Rotation and Roles

[cpawfan]

Barring injury, the Nets opening day starting lineup will likely be:
PG: Williams
SG: Johnson
SF: Wallace
PF: Humphries
C: Lopez

The bench will likely be comprised of the following:
PG: Watson
PG: Taylor
SG-SF: Stackhouse
SG: Brooks
SG: Bogans
SF: Childress
SF: Shengelia
PF: Teletovic
PF-C: Evans
PF-C: Blatche

What do you expect the rotation to be and who will fill specialist roles?

[MFNetsFan]

I think the competition for minutes is going to be really intense.
The only guy I don't expect to get a real shot at minutes from opening day is Toko.

If I had to guess bench minutes after things settle down?
Watson 12 min
Brooks 16 min
Bogans 4 min
Chidlress 12 min
Teletovic 10 min
Evans 12 min
Blatche 5 min
I think we will still see some Wallace at the 4 in stretches.

[furnace]

I think Taylor, Stackhouse, Bogans, Shengelia, Childress, and Blatche will see very limited minutes. The only variable there is Bogans. If he's healthy and recovered from injury, he will get minutes as a solid defender, guarding the 2 or the 3.

I wouldn't be surprised to see some Teletovic at the 3 when Wallace rests.

[ghoti]

My guess for opening night --

Starters

Williams
Johnson
Wallace
Humphries
Lopez

Bench (in order of minutes played)

Brooks
Watson
Teletovic
Evans
Bogans
Childress

DNP

Blatche

Not Dressed

Taylor
Shengalia
Stackhouse

[cpawfan]

So ghoti has a primarily 9 man rotation where:
Deron, Watson, and JJ all play minutes at PG
JJ, Brooks, and Deron all play minutes at SG
Wallace, JJ, and Brooks all play minutes at SF
Hump, Teletovic, and Evans all play minutes at PF
Lopez, Hump, and Evans all play minutes at C

I don't think that is enough to win the Atlantic, but I do think it goes to the second round of the playoffs. (Of course that is because I don't believe in Hump being a viable contributor to a winning team.)

I believe any chance of going further than the second round requires Blatche to have his head on straight and contribute the way he is capable.

[Dumpy]

There will always be at least three players injured at all times. In the past, the Nets have had as many as seven or eight. Now, though, it finally feels as though they are deep enough to continue to compete even if they hit one of those spots when seemingly everyone goes down.

There are still a lot of questions, though. Who really knows what we will get from Teletovic and Shengelia. Evans has no offensive game to speak of, so if Lopez gets hurt, the team could be weak again in the middle. Also, Childress and Blatche may end up being busts. I'm also still worried about Gerald Wallace aging in a hurry.

I think this could end up being a good team, a 48-win team, but there are other parallel universes where this collection of players becomes a major disappointment. We'll see.

[grandmazter3]

The biggest question marks in the rotation are Teletovic, Hump and Blatche (assuming he makes it.) That's basically the entire front court rotation, which is a pretty big question mark to have. Even so, Lopez will anchor them, I hope.

[ghoti]

So ghoti has a primarily 9 man rotation where:
Deron, Watson, and JJ all play minutes at PG
JJ, Brooks, and Deron all play minutes at SG
Wallace, JJ, and Brooks all play minutes at SF
Hump, Teletovic, and Evans all play minutes at PF
Lopez, Hump, and Evans all play minutes at C

I don't think that is enough to win the Atlantic, but I do think it goes to the second round of the playoffs. (Of course that is because I don't believe in Hump being a viable contributor to a winning team.)

I believe any chance of going further than the second round requires Blatche to have his head on straight and contribute the way he is capable.

I think the lineup at the end of the game will frequently be

Williams
Brooks
Johnson
Wallace
Lopez

And believe it or not, I could see Bogans playing the 2 in that lineup in crunch time as well - at least early in the season when the team is still learning to play defense together.

I also think there is some opportunity for Toko to play if he can build a niche as an energy guy with some toughness that can disrupt the opponent. I think they would like to keep Wallace's minutes reasonable, and that's a good way to do it.

If everybody is healthy, it's Hump's minutes that will be inconsistent. Like I said, I look at this roster and I see him being the primary backup at Center. They don't have another great option. (And I like that role for him.)

Also, I haven't seen any evidence Blatche can play center in the NBA. He has the raw tools to do it, but up until now he has been more of a terrible stretch 4. I guess because the roster is so vertically challenged, everyone is hoping he can do that. I'm not even sure he'll ever play. I hope so, but I don't think it's a lock.

[Eduardo's Empanada]

Hopefully Blatche doesn't see the light of day, he is a lunch pail of yolo level suck.

I'm hoping for a mainly 10 man rotation during the season, tightened up to 9 in the playoffs.

Watson, Brooks and Tele will almost all definitely see significant minutes. Evans will get in their for limited but consistent rotation minutes. Bogans will likely be Avery's My Favorite Marginal and that's fine, cause he's not a type Graham super scrub, he's a decent defender, athlete and long range shooter who won't overextend himself.

There's a chance Toko or Childress breaks the rotation, but I'd imagine they'll be very situational even if the one who wins out plays 6 to 8 minutes per game, you're probably talking in like 45 games for the season. When Wallace goes down for 9 or 10 games with an ankle sprain one of these guys will get 20 something minutes a game during that stretch that will boost their yearly MPG averages.

Ty is probably going to be a rare sighting due to foul trouble, blowouts and utmost need for smothering on ball defense for a 2 or 3 minute stretch with some full court press.

Blatche is probably going to be the change of pace guy and motivational tool to keep the other bigs on their toes and to mix things up once in a blue when there's a losing streak or we're blowing other teams out. He is just so awful.

Jerry World is a locker room enforcer and likely Texas Holdem shark on plane trips.

[cpawfan]

Last play of the game and the Nets need a 3 to tie. Assuming everyone is healthy and not fouled out, what 5 are you putting on the floor?

[ghoti]

Williams
Watson
Johnson
Wallace
Teletovic

I've never seen Teletovic play. If he's not in there, I'd put in Hump - who can set screens and is a great offensive rebounder.

Williams gets the ball and he's got lots of options. Wallace has a knack for getting big offensive boards, does the dirty work AND can make a three if needed.

Evans and Bogans are also good options in that situation.

[ecuhus]

I believe Avery will stick with a traditional 8-man rotation, with Watson, Brooks and Teletovic getting significant minutes off the bench. We might see a repeat of last year with deep benches becoming en vogue; but I think that was more a by-product of the compressed schedule.

Also, I think that Childress and especially Blatche will have bigger roles than people expect. Both underwhelmed with large contracts, but could bounce back with this 2nd chance. I thought those two vet's min signings were brilliant, and increase our quality depth and versatility. Evans was a cagey signing, but honestly, what does he do that Kris can't?

STARTING: Williams - Johnson - Wallace - Humphries - Lopez
2ND UNIT: Watson - Brooks - Childress - Teletovic - Blatche
3RD STRING: Taylor - Stackhouse - Bogans - Shengelia - Evans

SMALL-BALL: Watson - Williams - Johnson - Wallace - Humphries
BULLY-BALL: Williams - Johnson - Teletovic - Blatche - Lopez
CRUNCH-TIME: Williams - Brooks - Johnson - Wallace - Lopez

[ghoti]

Just wondering how there will be an 8 man rotation if five players play significant roles off the bench. ;)

[canofan42]

Williams
Watson
Johnson
Wallace
Teletovic

I've never seen Teletovic play. If he's not in there, I'd put in Hump - who can set screens and is a great offensive rebounder.

Williams gets the ball and he's got lots of options. Wallace has a knack for getting big offensive boards, does the dirty work AND can make a three if needed.

Evans and Bogans are also good options in that situation.

I'd agree with this lineup for the most part, except I just feel like Brook has to be in there, either for Wallace or Watson. Obviously, Brook isn't known for his rebounding prowess, but he's more than capable of grabbing offensive rebounds, and as a big man, he has the range to hit a 3.

[ghoti]

Yeah, except that Lopez has ZERO career three-pointers!

Brook will almost definitely be the team's leading scorer and should be on the floor in almost any situation, but I think there are better options for this one specific scenario.

[cpawfan]

Williams
Watson
Johnson
Wallace
Teletovic

I've never seen Teletovic play. If he's not in there, I'd put in Hump - who can set screens and is a great offensive rebounder.

Williams gets the ball and he's got lots of options. Wallace has a knack for getting big offensive boards, does the dirty work AND can make a three if needed.

Evans and Bogans are also good options in that situation.

Based upon career 3pt%'s I can see Watson over Brooks, but MarShon has that clutch "vibe" to him.

Clearly the Nets need to post a video of the two of them having a 3 pt contest for us to properly evaluate them. ;)

[CalamityX04]

Last play of the game and the Nets need a 3 to tie. Assuming everyone is healthy and not fouled out, what 5 are you putting on the floor?

Watson
Williams
JJ
Crash
Teletovic

Perhaps our best 3 pt shooters.... Crash with the in bound pass of course.

[canofan42]

Yeah, except that Lopez has ZERO career three-pointers!

Brook will almost definitely be the team's leading scorer and should be on the floor in almost any situation, but I think there are better options for this one specific scenario.

Well, there goes that idea...

[cpawfan]

The opposing team has possession and is coming out of timeout in the final seconds needing a 2 to tie or a 3 to win. Again assuming everyone is healthy and not fouled out, what 5 are you putting on the floor?

[canofan42]

The opposing team has possession and is coming out of timeout in the final seconds needing a 2 to tie or a 3 to win. Again assuming everyone is healthy and not fouled out, what 5 are you putting on the floor?

Williams
Bogans
Johnson
Wallace
Lopez

Bogans is a veteran who knows what he's doing out there, and Brook, he's long and can disrupt a player driving to the basket. Also, he's a very good free throw shooter if he gets a defensive rebound.