Lo Wright might have to be the starting PF

[Blunt91]

I was thinking that Shelden might struggle somewhat at 1st just like Josh Childress did when he got here. Woody tried to make Chill the starting SG but for some reason his jumper wasn't falling in preaseason ball. Luckily we had Jon Barry to fill the starting role for a few months. Well I think if Shelden isn't ready at the beginning then the obvious choice should be Lorenzen Wright.

I know Wright was brought here to be the backup Center but out of He, Shelden, Batista & Smith he has the most experience of playing PF in the NBA. Here is how I see the rotation:

PG: Speedy Claxton

SG: Joe Johnson

SF: Marvin Williams

PF: Lorenzen Wright

C: ZaZa Puchillia

Bench rotation

PG: T. Lue

SG Josh Childres(Will backup the 2 & 3)

SF: Childress & Josh SMith(Smith will backup the 3 & 4)

PF: Josh Smith (will be the main backup for Lo)

C: Shelden Williams & Esteban(Williams will be 1st off of bench. Batista will be the 3rd string C & PF

Salim will benefit from Childress spending some time at backup SF. Royal Ivey will ride the bench for the most part except when defense is needed.

[Lascar78]

I think we should run

Speedy/Lue/Ivey

Johnson/Salim

Marvin/Childress

Smith/Shelden/Batista

Pachulia/Wright

as our 12

[Plastic Man]

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I think we should run

Speedy/Lue/Ivey

Johnson/Salim

Marvin/Childress

Smith/Shelden/Batista

Pachulia/Wright

as our 12

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my thoughts EXACTLY for all 12. Smoove HAS to start!

[exodus]

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Smoove HAS to start!

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He will, at the 3.

[Plastic Man]

Quote:

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Smoove HAS to start!

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He will, at the 3.

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not what i had in mind; better than him ridin pine.

[Nicholasp27]

we aren't starting lo over the smoove/marvin tandem

maybe if that tandem fails they'll try something else, but otherwise those 2 are the 2 starting forwards

[Weez]

so you're saying that you only (or the vast majority of the time) want to utilize Chill as a sf/ not play sg (to back up JJ or pair with him for a bigger bc)?

you realize that that will dramatically reduce his minutes (to probably less than 10 a game)...???

[gsuteke]

and from what I've seen BK ain't too hungry when it comes to eating crow.

Billy Knight will be roasted not only nationally but more so locally if he starts Lo Wright over Smoove who is the darling of the city and two top 5 picks.

Here's what I would like to see

Speedy

JJ

Marvin

Smoove

Pachulia

that leaves Lue, Shelden, Ren, and Chillz rotating in and out.

That first group can atleast score if nothing else. your defensive minded players can be rotated in as the matchups dictate. keep in mind, it's not as if 5 people start and 8 minutes into the game a totally new 5 are inserted.

Here's what I think we will see

Speedy

JJ

Smoove

Shelden

Pachulia

that lineup will be solid also if Shelden can score 10 a game.

[Swatguy]

Quote:

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so you're saying that you only (or the vast majority of the time) want to utilize Chill as a sf/ not play sg (to back up JJ or pair with him for a bigger bc)?

you realize that that will dramatically reduce his minutes (to probably less than 10 a game)...???

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Have no fear, we will see JJ and Chillz in the backcourt together. Chillz will be at 3 positions. Some fail to grasp the marvelous depth and versatility of this team. Marvin and Smoove will have a lot of time on the court together. Either and both will man the paint defensively and offensively. We will not be able to pigeon hole any of these p[layers to single positions, rotations or responsibilities. I remind, it is not so much who starts, it is more of who finishes.

[skyhawk]

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Have no fear, we will see JJ and Chillz in the backcourt together. Chillz will be at 3 positions. Some fail to grasp the marvelous depth and versatility of this team. Marvin and Smoove will have a lot of time on the court together. Either and both will man the paint defensively and offensively. We will not be able to pigeon hole any of these p[layers to single positions, rotations or responsibilities. I remind, it is not so much who starts, it is more of who finishes.

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Good post. I couldn't agree more as we have a lot of flexibility on this team which will definitely cause some matchup problems. Everybody bags on BK for the long, athletic 6'9 guys that he's stocked this with but that's the future of the NBA and we're right there...

I believe there are enough minutes to go around and it's not important who starts, as matchups will always dictate who's on the floor at any given time once the game begins to flow.

[Weez]

I have no doubt/ worry of Chill continuing to get solid minutes at the swing positions...I was simply commenting on the reply-to-post that listed Chill as only playing sf (with Salim listed as the second-in-line at sg).

I think that Salim's going to really have to become more consistent, both in his shots and ability to at least handle the ball SOME in the backcourt if he plans on getting ANY more minutes than he received last year...

quite simply, we now have three 'small' bc players (Salim, Lue, and Speedy), as well as Ivey (who can't be considered a sg any way you slice it), thus creating a lot of competition for bc pt...

[Diesel]

Starters really don't matter that much other than setting a tempo.

If somehow Smoove, MW, and Shelden all got 32 minutes from the 2 forward spots, would it matter who started?

I think what we will see from Woody is that he will be slow to change who starts because every night, the same players will get about the same minutes. Woody's weakness is still evaluating tempo.

[CBAreject]

I don't think Billy Knight decides who starts, does he? I'd be surprised if he had that much control over Woodson. I, personally, would not coach under those circumstances. The players wouldn't respect you or give anything in practice if they knew the GM dictated the lineup/minutes.

[gsuteke]

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I don't think Billy Knight decides who starts, does he? I'd be surprised if he had that much control over Woodson. I, personally, would not coach under those circumstances. The players wouldn't respect you or give anything in practice if they knew the GM dictated the lineup/minutes.

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Billy is in control as much as whether he provides X player to Woodson or not.

look at our PG spot case in point. i think Woodson's hands have been tied for the past few years. that's one reason why Billy wisely hasn't thrown him under the bus.

he finally decided to go a bit away from his philosophy of tall, atheletic, versatile players who can play 3 positions when he signed Speedy.

I think BK really wants a point forward like Scottie Pippen.

[Packfill]

If Lo Wright is the starting power forward for the Hawks at any point this season the team is in deep, deep trouble. Seriously, if he has to play meaningful minutes that means at least two of Sheldon/Smoove/Marvin are incapable of holding down meaningful minutes, which is very bad for the development of the team.

[Plainview1981]

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Have no fear, we will see JJ and Chillz in the backcourt together. Chillz will be at 3 positions. Some fail to grasp the marvelous depth and versatility of this team. Marvin and Smoove will have a lot of time on the court together. Either and both will man the paint defensively and offensively. We will not be able to pigeon hole any of these p[layers to single positions, rotations or responsibilities. I remind, it is not so much who starts, it is more of who finishes.

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Good post. I couldn't agree more as we have a lot of flexibility on this team which will definitely cause some matchup problems. Everybody bags on BK for the long, athletic 6'9 guys that he's stocked this with but that's the future of the NBA and we're right there...

I believe there are enough minutes to go around and it's not important who starts, as matchups will always dictate who's on the floor at any given time once the game begins to flow.

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Childress hasn't proven that he's a starter. In fact, when starts his numbers are pretty Mediocre:

10 starts have resulted in the following numbers

25MPG

5.5PPG

3.4RPG

41% FG

50% FT

Off the bench his numbers are:

31MPG

56.5%FG

5.5RPG

10.7PPG

80% FT

Yeah, he plays more minutes off the bench, but look at the FG% difference. It's like night and day.

[Weez]

what were the circumstances of when he started vs. when he came off the bench? just curious...nice stat work though (seriously).

[Popeye]

Childress is a slow starter, and he picks it up as the season goes along. In his rookie year he was struggling at beggining and when he started at the end of the year he was scoring over 20 a game easily as a starter.

You can't compare 10 games into season when he is a slow starter with less min, vs rest of the season where he got more minutes and he picked up his game in same time.