Best Defensive Starting Lineup

[RedDawg#8]

So here we are,  July 4th 2016, and most of Free Agency's biggest moves have been made. We aren't done with our roster yet and I'm sure there will be some surprising moves still to come. With that said, ever since we signed Dwight and lost Al I have been having these visions of the new direction of our team. Most notably is what to do about our log jam of wing players and how to best make the pieces fit together. One thing that I have stood by is that going forward if we were to invest in Kent Bazemore that he needs to be used as a SG. Its even more necessary when Kyle Korver is starting that the wing player next to him be able to play both positions. One of our biggest issues facing Lebron is the mismatches they create when Kyle cant guard anybody on their team and nobody on our team can guard Lebron. If we plan to be successful we damn well better start figuring out how to beat the Cavs. This switching defensive scheme with all the mismatches we have with Kyle and Kent on the floor together causes our defensive strategy to bend to the point of collapse and the only way we can beat the Cavs with those 2 is if the Cavs just have a bad shooting night. I thought before the series started that it would be a good idea to start Thabo and when he did you could see a much closer game until Bud eventually succumbed and put Kyle back in down the stretch. What I observed were some key differences though.

#1. Thabo and Kent create a very active, long, and athletic defensive perimeter which doesn't require as much help from the bigs. Thabo and Kent allow for everyone to stay at home and play tighter man defense, creating tougher shots, more turnovers and more transition scoring opportunities due to misses. Essentially, the knock of his lack of shooting is overrated the defense leads to much easier scoring opportunities. For example, would you rather run a half court offense against the Cavs with Kyle being face guarded and only taking 2-3 shots a game, or would you rather have more transition offense opportunities with open looks directly at the rim. The answer is easy.

#2 Kyle against the Cavs had his most effective games coming off the bench. Most teams matchup and gameplan against starting lineups. The game usually dicates the use of the bench due to foul trouble and what have you so its harder to have your best defender shadowing a shooter off the bench especially if your top defender is in your starting lineup. Kyle is 36 and climbing. There is no excuse to have him logging 30 mins a night anymore.  He lost more than a step with his injury and despite regaining his health he cant defeat father time. Bringing Kyle off the bench allows him to become a gunner and take the lions share of shots playing with a lesser unit instead of taking plays and shots away from starters who then have to become creative once the defense eliminates our top option on every play. And now you preserve him better because he only has to play shorter stints of minutes at a time.

#3 We played with more urgency on both ends due to our ability to attack on defense and our versatility on offense having a more capable ball handling wing on offense. You saw less hot potato offense and turnovers despite have a lesser offensive threat with Thabo because unlike Kyle if he doesn't have a shot, he can still move with the ball to find another player whereas Kyle needs someone to comeover and bail him out or he makes a dangerous pass that Lebrons Cavs have started to bait him in to more and more. Thabo can also slash and finish at the rim which makes the defense react more and risk picking up fouls. Kyle isn't drawing many if ANY fouls in a game.

 

Anyways, you are getting my point by now. Moreso than the Volt Green color, my most hated change of last season was a wing lineup of Baze and Kyle. I think it hurt our defense and caused us to fall behind night in and out against lesser teams that knew where to attack our defense. Our 2nd unit was so effective bailing us out of holes that our starters put us in. Dennis and Thabo were huge parts of that 2nd unit and along with Scott were our best players and both could start on most teams.

Well.... next season Dennis definitely is and if we don't make any more changes to upgrade our SF position I think Thabo should too.

Dennis

Bazemore

Thabo

Millsap

Howard

 

This starting lineup has the potential to be the best defensive unit in the NBA. There is length at every position and that's no exaggeration. Every player can guard their own position. Dennis can pick up full court, Dwight can defend anyone down low, both he and Millsap can protect the rim, and Kent and Thabo can straight get after any player on the wings. We can tweak our bench as time goes but I can see a unit like this being championship caliber on defense easily. Bud has to consider and appreciate the defensive potential here and not get so caught up on our shooting. Our best versions of Budball all came when we played strong defense. That's how we reached 60 wins, that's how we won the majority of our games last year.  We can become a much similar version to the 2004 Pistons and suffocate the life out of our opponents. Heres to the best defensive team in the league next season!

[skimaskway23]

My body is ready to see that lineup

[GameTime]

If Thabo can just work on that 3 pt shot of his (shot 34% last year). Get that 3PFG% to 37-39% and this is the perfect defensive lineup.

[BigDog90]

43 minutes ago, skimaskway23 said:

My body is ready to see that lineup

I wish Hardaway could be counted on to come off the bench at SF if that was the starting lineup.

[Alex]

Still nobody can score the basketball.

[skimaskway23]

20 minutes ago, BigDog90 said:

I wish Hardaway could be counted on to come off the bench at SF if that was the starting lineup.

I really feel like Tim is going to be the first sg off the bench. Idk if that makes korver a backup sf or starter. I see prince as the backup 3 tho.

[BigDog90]

Just now, skimaskway23 said:

I really feel like Tim is going to be the first sg off the bench. Idk if that makes korver a backup sf or starter. I see prince as the backup 3 tho.

Yeah, probably. Korver's spacing in the starting lineup is valuable. 

It'd definitely be great if Bud plays Prince.

[RedDawg#8]

Based solely on my defensive starting lineup projection I see the depth chart as such:

Dennis, Delaney, Patterson

Bazemore, THJ, Bembry

Thabo, Korver, Prince

Millsap, Scott, Muscala

Howard, Splitter, Tavares

 

Some of you are getting hung up on the idea that we cant score, or more specifically that we need Kyles spacing to score. I think the Cavs have debunked that theory, and again they are the standard bearers in the East.  The Cavs face guarded Kyle Korver and it still didn't open up any shots for our guys. As long as Kyle is on the court we become fixated on finding him open shots and it limits what else we can do offensively. Kyle played an entire playoff  game and didn't attempt a single shot and it didn't make us a better offensive team. We need to drop this theory and recognize that 2013 and 2014 is over. We cant depend on Kyle to get OPEN let alone make 50% of his shots anymore. Its not realistic, it was fun while it lasted but all those people complaining about us bringing in a 30 year old center need to let go of this notion that a 37 year old shooter needs to be a starter for us anymore. Teague is gone, DeMarre is gone, Al is gone. Kyles days are numbered, The Hawks of recent past are no more, we have to build a new identity based on our strengths and right now elite defense is a strength and can get even better now. And moreso than in any sport GREAT DEFENSE LEADS TO EASY OFFENSE. We were a great defensive team and were excellent in transition offense. We lead the league in open 3 point attempts but were only average in makes. Defense should be our focus and let the threes come as they please. Kyle is valuable, he can get better looks off the bench playing under 20 mins a game againt younger inexperienced defenders, and there aren't many back up SFs that he CANT defend, I think the Hawks are the only team in todays league where Kyle Korver starting or not is even a debate, He was old when we traded for him, he only started because we had nobody off the bench better. Times have changed. Its  new era. We commited to Bazemore. He is a SG. Paul Peirce, Joe Johnson, and others have all gone from SGs to SFs and even small PFs as they have aged. Kyle cannot keep up with the guards in this league. He is now a 3 and a back up at that.

 

Whats more interesting is that we have 2 rookies caught in a logjam of vets on the wings. I can see us start moving  at least 1 vet from the equation so that Prince and Bembry can be more involved in the rotation. otherwise they are back of the pack. Kyle or Thabo will be moved. Yal know where my vote lies.

[Lurker]

If Bud doesn't want to trust the rookies, he put himself in a huge pickle as Korver can't start anymore and he needs to adjust his offense to where it doesn't revolve around Korver's movement.

[Diesel]

1 hour ago, GameTime said:

If Thabo can just work on that 3 pt shot of his (shot 34% last year). Get that 3PFG% to 37-39% and this is the perfect defensive lineup.

For Thabo or Korver, all they would have to be able to do is nail an open shot.