by Spree#8 on Mon Nov 24, 2014 1:42 am
I'm thinking Carter-Williams and Wroten should play as few minutes together as possible. They're both at their best on-ball, creating for themselves or others off of drives to the rim. Neither can space the floor for the other. They're also pretty much the only ball handlers on the roster (maybe also Shved), so one of them should be on the court at all times - all the more reason to not waste their minutes on playing together. It minimizes their strengths and exposes their weaknesses.
It really doesn't help that this team has a grand total of 3 dudes that can shoot from outside - Covington, Thompson and McDaniels (fun fact: when a technical foul is called on the opposition, Henry Sims is the one who shoots the technical free throw. Let that sink in for a while and think about the state of shooting on this roster). Ideally, at least two of them should be out with MCW/Wroten at any time. Give them some space to drive, for fuck's sake. In a MCW/Wroten/Mbah a Moute/Noel/Sims lineup, both MCW and Wroten have their work cut out for them. The paint is clogged all the damn time. It's borderline sabotage, not that this team needs any, to be honest.
I'd try something like this... first unit:
MCW-McDaniels-Mbah a Moute-Noel-Sims
Let Sims hang out in the high post, the defenses need to respect his mid-range jumper. McDaniels camped out beyond the arc, cut to the rim if opportunity presents itself. Try to get some P&R action with MCW/Noel.
After the last few games, I'd be happy to just cut Mbah a Moute's ass, but unfortunately somebody needs to play SF and he is a decent defender. Just don't let him shoot from outside anymore, please.
McDaniels, Mbah a Moute and Noel are pretty strong defenders, so the lineup also shouldn't let the other team lead by 15 after 10 minutes if the Sixers can score at all.
Second unit:
Wroten-Shved-Thompson-Covington-Davies/Gordon
With Thompson and Covington stretching out the defense, Wrecking Ball should be allowed to drive to the rim at 120 mph, which is all he knows how to do and how he was scoring 20 ppg before MCW returned. If a shooter is left open, kick out to either of them for threes. Shved can play a pick or two with Davies and try to create some offense, too. If they can't score, make some subs quickly because this lineup features little to no defense, except Davies taking a charge once in a while.
It might not work at all, but what they're doing right now clearly doesn't either, so why not? Maybe then they'd score more than 83 points against really bad defenses like the Knicks.
