11-05-2004, 07:59 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Kwisatz Haderach
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Coatesville, PA
Age: 25
Posts: 24,103
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Should the lineup that finished the game be the 76ers starting five?
Quote:
For the entire fourth quarter of Wednesday's 98-95 season-opening win at Boston, 76ers coach Jim O'Brien went with one lineup and it worked very well.
Of course, Allen Iverson was on the floor and so was starting power forward Kenny Thomas. But the others were younger players - Kyle Korver, Willie Green and Samuel Dalembert.
Andre Iguodala, the promising rookie forward, was on the bench, along with fellow starters Aaron McKie and Marc Jackson.
Korver, who finished with 12 points and four rebounds, was clearly on the floor because of his ability to spread the defense with his three point shooting - he had three 3-pointers in that fourth quarter.
But he also had to defend Boston forward Paul Pierce in that fourth quarter, despite picking up his fifth foul early in the quarter. Pierce, who finished with 35 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, had only four points in the final quarter (all free throws)and even missed the potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer. He was 0-for-4 from the field in the quarter.
"Last year when we were down a lot and we needed a lot of points, I'd go in and make some threes," Korver said. "I've always been ready to play in the fourth. That's my life's blood."
O'Brien, whose team trailed by as many as 18 in the third quarter, said he knew that lineup was going to be on the court if they were going to come back from a big deficit.
"Certainly it should come as no surprise that those guys were on the court," said O'Brien, whose team hosts Phoenix tonight (7 p.m./CSN) in the home opener. "Even though Willie doesn't start, Sammy doesn't start and Kyle doesn't start, everybody knew from the preseason what I think of those guys. It's no secret that they were gonna play a lot of minutes."
Green (11 points) and Dalembert (10 rebounds) were projected starters at shooting guard and center, respectively, but both were beaten out by McKie and Jackson, two veterans.
But both of the younger players could -and probably should - be in the starting lineup before long.
Green could be in there soon. McKie (0-for-2, four assists, two rebounds, no points) played just 16 minutes on Wednesday. Jackson (15 points) was a factor but had just four rebounds in 20 minutes and is clearly an undersized center without Dalembert's leaping ability.
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Is it any coincidence that of the five players that were on the floor, four of the players either were starters or were projected starters before the preseason?
Considering how the fourth quarter turned out, is anyone in favor of this being the starting lineup or is it a better move to wait before making the move? The bench scoring provided by Korver and Green would be replaced by Corliss Williamson's and Marc Jackson's, as well as McKie being a spot up shooter. We wouldn't have the same punch off the bench, but we would be in better shape in the front court defensively. Dalembert compared to Marc Jackson is like night and day on defense, Jackson can communicate but while he was in the game Mark Blount had a license to score.
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Originally Posted by Henry Rollins
“The average is the borderline that keeps mere men in their place. Those who step over the line are heroes by the very act. Go.”
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Should the lineup that finished the game be the 76ers starting five?
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