Move Smart to point guard, and let Romeo start at the 2. That is a defensive oriented starting 5 (the two J's and Rob) that changes the mindset and philosophy of the team.
How does an NBA team compete in the modern age by having three poor-to-terrible floor spacers?
Defense wins championships.
Not anymore.
Outscoring your opponent wins championships.
Swap Nesmith (your binkie) for Romeo, then. And/or trade Smart and re-sign Fournier. Now you have more than enough shooting in starting 5: Nesmith, Fournier, JB, JT and Rob (who has a better FG% than anyone else on the team, FYI--it's not all about the 3's).
Fournier as the PG?
If you have enough play-makers/passers on the court (Tatum, Brown, Rob and Fournier all have playmaking abilities (i.e., capable of penetrating into the paint and making a play), and Rob is an excellent passer), you don't need a point guard. As long as one of the guys can defend the other team's point guard. Who is the point guard on the Nets when they don't have Harden out there (and still excel)? Kyrie? No. Who is the PG on the Bucks? Is Kemba really a point guard? Not saying I wouldn't want an elite point guard, just that it is not a requirement so long as the other guys can make plays for each other without.
While I agree with almost everything you wrote here, I do think you need at least one player who is a level or two better at passing and more importantly, decision making, than anyone we have. That is a starting five of OK passers, but no one you want to run the offense through in an NBA final.
I don't even know if it's the passing ability, but more of a "floor general" type. Guys like Lebron, Doncic, Lowry, CP3, Rondo. Floor generals come in all different types, but it's an important role to have on your team. The Celtics don't currently have a floor general. Smart is probably the closest, but he tends to ignore 2/3 of the court at any given time even when he's acting as a passer.
Obviously, my hope would be that Tatum can become that, but it's not his natural role (and there is a downside to having your best player be your floor general; it tends to raise your floor but lower your ceiling as a team).
Agreed, although LeBron is clearly has been the best player and the floor general, and he's spectacularly successful. I wouldn't bet against Doncic, or Jokic if they get enough help.
Tatum (and Brown) will improve, but they are never going to be elite passers. We need one more guy who you can run the offense through, and as you said, be a floor general. Someone who can make adjustments, and can make great end of game decisions.
They don't need to be a superstar, just a heady player. I thought Ainge really blew it when we didn't overpay to get Halliburton last year. Wagner might be a similar guy in this draft.
You can definitely win it all if your best player and floor general is an all-time great player. But to be honest, I've felt at times that guys like Lebron and Doncic have held their teams back (as odd as that sounds). Not that their overall impact wasn't incredibly positive, but that they had a lower ceiling (and higher floor) with them managing the game. I particularly look at Lebron's second stint with Cleveland. I felt they could have competed better with Golden State if Lebron didn't dictate as much of their offense. They needed an explosion of offense in order to compete with the Warriors and Lebron was happy (or at least resigned) to conservatively manage the game.
I think you’re both right and the lesson here is that you can win it all as long as you have an all-time great as your best player. Tatum’s shaping up to be one.
However, Tatum is more in the mold of a KD/Dirk/Kobe rather than a Lebron/Luka. I think this is important for the C’s to keep in mind when it comes to roster construction and creating offensive systems. I think Tatum will thrive in a role where he’s finishing plays rather than getting the team going.
How do you build around a super scorer? I’ll take a crack at it. I think the team needs:
- strong defensive big to do the dirty work inside (Chandler/Bynum or Gasol/Draymond)
- steady PG vet with decent outside shooting to ensure team gets into its sets and doesn’t panic (Kidd/Fisher/Steph lol)
- versatile, Swiss-knife wing (Marion/Ariza/Iguodala or Klay)
- dynamic 6th man who can give opposing benches problems (JET or Barea/Odom/Livingston)
So we have some of that.
Robert Williams could fill one of the big slots.
Jaylen Brown is awesome as a high end swiss army knife type like Klay Thompson
Can Kemba be a dynamic 6th man? OR maybe that could be Nesmith or possibly Fournier? I think it could
We have a gaping hole at power forward.
We have another hole at point.
These are not original ideas.
One of those two players should be a facilitator and a good decision maker under pressure
Again, they don't have to be stars. They have to fit. Defense. Passing. Shooting or some form of alternative offensive input that is complementary with Tatum and Brown
Yep, I do think we have some of these in spades.
- TL and TT are pretty good defensive bigs who will do the dirty work
- Brown and Smart are Swiss Army knives. I think the biggest hurdle here is accepting that role rather than the talent level
Unlike you though, I don’t think we have a gaping hole at the 4. I think Tatum or Brown could be the 4, especially with how today is played. However, we do need TT or TL to be available at all times.
The biggest hole though is the vet PG. I don’t think we’ve had someone who can control the team on offense since Rondo. Maybe this can be Kemba if he radically changes his game.
Same goes for 6th man too actually. I don’t think we have one yet. Kemba strikes me as someone who gets better on offense the more it goes through him. He doesn’t come in and just light it up. He needs to get into that rhythm. I think JB fills the 6th man role better than Kemba, imo. JB gets hot instantly.
The question about the 4 spot is pretty critical. You are right about Tatum, and especially Brown being capable of being a power forward. It is a commitment the team has not made, and it is a lot to ask of either of them. If the team does this, they need to make it work. It might cause either guy to want to go somewhere else if it is done poorly.
They both would need to learn the position better defensively. They both can man up on power forwards, but it is a very important rotational position, and you need to challenge at the rim. Tatum can be an excellent defender at times, but he regularly chooses not to rotate and challenge on plays inside. If its Brown, he will need to be an off-ball disruptor and help out at the rim more too.
It also means we have a lightweight frontcourt. We can do that, but we need to organize team personnel and principles around how to win as a smaller, faster team. We would need to run and we don't. We would need better team rebounding. Who starts at guard would matter. Kemba would be less effective, and Kemba and Smart would be a problem.
I think it would be better competitively to replicate the Hayward situation and get the right guy to play the 4 spot. You won't get someone quite as versitile as Hayward, but you can give up some scoring there. Someone can average 12 ppg from that spot if they can pass and defend. There are a few nice players in this draft who can fit this profile. I think that is a better way to go.
Kemba is not going to become a passer/facilitator. If he didn't see the writing on the wall last year, he never will. I don' see why he can't play every minute that Tatum or Brown is off the floor, and why he can't take about 14 shots a game.
We can't make Jaylen a 6th man. Come on.
Topic: Why are we expecting Kemba to be a microwave? (Read 5933 times)