Is the Bench Stronger or Weaker In Your Opinion?

[EKmane]

I hear experts say that our bench has taken a hit with the loss of Jack and Landry, don't see it that way.

Assuming Barnes goes to the 2nd unit, we will have him and Green with a full season under their belts. From the growth those two showed during the playoffs I think they will pick up whatever was lost with Jack and Landry. After that you also add Tony Douglass, Speights and Jermaine O'neal. I think that in itself is a solid 10 man rotation. I don't think Machado makes the team, though I think Bazemore will and I have a good feeling about Nedovic.

I know Jack and Landry were more proven, I just see this bench being more talented.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_jAZzPgGzk

 

[NBKLee]

Too early to tell, ask this question again about mid December/ Early January.


Is FE going to come back and give us anything this year?


How soon will Nedo adjust to the NBA?, he had 2 practices, and then headed back to Europe to play on the Lithuania team. We didn't get to see him even in a Summer League game.

 

[EKmane]

Too early to tell, ask this question again about mid December/ Early January.


Is FE going to come back and give us anything this year?


How soon will Nedo adjust to the NBA?, he had 2 practices, and then headed back to Europe to play on the Lithuania team. We didn't get to see him even in a Summer League game.

If we get something out of those two I have no doubt that this will be one of the strongest benches in the league.

 

[ChuckDurn]

The team is much stronger. Our starters will be better (I'm assuming this will be our starting line-up):
- Curry - more experienced, confident
- Thompson - more experienced
- Iguodala - phenomenal fit, does all of the intangibles. Barnes was a solid rookie, but not the defender or all-around player (at least not yet) that Iggy is
- Lee - probably will be about the same, very dependable
- Bogut - will hopefully be healthier and play more, and regain some confidence in his offense

Bench:
- Last year: Jack and Landry were good, Ezeli was solid defensively (and absent offensively), Green was a hustler. Others just filled in gaps.
- This year: Barnes will give us a high-quality, starter-level player off the bench like Jack did. However, we aren't going to fin ourselves playing small-ball, with either Jack or Curry having to guard players 3-4 inches taller than them this year.
- Speights: will give us a solid mid-range shooter, not quite as good offensively as Landry, but hopefully a little more of a defensive deterrent.
- O'Neal: if he stays healthy, Ezeli will likely get very little time, because O'Neal is much better. He can score, defend, pass, and doesn't have hands of stone.
- Green: Hopefully a year better, and smart enough to know that he shouldn't shoot much. At all.
- Douglas: We didn't have anything like him last year - an experienced, defensive guard who also can hit a couple of shots and play in good control.
- Nedovic: a wild card for us. In a weird way, could become a taller version of JJ Barea for us - just give him the ball, and get out of the way.

The starters are better, to the extent that a young, blossoming start is being moved to the bench. Can any other team say that, aside from Houston with Asik? (And they still don't have a PF, whereas we actually have starters at all 5 positions.)

 

[Yoshi]

The team is much stronger. Our starters will be better (I'm assuming this will be our starting line-up):
- Curry - more experienced, confident
- Thompson - more experienced
- Iguodala - phenomenal fit, does all of the intangibles. Barnes was a solid rookie, but not the defender or all-around player (at least not yet) that Iggy is
- Lee - probably will be about the same, very dependable
- Bogut - will hopefully be healthier and play more, and regain some confidence in his offense

Bench:
- Last year: Jack and Landry were good, Ezeli was solid defensively (and absent offensively), Green was a hustler. Others just filled in gaps.
- This year: Barnes will give us a high-quality, starter-level player off the bench like Jack did. However, we aren't going to fin ourselves playing small-ball, with either Jack or Curry having to guard players 3-4 inches taller than them this year.
- Speights: will give us a solid mid-range shooter, not quite as good offensively as Landry, but hopefully a little more of a defensive deterrent.
- O'Neal: if he stays healthy, Ezeli will likely get very little time, because O'Neal is much better. He can score, defend, pass, and doesn't have hands of stone.
- Green: Hopefully a year better, and smart enough to know that he shouldn't shoot much. At all.
- Douglas: We didn't have anything like him last year - an experienced, defensive guard who also can hit a couple of shots and play in good control.
- Nedovic: a wild card for us. In a weird way, could become a taller version of JJ Barea for us - just give him the ball, and get out of the way.

The starters are better, to the extent that a young, blossoming start is being moved to the bench. Can any other team say that, aside from Houston with Asik? (And they still don't have a PF, whereas we actually have starters at all 5 positions.)

As good as Lee is offensively and being Mr. Double Double, we all know he can't play a lick of defense. This is why I'm hoping Bogut can at least give us 65-70 games this year and be that defensive stalwart that Lee isn't so that he can be plugged into our final 5 defensively (probably with Barnes, Iggy, Klay and your choice of Curry/Ezeli (when healthy)/Douglas. The obvious choice here would be Douglas due to his ability to defend PG's.

I also read somewhere that Green has been really working on his long range shooting, and even during mid season he did show some improvements in that department. Also, is Nedovic going to make the team? With our roster being pretty filled out from top to bottom, I'd rather the Dubbs sending him back to Europe for another year to fill out his game, especially with his shooting as that apparently is the only weakness to his game.

 

[CohanHater]

If the roster is set (since the front office still has partial exceptions to use before it hits the ceiling, so I doubt it) the bench is different. Jack did a great job while Curry was developing and when he was out with his injuries. That's really the question mark here. I think this bench is a better bench everywhere else, but that hole can be this team's Achilles heel.

 

[Hambombs]

They say we will miss jack and Landry but they were our worst defenders last year according to RAPM. Also Igoudala says hi on who's the jack replacement

 

[CameronFrye]

If the roster is set (since the front office still has partial exceptions to use before it hits the ceiling, so I doubt it) the bench is different. Jack did a great job while Curry was developing and when he was out with his injuries. That's really the question mark here. I think this bench is a better bench everywhere else, but that hole can be this team's Achilles heel.

If Curry misses games, Iguodala becomes the ball handler. Klay plays SG, Toney Douglas comes in and plays the "point guard" position (his only job would be to slow down the opposing team's PG) Lee is at PF and Bogut at center.

Overall, this team is stronger than last year's team. While Jack and Landry will be missed for their offense, the bench had three spots that were, for all intents and purposes, taken up by guys who were not going to play. Rush, cuz he was injured, Beans cuz he sucked, and Jefferson because he was old and slow. This team does not have a single player right now who you could look at and say, "Yup. That dude's gonna ride the pine every day." The closest thing we have to that right now is Bazemore, and even he is more useful than Beans or Jefferson.

 

[NBKLee]

12-13 roster


I don't remember Malcolm Thomas.


Is CJ still available?

 

[EKmane]

The team is much stronger. Our starters will be better (I'm assuming this will be our starting line-up):
- Curry - more experienced, confident
- Thompson - more experienced
- Iguodala - phenomenal fit, does all of the intangibles. Barnes was a solid rookie, but not the defender or all-around player (at least not yet) that Iggy is
- Lee - probably will be about the same, very dependable
- Bogut - will hopefully be healthier and play more, and regain some confidence in his offense

Bench:
- Last year: Jack and Landry were good, Ezeli was solid defensively (and absent offensively), Green was a hustler. Others just filled in gaps.
- This year: Barnes will give us a high-quality, starter-level player off the bench like Jack did. However, we aren't going to fin ourselves playing small-ball, with either Jack or Curry having to guard players 3-4 inches taller than them this year.
- Speights: will give us a solid mid-range shooter, not quite as good offensively as Landry, but hopefully a little more of a defensive deterrent.
- O'Neal: if he stays healthy, Ezeli will likely get very little time, because O'Neal is much better. He can score, defend, pass, and doesn't have hands of stone.
- Green: Hopefully a year better, and smart enough to know that he shouldn't shoot much. At all.
- Douglas: We didn't have anything like him last year - an experienced, defensive guard who also can hit a couple of shots and play in good control.
- Nedovic: a wild card for us. In a weird way, could become a taller version of JJ Barea for us - just give him the ball, and get out of the way.

The starters are better, to the extent that a young, blossoming start is being moved to the bench. Can any other team say that, aside from Houston with Asik? (And they still don't have a PF, whereas we actually have starters at all 5 positions.)

I just wanted to touch on the bold part. That is what is so beautiful about this team, when we go small, it won't be that small. I'm sure we'll close out games mostly with our "small" lineup of

Curry
Thompson
Iggy
Barnes
Lee

That squad can't be stopped on offense.

 

[EKmane]

If the roster is set (since the front office still has partial exceptions to use before it hits the ceiling, so I doubt it) the bench is different. Jack did a great job while Curry was developing and when he was out with his injuries. That's really the question mark here. I think this bench is a better bench everywhere else, but that hole can be this team's Achilles heel.

I think Toney Douglas is underrated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrbGz4s4la4

 

[NBKLee]

I think Toney Douglas is underrated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrbGz4s4la4

During that 3 min segment, there were only 3 passes and 3 defensive plays by him?


I guess that's okay. When he comes in at the 4min mark , or early 2nd quarter, I just want him to play good enough defense on the other Point so we don't get blown out of games before the 2nd half starts.


I don't see Douglas getting more than 15 mins a night, he may be "underrated" but if he was more respected, or had better skills, he would have gotten a larger contract to start somewhere.

 

[hof_al]

but that hole can be this team's Achilles heel.

I disagree. Yeah, Jack had his moments but he was a turnover machine during the season and leaked over into the playoffs. Without looking at the stat sheet, I'm pretty sure he led the team in turnovers. I know you want to be aggressive, but Jack more times than not was careless with the ball. Besides, he's more of a 2 anyway. He likes to attack and find his shot and rarely looks to distribute or create for others. I think Douglas is a nice addition, he probably won't put up the points that Jack did but he will not turn the ball over as much either.

 

[CohanHater]

I disagree. Yeah, Jack had his moments but he was a turnover machine during the season and leaked over into the playoffs. Without looking at the stat sheet, I'm pretty sure he led the team in turnovers. I know you want to be aggressive, but Jack more times than not was careless with the ball. Besides, he's more of a 2 anyway. He likes to attack and find his shot and rarely looks to distribute or create for others. I think Douglas is a nice addition, he probably won't put up the points that Jack did but he will not turn the ball over as much either.

I, by no means, was in love with Jack. He would pound the ball and drive me insane. But he was confident and that was important running the 2nd team (or the 1st team for stretches). I don't know enough about Douglass, but we'll soon find out. I would've loved to see someone like CJ Watson back. If Douglass can play that role, then I'll be fine

 

[hof_al]

I, by no means, was in love with Jack. He would pound the ball and drive me insane. But he was confident and that was important running the 2nd team (or the 1st team for stretches). I don't know enough about Douglass, but we'll soon find out. I would've loved to see someone like CJ Watson back. If Douglass can play that role, then I'll be fine

That's a good point, I can't argue with that. I hope that Barnes, now with experience and more confidence, can fill that roll. Douglas is a better defender and ball handler and I believe that we won't be missing Jack.

 

[gsw_lightning]

I would say our bench (at least on paper) got more flexible and defensive-minded. O'Neal can backup Bogut at Center for now until Ezeli comes back from surgery, and can teach Ezeli in the meantime the ropes while he's still developing. Speights and Green can definitely backup Lee at PF for rebounds, perimeter defense, and give us some scoring ability. Barnes can backup Iguodala at SF while learning the ropes from him as he develops. Douglass and Nedovic provides more flexibility at the 1-2-3 positions behind Curry and Thompson. Overall, I like the look of this second unit for now.

 

[NBKLee]

Bump, Jackson calls out the bench


Besides Green, has anyone on the bench really stood out as a good rotation player?

Douglas is going to be solid, but other than that... HB needs to come back quick

 

[Yoshi]

I think Toney Douglas is underrated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrbGz4s4la4

Very underrated.

I would wait til about a dozen games to make any judgements on the bench. Also, Black Falcon has yet to make a cameo this season so bringing his scoring and solid defense into the fold will make our 6-10 that much better.

Getting involved in blowouts 3 of the 4 games this season is good for guys like Nedovic and Kuzmic to get some PT is huge for their development. Also, Curry averaging 31 MPG compared to last season has gotta do wonders for his ankles. I love how coach MJ is distributing those minutes early on in the season.

 

[Yoshi]

Bump, Jackson calls out the bench


Besides Green, has anyone on the bench really stood out as a good rotation player?

Douglas is going to be solid, but other than that... HB needs to come back quick

Speights was struggling but had a nice showing against Philly. He really has a nice arc on his shot and he could contribute nicely if he gets some consistency behind him.

I'm a little disappointed with O'Neal in regards to his scoring around the paint but hopefully that'll come later. When Ezeli makes his way back, I'm assuming Kuzmic or Nedovic gets sent down to the D League?

 

[ChuckDurn]

The bench hasn't played well yet, either individually or collectively. Green has been okay in a couple of games, Speights did okay in Philadelphia the other night, O'Neal and Douglas have been good defensively but pretty sad offensively (except for Douglas on opening night)....

To me a big problem is that the bench doesn't have the right balance of offensive and defensive players, and thus everybody is playing a little bit out of their comfort zone. This should hopefully improve when Barnes (more offensive) is back, and as I noted in another thread, it would be good if we could get another offensive presence such as Shannon Brown to provide another threat. 3 of the main 4 reserves who have played (Douglas, Green, O'Neal) struggle on offense these days, so we need somebody to take the offensive pressure back off them...... and it's not Speights shooting 22-footers, that's for sure. Barnes coming back will be a big help. Ultimately I think this year's bench will end up being more productive and deeper than last year's (as I noted months ago when this thread originated), but it needs to get the right composition before we end up in that position.