Our front office really has to have a sit down with Faried, and make things right. You’re not going to find a better back up PF. It’s unbelievable that we are planning on coming into the season with just PJ as a big that’s not strictly a center. Like, are you kidding me? We’re going to get crazy bullied by Power Forwards around the league. Morey! DO SOMETHING!!!!
Agreed. Tyus is a star. Grizz best lineup this coming season will be when he, Ja, and JJJ are in together. Memphis is going to outperform their projections.
I can’t see it happening since Chandler’s signing. Faried was signed out of necessity, even though he made a decent attempt to expand himself to a stretch 4 I think they are ok with Capela-Chandler-Hartenstein (and of course small ball lineups) and I think they’ve positioned themselves decently with Tucker-Bennett-Clark as the 4s. I think all 3 of those are obviously better shooters and Chandler as the backup 5 offers more defensively. I think the answer is either starting House at forward and hoping for the best or trading for an established stretch 4 and letting Tucker’s ambiguity as a tweener forward cause havoc to other teams.
I agree it ain’t happening. I just don’t agree that we are decent with Tucker, Bennett and Clark. Bennett and Clark are wild cards and PJ is undersized for some match ups and getting older. Would just like a reliable back up and some length.
Going to miss his energy, power and speed. Russ would have loved playing with him, same mold. Rebounds, shot blocking and dunks will not be replaced by Tucker, Clark or even Bennett.
Now you're trying to say that a guard who averaged less than 7 points and 5 assists, and shot like crap from 3PT, is a STAR? D-Mo must have been a superstar the year he averaged 12 and 6 rbs, and shot .368 from 3, at about the same age Tyus is now. I think I've finally figured it out: Anyone you like is a star. Everyone else is not. Either that or you just redefine "star" every 10 minutes to suit the need of whatever post you're replying to.
I don't think people realize how bad Faried is defensively. He is so bad that it alters the entire defense.
pretty doubtful he's ok being the 3rd big and not knowing when hell be able to get minutes. which is also tough because its not like another team out there is wanting to play him significant minutes every night either
i'm less optimistic about our front court. i see capela and tucker as solid starters. but then things get shaky. chandler is a solid backup but only played 55 games last year. he will be almost half of the games. what do we do when he's out? more tucker at center? not a great matchup against every team, not great to increase his minutes in general. go with harty? totally unproven and didn't look any better in summer league. then behind tucker we have clark and bennet who are also totally unproven. clark didn't look like he's a 24mpg player on a championship team. bennet can shoot but what else? even on the wing, harden and ego are great starters. behind them? house looked good last year, but small sample size. can he play like that again? he disappeared from the rotation in the playoffs. i don't think he would've got more than max unless morey was sure, but those fringe players flame out quickly. who else is on the wing? mclemore is unproven to be able to contribute at all to winning teams. green shouldn't be relied upon for serious minutes again. the only place we're solid is at the point. russ, harden, rivers, ego as a 4th option. this is why it was so important to actually use the MLE this summer. adding one more proven rotation player suddenly makes the bench look a lot more dependable.
I think the problem is less with Bennett and Clark specifically and more that the other forward “starter” isn’t really set. Gordon is too damned small. House is unproven, etc. If a legit option (in a vacuum, no need for disagreements just whoever you like) let’s say Kevin Love we’re inserted as the 4 and your starting 5 goes Westbrook, Harden, Tucker, Love, Capela you’re likely way more OK with Clark and Bennet now. Or a Westbrook, Harden, Covington, Tucker, Capela starting 5. Knowing that a 40m nightly load isn’t on Tucker and that House, Clark, Bennett are all bench options provides entirely more comfort than the thought that right now, one or more of House, Clark, Bennett and McLemore have to provide legitimate and consistent production.
Bennett’s highlights are intriguing to me, he has more than just a decent shot but I think we kinda have the same opinion just worded differently. Someone has to step into the rotation at forward. Hartenstein too, that’s summer league “team” was awful and I think he quite easily can serve as 3rd center. I’m not going to let that ridiculous glorified pickup ball cloud my perception of Hartenstein, I want to find out if he lives or dies on a real court, on a real team with real roles.
harty certainly has the skills. i like that he's got size, can rebound, and can hit the outside shot. his success ability to earn minutes will come down to his IQ. can he make the right defensive rotations, and make them on time. can he read and defend PnR? one on one? can he read a react on PnR as the roll man or pop man? again the skills are there but last year he was just bouncing around the court with no real purpose lol. lets see some growth there. same with clark. he's got the skills of a modern 4 man. can hit the 3, rebound, provide some weakside rim protection. but earning minutes comes down to making the right decisions at the right time. he seemed to either not do that for stretches last year, or worse, just get lost and not do anything at times. bennet has less skills in his tool belt than clark, but the one he's got looks elite. he can shoot. good on him for improving. it seems he's a weak defender and rebounder by the numbers but making smart defensive decisions and being in the right place at the right time doesn't show up in box scores or analytics. so that's hard to tell from a fan's perspective. obviously morey has seen enough to want to take the chance.
I would agree with everything but the Bennett comment. He’s got a great all around offense package, Clark is the one trick pony and Bennett seems like the better shooter at that. We just need to combine them lol...
There are some guys who just don't have enough of those skills to get them over at the top level. I'm afraid Hartenstein might be one of those guys. I hope I'm wrong, but he's never looked very impressive playing against NBA-rotation talent. He kills against G-League guys and summer league, but there's that last big step he still needs to take. Hope he makes it. Seems like a good guy.
I hope he takes that step too. morey is betting on it since chandler will only play about half the games. someone else will have to play 12-15mpg as a backup center when chandler is out.
