05-28-2024, 04:48 PM
(05-28-2024, 04:27 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I thought about the same thing. Maybe you get a few minutes each half doing this. You probably need 18 minutes of non-Gafford time and maybe 8 minutes of non-PJ time (which is what Maxi is doing if he's in there with Powell). That 26 minutes might be too much to ask of Maxi. So, maybe Maxi gets 18 (8 with Powell and 10 at center) and Powell gets 8 (all with Maxi).
The negative of playing Powell and Maxi together is you have two guys playing who haven't played any meaningful minutes in quite a while. Another option is bumping Green's minutes some more and moving DJJ up to the four in the non-PJ minutes. That would eliminate the need for Powell and Maxi could get all of his time at the five.
All you are really trying to do is survive these minutes. It is similar to using Green to survive the minutes one of PJ and DJJ are out and using (THJ/Exum/Hardy) to survive the non-Luka and non-Kyrie minutes. Green is holding his own in this series but we haven't found an answer between THJ, Exum and Hardy for the non-Star minutes. In what has been a close series, anything that isn't Lively is a problem plus you start to see the cumulative effect of too many dings to the lineup to be able to survive when any of the starters sit. It puts a ton of pressure on the starters to be really good and avoid foul issues.
It is an interesting matchup. Initially I thought you match their minutes up when Gobert goes to the bench. Then I thought, you really want to attack the non Gobert minutes when he is on the bench. Minny is more versatile but Dallas uses this time to really attack the rim. Not sure a combo of Powell and Maxi gets the maximum benefit here.