "affirmative" for playing Spellcheck @ the 3 spot (his quickness would KILL TurkeyGlue or Lewis). - ANYTHING that keeps Arvis off of the floor is cool with me. The ONLY time he should see ANY action at all would be as a final-shot offensive substitution at the very end of quarters. • I think Amir is a better match-up against the big SFs that Orlando has. Just because Flip hasn't played him at the 3 this year (which he should have), doesn't mean it's a crazy idea. • ...and yes, Jarvis has range. He seems to be missing his shots (playoffs = 7 for 24)from a longer distance lately.
I concur on all points. It is not Arvis's range that is hurting us. It is the fact that he can't play D. Not only does his shooting percentage hurt us; he can't stop anybody from scoring.
if CB is not 100% then we don't have to play him. We can afford to go back to Detroit with 2-2. I am also sure that the other series (Cavs Vs Celtics) will not be finished soon as well. So we will be ok. I hope this is what Flip does.
I would say de-activate Wally and bring in Hunter. Then if Billups can't go then bring in Dixon. Can Amir guard Turkoglu? I think he can. Not that it matters since Flip has already decided that Amir is not ready and even if he did play Rip and Tay would never pass him the ball. But if he did play and did get the ball then it would be nice to force the Magic to match up to us rather than us down to them. Not having a PF is supposed to be an advantage for the opposing team not a disadvantage.
Micro, you have been bad mouthing Amir all season. It makes none of it true for all you write against him. Amir is one of our best perimeter defenders, able to get out there quickly, with a ton of reach, height, and ups. Overall, the defensive numbers show that if Amir goes out there onto the floor, it significantly drops the other team's field goal percentage. Anyone who likes defense should be cheering on Amir to get playing time. Conversely, if you don't like guys who can't play perimeter D, Hayes is the poster child for lack of defense.
Lots of discussion about guys who will play the fewest minutes. I'm more concerned about the main three, Tay/Rip/Sheed, and how they approach this game. We need another performance like game 5 of series #1. Come out focused, intense, agressive, and cohesive. Get off to a strong start and everyone else will follow. Give the bench a wave to ride. As far as D goes, it would be very helpful if we manage to remember that 4 of 5 Magic would rather hoist a 3-ball, and quit retreating deep inside the arc.
I am a big Amir fan, but the fouls continue to be a real problem. If you look at the regular-season leaders in fouls per minute, he's 19th on the list with 8.9 fouls per 48 minutes. He did this while playing more minutes than any of the 18 guys who are higher on the list. Last year in the D-League in almost every game he put up huge numbers and then fouled out or came close to it. I think this is something he can and will improve, but right now it's holding him back.
Newflash. Amir gets to more plays per minute. Amir also is never called upon to not foul, to conserve his fouls to stay in the game. If he needed to foul less, he would. Its really no problem. What you really need to look at is if the other team scores or not score if you put Amir into the game. So far,the answer is they don't.
This is so funny to me. I swear sometimes i hear a player just yell "ahhh" as he's running to try to distract the shooter. edited to add; I third or fourth ? balldon'tlie's post.
?????? "Gets to more plays per minute"? Is that a stat? AJ is never called upon not to foul? Does that mean he is put into the game, to foul? Lastly, so AJ is responsible solely for the opponent to not score?
