The Bench....

[p00ka]

Listen, you need to stop debating Casey's rotations and stick with the important topics like booing Bargnani.

Actually what he needs to do to avoid this kind of BS is learn to let sleeping dogs lie. Nilanka and I have a bit of history over on the front page where it's mostly nutjobs hanging out. I'm not going to be candid about what I feel each of us has been with each other, because as he has done when I've been candid about my faults and faux pas, in search of a truce, he'll use them against me for fn months, like the sniveling weasel I've experienced in my dealings with him.

In recent weeks, going on months, we've pretty much stayed away from each other, with me mostly staying over on the front page jostling with the plethora of nutjobs over there. Then a couple of days ago, he decided (perhaps he was getting bored over here? I've no idea) he chose to poke the sleeping dog with snide remarks designed to mock and enrage. I guess you could say it worked, if his intent was to raise my ire by being a sleezebag, but as the expression goes, "be careful what you ask for".

[Mundy]

I'm not a huge fan of Anderson playing big minutes.... but I have kind of a radical solution that would give us more options with both the starting and second lineups:

Lowry
AA
Gay
Bargs
JV

This makes other teams respect our mid-range and 3-pt shooting right off the bat. Lets Rudy and Lowry get to the cup without an utter collapse on defense, and allows JV to work the boards/put-backs without all of their defenders being in the paint for most of every possession.
....then bring in Amir (quite used to a bench role) and Dero (could be a second-unit killer a'la Manu) so we don't just cough up 10-point leads that our starters got us. Ross would get in about where he does now, which sucks but that seems to be how they're playing him.

I know it sounds a lot better in theory than it may be in practice, but there's gotta be a way that our bench can step up. This just might maximize everybody's talents and give us the 8-9 man rotation we need.

[Nilanka]

I'm not a huge fan of Anderson playing big minutes.... but I have kind of a radical solution that would give us more options with both the starting and second lineups:

Lowry
AA
Gay
Bargs
JV

This makes other teams respect our mid-range and 3-pt shooting right off the bat. Lets Rudy and Lowry get to the cup without an utter collapse on defense, and allows JV to work the boards/put-backs without all of their defenders being in the paint for most of every possession.
....then bring in Amir (quite used to a bench role) and Dero (could be a second-unit killer a'la Manu) so we don't just cough up 10-point leads that our starters got us. Ross would get in about where he does now, which sucks but that seems to be how they're playing him.

I know it sounds a lot better in theory than it may be in practice, but there's gotta be a way that our bench can step up. This just might maximize everybody's talents and give us the 8-9 man rotation we need.

I think we can achieve what you're striving for if Casey simply timed his substitutions better.

For example, if the starting wings are DeRozan and Gay, bring Anderson in for DeRozan let's say 7 mins into the 1st quarter. Then a few minutes later, bring DeRozan in for Gay (leaving DeRozan and Anderson). A few minutes later, bring Gay back in for Anderson (leaving DeRozan and Gay). This way, there is always a starting wing on the floor.

The same principle should be applied for the bigs. Always have 1 starting big on the floor.

Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, there are obvious exceptions to this philosophy (like injuries and foul trouble), but Casey has to go into games thinking, "I need to ride my big guns".

[Mundy]

I think we can achieve what you're striving for if Casey simply timed his substitutions better.

For example, if the starting wings are DeRozan and Gay, bring Anderson in for DeRozan let's say 7 mins into the 1st quarter. Then a few minutes later, bring DeRozan in for Gay (leaving DeRozan and Anderson). A few minutes later, bring Gay back in for Anderson (leaving DeRozan and Gay). This way, there is always a starting wing on the floor.

The same principle should be applied for the bigs. Always have 1 starting big on the floor.

Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, there are obvious exceptions to this philosophy (like injuries and foul trouble), but Casey has to go into games thinking, "I need to ride my big guns".

You make a good point, and that's far more realistic that what I suggested. Either way, I think mixing up the shooters (instead of basically having them all come off the bench, with the exception of Lowry) and the slashers (who all start) would maximize everybody's abilities. Instead we're trying to jam Lowry, Rudy and Derozan all through the door at the same.

[NoPropsneeded]

Next year our rotation should look like this:

Lowry
DeRozan
Gay
-Insert FA PF here-
Valanciunas

Bench:
Telfair/FA PG
Ross
Fields
Amir
So basically a 9 man rotation.

[ReubenJRD]

Goodness, I think the second bench rotation of Lucas, Ross, Anderson, Fields, Bargnani, Gray, Acy, Telfair is MUCH more talented than the original one we came into the season with. But, Ross has been inconsistent, Bargnani has been awful, Anderson and Lucas are chuckers, and Fields is, I don't even know what Casey is doing with him...