Rozier still has a role on this team, and it could be significant in terms of having a good shooter off the bench.  He is not quite a point guard, and Larkin certainly has better PG skills, but there's a reason Larkin bounced around the league and played in Spain last year:  He is very small, smaller than IT actually.  Brown seems to be ahead of Rozier in the backcourt rotation, but it seems Rozier is still a better shooter than Brown.  I am also a litte suspicious of Brown's defense; seems Batum was beating him consistently during he 3rd quarter.

Tatum is a 3/4 so I don't see him as taking any guard minutes from Rozier.

The Larkin situation is scary if you're a Rozier fan. Larkin is a pure PG and the offense just runs so much better with him in control. Larkin is especially good in the PNR which is vital in today's game. It seems that his experience overseas was a great one.

As for Rozier, he doesn't have the mindset of a PG and doesn't move the ball. He's a 2 guard/scorer at heart, but then has issues with his shooting and finishing at the basket so...what then?

Quote from: Surferdad on October 03, 2017, 07:37:36 AM

Rozier still has a role on this team, and it could be significant in terms of having a good shooter off the bench.  He is not quite a point guard, and Larkin certainly has better PG skills, but there's a reason Larkin bounced around the league and played in Spain last year:  He is very small, smaller than IT actually.  Brown seems to be ahead of Rozier in the backcourt rotation, but it seems Rozier is still a better shooter than Brown.  I am also a litte suspicious of Brown's defense; seems Batum was beating him consistently during he 3rd quarter.

Tatum is a 3/4 so I don't see him as taking any guard minutes from Rozier.

I don't agree with that at all. Rozier has shot 22.2% and 31.8% on threes for his first 2 seasons, while Brown shot 34.1% last year (albeit on 0.7 less 3PA/g). I trust Brown as a shooter way more than I trust Rozier

I haven't understood that repeated thought process either. If Brown has even half of the jump that Rozier did between years 1 and 2 % wise, he is up around 38% from 3 haha. I guess if you went by the eye test, Rozier may be better than Brown at off the dribble 3s, but Brown is far more advanced at catch and shoot. Granted I have no idea if its true or not, but I groan when Rozier jacks up a 3 once in a while. Brown seems content to play within his game, and let the flow of the offense come to him. If he is a catch and shoot 34-35% 3pt shooter this year, who slashes using his athleticism, he has infinite more value than Terry.

Rozier still has a role on this team, and it could be significant in terms of having a good shooter off the bench.  He is not quite a point guard, and Larkin certainly has better PG skills, but there's a reason Larkin bounced around the league and played in Spain last year:  He is very small, smaller than IT actually.  Brown seems to be ahead of Rozier in the backcourt rotation, but it seems Rozier is still a better shooter than Brown.  I am also a litte suspicious of Brown's defense; seems Batum was beating him consistently during he 3rd quarter.

Tatum is a 3/4 so I don't see him as taking any guard minutes from Rozier.

Larkin is no Shawn Bradley, but he has a couple of inches on IT (5'11" to IT's 5'9"). I do agree that he is more of a pure PG than Rozier, but we will have to see how important that is to Stevens. With Kyrie running the first unit and Smart running the 2nd unit, Larkin won't be as much of a need.

Personally, I prefer Rozier out there pressing his defender, grabbing rebounds, pushing the ball up court, and knocking down outside shots. His athleticism is still through the roof and he had a couple of nice plays last night. He also made the cut this off-season so there is something that the organization sees in him.

He's basically the backup SG. I imagine he'll play a lot of time alongside Smart as they're both combo guards. Smart is going to lead the offense though, so even though he's bigger and will guard the bigger guards, he'll be the one running the offense and Rozier will be more off the ball.

I guess the only way he loses that is if Nader really comes on or if Tatum/Hayward prove capable of playing big minutes at the 2.

what's the guard depth chart?

Irving / Brown

Smart / Rozier

am i missing anyone so far? safe to say Larkins is 3rd unit? I take it Stevens is still meddling with the starting lineup so perhaps in the preseason we'll see Irving / Smart as well

trade bait, salary match.

I just don't see him becoming a big contributor to this team, unless an injury to Irving or Smart necessitates.

I like Larkin playing point more than Rozier.