Hell yes.
Our draftees fill some major voids in a group with an otherwise impressive skill set. Our young vets that played showed that they’ve sharpened their bread and butter (I’m not worried about Quickley’s SL shooting. I don’t think it’s relevant to his potential regular role) while also looking more credible in jobs higher in the pecking order.
http://youtu.be/hLnR3rjmILcJohn Marci and Adam somebody (a Brit Celtics blogger) talk mainly about Kemba and Evan, though mainly about Kemba. They get into minutes, but I think Adam’s observations also impact role.
In Rose and Kemba, we’ve got two great guards who need their minutes managed to keep them effective and available. It looks like the peak efficiency to minimal wear sweet spot is 20-24 minutes a night for each guy.
You can run both at 24 and be done with it. You can allow some space for Deuce or Quick. I think Deuce provides more defensive power against matchups where our two decorated point guards simply can’t slow the other guy down. Quickley showed he can do that to. His D looked a lot better this summer. So, with the young situational guys we have a good path to managing minutes and maxing out play at the position.
This leaves the issue of role between Kemba and Derrick.
Last year, when both were available, Thibs went with Payton against the starters and followed on with Rose. I think he did this under the theory that when a game begins it’s fundamentally trench warfare in terms of who’s going to allow who what space and what constitutes a foul. That physical intensity can stay up through a regular season game, but it’s rare. Usually it shows at a turning point or down the stretch of a close one. Based on this Thibs likes to start the most physical effective player at each spot over someone who can produce more with their knowledge and skill. He still plays and integrates those guys, he just likes to kick ass a bit as a lead in.
Current Kemba is a more potent weapon than current Rose. Neither is as reactively quick as we’d like them to be. Rose’s 6’3”, his familiarity with both the guys and the system make him the better choice to start which would leave Kemba the task of lighting up whatever backup or gassed starter he faces when Thibs pulls the switch while playing what D he can. This looks like an even better option when Fournier stays on the floor through the transition because he is excellent at getting looks for and from Kemba.
Among the wings, this means RJ pulls the tougher defensive assignments. This suggests pulling him with Rose early, after the first mad rush, and putting in Burks. Then we can put RJ back in for Fournier once he’s had a blow. Fournier can then replace Burks to get us back to our starters.
Barrett Burks Barrett Barrett
Fournier Fournier Burks Fournier
Rose Kemba Kemba Rose
This makes for a 9 man core rotation:
Mitch Noel
Randle Obi
Barrett
Burks
Fournier
Rose Kemba
Taj, Bacon, Grimes, Quickley, and McBride are standby ready plug-n-plays. Knox is extra situational, but has the most positional flexibility on the deep bench.
Poll
