The Rotation

[S.R.]

As much as it pains me to say this, Casey deserves a lot of credit in (1) preparing the kids for the limelight, and (2) trusting them with the responsibility. If I were coaching this team, I wouldn't dream of trotting out a lineup of Wright, Fred, OG, Siakam and Poeltl. But they've more than held their own, rewarding Casey for believing in them.

As much as I have not been a big fan of either for years at a time, I'm growing to appreciate both Casey and DeMar a lot more. To their credit, as much as we want systems and players to change all the time, they have to take a longer term view and commit to an approach to really see if it will work. They've both proven willing to adapt over time.

It's a great argument for Masai's continuity. So often a coach is canned or a player is traded way before now, they are never given this opportunity to adjust and evolve. It's interesting to watch.

[Mess]

As much as it pains me to say this, Casey deserves a lot of credit in (1) preparing the kids for the limelight, and (2) trusting them with the responsibility. If I were coaching this team, I wouldn't dream of trotting out a lineup of Wright, Fred, OG, Siakam and Poeltl. But they've more than held their own, rewarding Casey for believing in them.

Credit to Masai and the 905 staff as well.

[planetmars]

Whoever fixed the title of this thread - thank-you!! Was driving me crazy

[slaw]

As much as it pains me to say this, Casey deserves a lot of credit in (1) preparing the kids for the limelight, and (2) trusting them with the responsibility. If I were coaching this team, I wouldn't dream of trotting out a lineup of Wright, Fred, OG, Siakam and Poeltl. But they've more than held their own, rewarding Casey for believing in them.

It's the entire organization. They've drafted good players (despite all the Raptorland naysayers - I remember the old RR podcasts where Doctor Steve and other draft "experts" just pilloried Ujiri), they've spent the money to create the 905 team and training infrastructure, they've put good people in charge of the 905 team, they've hired a slew of assistant coaches, they've provided guys exposure on the big team when they've earned it and they've been patient with guys as opposed to moving on at the slightest sign of trouble.

I mean you have Powell, Wright, Poeltl, Siakam and Anunoby who are all legit rotation guys and who have all been brought in and developed in-house over the last 3 drafts. That's pretty impressive. Even Van Vleet is a nice change of pace guy they picked up for nothing and I haven't even mentioned Bebe who is a pretty nice "break glass in case of emergency" option. There are not many teams in the league that can go 12 deep and feel good about it and even fewer that can go there with 8 guys they drafted and developed.

Is this actually a good organization now? When does Pestilence arrive?

[Chr1s1anL]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/590/free-association/

[Shaolin Fantastic]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/590/free-association/

Quite a lot of good points made in that podcast.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

That all bench unit is not going to work against good teams. Fool's gold right now.

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[KeonClark]

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Weird time to prove your point, considering this was the one game the 5 man bench unit didn't get their regular play, and our starters blew chunks, especially our top 3 players. But yeah let's pick on the Poeltl unit in the one game they barely played together

[Ball]

This is putting the cart so far ahead of the horse.

Nobody would suggest going as deep into the rotation as they are now in the playoffs, basketball 101 is you don't do that and no one is thinking that would happen - this is a weird assumption to make.

Giving the young guys minutes now is part of their multi-year development, a plan which this organization is executing really, really well. From that perspective, you're giving them as much responsibility and as many minutes as they can handle in NBA game situations - that's why there's no Patterson, CoJo, or Carroll on this team this year (they tried to keep Tucker). That is where they are at in their development right now, and it's awesome that they've been able to handle it so far - a lot of people thought they would be a weakness heading into the season but instead they've been a great success so far and finding some way to argue against that with a "Yeah but!" just seems kind of weird.

Any time the 5 young guys can't handle a game situation, Kyle or DeMar will be on the floor. That adjustment has happened already. And once the playoffs role around, the rotation will likely cut down to 7-8 deep as it does for everybody in the NBA. In the meantime, it's great to see Casey, who for the past several seasons refused to let the bench play without one of Lowry or DeMar running the unit at ALL times, is trusting the young guys to play together and *it's working*. A significant positive this early in the season. Who knows how long it will sustain? Hopefully all year, but sure it's not guaranteed. They're young.

I see your point and I'm hoping the rotation tightens for the playoffs. I'd love to see the young guys get more time for development, but part of me also thinks it makes sense to get reps with the bench unit we're gonna use in the playoffs over the season. Playoffs are tough, and it gets tougher if we have to roll out a bench unit we've scarcely used over the season.

[SkywalkerAC]

Shooting is what's needed. Still hoping Powell can get back on track there.

[makochin]

A few thoughts about the rotation after 7 games.

1. Powell is better suited in the second unit. Powell is best used in Demar's role as a primary scorer and he can't be in Demar's role playing with Demar. I also notice that Powell is similar to T-Ross in that his offense is very streaky. If he doesn't knock down the first few shots he becomes timid on offense and less willing to attack on catch. I think Miles should be starting and Powell should come in around the 4 min mark in the 1st and start the 2nd quarter as the main guy when Demar goes to the bench. Depending on matchups Powell or Miles will be out there to close out games.

2. JV needs to go. Our offense and defense are just better with Jakob or Siakam out there instead of JV. The league today is just not suited for lumbering bigs that can't protect the rim or knock down open 3s. I believe eventually Jakob can shoot 3s but right now the reason Jakob is better is on defense.

3. VanFleet is not a NBA player. The guy is just too small. Watching him play is like watching someone trying to cut steak with a bread knive. You can do it if you keep at it but everything just looks forced.

[Puffer]

"Watching him play is like watching someone trying to cut steak with a bread knife. You can do it but everything just looks forced." Ha Ha Ha Ha.

I'm going to be using this.

[Nilanka]

A few thoughts about the rotation after 7 games.

1. Powell is better suited in the second unit. Powell is best used in Demar's role as a primary scorer and he can't be in Demar's role playing with Demar. I also notice that Powell is similar to T-Ross in that his offense is very streaky. If he doesn't knock down the first few shots he becomes timid on offense and less willing to attack on catch. I think Miles should be starting and Powell should come in around the 4 min mark in the 1st and start the 2nd quarter as the main guy when Demar goes to the bench. Depending on matchups Powell or Miles will be out there to close out games.

2. JV needs to go. Our offense and defense are just better with Jakob or Siakam out there instead of JV. The league today is just not suited for lumbering bigs that can't protect the rim or knock down open 3s. I believe eventually Jakob can shoot 3s but right now the reason Jakob is better is on defense.

3. VanFleet is not a NBA player. The guy is just too small. Watching him play is like watching someone trying to cut steak with a bread knive. You can do it if you keep at it but everything just looks forced.

Let's not get carried away. Dude can't even hit free throws yet.

[JawsGT]

so far I've been very impressed with Jacob, Siakim and OG. Wright has been good but I was hoping for more offensive ability. Bebe has also been decent. FVV should not be in the 10 man rotation and that seems more plausible if CJ and Powell were to swap roles, which I'd be more than fine with. Powell, though, seems to be coming around and Miles has been good with the bench. But overall a lineup of:

JV, Ibaka, CJ, Demar, Lowry with Poeltl, Siakim, OG, Powell, and Wright off the bench seems like the best configuration to me, with Bebe and FVV filling in when needed. That second unit does lack shooting though, so the CJ for Powell swap may not be necessary. Ultimately, it comes down to how you stagger the two units, so it should be possible to maintain sufficient shooting in that second unit to keep the offence from stagnating.

[Shredder]

The worst road stretch of the season is over. We're 5-4. Pretty respectable. However I would like to see Powell fall back to the second unit and play his more natural role of a 2. Slide Miles into the starting line-up, and OG into the second units 3 position. I would also like to see more Siakim than FVV as he's been playing much better so far this year.

Maybe a Starting line up of KL, DD, CJ, Ibaka and JV, with a second unit of DW, NP, OG, Siakim and Poeltl might give us the edge we've been missing since we left on the road trip.