Defense wins Championships! So.....(line-up thread)

[ball junkie 277]

Did we make enough roster changes to better our team defense?

 

It's no secret that the teams that statistically play the best during the regular season win the rings just about every year.

 

Here is last years stats:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistics?stat=tmcompare...sontype=2&league=nba

 

If you'll notice, we finished top 6 in offense. Defensively we finished the year at number 11 in points per game defense. Management stated when the off-season began that their goal was to improve our backcourt defense and hopefully our overall team defense.

 

A lot of times during the regular season last year when Stan wanted a better defensive team on the floor he would substitute Keyon at the point, Mo Evans at the 2 and Keith Bogans at small forward. It gave us a good defensive team but not as fluent on offense. Obviously, 2 of those 3 players are no longer with the team.

 

For curiosity and coversation sake I would like the board members to respond to a couple of questions. I realize players like Pietrus and Lee are somewhat of an unknown commodity(Lee especially) but just give your best guestimate.

 

1.) What 5 players would you put on the floor if you were Stan and you felt like you needed your best defensive team on the floor?

 

2.) What 5 players would you put on the floor if you wanted to have an unstoppable offensive team?

 

3.) What 5 players that are currently on our roster would give us the most balanced line-up of offensive and defensive players?

 

For the record, during last season's playoffs you might be surprised to know that according to ESPN Insider John Hollinger the most offensively efficient team was none other than your Orlando Magic. And to add, that was done even with the rash of turnovers we committed against Detroit and with one of the leagues best shooters(J.J. Redick) not seeing the floor.

 

Link:

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats

 

Lastly, I wanted to see if the board members were pretty much in agreement on the line-ups or if there were some differing opinions.

[ball junkie 277]

Did we make enough roster changes to better our team defense?

 

It's no secret that the teams that statistically play the best during the regular season win the rings just about every year.

 

Here is last years stats:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistics?stat=tmcompare...sontype=2&league=nba

 

If you'll notice, we finished top 6 in offense. Defensively we finished the year at number 11 in points per game defense. Management stated when the off-season began that their goal was to improve our backcourt defense and hopefully our overall team defense.

 

A lot of times during the regular season last year when Stan wanted a better defensive team on the floor he would substitute Keyon at the point, Mo Evans at the 2 and Keith Bogans at small forward. It gave us a good defensive team but not as fluent on offense. Obviously, 2 of those 3 players are no longer with the team.

 

For curiosity and coversation sake I would like the board members to respond to a couple of questions. I realize players like Pietrus and Lee are somewhat of an unknown commodity(Lee especially) but just give your best guestimate.

 

1.) What 5 players would you put on the floor if you were Stan and you felt like you needed your best defensive team on the floor?

 

2.) What 5 players would you put on the floor if you wanted to have an unstoppable offensive team?

 

3.) What 5 players that are currently on our roster would give us the most balanced line-up of offensive and defensive players?

 

For the record, during last season's playoffs you might be surprised to know that according to ESPN Insider John Hollinger the most offensively efficient team was none other than your Orlando Magic. And to add, that was done even with the rash of turnovers we committed against Detroit and with one of the leagues best shooters(J.J. Redick) not seeing the floor.

 

Link:

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats

 

Lastly, I wanted to see if the board members were pretty much in agreement on the line-ups or if there were some differing opinions.

[InsideoutO 0]

1.

PG - C. Lee

SG - M. Pietrus

SF - K. Bogans

PF - M. Gortat

C - D. Howard

 

2.

PG - J. Nelson

SG - J.J. Redick

SF - H. Turkoglu

PF - R. Lewis

C - D. Howard

 

3.

PG - J. Nelson

SG - M. Pietrus

SF - H. Turkoglu

PF - T. Battie

C - D. Howard

[Rob 0]

1) Lee Pietrus Bogans Lewis Howard

 

2) Nelson Pietrus Turkoglu Lewis Howard

 

3) Nelson Pietrus Turkoglu Lewis Howard

[Rob 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Rob:

1) Lee Pietrus Bogans Lewis Howard

 

2) Nelson Pietrus Turkoglu Lewis Howard

 

3) Nelson Pietrus Turkoglu Lewis Howard

 

Actually i would change my defensive lineup moving Lewis to the 3 and Battie at the 4. Lewis defends 3s better than 4s.

 

Lee Pietrus Lewis Battie Howard

[You're Fat, Pat! 98]

1.) What 5 players would you put on the floor if you were Stan and you felt like you needed your best defensive team on the floor?

This is tough simply because we have not seen Lee in NBA action...so if he is as good on D as they say he is, this lineup would definitely change:

 

Johnson

Bogans

Pietrus

Battie

Howard

 

but if Lee is a defensive stud like we've heard he is, I would switch him out with either Johnson or Bogans.

 

2.) What 5 players would you put on the floor if you wanted to have an unstoppable offensive team?

 

Jameer

Pietrus

Turkoglu

Lewis

Howard

 

3.) What 5 players that are currently on our roster would give us the most balanced line-up of offensive and defensive players?

 

Same as above, UNLESS...Lee is capable of playing PG well. If he does, then he would be a great fit because his defense MUST be an upgrade over Jameer.

 

Most of this is all dependent on Lee, who we know practically nothing about. We've heard many great things about him, but we'll have to see how it goes before we make any judgements about him...IMO.

[Tommaco 0]

1. Defense

 

Johnson

Bogans

Pietrus

Gortat

Howard

 

2. Scoring

 

Jameer

JJ

Turk

lewis

Howard

 

3. Best All arround

 

I feel this is the most versitile line up that can compete in all areas the best

 

Turk

Pietrus

Lewis

Gortat- "i THINK hes better than Battie"

Howard

 

oh man i like that line up...making me excited thinking about it!

 

Championship!!!!!!

[UhOhItsMagicH7 0]

1. Best Defense

 

A. Johnson

Pietrus

Lewis

Gortat

Howard

 

2. Scoring

 

Jameer

C. Lee

Turk

Lewis

Howard

 

3. Most Versatile

 

C. Lee or Jameer depending on how C Lee looks in camp

Pietrus

Turk

Lewis

Howard

[TomaY 0]

1. DEFENSE

 

Jonhson

Pietrus

Bogans

Gortat

Howard

 

2. OFFENSE

 

Nelson

Lee

Turk

Rashard

Howard

 

3. ALL AROUND

 

Nelson

Pietrus

Turk

Rashard

Howard

[nbr 15]

We're going to be a lot better off in the match up department. From there, its a simple case of having the whole unit dedicated to the cause.

[Soul Bro 1,422]

quote:

Originally posted by You're Fat, Pat!:

1.) What 5 players would you put on the floor if you were Stan and you felt like you needed your best defensive team on the floor?

This is tough simply because we have not seen Lee in NBA action...so if he is as good on D as they say he is, this lineup would definitely change:

 

Johnson

Bogans

Pietrus

Battie

Howard

 

but if Lee is a defensive stud like we've heard he is, I would switch him out with either Johnson or Bogans.

 

2.) What 5 players would you put on the floor if you wanted to have an unstoppable offensive team?

 

Jameer

Pietrus

Turkoglu

Lewis

Howard

 

3.) What 5 players that are currently on our roster would give us the most balanced line-up of offensive and defensive players?

 

Same as above, UNLESS...Lee is capable of playing PG well. If he does, then he would be a great fit because his defense MUST be an upgrade over Jameer.

 

Most of this is all dependent on Lee, who we know practically nothing about. We've heard many great things about him, but we'll have to see how it goes before we make any judgements about him...IMO.

 

Agree with everything you wrote. Could Lee be a defensive stopper at PG? Could he be a scorer at SG? We'll see. I, for one, am very glad Battie is back. His toughness and leadership don't show up in the box score but are key assets to our shallow front court.

[Mr Charisma 0]

Until Courtney Lee plays at least 15 seconds against NBA competition, I'll defer from making grand judgements of his game. I also haven't seen enough of Gortat to be comfortable in defining his skill levels.

 

My answers are based on the concept that these lineups would be used for a relatively short period of time for the specific purposes. None of the 1st 3 lineups reflect what I believe the starting lineup should/will be, so I added that to the end.

 

DEFENSE

PG - Johnson

SG - Pietrus

SF - Bogans

PF - Battie

C - Howard

 

Note that Pietrus and Bogans could interchange positions based upon best match-ups against the opponent.

 

OFFENSE

PG - Nelson

SG - Redick

SF - Turkoglu

PF - Lewis

C - Howard

 

BALANCE

PG - Nelson

SG - Pietrus

SF - Lewis

PF - Battie

C - Howard

 

STARTERS

PG - Nelson

SG - Pietrus

SF - Turkoglu

PF - Lewis

C - Howard

 

By the way, nice thread BJ.