WHY CAN'T EROB BACK UP THE PF POSITION?
I was thinking about this the other day, and I think ERob at SG either defensively or especially offensively is really a stretch.
ERob is a 205 pound 6' 9" guy with incredible athletic ability and long arms, weak handles and passing skills, and limited range but a nice mid-range shot.
Such players typically are SF/PF players (Darius Miles, Jerome Wiliams, Antawn Jamison), but because we thought we had a hole at the SG position last year, we have always thought of ERob as a SG/SF. I think that is a mistake now that we have Hassell, a solid SG, and Crawford possibly working on becoming one. Rose also has the capability to back-up the SG position and Hoiberg is a SG as well. And Krause seems to be high on Jacobsen.
I see Rose best suited to SF both offensively and defensively (on most nights), but we do need a back-up SF (especially one who can guard bigger SFs) and we need depth at the PF position, especially if Fizer gets traded.
Why can't ERob develop into a nice back-up SF/PF?
He is 6' 9", which is an inch taller than Fizer. He supposedly has long arms. (If his wingspan is 7', then both his wingspan and height would be just one inch smaller than Gooden and Wilcox, both considered decently sized PFs.) He also is a great athlete, and I would think being a great athlete would buy him the ability to guard someone an inch or two bigger than he is.
But could ERob guard PFs? Could he become a better rebounder? I think so. If Peja or Hedo can back-up the PF position, an athlete like ERob should be able to do the same.
I think that becoming a better post defender and rebounder are just as possible as him developing the handles of a SG and the ability to guard SGs. Perhaps more importantly, developing his body and post-up defense to back-up the PF position also would make him a better defensive match-up for some of the big SFs that some teams have, such as Garnett, McGrady, Gasol, Skita, etc.
Another thing to think about. His quickness and mid-range shot could turn him into an explosive offensive option off the bench, if other teams try to play him with a traditional PF. I think he would be a much more effective scorer here than backing up the SG position, where he would have to develop a post-up game to take advantage of smaller SGs. We also could run teams into the ground with a Williams/Crawford/Rose/Robinson/Chandler combination.
Remember we're only looking at ERob at PF for maybe 10-20 mpg, usually matched up with the other team's second teamers. Also, he always would be matched up with a big center (Curry, a Chandler who will get bigger and bigger, or Bagaric), so we should always have plenty of size on the floor.
I would really like to hear what other folks think about this. Sometimes we get trapped into seeing a player in a particular way and don't consider other alternatives. (At least I do.) Playing SG was always going to be a stretch for ERob, no moreso than playing PF would be.
ERob does need a little more weight on his frame (he does not need to become Fizer) to pull this off. JYD is listed at 6'9" 206 pounds, Miles at 6'9" 210 pounds, Jamison 6'9" 223 pounds.
ERob could become a key component of this team at the SF/PF position. I could easily see him playing 30 mpg if Fizer was traded away. We will still need a veteran PF/C for the time being, but once Chandler and Curry are playing major minutes, Bagaric, Robinson, and maybe another young big man should be more than capable as back-ups.
