Wafer Can and Will Play Some Small Forward

[Jon]

I'm sure Doc will play with rotations a lot, so of course Wafer will probably see some time at the 3.  

However, I think Marquis Daniels will be given every opportunity to be Paul's backup in the playoffs.  Wafer's three point shooting ability just became a lot less valuable with West on board and Daniels has a reputation for being a much better defender.  With the road to the Finals likely going through James in Miami and Kobe in LA, unless Wafer dramatically outplays Daniels (assuming West wins the backup 2 spot), I don't see him playing any time at the 3 in truly meaningful games.  

[Roy H.]

Thinking that a lot of people, including me, are sleeping on Quis.  Quis played real strong ball for a good chunk of last season.  Thinking he could surprise up on the good side, just like TA did for us last year.  Won't have to worry about being a quasi-PG at all, not with both Nate and West in town. 

Marquis is a pretty good player when healthy.  Unfortunately, he's been injured pretty much every season of his career.  I think people are worried about his track record.

I remember liking his ability to slash and to successfully squeak up some unlikley shots in the lane. However, I don't recall his defensive ability to be as good as initially advertised. 
Your thoughts on the possibility of Quis fulfilling the 3-stopper role?  I just don't see him being able to fill that role in a way that comfortably gives Pierce enough rest in big games.

I've never thought of Marquis as a stopper, and he didn't show me that in Boston.  However, Doc seems to think Marquis' defense is top notch, and he knows more than I do.

I don't think there are too many true stoppers out there, honestly.

[Rtpas11]

No one player could stop Lebron James, it takes a team effort which the Celtics play with.

Great find on the Von Wafer stat! He plays better at SF than @ SG...lol

[Witch-King]

Sure.  West will also play some SF, as will Allen.  We may even see Harangody in there.

There really are a limited amount of bench 3's that would really exploit that mismatch, particularly in the regular season.  Particularly with the C's being so big along the front line, it should allow them to get away with having quicker and smaller defenders on the perimeter for stretches.

Now, if Daniels does not step up, and they do not pick someone else up before the playoffs to cover bigger 3's, then it it could be an issue.  But for the time being, I think the slight size matchup against second string 3's won't be a big problem.

At 6'7" Harangody definitely has the size to play back-up small forward. However, the fact that he is a rookie and unproven NBA talent would obviously be the biggest factor as far as if he could evolve into a reliable defensive presence for us, especially once the playoffs start. Not to mention the fact that he's a power-forward...

[Jon]

Sure.  West will also play some SF, as will Allen.  We may even see Harangody in there.

There really are a limited amount of bench 3's that would really exploit that mismatch, particularly in the regular season.  Particularly with the C's being so big along the front line, it should allow them to get away with having quicker and smaller defenders on the perimeter for stretches.

Now, if Daniels does not step up, and they do not pick someone else up before the playoffs to cover bigger 3's, then it it could be an issue.  But for the time being, I think the slight size matchup against second string 3's won't be a big problem.

At 6'7" Harangody definitely has the size to play back-up small forward. However, the fact that he is a rookie and unproven NBA talent would obviously be the biggest factor as far as if he could evolve into a reliable defensive presence for us, especially once the playoffs start. Not to mention the fact that he's a power-forward...

Best case scenario Harangody plays well enough that Danny feels he can deal Baby for an upgrade at the 3 at the deadline. 

But even then in the best case scenario he wouldn't be getting minutes because Perk would be back and KG/JO/SO would be healthy (yeah, I know, I can dream). 

[Witch-King]

Sure.  West will also play some SF, as will Allen.  We may even see Harangody in there.

There really are a limited amount of bench 3's that would really exploit that mismatch, particularly in the regular season.  Particularly with the C's being so big along the front line, it should allow them to get away with having quicker and smaller defenders on the perimeter for stretches.

Now, if Daniels does not step up, and they do not pick someone else up before the playoffs to cover bigger 3's, then it it could be an issue.  But for the time being, I think the slight size matchup against second string 3's won't be a big problem.

At 6'7" Harangody definitely has the size to play back-up small forward. However, the fact that he is a rookie and unproven NBA talent would obviously be the biggest factor as far as if he could evolve into a reliable defensive presence for us, especially once the playoffs start. Not to mention the fact that he's a power-forward...

Best case scenario Harangody plays well enough that Danny feels he can deal Baby for an upgrade at the 3 at the deadline. 

But even then in the best case scenario he wouldn't be getting minutes because Perk would be back and KG/JO/SO would be healthy (yeah, I know, I can dream). 

Do you really think we'd be able to trade Glen Davis for a small forward of equal value? I mean, it's not like we'd be getting LeBron James or something; basically it would be like trading away a proven playoff playmaker -- Shrek to Nate Robinson's donkey for a 'solid' back-up small forward.

If that's the case we might instead experiment trying either Davis or Harangody at small forward at least until 'trade-season' comes around. Von Wafer would be the obvious choice for the position because it's his preferred spot, yet even Wafer might have some problems trying to guard some of the elite bigs in the league. That includes guys like Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Josh Smith, etc.

[thirstyboots18]

I think Harangody is closer to shooting forward than power forward.  He roams the floor and can shoot and score from anywhere...he doesn't stay under the basket, and he is not slight, he is  not terribly tall.  He may be slow to be shooting forward but his basketball IQ and court vision seemed to compensate for his lack of speed...at least in the summer league.  He has excelled at every level, although no one expected him to.  Maybe he will turn out to be at least an adequate sub off the bench...if he gets any playing time    He has a nose for the ball and rebounds very well, too.

[gar]

Article with video of Harangody working out against Paul George and other SF prospects:
http://www.thetwomangame.com/2010/06/they-smell-like-the-future-luke-harangody/

The key point is that there will be huge competition for the backup PG, SG and SF positions. That can only be a good thing. Harangody is a hard worker and could create some real matchup problems at SF.

Personally I think having Delonte at the point is huge because of his rebounding. Bradley and Nate can guard quicker PG's; but think Delonte, Wafer and Quisy is a nice backup unit and you can throw in Harangody at SF for rebounding and outside shooting.

[LooseCannon]

Didn't realize that Wafer actually played about a third of his minutes in Houston at the SF spot.  Played 11% of Houston's SF minutes that year, and 19% of their SG minutes.  Still not ideal, but only really worried about this against LeBron.

http://www.82games.com/0809/08HOU6.HTM

I'm not sure how much I trust how 82games breaks down positions.  You'll note that the lineups that have Wafer as the SF have 6'6" Brent Barry as the SG.

[Witch-King]

Didn't realize that Wafer actually played about a third of his minutes in Houston at the SF spot.  Played 11% of Houston's SF minutes that year, and 19% of their SG minutes.  Still not ideal, but only really worried about this against LeBron.

http://www.82games.com/0809/08HOU6.HTM

I'm not sure how much I trust how 82games breaks down positions.  You'll note that the lineups that have Wafer as the SF have 6'6" Brent Barry as the SG.

Lol, we all know that height isn't everything. I mean, Allen Iverson (don't even get me started ) is considered to be among the top five NBA shooting guards of all time and he is only 6'0". Practically good enough to play center on some teams... 

[Roy H.]

I'm pretty skeptical that Harangody could survive at SF at this level.  He had below-average athleticism (speed, jumping ability) for a NCAA power forward; I just don't see how he could keep up with NBA threes.

[jdub1660]

Take a second to think about this. What are we worrying so much about a backup SF to guard LeBron anyways? A majority of our backup SF's minutes will be spent against their backup SF, such as James Jones or whoever. Wafer and Quis can take turns playing SF on the bench unit

The more important issue with the signings of Wafer and Delonte....No more SCALABRINE  

[thirstyboots18]

I'm pretty skeptical that Harangody could survive at SF at this level.  He had below-average athleticism (speed, jumping ability) for a NCAA power forward; I just don't see how he could keep up with NBA threes.

I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be guarding the starting forwards... maybe not even the second string and I do think he could get used to handling the third string guys.  Like I said, I think his court vision trumps his lack of speed.  He may even pick up a little speed (seemed to get around the court pretty quickly in summer league...yes, I know that is NOT the NBA...

[hwangjini_1]

Sure.  West will also play some SF, as will Allen.  We may even see Harangody in there.

There really are a limited amount of bench 3's that would really exploit that mismatch, particularly in the regular season.  Particularly with the C's being so big along the front line, it should allow them to get away with having quicker and smaller defenders on the perimeter for stretches.

Now, if Daniels does not step up, and they do not pick someone else up before the playoffs to cover bigger 3's, then it it could be an issue.  But for the time being, I think the slight size matchup against second string 3's won't be a big problem.

At 6'7" Harangody definitely has the size to play back-up small forward. However, the fact that he is a rookie and unproven NBA talent would obviously be the biggest factor as far as if he could evolve into a reliable defensive presence for us, especially once the playoffs start. Not to mention the fact that he's a power-forward...

and not to mention that harangody is slow a foot.

 he would have real trouble guarding a number of nba SG one on one. i like the guy, but i think his future career is not as a sf.

[get_banners]

i think the backup 3 is obviously a big concern, but we also need to get a grip about the situation. most teams don't have 5 competent starters. most playoff teams go 7 deep. i realize we might need to go deeper because of age, and the whole lebron-plays-the-3-and-we-need-bodies-vs.-him-since-pierce-will-have-3-fouls before-the-opening-tip thing, but we're concerned because we don't have a solid backup for every spot on our roster. ideally, yeah, we'd have someone solid behind paul (daniels IS solid, but is injury-prone). but we now have a good contributor backing up EVERY OTHER POSITION. that's insane depth. backup 3, yes, still a concern, but there's not a single nba team that has less concerns re: roster depth than us.