Let’s play Coach today. Assume the Sonics’ roster is set (I know, I know), and that this is your depth chart:
PG: Ridnour, Watson, West
SG: Durant, Szczerbiak, West
SF: Green, Wilkins, Gelabale
PF: Wilcox, Collison, Green, Petro
C: Thomas, Swift, Collison
So, which five names should Matt Pittman call out when the Sonics take the floor against the Suns on November 1?
Here are my nominations:
Watson, Durant, Green, Wilcox, Thomas
Off the bench (in order):
West, Collison, Wally, Ridnour, Swift, Wilkins, Gelly, Petro
As some of the smarter commenters have pointed out, it’s unlikely that Luke will be dealt until next summer because he’s a base-year compensation player, and that makes it difficult to work out a deal unless 3 teams are involved. Unless a deal with Earl can be worked out, it appears we will be re-staging the “Luke and Earl Soap Opera” that proved so unpopular last year.
But that’s just my uninformed opinion. Anybody think Durant should be at the 3 with Green off the bench? Are you hungry to see Swift get a chance to start? How about Nick Collison; does his January-February monster run entitle him to the starting spot?
There are plenty of options, so have fun putting the jigsaw puzzle together.
25 comments:
i think west will be a starter..either as PG or SG
Nick over Swift (I think they're going to try to ease Swift in) and either West or Rid over Watson (leaning more towards Rid)
I think Durant should start at the 2. But judging by what I've read from various sources it looks like PJ is gonna start him at the 3 and split time between Green and Wilcox at the 4. Presti should've hired D. Casey to be the head man, I've got a baaaad feeling about PJ.
OK, let's see:
1. Best chance to win
Watson
Durant
Green
Collison
Swift (Just hoping he's as ready as many seem to think)
2. Most entertaining (Nellie-ball?)
Ridnour
West
Durant
Green
Wilcox
3. Most Funny-looking
West
Gelabale
Wilcox
Sene
Swift
I'm very high on west, but I think as long as he gets a lot of minutes as the 3 gaurd, he can come off the bench. I think that watson should be pretty much given up on; Ridnour is a better defensivly inept point gaurd who has much more offensive upside.
PG: Ridnour (West, Watson)
SG: Durant (West, Szerbiack)
SF: Green (Gelly, Durant)
PF: Collison (Wilcox, Green)
C: Thomas (Swift, Petro)
I'm giving collison the nod because, in addition to his great albeit short lived performance last year, he has much more of a place in our future than wilcox does. Wilcox would be great as instant offense off the bench. Putting Thomas at center as swift is worked back into the game would also help hold together the youngsters. Durant and green are obvious.
If we switch West and Ridnour, we have a VERY long team that just might give opponents some trouble with offense.
We can also switch to a smallball lineup of Ridnour, West, Durant, Green, and Wilcox/Collison for a very mobile squad (that also might make it's fair share of highlights).
Your best chance of winning?
1 - Ridnour
2 - West
3 - Durant
4 - Wilcox
5 - Thomas
6 - Wally
7 - Green
8 - Swift
9 - Collison
1. Rid
2. Duranthrax
3. Green
4. Wilcox
5. Thomas
In order off the bench:
6. Collison
7. Wallyworld
8. Watson
9. Swift
10. Gelebale
Poop tastes funny?!?
Oh sorry, line-ups right.
1. pee
2. poop
3. ucky
4. the Squirts
5. giving myself a dirty Sanchez, priceless.
I thought you dissapeared AK, well there's another dashed dream...
I love how ever since AK said he'd be more constructive and less vulgar, his detractors are making themselves look like idiots. All the while, he has been someone who has been a source of well formed constructive arguments and opinions.
On topic: I see Ridnour as a better choice as a starter than Watson because he seems to be a better facilitator of the offense. Watson is too reckless and seems a bit too cocky for my liking... plus, his shooting is far too streaky for how many shots he likes to throw up. I haven't really seen enough of West to place him on this since I don't know of his talents, but if he's a combo guard, then maybe he's better off coming off the bench in a 6th man type of role.
I am worried abou where Green is going to find his minutes. Is he a better sf than Durant? probably not. Is he a better pf than Wilcox, Collison or Thomas? probably will be, but not yet. My guess is that Thomas and Collison will play almost exclusively at c, so that Green only has to share minutes with Durant and Wilcox. Bummer for Swift and our foreign legion of centers
You touched on the problem with your theory in the last sentence - I can't see Swift getting the shaft in minutes this year. I'd be willing to bet $100 that he averages at least 20 minutes a game for at least the first 3 months of the season. If that's the case, there's not enough left over for Collison AND Thomas. Say you give Thomas 15 a night, that leaves 13 for Nick, which isn't enough unless he's also getting time at PF. Figure on Wilcox getting 30, Nick getting another 10-15 at PF, and the balance at PF going to Green.
Remember, Presti and the Spurs have always gone with multi-position players, so it makes sense that Durant would get time at both the 2 and 3, and the same for Green at the 3 and 4, Collison at the 4 and 5, and West at the 1 and 2.
My starting lineup w/ depth chart.
pg. Ridnour (West, Watson)
sg. Durant (Wilkins Gelebale)
sf. Green (Szczerbiak)
pf. Wilcox (Colison, Petro)
c. Swift (Thomas, Sene)
If the starting line up doesn't start the season like that, I think it would be atleast nice to ease the line up into this one. I would'nt mind seeing Colison as the starter either.
I'm just pretty excited about seeing what Swift can attribute to this lineup at full strength. If they decided to ease him in, that maybe a good idea.
Well, it's nice to know that some of y'all still think about me whenever I take a break from here. It's a reassuring notion.
Anyway, the following are my expections regarding playing time distribution to start the season.
Low-Post: Chris Wilcox (32 m.p.g.)
Low-Post: Robert Swift (16 m.p.g.)
Low-Post: Mouhamed Sene (NBDL)
High-Post: Nick Collison (32 m.p.g.)
High-Post: Kurt Thomas (16 m.p.g.)
High-Post: Johan Petro (0 m.p.g.)
Weakside Wing: Jeff Green (24 m.p.g.)
Weakside Wing: Damien Wilkins (12 m.p.g.)
Weakside Wing: Mickael Gelabale (12 m.p.g.)
Strongside Wing: Kevin Durant (32 m.p.g.)
Strongside Wing: Delonte West (16 m.p.g.)
Strongside Wing: Wally Szczerbiak (Inactive)
Point: Luke Ridnour (24 m.p.g.)
Point: Earl Watson (24 m.p.g.)
Okay, there are a few observations that can be made from my lineup.
Along with most everyone else here, I bet that Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson will be fighting for minutes throughout all of next season. With Ridnour playing the first six minutes of each quarter and Watson playing the last six minutes of each quarter, they can evenly split the minutes at point guard.
It'll probably become a toxic situation, however, as two guys who are really above-average backups believe that they deserve to be starters.
On a similar note, Delonte West isn't a point guard, but rather a wing player. Last season, West (Assists To Turnover Ratio: 2.17; Assists Per 48 Minutes: 6.6; Passing Rating: 7.4; Hands Rating: 16.4) was an overall worse playmaker than true point guards like Ridnour (Assists To Turnover Ratio: 2.36; Assists Per 48 Minutes: 8.4; Passing Rating: 10.3; Hands Rating: 21.2) and Watson (Assists To Turnover Ratio: 2.62; Assists Per 48 Minutes: 9.7; Passing Rating: 12.6; Hands Rating: 24.3).
Furthermore, West isn't just a mediocre ball-handler, but he's also an overrated defender (Opponents' Net Points Per 100 Possessions: +3.0)and just an okay player on offense (Effective Field-Goal Percentage: 47.6%; Effective Jump Shot Field-Goal Percentage: 42.2%). Lastly, West drew a foul on just 8.9% of his field-goal attempts -- which means that he'll never fill the shoes of Antonio Daniels, who drew a foul on 21.7% of his field-goal attempts -- so don't expect him to constantly drive to the basket.
Regarding Wally Szczerbiak, I don't envision him receiving any playing time for this team. Szczerbiak is a slow-footed, plodding stiff who's one-dimensional game -- which is comprised of spotting up and launching away shots from beyond the arc -- hinders his teammates whenever he's on the court. Okay, sure, Szczerbiak can create some spacing by drawing his man out onto the wing to guard him—but that's it. Other than that, though, he's a useless waste of space.
Anyhow, I'm going to take a break from writing at this point. I've got more opinions regarding numerous other issues regarding roster construction, however, so hopefully I'll get around to it.
"I thought you dissapeared AK, well there's another dashed dream..."
Wow, Dave, I'm amazed that anyone actually thought I wrote that inane garbage.
As it was, some moron just jacked my handle and tried miserably to mock me. At any rate, though, you should already know that my comments are always coherent in nature.
I'm sometimes a jerk, but I'm never an idiot.
I couldn't believe for a minute, AK, that you had regressed that far.
PG RID, WEST, WATSON
SG DURANT, WEST
SF GREEN, WALLY, GELLY
PF WILCOX, COLLISON
C SWIFT, THOMAS
Not so bad, maybe they won't be bad enough to get o.j. mayo or derrick rose in the next draft
Workin with AK's rotation, the main points I'd differ on are: 1) I think Wally gets run if he is here. Perhaps somebody goes to make it fit or only two of Gelly, Wally and Damien play much each night depending on matchup and performance. 2) I think Petro sneaks 8 minutes from somebody most nights.
Actually, anonymous, I also think that Johan Petro will probably play a few minutes per game during contests that Nick Collison experiences foul trouble. Petro is still one of the most fundamentally unsound players in the NBA, though.
Since Damien Wilkins and Mickael Gelabale are superfluous players, Sam Presti should offer Wilkins ($2,900,000) and Earl Watson ($5,800,000) to the Miami Heat for Jason Williams ($8,937,500) -- who's got an expiring contract -- as that would consolidate the roster. It'd be a financially prudent transaction, too.
Possible. Always wonder who is the most unreasonable in making a deal like this not work or if it ever comes up in phone talk and if not, why not.
Swift
Collison
Green
Durant
Ridnour
Seafan
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