I hear you but I can’t help but feel like numbers are only questioned when someone brings up a point about Lonzo or Ingram. Also i think a pretty strong case can be made that a lot of Kuzma’s (and even LeBrons) defensive numbers are weighed down by when they are played out of position. I maintain that he will never be a defensive force but he can be solid. Overall though for me stats are stats. They don’t have any personal stakes in things and don’t favor any players. With Kuzma on the floor playing at his natural position our overall team defensive rating is fine. So I gotta push back a bit at this current narrative that Kuzma is hurting us so bad out there. There’s also a stark difference between Ingram playing with or without LeBron. I have little doubt that’s why we haven’t seen much of the line up folks are talking about. So I’ll wrap up this ramble with this. I’m honestly okay with continuing this current line up as our starters. I think ultimately we’re better in the long run if this line up can take their lumps and figure out how to play together with Hart leading the charge off the bench. If Luke does tinker with the lineup though, I’m not sold Kuzma is the guy who should be coming off the bench. It could work out fine but I think he’s sold short for a variety of reasons right now.
i'm on team: lonzo hart kuz lebron mcgee ingram needs to be running the second unit. i doubt we'll see it because i think ingram's very sensitive and the team is (over) invested in his personal success.
This has been my preference for a while now. However, I'm convinced Luke is under orders from Magic to start BI. Probably for good reason. It's not best for the team right now, but starting BI is forcing him to develop while also showcasing him for the eventual AD trade.
EtG: I agree with you and in case you missed it, I have no dogs in the starter debate. All I want is the best defensive unit to close out games in doubt, but I have no problem with BI coming off the bench and being a supersub that finishes games. I still think there's not enough of a sample size...consider Pip was a sub-15 points per scorer in his 1st couple seasons with MJ before he became a dependable 15+ point scoring threat. I'm not saying Bron-BI will ever reach those heights, but it's only been 16 games fam (due to suspensions). They have played more minutes together than naught, so the sample size isn't sufficient enough to pass proper judgement on it yet. But EtG I agree that Luke and his X&Os assistant coaches have to figure out a way to make BI a more efficient scoring threat when he's on the floor with Bron. Btw, I do believe that Bron handing the rock to BI and standing in the corner on the weakside while BI operates is by design to get Bron some "rest" while on the court. Anyways here's an interesting graphic and it's on the coaching staff and Bron-BI to figure out how to make it work, cause I'm sure it can....till AD happens.
The best starting 5 based on talent and fit is imo Rondo Hart LeBron Kuzma Chandler I think these guys work better together Lonzo KCP Ingram McGee
The problem is Lebron takes plays off on defense. Which means the other 4 starters need to be very active rotating as help defenders. Kuzma can't even cover his own man. Which makes him a non-starter. And that graphic proves Ingram hasn't regressed at all. We need to start him to accelerate his development.
Maybe the #'s aren't as simple as lebron and Ingram not being good on a the court together. Most of the time Ingram is at sg (or freaking pg) with lebron. The times he's at his natural sf with lebron, its with lebron at center. No wonder the numbers look bad. BI is out of position. I'd like to see BI at sf with lebron with a real pg, sg, and center.
Not a bad night overall. Like that Kuz was hitting the boards and the effort on defense is improving. Still not getting the 3 to drop though.
He can't hit open 3s this season . Unfortunately it may seem his shooting in college wasn't an aberration , more like last season one was .
He even missed some wide open 3s. No one around him, he can take few seconds in the corner to take a good look at the basket... clunk!
yeah, i'm starting to put him in lonzo's class of: hurting us because teams can simply ignore them behind the arc and expect to come out better than if they cover them.
Boom! I hate Luke Walton and/or the FO for continuing on with this thing. We don't need to reinvent basketball. Here's a wild thought, why don't we play guys at the position that is appropriate to their size, skill and experience? Instead of making Josh Hart a 6 foot 5 shooting guard play Power Forward off the bench, instead of trying to turn Brandon Ingram, a 6 foot 9 forward into a shooting guard when he can't shoot and has trouble keeping up with smaller guards defensively, instead of trying to turn a tweener like Kuzma into a stretch PF when he's not big or strong enough, plays weak D and barely rebounds and can't hit a three to save his life . . . why don't we play Hart as a starting shooting guard (our best two way player on the team by the way), play Brandon at the 3, and play Kuzma as our scoring 6th man off the bench? Doesn't that sound intuitive? Doesn't that sound like just plain sense? I'm beyond frustrated with this crap continuing. Basketball isn't rocket science. I feel like we are making things way more difficult on ourselves by having these lineups and misusing our personnel.
Of course it makes sense. BI is a SF, Bron is a modern PF. Hart is a SG. And you have 2 playmaking "small guards" on our team and two defensive centers, figure it out.
Quoted like the genius you are. It’s not rocket science. Why are they making it so difficult. Time for new assistants!!! Now!!!
Which is why you really can't rely on RPM metrics or any metrics that consider your contemporaries at that position. Also, lets not act like Luke is the only one that is playing this brand of basketball. The NBA effectively has destroyed the 5 spot...just check the allstar ballot. We've always had combo guards and wing players...so its been positionless...its just now you got more 6'9"-6'10" players willing to play at the guard spots....btw Magic says hi. AD was a freaking guard before his growth spurt...so if anything, he's the game changer. And soon Zion is coming into league...what exactly is he classified as? Btw Charles Barkely says hi. This isn't revolutionary folks....what seems to be, are the ridiculous expectations. You're expecting 21 year olds to know how to play with a 34 year old future HOFer from the jump. It took a 22 year old rookie in Pippen 2 whole damn seasons to know how to play with the gravitational pull that is MJ. How exactly did the kiddies play next to Kobe when they first got here and how did it translate in the wins column again? We're 3 games back from being 1st in the west and thats with the roster overhaul, Luke's admonished playbook/rotations, suspensions and injuries...s***, we can even argue that we coulda won a couple more of those games. We've been waiting a minute to be relevant again, so I get the angst in wanting to get there asap. But our FO is literally 1.25 years on the job (Magic 1.75). Damn, give it some time folks...Our kiddies will figure out their roles...Bron will get comfortable with his new mates...Luke will start to astonish rather than admonish...and we'll finally be back (we'll be back back next year tho). So till then, chill fam. Btw, Punk how you going to handle this one?
