Everything DeMarre Carroll

[S.R.]

You've still got 3 shooters on the court with CoJo, Ross, and Carroll. Spacing shouldn't be an issue with that kind of line. Plus there a solid chance that JJ comes into his contract year with servicable 3-ball.

Spacing is an issue if you're playing two forwards who essentially can't shoot - the fact that the three perimeter players have range doesn't help much with the fact that the defensive bigs can pack the paint and shut down the driving lanes. Which means the perimeter defenders can play a lot tighter on the outside, because if they get beat off the dribble the help behind them is in good position. It's why everybody loves a stretch 4 - pull at least one of those bigs away from the paint and everything opens up. Even with JV or Scola you have a big who can shoot 15 footers. Biyombo and Johnson might be okay for very short stints where you just want to get some defensive stops e.g. offense/defense substitutions at the end of quarters.

[JWash]

That's because anyone over 30 is treated like lepers on RR

Yup.

I think people need to realize that it's actually ok to have these 30+ year olds if:

1.) They aren't overpaid or signed long-term (Scola 1yr/3M, check)
2.) They are actually productive (Scola basically a double double guy per 36, can score, rebound, stretch a little bit and ok defensively, check)
3.) They aren't taking away an opportunity from a young prospect (we have no young prospect at the 4 who would get minutes anyway, so check again)

[raptors999]

30 year old, older players, play better under good coaches like Pop, Carlisle, Doc etc. Coaches that understand matchups, weaknesses and strategy. Veterans, except tier 1 guys like LBJ and Wade, usually need to play to their strength and minimize their weaknesses.

[DanH]

Yup.

I think people need to realize that it's actually ok to have these 30+ year olds if:

1.) They aren't overpaid or signed long-term (Scola 1yr/3M, check)
2.) They are actually productive (Scola basically a double double guy per 36, can score, rebound, stretch a little bit and ok defensively, check)
3.) They aren't taking away an opportunity from a young prospect (we have no young prospect at the 4 who would get minutes anyway, so check again)

This is a good post.

People have just been scarred by Casey, who has at times played Alan Anderson and John Salmons over Ross and Chuck Hayes or PF's over JV.

Now that I think of it though, there's a solid chance Scola somehow eats into JV's minutes. So I'm going to remain only cautiously optimistic about Scola until it is clear the Casey factor has been avoided.

[Puffer]

... the Casey factor has been avoided.

We can only hope.

[Chr1s1anL]

Who cares who loses minutes. Winning trumps everything.

[Bonus Jonas]

TRoss had a huge opportunity to step up last year with DD out and did absolutely nothing with it. The guy had a slightly lower eFG% with DeMar and 3.7% worse 3pt% with DD off the court.

As for Casey running a legit ball movement lineup... this is like hoping DD learns to be efficient. Very unlikely given the evidence we've seen to date.

I don't think there'd be enough shot creation to open up shots with a Ross/Carroll 2/3 combo, not with Casey running the show.

It's why I said he needs to play like he did Gay trade year. Last year I feel like he liked that weak crossover>take two steps in>long two combo. That needs to be completely taken out, either take the three or drive all the way in.

But I agree that it's not likely he plays consistent basketball and it's very unlikely that Casey runs a good offense. But it could be our David Lee out for Draymond Green type move.

[Bonus Jonas]

Who cares who loses minutes. Winning trumps everything.

Until Demar leaves in free agency because we won't give him 29M per and JV's incapable of picking up some of the burden since he was never on the floor. And suddenly we're not winning at all because we got greedy for an extra win or two the year before.

[MixxAOR]

Until Demar leaves in free agency because we won't give him 29M per and JV's incapable of picking up some of the burden since he was never on the floor. And suddenly we're not winning at all because we got greedy for an extra win or two the year before.

that's good though

[SkywalkerAC]

Spacing is an issue if you're playing two forwards who essentially can't shoot - the fact that the three perimeter players have range doesn't help much with the fact that the defensive bigs can pack the paint and shut down the driving lanes. Which means the perimeter defenders can play a lot tighter on the outside, because if they get beat off the dribble the help behind them is in good position. It's why everybody loves a stretch 4 - pull at least one of those bigs away from the paint and everything opens up. Even with JV or Scola you have a big who can shoot 15 footers. Biyombo and Johnson might be okay for very short stints where you just want to get some defensive stops e.g. offense/defense substitutions at the end of quarters.

JJ is stretchier than a lot of power forwards out there. You pair that with 3 other shooters - Carroll, Ross + Lowry/CoJo - and I think we're good to go on O.

In the modern era you need about 3.5 dynamic shooter-scorers on the court. Golden State can get away with playing Livingston and Iggy (who isn't a horrid shooter, better than JJ of course) because they've got Draymond at the 5, Barbosa at the 2, Barnes at the 4, or whatever.

If we can get 3-point shooting upticks from the likes of DeMar and James, and a return to form for Lowry, we're going to clean up from beyond the arc and the resulting externalities, even if it is with Johnson and Biyombo on the court.

[DanH]

that's good though

Nope! I don't want him here but I certainly don't want him gone for nothing and the team left with limited cap room to replace his minutes with.

[Katman]

I don't think Masai would allow the asset to be lost. He would re-sign him to whatever was needed and then trade him.

[mcHAPPY]

Who cares who loses minutes. Winning trumps everything.

So short sighted.... especially for a franchise that has lost in the first round the last 2 years including being swept this year.

[mcHAPPY]

TRoss had a huge opportunity to step up last year with DD out and did absolutely nothing with it. The guy had a slightly lower eFG% with DeMar and 3.7% worse 3pt% with DD off the court.

As for Casey running a legit ball movement lineup... this is like hoping DD learns to be efficient. Very unlikely given the evidence we've seen to date.

I don't think there'd be enough shot creation to open up shots with a Ross/Carroll 2/3 combo, not with Casey running the show.

That is because Ross and DD are different players but Casey didn't treat them as such.

DeRozan went out and he just expected Ross to do the same things DD did.

Casey is the master of putting square pegs in round holes.

Adjustment is not a word he is familiar with.


It is tough to make any sort of defense for Ross because he played so bad last year but on this topic I don't put any blame on him. He was a floor spacer asked to play ISO.

[Katman]

Actually he smashes that square peg in the round hole, after which the peg is no long square and the hole is no longer round.