11-30-2022, 10:49 AM
What a difference a game makes. New starters with THJ got smoked against the Bucks, but looked really good last night. Josh/Maxi were in the closing lineup both halves last night. Josh has been closing second quarters and often plays late into the fourth, but actually closing the game has been rare for him. Maybe SD’s flagrant was fortuitous and foreshadows things to come. Of course, it also meant Luka had to re-enter the game in the fourth earlier than usual and that helped also. I personally wish Luka would exit with about two minutes left in the third and come back earlier in the fourth every game.
When Tim is hitting shots, I really like getting him away from Wood, SD and Josh (don’t want him at all when he isn’t hitting shots). As Kamm has pointed out, it is also nice to break up DFS, RBJr and Dinwiddie. Lineups are basically divided into four parts each half. 1. Starters, 2. Luka w/Bench, 3. SD w/Bench and the closing six minutes of the half. All sorts of strange things happen in that final grouping, but it is those 12 minutes that tell you who Kidd prioritizes. Last night the players who got over 20 minutes were Luka, THJ, DFS, Green, Wood, Maxi and Dinwiddie. That feels about right for a top seven. THJ won’t always be that good and Wood won’t always be as bad as he was last night.
The trick is finding combinations that work for those segments. I don’t think who starts is nearly as important as the groups working well and setting things up so the right people are available to finish halves. Kidd continues to ‘sneak’ a few minutes for Wood without Maxi or Powell each half and those minutes continue to be consistently unproductive. He clearly isn’t ready to make Wood a stand-alone center for major minutes, but that stance forces Powell (or McGee) to be the only big in lineups when they are in. Powell’s On-Minus-Off is fantastic in limited minutes, but there is high variability to the results. I can’t imagine swapping THJ for Bullock is going to ‘unlock’ a more consistent Powell.
So, the question is whether Powell, DFS, THJ, SD and Luka can hold serve for the first 6 minutes of each half (and anytime we contemplate a Powell-based starting lineup, there is the question of regular season versus playoffs). Swapping Green for SD would help the group defensively. But, Green has been critical to making other groupings work and simply swapping THJ/Green for SD/Bullock probably doesn’t give you enough creation on the floor. Swapping Wood for Powell is just not going to happen. It just isn’t. The question then becomes leave Wood as a super sub or completely redo the starting lineup to include Maxi/Wood. That takes Maxi out of closing games and that isn’t going to happen either. So, Kidd will keep playing around the edges IMHO. He seems to have gotten on the Green bandwagon somewhat. Time will tell if THJ starting makes that group work consistently and if, by extension, the Maxi/Wood/Green/Bullock/Ball-Handler lineups will be better served by removing a guy in THJ that needs (or certainly takes) a lot of shots. I’m actually hopeful we give this a run for about 10-15 games. As long as Maxi, DFS, Green and Luka are closing, I don’t really care who the fifth guy is. So, figure a way to make the other segments work that sets things up to where that four can finish halves consistently and start to get a good feel for playing together.
When Tim is hitting shots, I really like getting him away from Wood, SD and Josh (don’t want him at all when he isn’t hitting shots). As Kamm has pointed out, it is also nice to break up DFS, RBJr and Dinwiddie. Lineups are basically divided into four parts each half. 1. Starters, 2. Luka w/Bench, 3. SD w/Bench and the closing six minutes of the half. All sorts of strange things happen in that final grouping, but it is those 12 minutes that tell you who Kidd prioritizes. Last night the players who got over 20 minutes were Luka, THJ, DFS, Green, Wood, Maxi and Dinwiddie. That feels about right for a top seven. THJ won’t always be that good and Wood won’t always be as bad as he was last night.
The trick is finding combinations that work for those segments. I don’t think who starts is nearly as important as the groups working well and setting things up so the right people are available to finish halves. Kidd continues to ‘sneak’ a few minutes for Wood without Maxi or Powell each half and those minutes continue to be consistently unproductive. He clearly isn’t ready to make Wood a stand-alone center for major minutes, but that stance forces Powell (or McGee) to be the only big in lineups when they are in. Powell’s On-Minus-Off is fantastic in limited minutes, but there is high variability to the results. I can’t imagine swapping THJ for Bullock is going to ‘unlock’ a more consistent Powell.
So, the question is whether Powell, DFS, THJ, SD and Luka can hold serve for the first 6 minutes of each half (and anytime we contemplate a Powell-based starting lineup, there is the question of regular season versus playoffs). Swapping Green for SD would help the group defensively. But, Green has been critical to making other groupings work and simply swapping THJ/Green for SD/Bullock probably doesn’t give you enough creation on the floor. Swapping Wood for Powell is just not going to happen. It just isn’t. The question then becomes leave Wood as a super sub or completely redo the starting lineup to include Maxi/Wood. That takes Maxi out of closing games and that isn’t going to happen either. So, Kidd will keep playing around the edges IMHO. He seems to have gotten on the Green bandwagon somewhat. Time will tell if THJ starting makes that group work consistently and if, by extension, the Maxi/Wood/Green/Bullock/Ball-Handler lineups will be better served by removing a guy in THJ that needs (or certainly takes) a lot of shots. I’m actually hopeful we give this a run for about 10-15 games. As long as Maxi, DFS, Green and Luka are closing, I don’t really care who the fifth guy is. So, figure a way to make the other segments work that sets things up to where that four can finish halves consistently and start to get a good feel for playing together.
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