Sefolosha vs. Carroll 2014-15 regular season numbers say we'll be ***MORE THAN OKAY*** at starting SF

[sturt]

Been staring at 82games and NBA.com stats numbers for last regular season, and one of the things that is striking to me is that Sefolosha and Carroll so mirror each other in so many ways, and where there is some separation, Sefolosha tends to have a palpable edge on defense, whereas where Carroll has an edge, it's in some offensive numbers, and at that, those merit only a slight edge.

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion I draw is that we're going to be okay with that first unit no matter what. So, the stress/concern level comes down a notch or two when you realize that you really can think of it as replacing the back-up instead of the starter... we effectively replaced our starter last off-season when we got Thabo.

Edited July 3, 2015 by sturt

[pachoo5]

Yeah, I am perfectly fine with Thabo getting Demarre's full time minutes. We need another body though to take Thabo'd backup minutes.

[Nicholasp27]

The issue is with backup and health

When healthy, we lose nothing at starting 3 but the backup 3 won't be Thabo now

When unhealthy, we start a backup

Last year our record with Thabo was like 42-9 so we were much stronger with 2 strong 3s than just 1

[sturt]

Yeah... not taking away from the fundamental point that you'd rather have both of them if you could, and that you still want to get the best player you can possibly get to take minutes there... but whereas I think many of us have been approaching it all as-if we need to find a replacement for our starter, when I think of it as replacing the back-up's minutes, then it puts things in a context that we can better deal with, given our salary situation as it is... put another way, maybe we don't need to trade off Scott and Mack to get a starter... maybe we just trade off Mack to get a decent back-up... or maybe the Room MLE is enough to do so.

[Flight]

Let's just steer clear of the NYPD this year

[Plainview1981]

Difference is that Carroll was basically healthy in his career here while Thabo had had injury problems the last few years and is getting older. Thabo hasn't come that close to putting up Carroll's offensive numbers.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Except you've missed one MAJOR thing.

Even before the NYPD incident, Thabo had missed significant time due to a calf injury. The same injury he had in OKC the year before.

Thabo has had significant injuries sideline him in 3 of the past 4 years. Significantly increasing his workload probably isn't the ideal thing for us.

Honestly, we need Tim Jr and Bazemore to be very good at the 2 spot, so that we can possibly slide Kyle over to the 3 at times.

SG: Korver ( 12 ) - Tim Jr ( 18 ) - Bazemore ( 14 ) - Teague ( 4 )

SF: Sefolosha ( 25 ) - Korver ( 15 ) - Bazemore ( 8 )

If we can get a "wing by committee" distribution of minutes thar kind of looks like this, that will preserve the older guys like Kyle and Thabo.

I gave Teague minutes at the 2, because I doubt that Bud isn't going to abandon the 2 PG look at times.

[Plainview1981]

Except you've missed one MAJOR thing.

Even before the NYPD incident, Thabo had missed significant time due to a calf injury. The same injury he had in OKC the year before.

Thabo has had significant injuries sideline him in 3 of the past 4 years. Significantly increasing his workload probably isn't the ideal thing for us.

Honestly, we need Tim Jr and Bazemore to be very good at the 2 spot, so that we can possibly slide Kyle over to the 3 at times.

SG: Korver ( 12 ) - Tim Jr ( 18 ) - Bazemore ( 14 ) - Teague ( 4 )

SF: Sefolosha ( 25 ) - Korver ( 15 ) - Bazemore ( 8 )

If we can get a "wing by committee" distribution of minutes thar kind of looks like this, that will preserve the older guys like Kyle and Thabo.

I gave Teague minutes at the 2, because I doubt that Bud isn't going to abandon the 2 PG look at times.

 

yeah... If he can't stay healthy at 19 MPG... How the heck can you expect him to stay healthy playing 30 MPG?

[asdogg]

When is Tabo expected back? Plus there were some rumors regarding about FO concerns that he may not fully recover

[High5]

Thabo was such a valuable reserve last season. I think starting him loses some of his effectiveness in addition to creating a hole in our bench. There are also the health concerns.

 

Dennis-Thabo-Splitter is an awesome bench core. We need to keep that as a strength.

[sturt]

Except you've missed one MAJOR thing.

Even before the NYPD incident, Thabo had missed significant time due to a calf injury. The same injury he had in OKC the year before.

Thabo has had significant injuries sideline him in 3 of the past 4 years. Significantly increasing his workload probably isn't the ideal thing for us.

Honestly, we need Tim Jr and Bazemore to be very good at the 2 spot, so that we can possibly slide Kyle over to the 3 at times.

SG: Korver ( 12 ) - Tim Jr ( 18 ) - Bazemore ( 14 ) - Teague ( 4 )

SF: Sefolosha ( 25 ) - Korver ( 15 ) - Bazemore ( 8 )

If we can get a "wing by committee" distribution of minutes thar kind of looks like this, that will preserve the older guys like Kyle and Thabo.

I gave Teague minutes at the 2, because I doubt that Bud isn't going to abandon the 2 PG look at times.

 

No doubt, Carroll more durable. But building on the thought... the fact that his calf muscle is getting serious rest by virtue of walking on crutches might also play in Thabo's favor ultimately.

 

Completely agree about the importance that THjr might lend, sliding Korver to the 3. I'm not as bullish on Bazemore as I was this time last off-season. I do think he made progress, but I was thinking he could advance further, especially in light of the minutes he ended up getting.

[GameTime]

Let's just steer clear of the NYPD this year

 

At least he can't hang out with Pero anymore. 

 

When healthy Thabo is the best perimeter defender in the NBA (Butler is a close second IMO). Thabo helped change the culture of this Hawks team last year with his tenacity on defense and his ability to cut and attack on offense. You replace Splitter with Pero (huge steal) and we have a legit shot at being the best defensive team in the NBA next year.

 

I bolded healthy because he seems to always miss games. I pray he doesn't this year.

[ATLHawks3]

If we're gonna stick with Thabo as our starting 3, I'd like for the Hawks to find another defensive stopper to back him up. Preferably a guy like KJ McDaniels.

[GameTime]

If we're gonna stick with Thabo as our starting 3, I'd like for the Hawks to find another defensive stopper to back him up. Preferably a guy like KJ McDaniels.

 

KJ is a restricted free agent. And they will match any little money we have to offer. Unless we trade Scott, Mack, and/or Moose.

[Static]

Thabo was effective in the 7th man role. Taking him out of that could be a disaster. 

[Flight]

I understand he gets injured and all that makes sense but the biggest injury he had this year wasn't a basketball injury.

[ATLHawks3]

KJ is a restricted free agent. And they will match any little money we have to offer. Unless we trade Scott, Mack, and/or Moose.

Oh wow I didn't think they would give him a qualifying offer.

[sturt]

When is Tabo expected back? Plus there were some rumors regarding about FO concerns that he may not fully recover

 

Been researching that, and not finding anything other than his interview with ESPN's Arnovitz a couple of weeks ago. 

 

"I had surgery about a month ago, so it's a slow process. It's my first surgery, so I don't know the exact timeline and how the recovery is going to be. But I expect there are going to be some long months ahead. Right now, I can slowly start putting some weight on my leg, so I'm a little bit more mobile, which really helps."

[RedDawg#8]

Except he is a proven starter in this league. Ideally we need one more true SF on our roster. Whether they can start or not doesnt matter. They just need to be able to defend their position and we are peachy

[sturt]

After further looking, this appears to be the latest update: