Playoff Rotation

[ThomasCredle]

Just curious what other folks think our rotation and minutes should be when we hit the playoffs.

Korver has been shooting better lately so how many minutes should THjr take? Hump has earned some quality minutes in my opinion.   How should Teague and Shredder get their minutes split.   How much does Baze get and where can he log quality minutes at the 3.   

We are healthier and I think more versatile than last year.   Love to hear how people would handle our rotation this year

[Lurker]

Not really a hard cap:

Al Horford: 35-36 mins

Paul Millsap: 35-36 mins

Kent Bazemore: 24-28 mins

Kyle Korver: 28-30 mins

Jeff Teague: 30-34 mins

Bench:

Thabo Sefolosha: 20-24 mins

***Dennis Schröder: 18-20 mins

***Tim Hardaway Jr: 15-18 mins

Kris Humphries: 12-15 mins

Mike Scott: 10-12 mins

***This depends on how well they are playing, if they are playing well they can and should play more minutes.

Why is the frontcourt at the bottom outside of Sefolosha? Because I have a sneaking feeling it is going to get exposed again at playoff time. Humphries isn't a true center, and Scott doesn't fit in with the grind it out halfcourt ball that a lot of playoff basketball is.

And yes, Humphries not being a true center actually may become a problem even if it seems like it won't. Every little exploit gets exploited in the playoffs.

**and I don't mean the starting frontcourt, I mean the bench frontcourt. The starting frontcourt is the most important piece for the Hawks in the playoffs. If they don't play well they'll be in trouble.

[ThomasCredle]

Those look like very reasonable minutes to me.  I agree that it will depend on how individuals are playing so many of our guys are streaky and outside of Sap and Horf prone to being very streaky with their shot

[Atlantaholic]

Not sure why we should change with what we have been going with lately. We are playing some of the best basketball on the planet with the current rotation.

[QuantumHawkz]

3 hours ago, Lurker said:

Not really a hard cap:

Al Horford: 35-36 mins

Paul Millsap: 35-36 mins

Kent Bazemore: 24-28 mins

Kyle Korver: 28-30 mins

Jeff Teague: 30-34 mins

Bench:

Thabo Sefolosha: 20-24 mins

***Dennis Schröder: 18-20 mins

***Tim Hardaway Jr: 15-18 mins

Kris Humphries: 12-15 mins

Mike Scott: 10-12 mins

***This depends on how well they are playing, if they are playing well they can and should play more minutes.

Why is the frontcourt at the bottom outside of Sefolosha? Because I have a sneaking feeling it is going to get exposed again at playoff time. Humphries isn't a true center, and Scott doesn't fit in with the grind it out halfcourt ball that a lot of playoff basketball is.

And yes, Humphries not being a true center actually may become a problem even if it seems like it won't. Every little exploit gets exploited in the playoffs.

**and I don't mean the starting frontcourt, I mean the bench frontcourt. The starting frontcourt is the most important piece for the Hawks in the playoffs. If they don't play well they'll be in trouble.

This will be our ten man rotation until the playoffs start. 

[Guest]

I'd have to think it depends on which team we draw in the playoffs...match ups etc. Lirker's numbers looked good although I might increase Thabo and Dennis and take a bit away from Baze and Kyle, but otherwise seems pretty spot on to me.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

PG:  Teague (30) - Schröder (18)

G: Korver (28) - Hardaway (8) - Baze (6) - Schröder (6)

F: Baze (22) - Sefolosha (26)

PF: Millsap (36) - Scott (8) - Horford (4)

C: Horford (32) - Humphries (16)

 

STARTERS

Teague - 30

Baze - 28

Korver - 28

Millsap - 36

Horford - 36

 

BENCH

Schröder - 24

Hardaway - 8

Sefolosha - 26

Scott - 8

Humphries - 16

 

In the playoffs, rotations normally tighten and there's no margin for error when it comes to defense and rebounding.  That's why I see an uptick in minutes for Sefolosha and Humphries, and a downtick in minutes for Hardaway and Scott.   THJ and Mike Molly will have to play extremely well offensively in the 1st half to get more minutes in the 2nd half. 

Interesting that Bud opted to play Teague and Schröder at the same time last night for about 8 - 9 minutes.  For people who want to keep both guys after 2017, this is what is going to have to start happening.  While it failed miserably at the start of the season, Bud is trying it again, to see if those 2 can co-exist on the floor together.

Humphries and Sefolosha have to be excellent come playoff time.  Both need to continue to hit the boards and be impactful on defense.  

If Millsap or Horford get into foul trouble, it's good to know that we have Humphries to come off the bench and play extended minutes, instead of being forced to go small with Millsap, or play a really weak defender like Muscala.

We need to solve the Toronto puzzle.  They've become what Orlando was to those Joe Johnson Hawks teams from 2008 - 2010.  Those 2 games coming up will have my eye more than any other games the rest of the way.

Edited March 27, 2016 by TheNorthCydeRises

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

PG:  Teague (30) - Schröder (18)

G: Korver (28) - Hardaway (8) - Baze (6) - Schröder (6)

F: Baze (22) - Sefolosha (26)

PF: Millsap (36) - Scott (8) - Horford (4)

C: Horford (32) - Humphries (16)

 

STARTERS

Teague - 30

Baze - 28

Korver - 28

Millsap - 36

Horford - 36

 

BENCH

Schröder - 24

Hardaway - 8

Sefolosha - 26

Scott - 8

Humphries - 16

 

In the playoffs, rotations normally tighten and there's no margin for error when it comes to defense and rebounding.  That's why I see an uptick in minutes for Sefolosha and Humphries, and a downtick in minutes for Hardaway and Scott.   THJ and Mike Molly will have to play extremely well offensively in the 1st half to get more minutes in the 2nd half. 

Interesting that Bud opted to play Teague and Schröder at the same time last night for about 8 - 9 minutes.  For people who want to keep both guys after 2017, this is what is going to have to start happening.  While it failed miserably at the start of the season, Bud is trying it again, to see if those 2 can co-exist on the floor together.

Humphries and Sefolosha have to be excellent come playoff time.  Both need to continue to hit the boards and be impactful on defense.  

If Millsap or Horford get into foul trouble, it's good to know that we have Humphries to come off the bench and play extended minutes, instead of being forced to go small with Millsap, or play a really weak defender like Muscala.

We need to solve the Toronto puzzle.  They've become what Orlando was to those Joe Johnson Hawks teams from 2008 - 2010.  Those 2 games coming up will have my eye more than any other games the rest of the way.

This....Dennis, Thabo and Hump will see regular minutes off the bench. THJr and Scott's minute will be dependent on how games are progressing, their effectiveness in the minutes they get and/or the struggles, foul trouble of the starters.

Last playoffs, Bud tried playing the regular season rotations to start then realized the starters needed to play more minutes.

[Lurker]

1 hour ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

We need to solve the Toronto puzzle.  They've become what Orlando was to those Joe Johnson Hawks teams from 2008 - 2010.  Those 2 games coming up will have my eye more than any other games the rest of the way.

That game on Wednesday  is shaping up to be the game of the regular season. Really will be a very crucial game in regards to playoff seeding.

[bumpyphish1]

Will depend on matchups and how guys are playing but I see all of Teeague, Korver, Baze, Sap, Horford, Schröder, Hardaway, Thabo, Humphries, and Scott all getting minutes.  

Starting to wonder why we traded for Hinrich.

[Peoriabird]

I hope to God we don't see that 2 point guard line up in the post season!

[Guest]

Quote

The success of the 60-win Atlanta Hawks during the 2014-2015 season was built on a dominant starting lineup. In nearly 1,000 minutes of game action, the quintet of Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver,DeMarre Carroll (now departed), Paul Millsap and Al Horford outscored opponents by 8.1 points per 100 possessions and, in general, Atlanta was able to blow away opponents at the beginning and end of games throughout the campaign.

Fast-forward to the 2015-2016 season, and the "new" starting five began with a thud. Mike Budenholzer inserted Kent Bazemore into the lineup in place of DeMarre Carroll, and while the Hawks rolled up a respectable but underwhelming 31-27 record through late February, the results of the core five-man unit were highly underwhelming. The group was outscored by 2.7 points per 100 possessions in those 58 games, and on the defensive end, the results were disastrous to the tune of 105.7 points allowed per 100 possessions.

 

During that time, Atlanta was kept afloat by the bench, including strong contributions from Dennis Schröder, Thabo Sefolosha and even Mike Scott. Still, many pointed to the starting lineup's struggles (including in this space) as a reason to potentially insert Sefolosha in place of Bazemore to fix the most prominent five-some. Budenholzer stayed strong, however, and the results have paid off in a phenomenal way in recent weeks as the team's overall performance has also taken off.

Though the starters have posted only a +1.8 net rating over the balance of the 75-game season, the recent numbers are startlingly impressive. Since dropping three games in a row in late February, the starting lineup is outscoring opponents by 14.1 (!) points per 100 possessions, and their collective defensive rating is a stunning 93.0 in that 17-game sample. While skeptics could easily point to the fact that only 210 minutes of court time goes into this sample, the difference on the court has been visible on both ends, and it is encouraging that the improvement has taken place even as Kent Bazemore struggles with his jump shot.

What does it all mean? Well, to put it simply, rotations are shortened in the playoffs. The Hawks were able to tread water for much of the year using their quality depth, but as the postseason approaches, any team's "main" lineups are emphasized, and Atlanta will undoubtedly deploy their starting five for an increased workload. It is fair to suggest that Thabo Sefolosha could also see more minutes (in place of Bazemore), but regardless of that balance, Budenholzer's team must be able to function at a high level with their own starters against the best that the opposition has to offer.

Individual improvements from the likes of Kyle Korver and, especially, Jeff Teague can be credited with this overall uptick from the starters, and that is also encouraging. On the whole, though, it isn't difficult to decipher the importance of setting the tone in the first few minutes of any game, and the starting five of the Atlanta Hawks finally appears to be gelling at an opportune time.

 

 

http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2016/3/29/11324962/atlanta-hawks-starting-lineup-improvement-al-horford-paul-millsap