For purposes of this thread, let's assume that our starters are: Lillard, Wes, Batum, LMA, RoLo Let's further assume that our 2 FAs were brought in to be in the rotation, so that adds: Blake, Kaman Also, for our purposes here if one wants to think of individual games, we we only consider those in which the regular rotation plays, i.e. no injury problems or foul problems. So, that leaves 1-3 more players for the rotation. Who are your players? Mine are CJ and Robinson. Wes gets the backup 3 minutes, CJ gets the backup 2 minutes.
I think it's tough to answer and that's a good thing. We'll see if Robinson bumps Wright early in the season. I think Barton and Robinson are the first subs in with Kaman and Blake on the floor. CJ will surplant Barton depending on the game. Same with Wright and Robinson. I don't think Wes plays much backup 3 though. Only when playing small ball. I hope Stotts spreads out the minutes more than he has in the past. CJ I'll wait until I see him guard an NBA starter. 6-10 I have Blake, Kaman, Barton, Robinson and CJ. I doubt we'll see all 5 on the court unless we've actually blown somebody out by the 4th qtr
I think Nico will play the 3 with Barton at the 2 until CJ comes in and then he'll play the 3. Barton is actually taller than Wes, although way skinnier
With 10 people voting, it looks like everyone thinks CJ and Robinson will be in the rotation. Over half of you think Barton will be in the rotation as well. However, if that's the case minutes will be limited for both Barton and CJ.
Not really into specifics with still a few months before we see them play, but key things I want to see are CJ/TRob getting regular minutes (15+) and no starter to play > 35. Stotts seems to be one of those coaches that only plays 9 guys. That needs to change to 10.
I would say that's about right. Barton, CJ and Robinson should get the most of the left over minutes. I think Barton may get more, just because I think CJ is a year away.
Agreed (though I think more like 18+ or even 20) Agreed. Finally, I can be a curmudgeon and not agree! I think it's essential come playoff time that CJ and TRob have their stuff together. IMHO, that requires lots of PT, even 4th quarter PT. That won't happen with a 10-man rotation. My thinking is that with a 10-man rotation, the young guys will all get 10 mpg, which just isn't enough time to develop.
Okay so the 9 man rotation is: Lillard, Wes, batum, Aldridge, Lopez, Kaman, Blake, cj, and Robinson? So you think Barton should not get burn unless we are blowing teams out? I don't think I agree with that. 48 minutes x 5 positions = 240 minutes. How would you see the minutes distributed?
I think CJ and Barton initially split minutes with CJ winning out and getting the majority of them at backup 2. I pretty much guarantee the backup 2 spot wont be decided out of training camp, Barton and CJ are two great talents who each bring something unique. I think both of them have a solid case as to why they should get the minutes.
Firstly, a long time Barton supported, he's finally channeled one of my pet peeves. Athletic guys should have a HIGHER FG% or athleticism really didn't do the player any good. That description fits Barton like a glove. He just has too many games where he shoots poorly. You say that CJ is a year away, but I don't agree with this at all. How would I distribute minutes? Instead of going into detail, I'll just rough it out. 33 minutes per starter leaves 15x5=75 minutes for the bench. RoLo will get fewer, but for now I'll have Kaman soak up the excess. 75/4 = 18.75 minutes per bench guy. 19 or 20 mpg for CJ, Robinson, and Blake seems about right to me. A 9-man rotation that has 2 vets along with 2 young players seems much more robust than 2 vets with 3 young players. What would a 10 man rotation look like? 75/5 = 15 mpg each bench player. If the minutes were evenly distributed the youngins would get 45 minutes off the bench to 30 minutes for the vets - a fragile situation. To compensate, coach might make that 10th player Dorrell Wright, leaving Barton or CJ out in the cold. Let's momentarily forget about next season and think about the following season or even the season after that. While we'd like to think about some Olshey magic, let's imagine that our starters don't change. We need TWO young players to grow into solid bench players. The best candidates for that are CJ, TRob, and Barton (please don't bring up our 5th-string center, or even our 4th-string center). To grow they need minutes. The coach likes Barton but he and CJ really play the same position. IMO, the guy who shot 50% from 3 his senior year beats out the guy who can get an off balance shot anytime he wants but then usually misses it. That being said, it is very possible that coach starts out with a 10-man rotation and changes to a 9-man after the all-star break, and I can see a lot of advantages to doing just that.
My money is on CJ to break out this season as a good 6th - 7th, man. That's not going to leave much regular rotation time for Will the Thrill (but he will get spot minutes when drastic times call for drastic measures. ) Can a three-man rotation of LaMarcus/Lopez/Kaman work, with Kaman backing up both positions? IDK, but I think TRob should get plenty of regular rotation minutes during the season to get him ready for the playoffs, and to reduce the minutes of the big three bigs. You can tighten the rotation when the playoffs get here, but keep players fresher, and develop the younger guys, during the regular season. I was profoundly disappointed with Dorell Wright last season. He's better than that...right? I'm not going to write him off yet. I think we have to assume he'll eat up the backup SF minutes, until he doesn't.
