starting five

[white men can't jump]

Lowry, DD, Gay, Hansborough, JV.

I think ill put Hansborough in there to dictate the defense early and hopefully also get the other guys psyched up to defend aggressively. Plus, seems that Amir plays better when he's on the 2nd unit.

What? Is Hansbrough better than Amir there? I'm not so sure about that. And Amir can guard some quicker 4s pretty well, making him a nice piece next to JV.

And this is exactly what makes me think he'll be good for the bench. The bench lacks a strong personality to give them some kind of energy every night. I'm not convinced it can be Fields, and I'm not sure about Ross, even if he ups his production. Don't think he can be the emotional leader of the 2nd unit. Teams need a sparkplug for that off the bench...Nobody fits the bill as well as Hansbrough.

[planetmars]

Lowry, DD, Gay, Hansborough, JV.

I think ill put Hansborough in there to dictate the defense early and hopefully also get the other guys psyched up to defend aggressively. Plus, seems that Amir plays better when he's on the 2nd unit.

I want to see when they play small ball with the 2nd unit - Stone, DD, Novak, Hansborough and Amir.

I think one of DD, Gay or JV should always be on the floor at one time or another. I don't like the idea of having that bench on the floor unless its garbage time (minus Amir of course).

EDIT - whoops didn't see DD there in your 2nd unit until after I sent my post.

[Xixak]

Lowry, DD, Gay, Hansborough, JV.

I think ill put Hansborough in there to dictate the defense early and hopefully also get the other guys psyched up to defend aggressively. Plus, seems that Amir plays better when he's on the 2nd unit.

I want to see when they play small ball with the 2nd unit - Stone, DD, Novak, Hansborough and Amir.

How the hell is that small ball?

6'6, 6'7, 6'10, 6'9, 6'10

...

[Usagi_yo_Jimbo]

Anybody know anything thing about this Dwight Buyck guy? I heard we just signed him to back up Lowry.

[2KJ]

interesting point on psycho-t starting and letting amir be the 6th man/1st big off the bench. amir is our solid veteran big who can play both as a starter and reserve efficiently (vastly improved from being the instant foul that he was when he first arrived). he could also lead the 2nd unit along with ross, fields, etc. i think our roster overall looks much better with young players and without the scrub veterans who just chuck shots/3pointers once the starters rest.

i'm still worried about the backup pg as so far raps have signed 2 young no-name players which gives me flashbacks of when we had guys like will solomon, roko ukic, ben uzoh as our back up pgs. i'm still hoping that raps get a solid veteran pg who knows how to make plays, but won't be a threat to steal lowry's starting job (i read minny's shopping ridnour or barea).

this season should be interesting. i like how masai runs the team so far, improving it from top to bottom, and no quick fix trades.

[alex_elstone]

You could make a case for starting Lowry/DDR/Gay/Novak/Val

Novak will only start, then play in random situations in the game when we need to space the floor.

The second unit would be
Buycks/Ross/Acy/PsychoT/Amir
I think this second unit could thrive. Buycks and Ross providing the offense while the other 3 provide the physicality and rebounding. They could also gets stops on D.

I wouldn't be suprised if this lineup starts quite a few games this season

[Mediumcore]

You could make a case for starting Lowry/DDR/Gay/Novak/Val

Novak will only start, then play in random situations in the game when we need to space the floor.

The second unit would be
Buycks/Ross/Acy/PsychoT/Amir
I think this second unit could thrive. Buycks and Ross providing the offense while the other 3 provide the physicality and rebounding. They could also gets stops on D.

I wouldn't be suprised if this lineup starts quite a few games this season

I like that line up as well and think it could be the best offensive line up for them this season.

[Mr.Z]

A matter regarding rotations that should be brought up is who is Dwight Buycks?>

[white men can't jump]

I think I'd like the lineups to be something like this...

Starters: Lowry, DeMar, Rudy, Amir, Jonas.....First subs in will be Hansbrough, Ross, Fields, backup PG in that order. They'll probably try to get Rudy and DeMar going a bit, and Jonas will get touches, but not be the focal point.

Closing 1st quarter: Backup PG (assume Buyckes for now), Ross, Fields, Hansbrough, Jonas....Ross benefits from Jonas being the go-to guy with Rudy and DeMar off the floor. Guys get open shots. Novak could easily be in here for Fields, but if Fields fixes his shot a bit, I'd much rather have him as a SF, and use Novak as a stretch 4 if Casey wants a shooter. So Novak would take Hansbrough's place. But I like Hansbrough's offensive rebounding.

Start 2nd quarter: Backup PG, DeMar, Ross, Hansbrough, Amir....Not long before Lowry comes back on. This is also a good time to option to bring Rudy back on as a small-ball PF for a couple of minutes if a big is in foul trouble. In this case, Rudy comes on with Lowry, and if not, a couple minutes later for Ross. Jonas comes back in around the 6 minute mark.

Close 2nd with starters.

Similar rotation in 2nd half. Basically a guy like Novak is likely to get the scrap minutes when there's an unconventional lineup. Hansbrough and Ross will get the most minutes off the bench. Buyckes (or whoever) gets a legit opportunity with the need for a bit of scoring from the PG spot on the 2nd unit. Gray becomes a foul trouble and match up back up. Fields is the big X-factor. If his shot is at all repaired (I'm not confident it will be), he brings a lot to the table and will stabilize the rotation into having a main 9 guys. If it's not, Casey will be looking for answers at SF a lot, using Novak and possibly Acy....maybe even Kleiza if he's still around.

*Also, last 6 minutes of a game are totally different. Things will depend a lot on situation, matchups, who's hot...whatever. I figure Lowry is obviously always going to be on. Rudy as well. I'd like to say Jonas, but there might be some weird situations. Same for Amir. Ross will get some late minutes when he's hot. Novak will when they need a shooter....

[p00ka]

Good job coach!

[The Great One]

Not Rocket Science

C - JV
PF - Amir
SF - Gay
SG - DeRozan
PG - Lowry

Starting 5 for your Toronto Raptors.

[big boi]

Also starting Hansbrough over Amir would be like taking Lena Dunham home over Allison Williams

I hope to never see Lena Dunham naked again. Wtf is her problem!?

[big boi]

How the hell is that small ball?

6'6, 6'7, 6'10, 6'9, 6'10

...

Since when was Lowry 6'6? He just looks tall now cuz he's less fat

[big boi]

Since when was Lowry 6'6? He just looks tall now cuz he's less fat

Oh... Stone. That's my bad.

[ezz_bee]

I don't see it happening, but if I was coaching and my goal was to make the playoffs I'd definitely experiment with this line up as starters

Lowry
Fields
Gay
Amir
JV

The idea that Fields does a lot of little things better than derozan (cutting off the ball, setting screens, +defender), and you add more scoring to your bench. I still think Demar gets 30+ minutes a game. Basically, you go with primarily a 3 man rotation on the 2 and 3 spots, with Fields playing the 3 when he and Demar are on together. The downside is that it becomes difficult to get minutes to develop Ross.

Like I said, I don't see it happening, but I sure would like casey to try it.