Lowe: C's leaning toward starting Horford at Center

[__ramonezy__]

I'd prefer to have Morris come off the bench.  But I see the logic in starting him

Morris would be a reliable anchor on the second unit, but he is also the best fit with the starters.

I think this squad has a lot of talent at the top but our second unit is worrying.
Either untested, limited, or both...
Rosy
Smart
Tatum, semi
Theis? yabu
Baynes....

Is tatum our go to scorer on this unit? Yikes!

Inserting Morris would make this a much more potent unit but then you would need to start baynes and watch AH chase the new breed quick 4's around until he's totally gassed.

Not to sound like a broken record or rehash dead conversations, but this has always been the appeal of Okafor to me... a dominant front court scorer for a second unit that has no dominant force...

[BitterJim]

Anything prohibiting Tatum from playing a small ball 4?

Right now, his weight.  In another year he might be ready, but right now Smart would have an easier time guarding most 4s than Tatum

[Vermont Green]

Before the Irving trade, I was  betting on a starting line up of:

Thomas-Hayward-Crowder-Morris-Horford

Now:

Irving-? ? ? ? ?-Hayward-Morris-Horford

I am unsure who starts at 2 or SG.  I am leaning towards Smart.  I feel he is more ready than Brown.  I think we could still see a move to shore up that spot with a veteran.  Maybe we even trade Smart for a more prototypical SG/Wing type.

[jpotter33]

AH doesn't want to play center, so you can't just start him at center in regular season games
that being said he can close games playing the 5

Boston is paying him $28M per year, and he's under contract for three more years. They can do whatever they want with him lol

[GratefulCs]

I'd prefer to have Morris come off the bench.  But I see the logic in starting him

Morris would be a reliable anchor on the second unit, but he is also the best fit with the starters.

I think this squad has a lot of talent at the top but our second unit is worrying.
Either untested, limited, or both...
Rosy
Smart
Tatum, semi
Theis? yabu
Baynes....

Is tatum our go to scorer on this unit? Yikes!

Inserting Morris would make this a much more potent unit but then you would need to start baynes and watch AH chase the new breed quick 4's around until he's totally gassed.

who was our go to scorer last year in the second unit?

olynyk? green?

i think tatum will do just fine in that role. just has to expand his range

[furball]

I'd prefer to have Morris come off the bench.  But I see the logic in starting him

Morris would be a reliable anchor on the second unit, but he is also the best fit with the starters.

I think this squad has a lot of talent at the top but our second unit is worrying.
Either untested, limited, or both...
Rosy
Smart
Tatum, semi
Theis? yabu
Baynes....

Is tatum our go to scorer on this unit? Yikes!

Inserting Morris would make this a much more potent unit but then you would need to start baynes and watch AH chase the new breed quick 4's around until he's totally gassed.

There is no need for a second unit per say.  One of Kyrie, Hayward or Horford should be on the court at all times baring foul trouble or blow outs. 

[green_bballers13]

AH doesn't want to play center, so you can't just start him at center in regular season games
that being said he can close games playing the 5

Boston is paying him $28M per year, and he's under contract for three more years. They can do whatever they want with him lol

100% agree. Unless Al wants to donate $25m+ per year back to ownership so they can pay for a better center (and any associated luxury taxes), I think he will suck it up.

In this scenario, I'm guessing he'd rather play Center.

[arctic 3.0]

I'd prefer to have Morris come off the bench.  But I see the logic in starting him

Morris would be a reliable anchor on the second unit, but he is also the best fit with the starters.

I think this squad has a lot of talent at the top but our second unit is worrying.
Either untested, limited, or both...
Rosy
Smart
Tatum, semi
Theis? yabu
Baynes....

Is tatum our go to scorer on this unit? Yikes!

Inserting Morris would make this a much more potent unit but then you would need to start baynes and watch AH chase the new breed quick 4's around until he's totally gassed.

who was our go to scorer last year in the second unit?

olynyk? green?

i think tatum will do just fine in that role. just has to expand his range

Tatum is undoubtedly more talented then either Oly or Green but he is a rook and will need time to figure out how to succeed at this level.
There is an argument that high usage minutes as the second units go to scorer will help him develop faster, but this team has aspirations to contend. Don't know if we should be relying on a pup to keep the O flowing when the big guys are on the bench.
The obvious solution here is to make sure that one of our better scorers is on the floor with the second unit and I think CBS will do this. But the question does highlight how thin our bench is right now.
(A year from now, with Brown in his third season and Tatum in his second we should be all set.
But we're going to have to hope for a relatively injury free season this year.

[Tr1boy]

Its going to be

Horford
Morris
hayward
Smart
Irving

Baynes
Semi
Tatum
Brown
Rozier

[arctic 3.0]

Its going to be

Horford
Morris
hayward
Smart
Irving

Baynes
Semi
Tatum
Brown
Rozier

Does have some nice balance on both units, but I think Theis is going to elbow his way in front of Semi/yabu

[greece66]

THEIS

/daɪs/

[nickagneta]

Anything prohibiting Tatum from playing a small ball 4?

Experience.

[TheSundanceKid]

Irving
Brown
Hayward
Theis
Horford

Smart - 6th man
Baynes
Morris
Tatum
Rozier

Semi, Nader, Yab, Larkin - DNP

[Donoghus]

Anything prohibiting Tatum from playing a small ball 4?

Experience.

But that's not really something that can't be overcome by any means.  It's not a physical limitation.

I'm not saying start the kid at the 4 on Day 1 but why can't he roll out there for limited minutes in a small ball lineup there?

[nickagneta]

Anything prohibiting Tatum from playing a small ball 4?

Lakers won it all in 1980 with Magic (rookie) and Michael Cooper (sophomore)

No pressure.

Yeah, 37 years ago at the beginning of the Lakers 80s dynasty two young players excelled so we should expect the same. 😉😁