12-17-2022, 09:24 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-17-2022, 09:52 AM by DanSchwartzgan.)
(12-17-2022, 06:24 AM)F Gump Wrote: And if we take off the blinders of our preconceptions, it should not seem surprising that any non-Luka lineup with DFS at the 4 might see DFS being subbed out at the 4 and a BIGGER Luka used instead.
Whether it should be surprising or not, it is new. DFS and Luka have played together 770 of the 913 minutes Dorian has played (almost 85%). So, it is a change of strategy.
It basically says Powell and Wood are splitting the C minutes and since Dorian can't play 48, there has to be some point in time that someone else plays the four. So, Kidd is prioritizing putting DFS with SD/Wood over putting him with Luka/Wood. The interesting thing (or surprising if you insist) is that the team is holding its own during these minutes which have also included well known defensive stud Tim Hardaway Jr.
Wood said postgame that Luka is his second best pairing behind Wood and Maxi (actually Wood/Green is first then Wood/Luka now at 8.1). But, Wood/SD is -6.1. Kidd needs to do something to unlock that pairing. I imagine the change regarding DFS is more about cleaning that up with the expectation that the team can survive the Luka at Point-PF minutes. W/O Maxi the 5/4 minutes look to be DP/DFS, then Wood/Luka, then Wood/DFS and finally Powell/DFS. In the first half there were no minutes where Luka, Wood and SD played together. The next logical discussion will be about starting Wood, but I suspect such a move requires benching SD if you want to always have two of those on the floor at all times.