Game 2: Mavs (1-0) at Suns (1-1) 9:00 pm

[KillerLeft]

I want to see the new guys 30 games or so.  In some ways it is really easy playing with Luka.  In other ways it is really different.  DJJ didn't start the year in the role he finished in.  Right now, Marshall isn't really getting the minutes to be the DJJ replacement.    Minutes are tight though.

It just feels like they have a really deep team, but a difficult puzzle pieces trying to find minutes and the right roles when everyone is healthy.

I agree with all of this, especially the emboldened, and I'll go a step further: having a deep team presents unique challenges that other teams won't necessarily have to overcome. 

Whomever said the other day (I forget) that there wasn't going to be much lineup experimentation this year...I understand what they meant and why they said that, but in reality, having 10 players who feel they deserve to play (11, if we assume Dinwiddie wants to get on the court) makes everyone a little on edge and might make it even more difficult for the coaches/rotation players to settle into a rhythm together. Don't get me wrong - it's one of those "good problems," but particularly with the new guys, Marshall and Grimes, I think it might be tough to figure things out here for a few weeks. It's clear the team is featuring Thompson, so his acclimation will be easy enough, and he's also an experienced hall of famer, so basically just in a different tax bracket than those guys when it comes to how a team works. But, for those two guys I think we need to be patient, because I agree with the above - playing with Luka and Kyrie comes with it's own challenges, and it's not like Hardy/Dinwiddie are likely to be pass-first guys anytime soon. 

This is probably a large part of the thinking behind letting Marshall play PG, and it's probably a GOOD idea. I just think he needs to get over the nerves and do his thing when he has those chances.