Playing time distubution with YI

[coachx]

How would we divide our minutes with Yi on the roster ? Hard to answer. I'll give it try but look foward to seeing how others see the playing time shaking out if we do not trade anybody and use the #11 pick to either fraft a PG a trade #11 for Jack.

#11 (28 min) / ( let vets fight over the other 20 min)

JJ 37 min / Chills 11 min

Smith 8 min / Marvin 32 / Yi 8

Yi 24 min / Smith 24

ZaZa 25 min / Sheldon & Solomon fight for other 23 min

There is 96 minutes of playing time to divide between Smith, Marvin, & Zi at the foward poition. In theory each guy can get 32 minutes. The guy left out is Chills, (though I like Chills this is just how it would shake out.)

So , popular opinion is to trade Chills ? Since Marvin is a sacred cow and truely still has plenty of potential BK will keep him.

However, a rational arguement can be Chills is more valueable then Marvin b/c Chills can play both SG & SF. Marvin tried playing SG after Chills / JJ got hurt but got embarrased defensively.

The arguement for keeping, the less versitile, Marvin is that he is only 20 and still has loads of potential.

At the end of the day, Chills foot problems scare me and his contract runs out one year before Marvin's contract does.

Therefore, I move Chills for a 1st round pick next year and live with Salim and AJ splitting 11 minutes a games as the backup SG.

Of course we would like to get a center for Chills but no one is trading a decent center for a wing straight up. I see Heywood and Magloir as the only possibilities being on the trade block.

Anyway. I intended this to be more on minute distribution and this trade talk naturally came up to make the minutes work. Chills is too good to get just 11 minutes a game. Smith has to have at least 32 min a game with the production and shot blocking he gives. A #2 & #3 pick(Marvin / Yi) will not be riding the pine either. Moving Chills. as much as it hurts, seems the most rational choice.

Too bad Portland would not do Chills for Jack straight up. That way we can use #11 on a bench SG. They have Roy and Outlaw as their young / core of wings so I doubt they care much for Chills.

[exodus]

[txsting]

That's a pretty good analysis. I agree that it squeezes Chills out. Some people don't want to hear that, but it makes sense to move him. He's probably as high in value as he will be, he doesn't have a position to play on this team, and he would need to be resigned this year. All of those things point to a move, and I know BK is well aware of this.

That's another good reason to take Critt at #11. Although he really is a pure PG, he has all the ability and size to play SG as well - real versatility. Why do you think BK likes Critt? He would be able to provide those JJ backup minutes, while also backing up Craig at PG while he learns.

Yi and Critt makes a lot of sense if we don't get a huge trade offer.

[pimp]

I dought Bk would want his former #2 pick benched.

And if you were J.Smith and they benched you for Yi,

would resign with the Hawks?? I don't think so.

[Peoriabird]

Quote:

---

JJ 37 min / Chills 11 min

---

Woody really needs to cut Joe's minutes down to 32 or less especially on some of those back to backs unless he is on fire.

[ncthompson11]

I say we play 2 PFs. Yi can play center better than zaza so we need to have yi start as another pf.

[GoDawgs21]

I love this debate...........

Granted Woody is a complete waste of space, but minutes aren't set in stone. It's not like every game X player has exatly this minutes. But with 3 qualty players 96 minutes is plenty. Start the game with Josh and Marvin, bring in Yi mid 1st qtr (he is a rookie, he will struggle, and how many rookies start right away) then mix and match to create the best match-up advantages for your team. Ride the guy that is hot, that is what is nice about this. If Marvin is rolling give him 37 min one night and Yi might get 26, and Josh 33. That's 96 right there. Say Yi is matched up on a smaller guy and hitting the fad away, he mgiht get 30, then 33 for Marvin and 33 for Josh. Chill can get a few minutes there. Everyone acts like there is one spot at Sf and one at PF and that spot is taking up by the same player for the whole game. Phoenix does a good job getting minutes for those guys.

My other point everyone acts like no team can win with all this frontcourt talent. So my question is how did the 1986 Celtics manage to get minutes for Mchale, Parrish, Walton, Bird. Damn I wonder how that team turend out. In no way am I comparing talent wise our guys to that, but it proves you can find minutes, thats not a problem, finding talent is.

What is wrong with these splits

Smith 38, Marvin 38, Yi 20

34, 40, 22

32, 35, 29

40, 32, 24

?????

Doest that not work, and that is just PF and SF minutes, will Yi not get maybe 5 min a game at C?????

This also gives our guys adequate rest. It's along season, with maybe 4 or 5 min less a game will some of the injuries go away???

[jerrywest]

Yi is just 11 lb less than Oden. A lifetime of noodles will do that to you. Give him some BigMacs and he'll go past Oden in weight.

[gutz]

I agree. Put Yi at center. I mean he is a legit 7 footer that can block shots. Of course he could add some weight but the lineup below could be absolutely nasty on offense and defense with Smoove and Yi blocking shots

Speedy

JJ

Marvin

Smoove

Yi

[vdunkndunk]

Yi might be able to play some center, it's just that he won't necessarily fix our defensive problems there. But maybe we could take a Golden State/Phoenix kind of approach and run with Yi at center and try to spread the floor and out-quick teams.

And I'm a little more impressed by his shotblocking ability in those videos than I thought I'd be. He's long and athletic and might be able to play some help defense, but certain players will probably be able to overpower him in the post.

If we could get Jack in a trade, though, we could play a more uptempo style and hopefully also improve our perimeter defense so we wouldn't have so much gaurd penetration.

[jerrywest]

Yi is already heavier than Bosh, Dirk and Tyson Chandler.

More of his weight is in muscles than most other players do. You know, fat takes up 3 times the space of muscles. If Yi was fat with the same weight, people wouldn't call him "not big enough". His body fat % must be Jordanesque.

[pimp]

How would the chinese goverment react if Yi ended up in

Woody's doghouse??

You know, the Diaw/ Delk /Salim treatment.

[coachx]

Quote:

---

I dought Bk would want his former #2 pick benched.

And if you were J.Smith and they benched you for Yi,

would resign with the Hawks?? I don't think so.

---

Neither Marvin or Smith would get benched and neither will feel a drop in minutes, only Chills would b/c he would most likely play exclusivly as a back up SG to JJ.

2006-2007

Smith - 36 mpg

Marvin - 34 mpg

If we get Jack or a drafted PG at #11 works out meaning we win some games Josh will be loving it here in his hometown !

Chills would lose his minutes at sf unless Yi proves more servicable at center then does Sheldon or Solomon.

Give Marvin / Smith the same MPG as last year and that still leaves 26 minutes at the foward positions. So if Yi can give us 4 minutes at center he has 30 mpg which is a lot of playing time for any rookie.

Marvin and Smoove will still get their minutes. Marvin did not seem to have the motor to handle the 34 minutes he was getting last year any way. Hopefully he improves his endurance.

Injuries happen too. Marvin / Smith / Yi/ will miss 10 to 20 games minium combined if we are lucky enough to avoid a major injury. That is when we are happy we are deep with Chills & Sheldon on the roster.

The games you play beat up and injured count twice as much. If our team is deep enough to steal a couple games when our roster is beat down that could be the difference in making the playoffs ! Deep teams when the 2nd game of 2 game / 2 night double headers. That can be the difference in the 9th and 6th seed in a division as close as the East.

[gheorghe]

man, specially the Este treatment. BTW, Este would give Yi some hard times in pratice, wouldn't he? if any of you are interested, Batista is working with Uruguay's National Team for the Panamerican Games and the Olympic Qualyfier and is very hungry and motivated to find his place anywhere, NBA or Europe

[jerrywest]

Quote:

---

How would the chinese goverment react if Yi ended up in

Woody's doghouse??

You know, the Diaw/ Delk /Salim treatment.

---

LOL. I think Wal-Mart may send their goons(lobbyists) after Woody.

[vdunkndunk]

Above I said that maybe we could take a Golden State/Phoenix kind of approach and run with Yi at center and try to spread the floor and out-quick teams, that yi could provide some help defense but may get overpowered in the post, although on offense he could pose some problems of his own at center when paired with Josh Smith, because both guys would be so athletic.

Anyway, I think the DraftExpress article I'll put below in just a second basically shows a microcosm of this kind of thing, and may give us a good indication of what we might expect with Yi at C. (By the way, they have a picture of Yi's opponent, Tang, who they describe in the article, and this guy looks surprisingly enormous, thick, and strong):

........................................................

Yi struggled again on defense matching-up against Tang in the first game. He’s just too big and strong for him. Yi can’t contain Tang when he bangs in the low post, and neither can he move him if he has position on him. He can only rely on his athleticism and quickness to eventually block his shots. It was a big relief for him when Jason Dixon entered on court in the second quarter to take care of Tang, and it was right when Guangdong started to build a solid scoring lead.

On the offensive end, Yi did a bit of everything. He scored from the low post (once with the jump-hook, while also netting a fade-away turnaround jumper), but not directly against Tang; he hit a couple of excellent mid-rangers from 19 feet; he scored in transition taking advantage of his athleticism; he delivered a couple of superb put-back dunks (particularly impressive was the one-handed one). He wasn’t very active in the second half, especially with Terrence Greene handling the ball. Still he managed to score 23 points, also pulling down 14 rebounds, despite not always properly boxing out his opponents.

The second game was a bit of the same story, with Guangdong deciding in the second half (also helped by Tang’s foul trouble) to end up with another easy victory. Yi increased his production to 35 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He combined perimeter (he even netted a three-pointer) and inside scoring, particularly forcing many fouls. His accuracy both from the field (9/13) and the free-throw line (14/15) were remarkable. Its worth mentioning Yi’s sturdiness from the line, crediting over 80% of his attempts this season, which perfectly reflects his great mid-range stroke.

The third game started in spectacular fashion. The first five possessions were a pure showdown between Yi and Tang. As we’ve seen all series long, Yi proved to be incapable of stopping Tang in one-on-one situations in the low post as Jiansu’s center scored two easy layups. Yi was so focused on preventing his opponent from banging him that he couldn’t react to his post moves. But on the other hand, he made Tang pay for his glaring lack of defensive mobility, with three consecutive mid-range shots. With better defensive rotations (sometimes Guangdong’s defense virtually collapsed on Tang) and again greatly helped by the entrance of Jason Dixon on the court in the second quarter, the Tigers easily found the way for the victory. Yi showed some nice moves in the low post this time, but wasn’t successful netting the ball. Still he finished the game with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks.

[jerrywest]

Offensively he is amazing. Defensively he needs a big body next to him when he'll go against Howard.

[pound4pound]

(sometimes Guangdong’s defense virtually collapsed on Tang)

[BusBoyIsBack]

Lmao @ cutting Josh SMith's minutes.

The person who would see serious minute reduction is ZAZA PACHULIA.