Should Teague Be Starting?

[Sophomore]

Nope, need him on the bench to provide scoring for that unit. And its a lot easier to hard his defensive shortcomings against other bench units.

Exactly. Teague’s value is unlocked when he has the ball in his hands and a green light to score. How much (justified!) complaining has there been about the lack of a bench scorer? Teague is that guy! If he starts, we would need him to throttle back - not to take too many possessions away from the Js.

On the flip side, if Marcus is really willing to focus on defense and passing he makes good sense as a starter. Complement the Js and don’t steal shots they should take. Last night he took 3 shots and sprayed the ball to the open man repeatedly. Seven assists. Honestly he might have been a little too reluctant to shoot. It’s one game, so I’m not ready to say this is the new Marcus. But it’s a good sign.

[Sophomore]

I'm not expecting Teague to put up 19 points every game (though it'd be nice), but it was refreshing to actually see some scoring out of the 2nd unit. In fact, even when they were trailing, the 2nd unit came in and got us back in the game, and then along with Brown helped to take the lead. Teague hit some big shots in the 1st half that kept us afloat and then allowed us to come back.

If you remember last season, if the team was down 10 and the 2nd unit came in, they'd go down 20. Or if they had a 10 point lead, it would go away quickly as the bench couldn't even score.

Ojeyele also looked pretty good. Would love to see if he has improved from the last few seasons.

I'm a lot more optimistic about our bench than last season with the additions of Teague/Thompson/Pritchard/Nesmith, and while it's a ways away I'd hope the C's think of making another addition mid-season for the bench or even for some disgruntled player (not Harden).

That was a nice surprise. An Ojeleye Eurostep through contact for an and-1? Not sure we’ve seen that before. And then a great no-look pass to Thompson for a lay-in? That’s a playable version of Semi!

[slamtheking]

I'm not expecting Teague to put up 19 points every game (though it'd be nice), but it was refreshing to actually see some scoring out of the 2nd unit. In fact, even when they were trailing, the 2nd unit came in and got us back in the game, and then along with Brown helped to take the lead. Teague hit some big shots in the 1st half that kept us afloat and then allowed us to come back.

If you remember last season, if the team was down 10 and the 2nd unit came in, they'd go down 20. Or if they had a 10 point lead, it would go away quickly as the bench couldn't even score.

Ojeyele also looked pretty good. Would love to see if he has improved from the last few seasons.

I'm a lot more optimistic about our bench than last season with the additions of Teague/Thompson/Pritchard/Nesmith, and while it's a ways away I'd hope the C's think of making another addition mid-season for the bench or even for some disgruntled player (not Harden).

That was a nice surprise. An Ojeleye Eurostep through contact for an and-1? Not sure we’ve seen that before. And then a great no-look pass to Thompson for a lay-in? That’s a playable version of Semi!

agreed.  if Semi was able to be useful on the offensive end each game, he'd be worth keeping on the roster.  he doesn't need to use the fancy euro-step but at least make a few buckets or assists each game so that his defender can't ignore him

[Kuberski33]

Well, that second unit is a disaster.  I hope BS don’t waste Teague’s talent with that second unit.

With Kemba out, I rather see him starting.  He isn’t the guy you bring for scoring off the bench.  Although capable, he isn’t wired like that.  He is the guy who settles your starting unit. A pure “pass first” point guard.

If your second unit stinks, you don't win many games. I could care less whether he starts because games usually aren't won in the first quarter - especially in the 3 point era.  But a lot of them are won or lost in the last 4 minutes and I want Teague on the court then.

[feckless]

I would like to see what the starting unit with Teague running it looks like ~ and then make a decision.

[Big333223]

Teague looks like he's as motivated as he's been in years and I think the reason is he knows that this team will compete in the playoffs and the second unit is his. He's comfortable there now. I think keeping him there and letting him run things and letting the first unit pick up the slack for Kemba being out makes a lot of sense.