How come no one plays big?

[Axel]

I love Quincy Acy but he's a fringe NBA player. You don't drastically shift your philosophy just to get him some more minutes - out of position no less - because that would be crazy.

The other drawbacks to the hypothetical lineup in the OP is that Derozan, our best player through 15 games, is not on the floor, and a severe lack of spacing which is already a problem for the Raptors in much more traditional lineups.

I wouldn't call giving Acy some burn at the 3 a drastic philosophical shift. I'm not suggesting he starts by any means (although I would take him over Gay at this point) but if you use it for a 3-5 mins stretch here and there it could provide a momentum shift (or accomplish nothing at all, who knows!).

If I were going big, I'd roll with Fields, DD, Acy, Amir, JV as the five. If you want more bench presence (assume it's a 3rd quarter stretch) then insert Hansbrough for Amir and/or Ross for DD. At this point, trying something different is a good thing.

[JawsGT]

Acy, Amir, and JV would be an incredible frontline in terms of energy, hustle, rebounding and defence. But certainly our offence would suffer, and no doubt I can see defences working to ensure that Acy is getting open shots. DD and Lowry looks like a pretty good backcourt (or at least has for the last 5 or so games), but that lineup certainly requires a significant post presence, and JV just can't provide that (yet, fingers crossed). Defensively, they would be fun to watch tho!!

[Masai Ujiri]

I think that lineup would only work (not saying it'd be effective) with Acy instead of Hansbrough, because neither Amir nor TH have any chance in heck of guarding a 3.

Tbh I don't really like the idea in general. I think the best way to go big is the way the Pacers do it. Just have players who are bigger than average for their position.

George Hill: 6'3 (although this is quickly becoming average for the PG spot)
Lance Stephenson: 6'5, about average height but he's 230lbs and visibly stronger than most 2s
Paul George: 6'10
David West: 6'9, same deal as Lance
Roy Hibbert: 7'2 290lbs

I think that's the best way to go "big", just be big for your position lol. We already have a few guys like this in DeMar and even Jonas (especially if he adds more muscle as he gets older). I like big PGs (creates huge mismatch problems and also makes your defense more versatile) so I'm a huge fan of both Exum and Smart in the upcoming draft.

[KeonClark]

I think he did the DX "suck it" chop, went to do a second and went "woah gettin too excited here"

[JawsGT]

I think he did the DX "suck it" chop, went to do a second and went "woah gettin too excited here"

Gotta love it...he does more for the team in street clothes than Rudy does on the court...damn, I'm thinking I may be too hard on Rudy...he's my new Bargnani.

[enlightenment]

Gotta love it...he does more for the team in street clothes than Rudy does on the court...damn, I'm thinking I may be too hard on Rudy...he's my new Bargnani.

you know he is cheering on a Rudy clutch 3pt, right?

[KeonClark]

you know he is cheering on a Rudy clutch 3pt, right?

Yeah, he sure is clutch. If only he could shoot better than 37% the other 47 minutes of the game maybe we wouldn't need his desperation 3s to almost sometimes win.

[p00ka]

Going big in such a manner has been tried. I'd imagine on the practice court far more than real games, but there too. Coaches try it when they have a roster they think may be able to pull it off, but it inevitably doesn't work. Some have already spoken directly to the problem of speed/quickness: put a lineup like that on the floor and the opponents' shooters and slashers have a scoring picnic facing them every time down the court.

[lewro]

If we played big, we could possibly pull it off with Acy at SF. That'd be a cool experiment out of the many that we've seen so far this season.

Yes! Thank you. Demar/Acy/Amir/JV. Fields at SF a little too. Rudy in the 4th

[Eric Akshinthala]

Maybe one of you strategy aficionados can explain this to me, but why don't we play big? We always here about playing small and trotting out a wing in the power forward spot. How come we don't do the opposite and play three bigs? For example:

Lowry: Pg
Gay: Sg
Amir: SF
Hansbrough: PF
Valanciunas: Center

No shooting guard in the league is guarding Rudy 1 one-on one. Amir can hit the open shot and his length will bother a lot of wings on D. Is it a spacing issue? I feel like I'm missing something with this.

I wouldn't say that the team never plays big. Combinations of JV/Amir/Hansbrough and on occasions Gray and Acy are big combinations. The Coach could prefer "small" line ups for different reasons. One could be to respond to the oppositions small line up and keep up with their speed. Another could be the opposite wherein the team could go small to gain a speed advantage over the opposition big men and thirdly the most common reason, to bolster the scoring with improved outside shooting and quick transitions.

With Rudy's size (6' 9") and very good rebounding, Raps. can afford to do this frequently which I believe is the reason we see it so often.