Lineups.

[nuraman00]

The last few times I felt strongly about lineups / rotation:

* Brewer should have started for Fisher during the 2006-2007 regular season. Fisher was shooting poorly and not defending well.

I think Fisher was the best guard on the Jazz in the playoffs though. He played better than Williams during the playoffs.

* Starting Boozer-Millsap over Okur-Boozer, from the beginning of 2008 onward. I felt that would give the best 5 players into the starting rotation, especially defensively.

This year, while I'd prefer to have Hayward over Marvin, or possibly Carroll, ultimately, I think even if a lineup change were made, it's a case of "grass is greener". The new lineup would expose other inconsistencies. I don't think these players play at a high enough level, or are consistent enough, that even tweaking the lineup or minutes makes much of a dent during the course of a game.

I like Hayward's moves though, maybe he truly is a difference maker, and not just a rotation player.

Plus, since I think team defense is the biggest flaw, that's harder to fix. One person changing their spot in the rotation doesn't matter as much, unless one of the worst defensive players is having his role reduced, or one of the best defensive players is having his minutes increased.

Favors could be the case of a better defensive player coming in, but he still will have so much foul trouble, that I don't think he'll be able to produce consistent minutes. He's not the first player to get into foul trouble, as Noah, Millsap, Oden, Dalembert, Danny Fortson all could have been pretty good players if they could have avoided foul trouble.

But I don't think Favors will change things that much, because he's going to "take himself out of games" with his foul trouble.

Hayward seems to have good size and speed as a defender, so maybe he could make a difference on the perimeter. But defense is also what an entire unit does most of the times, not just one player. So I just see so many players not recognizing or moving fast enough in rotations, that it feels like a lost cause, for this year. For example, what's the point of having Hayward do a good job on the perimeter, if Favors is just going to foul someone, or if Mo is going to give his man 9 feet of space and an open look, or Jefferson is going to be slow in moving, or if Tinsley is going to fall down, or if Watson is going to be too short.

It seems like the GM just needs to put better pieces together.

 

[nuraman00]

Ok, with that said, this lineup seems to have played substantial minutes (4th most used linup), and be one of the best defensive lineups, according to 82games.com:

Watson-Hayward-Carroll-Favors-Kanter


That's actually close to what some of us would want to see too, with Hayward, Carroll, Favors. I'd sub in Tinsley because I think he handles the ball better, and I like his size on defense.

On the other hand, this lineup is only +6! With all of the praise I just gave them, they can only outscore the other team by +6 in 100+ minutes? That's not dominating. That's not even good. That's mediocre. But the other most-used lineups are all negative in +/-!

Which means this team isn't good, if the best lineups result in still being outscored, and one good defensive lineup can only produce a +6 overall.


So, maybe the earlier post was more accurate. Even if players and minutes were shuffled around, it wouldn't change much, because there are too many problems on this roster.


Also, it appears the bench isn't much of a problem. The Jazz have the 2nd best bench on defense, and 4th best on offense.

But the starters are 24th on offense, and 25th on defense.

Which makes this confusing. So the starters are the problem?

I don't think the bench is bad, I agree with that much.

I don't think it's top 5 on offense or defense though.

I'm pretty sure that if the bench were starting, they wouldn't play as well. I don't think there's that much underused talent hiding there.

 

[nuraman00]

Instead of Hayward-Carroll, I think I'd want Foye-Hayward, for the shooting.

Plus Hayward can score in transition like Carroll.

Wow, Carroll is 81% in shots at the rim this year! Still, Hayward is better overall. And there's a reason why this is Carroll's 3rd team. He probably only does one thing well, score in transition, while not doing much else (assists, rebounds). Good bench player, not starter.

 

[Sackataters]

Instead of Hayward-Carroll, I think I'd want Foye-Hayward, for the shooting.

Plus Hayward can score in transition like Carroll.

Wow, Carroll is 81% in shots at the rim this year! Still, Hayward is better overall. And there's a reason why this is Carroll's 3rd team. He probably only does one thing well, score in transition, while not doing much else (assists, rebounds). Good bench player, not starter.

You ready for Marvin to sit now?

 

[Sackataters]

The starting lineup tonight has Earl and Derick. Favors with 9 boards and about 10 points at the half. I don't like Earl starting. I'm not sure what has been going on with Jamal, hopefully he isn't in the Raja house.