Early Lineup Returns

[benhillboy]

 

Starting lineup solid obviously.

 

Very next most used lineup swaps Clint for OO and it falls off a cliff.  

 

There is an an obvious gap between Clint and OO but not that damn big.  Or at least it shouldn’t be.  I got faith he’ll pick it up even being thrust into a starting role for this little stretch.  I have noticed more emphasis from teams on boxing him out yet his rebounding has improved over last season.  Gotta get his 2 point shooting and shot blocking back up a bit.

 

The success of the third lineup is quite surprising with both Hollidaze and Jalen.  DJ obviously feels more comfortable with the second unit.

 

Lineups 4-8 is where we get some ugly numbers with Trae and Jalen.  Jalen can’t help Trae in any way: defending point of attack, PNR, nor spacing so that’s not surprising.  Bogi’s absence surely made these numbers funky.  

 

Lineup 6 only swaps Jalen out for John from the outstanding lineup 3, yet the efficiency falls off a cliff?!  That’s weird.  And not a good look for JC.

 

OO, DJ, and A. Hol pick the pace back up with 2 strong lineups 9 and 10.

 

Small sample but the Small Ball 1 lineup (Trae/ DJ/ Bogi/ Dre/ John) gets outscored by a point per minute.  I expect that to improve soon especially if John can get near his usual shooting percentages.

 

I liked Forrest beside Trae, that lineup has killed in a small sample with OO, Bogi, and Dre.

 

OO the common denominator in all the sh*t lineups at the bottom lol.

 

Again, lineup 17’s efficiency spikes to great with a simple sub out of John for Jalen from the poor lineup 7 with Trae, DJ, AJ, and Clint.

 

I said all this to say, I like DJ (don’t love him) but I wanna see Trae/ Bogi/ AJ spammed lineups as much as possible.  Obviously they haven’t played together enough to register but when they do I’d be very surprised if the numbers are anything but explosive.  Nate would have to be judicious about when to deploy them obviously so as to minimize the defensive flaws.  But opposing teams visibly hate having Trae at the top with a great screener and two potentially deadly spacers who have great shot fakes and can put the ball on the deck and make something happen.  The Magic aren’t the best defensive team no doubt but any team would bristle at always having to expand or constrict at a split seconds notice as Trae probes into the middle.  GOTTA HAVE MORE BASELINE/BACKDOOR CUTTERS!  JOHN AND DRE!!!

 

AJ’s rapid maturation and Fresh Bogi has actually given me hope for a level above “non-contender” lol.  Juniors quiet 17-20 point games have been a godsend while Trae finds his shot.

Edited December 20, 2022 by benhillboy

[macdaddy]

Yeah that's a little surprising.  4 man lineups tell a similar story but hopefully this is some kind of early season anomaly.