If you had to move a guy to the bench.

[Csfan1984]

I feel this team could use a change in its line up. They seem to not bring focus or intensity for even half a game. I think moving a starter to the bench may help. If you had to move IT, AB or Crowder to the bench who would be your first choice? For me I broke it down to this,

IT is undersized, an attack/score first PG and his defense can be horrible. He would be an easy choice to be moved to the bench if Smart was shooting like the beginning of the year. But Smart is already shooting like Smart. It would be hard to accept a drop in offense from the Starters as well. Then IT likely won't handle coming off the bench well either. A solution may be the "Unit substitution" when it comes to IT. As in start the best rounded players that means Rozier over Smart and IT. And make IT and Smart a pair off the bench. IT and Smart are Yin and Yang. One a specialist in offense the other in defense. Together both are huge sparks to come off the bench so it's worth considering.

AB is well rounded and has been here the longest. Though he is undersized he is very athletic and can still cover two positions at a high level. He can't necessarily create on offense though so not really a six man type player. He would accept a bench role but as the best two way player on the team and a guy that has got better every year he'd be my last choice.

Crowder isn't as consistent as I'd like him to be as a starter. I think his defense is solid (not great) and his offense still needs work. He is a player that is still young and improving. He can often be the vocal energetic leader. He plays physical and tries to put defense first. He plays more of a team game overall yet understands the balance of needing to take it himself a few times to keep his defender off balance. His two way play and balance is why I like the idea of keeping him as a starter. Still that leadership would be nice to have to lead the bench or come in and change a game as a six man. There is also two okay starter replacements for Crowder if you chose him to come off the bench. Green is a supportive player who can capitalize on being an outlet and may have his defense hidden next a AB and Horford. Then there is also Brown who flashes potential and who would grow with the experience. Crowder may be the best option to play off the bench. If you combine him with Rozier, Smart, they can be one high energy group that could wear opponents out.

So I think I move Crowder to the bench. Would give Green a shot at being the starter a few games with the condition he understands he must defend at a higher level or be put back to the bench for Brown. I'd also use this as a means to use small ball sooner/more. With Crowder playing some 4 right away in some games. I think it's a great move to really catch teams.

So
Starters= IT, AB, Green, AJ, Horford
Bench=Rozier, Smart, Brown, Crowder, JJ, KO
Small ball= IT, AB, Smart, Crowder, Horford

[jbpats]

My vote goes to Amir. He's aged, lost more than a step and is getting destroyed on the glass.

Replace him with Jonas or Kelly I think the dynamic of our starting 5 changes drastically.

Or dare I say it.. trade for a true center.

[Csfan1984]

My vote goes to Amir. He's aged, lost more than a step and is getting destroyed on the glass.

Replace him with Jonas or Kelly I think the dynamic of our starting 5 changes drastically.

Or dare I say it.. trade for a true center.

AJ to the bench doesn't change anything due to the current bench bigs having very little impact and he himself not being a difference maker.

[alldaboston]

i honestly might bench crowder too. is it just me, or has he just played pretty bad this year? he makes shots sometimes, but when he doesnt, he's not really helping. his defense hasnt been as good either. and he chucks a lot of shots.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I think moving Bradley to the bench would be ideal. I see Bradley as an awesome sixth man, maybe even a contender for the award.

Bringing him off the bench would bring instant shooting and defense, injecting a lot of energy into the game.

[jpotter33]

i honestly might bench crowder too. is it just me, or has he just played pretty bad this year? he makes shots sometimes, but when he doesnt, he's not really helping. his defense hasnt been as good either. and he chucks a lot of shots.

Yeah, Crowder has been very meh overall, especially his defense. Honestly, outside of Horford, our whole first unit defense has been pretty bad, as evidenced by last night. The problem is that we don't have anyone to replace Crowder in the starting unit.

And IT's defense will always be subpar, but that's a known with him. AB's defense has largely been subpar this year, too, and several guys have already went off on him this year.

I would make two changes: JJ for Amir and Smart for Bradley.

I think if you put Smart with the first group, it gives you a renewed emphasis on the defensive side of things. Further, if you have him primarily initiating the offense and having IT off the ball, which has been very successful every time we've done it, I think you get away from the offensive lulls and IT's overdribbling and forced possessions. It also maximizes Smart's playmaking abilities and gets him away from being a spot-up shooter. I also like the Rozier/AB bench grouping better than Smart/Rozier.

[Vermont Green]

My vote goes to Amir. He's aged, lost more than a step and is getting destroyed on the glass.

Replace him with Jonas or Kelly I think the dynamic of our starting 5 changes drastically.

Or dare I say it.. trade for a true center.

Mine as well but I would start Zeller.  Still only play him say 10-12 minutes but I think he would be fine with the starters.

Even better, trade for a big of course but near term, I start Zeller.

[alldaboston]

i honestly might bench crowder too. is it just me, or has he just played pretty bad this year? he makes shots sometimes, but when he doesnt, he's not really helping. his defense hasnt been as good either. and he chucks a lot of shots.

Yeah, Crowder has been very meh overall, especially his defense. Honestly, outside of Horford, our whole first unit defense has been pretty bad, as evidenced by last night. The problem is that we don't have anyone to replace Crowder in the starting unit.

And IT's defense will always be subpar, but that's a known with him. AB's defense has largely been subpar this year, too, and several guys have already went off on him this year.

I would make two changes: JJ for Amir and Smart for Bradley.

I think if you put Smart with the first group, it gives you a renewed emphasis on the defensive side of things. Further, if you have him primarily initiating the offense and having IT off the ball, which has been very successful every time we've done it, I think you get away from the offensive lulls and IT's overdribbling and forced possessions. It also maximizes Smart's playmaking abilities and gets him away from being a spot-up shooter. I also like the Rozier/AB bench grouping better than Smart/Rozier.

I dont mind these changes, but you just know Brad would never do this. He's too kind hearted to bench Avery. Maybe he'd bench Amir, but even then, he would probably just start Zeller, his favorite person on the team lol

[jpotter33]

i honestly might bench crowder too. is it just me, or has he just played pretty bad this year? he makes shots sometimes, but when he doesnt, he's not really helping. his defense hasnt been as good either. and he chucks a lot of shots.

Yeah, Crowder has been very meh overall, especially his defense. Honestly, outside of Horford, our whole first unit defense has been pretty bad, as evidenced by last night. The problem is that we don't have anyone to replace Crowder in the starting unit.

And IT's defense will always be subpar, but that's a known with him. AB's defense has largely been subpar this year, too, and several guys have already went off on him this year.

I would make two changes: JJ for Amir and Smart for Bradley.

I think if you put Smart with the first group, it gives you a renewed emphasis on the defensive side of things. Further, if you have him primarily initiating the offense and having IT off the ball, which has been very successful every time we've done it, I think you get away from the offensive lulls and IT's overdribbling and forced possessions. It also maximizes Smart's playmaking abilities and gets him away from being a spot-up shooter. I also like the Rozier/AB bench grouping better than Smart/Rozier.

I dont mind these changes, but you just know Brad would never do this. He's too kind hearted to bench Avery. Maybe he'd bench Amir, but even then, he would probably just start Zeller, his favorite person on the team lol

You're probably right. But I see it more as a James Harden in OKC situation rather than a demotion for AB. We need scoring off the bench, and though Smart has drastically improved as a playmaker, he's just not replacing Turner's overall scoring. AB's scoring and shooting would be very beneficial there.

I think the Rozier/AB pairing would function better than Smart/AB, too, because it would allow Rozier to be the primary ball handler and AB to be the primary scorer. I also like Smart being able to help IT with the playmaking to avoid IT's tendency to force it at times when nothing is going. Smart's better team defense and help coverage would be better utilized in the first unit, too.

The Amir for JJ thing seems beyond obvious to me at this point. Amir is playing only 20 minutes per game, but those minutes ultimately would be better spent against the bench unit of the opposing team. However, with him as a starter, that means he's primarily playing against the other starters, which is tearing him up due to his decreased efficiency and athleticism this year.

JJ would also provide better overall spacing for the team, which would open things up much more for IT and Smart to penetrate and create. I also think we really, really, really need to move Horford back to the C position, which would help our overall rebounding and interior defense tremendously. For example, you would think that our best interior defender should be on Drummond last night, but, no, since Amir has lost most of his mobility out on the perimeter, Horford has to guard PF's now, which allows bigs like Drummond to constantly take advantage of Amir down low. It's baffling. If we had a true center like Noel, Cousins, Bogut, etc., then I could see playing Horford at PF. But this is just taking away his greatest strength of interior defense and being a defensive anchor by having him out chasing stretch 4's on the perimeter.

And it's not even just about JJ, too. You could move KO to the starting lineup for Amir and get many of the same effects with even better offense. However, I like KO much more with the bench unit due to our overall lack of scoring and shooting there.

[hagar55voa]

Start Zeller and let him play...

[Tr1boy]

IT

And I think starting zeller is an ok idea

Horford
Zeller
Crowder
AB
Smart

KO
Jerebko/Amir
Brown
Rozier
IT

[trickybilly]

IT

And I think starting zeller is an ok idea

Horford
Zeller
Crowder
AB
Smart

KO
Jerebko/Amir
Brown
Rozier
IT

Really?? Are these jokes about IT being a bench guy?

[bdm860]

So
Starters= IT, AB, Green, AJ, Horford
Bench=Rozier, Smart, Brown, Crowder, JJ, KO
Small ball= IT, AB, Smart, Crowder, Horford

I'm all for tinkering with the lineup, but here you're moving a starter to the bench and replacing him with a guy that's not even in the rotation?  Green has 6 straight DNP-CDs (which could very possibly be anywhere from 11 to 14 straight DNP-CDs if Crowder was never injured).  Really don't think any lineup adjustments should involve him.

[nickagneta]

There is no reason to bench anyone from the starting unit. The starters are playing good basketball. The whole team simply has to play better defense. The bench is too young to be relied upon but they do outscore the opposition's bench most of the time. Until a trade is made for a star to enter the starters, there is zero reason to change anything except maybe to replace Brown with Gerald Green.

[BitterJim]

There is no reason to bench anyone from the starting unit. The starters are playing good basketball. The whole team simply has to play better defense. The bench is too young to be relied upon but they do outscore the opposition's bench most of the time. Until a trade is made for a star to enter the starters, there is zero reason to change anything except maybe to replace Brown with Gerald Green.

Exactly.  If there are issues with scoring off the bench, then adjust the rotations so that either IT or AB is on the floor at all times.  Benching someone will only cause issues, when they could be avoided by just changing rotations.

Subs are not done wholesale.  You can very easily keep a starter or two on the floor at all times without demoting them to the bench