#FreeLandyFields vs Brooklyn

[iblastoff]

Well we wouldn't be saying that if we were satisfied with Landry lol

I somehow doubt we would be if he did play all year. He played tons before and was horrible. All of a sudden he plays one good game this year and we all want him back. Just useless flip flopping.

[Mr.Z]

I somehow doubt we would be if he did play all year. He played tons before and was horrible. All of a sudden he plays one good game this year and we all want him back. Just useless flip flopping.

Before meaning the Rudy Gay era? That doesn't count, that wasn't real basketball.

[RPT23]

Hmm... I think in this scenario, why don't we use Novak instead? I know it sounds like a stupid plan, but Casey already shows more confidence in Novak over Fields and he would bring another dimension to the offense as for the time being we haven't stretched the floor all that well. Having someone like Super Novak would really help our wings to penetrate into the paint a bit better. Add to that, Novak has been playing some "trying" defense as of late. The effort is certainly there.

[enlightenment]

Hmm... I think in this scenario, why don't we use Novak instead? I know it sounds like a stupid plan, but Casey already shows more confidence in Novak over Fields and he would bring another dimension to the offense as for the time being we haven't stretched the floor all that well. Having someone like Super Novak would really help our wings to penetrate into the paint a bit better. Add to that, Novak has been playing some "trying" defense as of late. The effort is certainly there.

They would attack novak every time down the floor. I can't see it being a good thing

[RPT23]

They would attack novak every time down the floor. I can't see it being a good thing

True but at that point we should start using this zone defense Casey's been known for. Honestly, I haven't seen the zone defense in quite some time. If I remember correctly (or read it correctly) the Nets do not have much scoring within 5'-0" so we could possibly get away with the zone defense just to change things around a bit.

[c_bcm]

I wish we knew why Fields is stapled to the bench. It appears no Toronto reporter wants to really ask Casey that question or they just assume he's being considered as a scrub and just go on with their business.

From my eyes I see Fields bringing some value to the team. Similar to De Colo or Hayes in a few minutes here and there. I don't think anybody is asking Casey to play Fields for 25 minutes, but maybe 5-10 minutes won't be so bad??

I know he can't shoot but it's not like Salmons is stretching the floor.

Whatever.. the bottom line is Casey is not going to play him for whatever reason. Just have to live with it. Hopefully Fields gets another contract after next year because he's a nice guy.. but with the amount of minutes he gets in Toronto its unlikely that anyone will want him even for the minimum.

Doesn't it have to do with tightened rotations leading up to the playoffs? Can't play a guy with a janky shot.

[Fully]

Can't be worse than Salmons. Straight up. NOTHING can be worse than Salmons. Fields doesn't hold on to the ball on offense, and he has proven to be a strong defender. It makes no sense to me that Salmons is being played over Fields.

It may have something to do with Fields having one functional arm.

[psrs1]

I wish we knew why Fields is stapled to the bench. It appears no Toronto reporter wants to really ask Casey that question or they just assume he's being considered as a scrub and just go on with their business.

From my eyes I see Fields bringing some value to the team. Similar to De Colo or Hayes in a few minutes here and there. I don't think anybody is asking Casey to play Fields for 25 minutes, but maybe 5-10 minutes won't be so bad??

I know he can't shoot but it's not like Salmons is stretching the floor.

Whatever.. the bottom line is Casey is not going to play him for whatever reason. Just have to live with it. Hopefully Fields gets another contract after next year because he's a nice guy.. but with the amount of minutes he gets in Toronto its unlikely that anyone will want him even for the minimum.

I suspect DC sees Fields as an offensive liability. However in a defensive oriented series Fields should get some minutes to see if he can disrupt Nets offence.

[enlightenment]

It may have something to do with Fields having one functional arm.

Better than Salmons non-functioning body

[mountio]

Doesn't it have to do with tightened rotations leading up to the playoffs? Can't play a guy with a janky shot.

Exactly. LF is one of the most historically awful shooters to ever play the game post his injury. He cant shoot outside of 5 feet. In game 1, our offense was much more of an issue than our defense.

Thats not to say Im against putting LF in there to mix things up, maybe get some back cuts and play some D. But, the revisionist history on this board that he is somehow the answer to all of our problems is way, way off

[enlightenment]

Exactly. LF is one of the most historically awful shooters to ever play the game post his injury. He cant shoot outside of 5 feet. In game 1, our offense was much more of an issue than our defense.

Thats not to say Im against putting LF in there to mix things up, maybe get some back cuts and play some D. But, the revisionist history on this board that he is somehow the answer to all of our problems is way, way off

I wager Salmons percentage has been fairly close.

2 things:
-Landry will not pretend; holding the ball for a hesitation dribble till the defense resets and then passing it off is not in his cards. The ball STICKS in salmons hands on offense
-Landry is a better defender, and rebounder

[Nilanka]

Not a fan of the OP's suggestion. Now is not the time to be throwing the rotation that got us this far, out the window. The last thing we need is a guy who's been sitting on his ass for the last 5 months, to be thrust into the spotlight with the message, "win us the series by shutting down Pierce". Casey would be skinned alive if he actually did this.

Pierce definitely needs to be slowed down, but Fields is not the answer. We need Amir to run more post-ups against Pierce. Make him play defense. He'll be exhausted by the 4th quarter if he's expected to out-muscle Amir all game. It's all on Amir.

And let's not forget that if Ross stays out of foul trouble, we see a lot less of Salmons.

[yabadabayolo]

Not a fan of the OP's suggestion. Now is not the time to be throwing the rotation that got us this far, out the window. The last thing we need is a guy who's been sitting on his ass for the last 5 months, to be thrust into the spotlight with the message, "win us the series by shutting down Pierce". Casey would be skinned alive if he actually did this.

Pierce definitely needs to be slowed down, but Fields is not the answer. We need Amir to run more post-ups against Pierce. Make him play defense. He'll be exhausted by the 4th quarter if he's expected to out-muscle Amir all game. It's all on Amir.

And let's not forget that if Ross stays out of foul trouble, we see a lot less of Salmons.

Just a thought throw ross on pierce and Amir on jj for a battle of the Johnson's lol

Maybe for a couple possessions, Amir needs to be near the rim and jj plays closer to the rim than pierce.

[RobertArchibald]

Ham? Maybe ham sandwich. Have you seen what the Brooklyn wings did? Now if you're going to say Landry on Joe Johnson from time to time, we got something to talk about.

x1000. I would even throw Amir on JJ. Pierce isn't what hurt us until the last few minutes. Amir's presence on Pierce the whole game did. He's pulled away from being able to provide help and JJ used his height advantage to get deep in the paint and drop floaters to his heart's content.

[Fully]

Better than Salmons non-functioning body

You don't take a flamethrower to your rotations/game plan for a series based on a couple of possessions in game one, especially if that means throwing a guy in the fire who has 50+ DNPs this season. Fields isn't some type of secret weapon that Casey has refused to play or hasn't figured out how to utilize properly. He's a guy with one useful arm that has gotten meaningful minutes in exactly 2 games since the beginning of December.

I'm not against giving Fields a shot at some point, and I'd expect that he gets a look if the Raptors continue to get burned by some of the Nets smaller lineups... but it's not a simple solution. Playing Fields at any point brings a long it's own set of problems - mainly having to go 4 v. 5 on offense.