AD at SF thread

[N.O.Bronco]

I've mulled it over in my mind and on here a few times and after hearing some others opinions I respect I would rather him not spend most of his time at the 3.

However I would not be opposed to him guarding 3's in certain matchups or situations or even rolling out a Holiday, Evans or Gordon, Davis, Ryno and Asik lineup for certain bursts of a game or even to close out against certain teams.

I think with our weakness at the 3 some experimentation and out of the box thinking is going to need to rule the day at times against certain rosters.

[Kibner]

Isn't he like 19 or 20? The development of his jumper and handles are over? The guy who played PG a few years ago can't upgrade his handles after finally getting used to his body after the growth spurt? He improved his jumper dramatically during a short college season, and has done the same in the NBA, and we still want to limit this guy to 1 position? This kid has the potential to do it all. I don't think y'all realize where his ceiling really is. He could be Durant or better...like I said the first time around when the board called it crazy.

He wasn't a good PG in high school and those skills haven't been a focus for him since his growth sport. Iirc, he was being ranked as a 3 star guard while he was still playing that position. He still is awkward when trying to do dribble moves in the post 1on1.

The jumpshot has gotten better but is merely ok for a big man that frequently shoots from that distance. And this is with him taking primarily uncontested shots off the pass. He has a super long way to go for a jumpshot of a credible wing.

So, no. I don't think he will improve his handles or shot enough to be a quality offensive wing (outside of slashing and garbage points).

E: he is a big and should be played as a big. All his strengths are related to him playing against bigs.

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[sleepingbunch]

He wasn't a good PG in high school and those skills haven't been a focus for him since his growth sport. Iirc, he was being ranked as a 3 star guard while he was still playing that position. He still is awkward when trying to do dribble moves in the post 1on1.

The jumpshot has gotten better but is merely ok for a big man that frequently shoots from that distance. And this is with him taking primarily uncontested shots off the pass. He has a super long way to go for a jumpshot of a credible wing.

So, no. I don't think he will improve his handles or shot enough to be a quality offensive wing (outside of slashing and garbage points).

E: he is a big and should be played as a big. All his strengths are related to him playing against bigs.

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I'm not saying you're wrong necessarily....but when people talk about positions with Davis, the real question is "can he defend the 3 position". Because of Ryno's unique skill set, You could have Ryno start at the 3 on offense but guard the 4 on defense....that would theoretically leave Davis starting at the 4 on offense but guarding the 3 on defense. I'm not sure how well that would work....but I don't think anyone's considering making him an offensive wing player.

[Pelifan]

I understand the desire to start Ryan as he's probably our third best player. But Davis's skill set is best where he is. I also don't want him to get soft like Durant who can't battle inside like AD even though he has a very similar profile

[Mr. West]

While it's an appealing thought to always have our five best players on the court the appeal ends there. He's a big man and while sure maybe he could match up with some SF's just fine it would be destroying a ton if what made him an all star this year. Guy leads the league in blocks so let's put him guarding three point shooters every night. He's constantly beating Boozers and Randolph's back in transition so let's match him with Rudy Gays and Shawn Marion's. Our best rebounder would be spacing in the corner or defending the arc. It seems you guys just look at AD and are like "well his potential is limitless" but he hasn't shown a reliable three pointer or handles OR the ability to defender quicker SF's and you guys are all like "well he can". Maybe he can, but should he? Nah.

Anderson will get 32+ minutes a night. Who cares if he gets them starting or not. And more than likely, he won't.

[smcgull]

Would he be better at small forward than center?

[Mythrol]

I don't want AD at SF

Do we have to play him there?

[Biasvasospasm]

Agreed. Spot minutes, on a dominant big wing scorer in crunch time? Sure. For short periods of time, I think he could make life very difficult for those guys. Chasing guys around the perimeter off screens for more than a couple minutes? Absolutely not. Waste of a defensive talent.

[dleboeuf84]

Odom came off the bench

[dleboeuf84]

Take the best shot blocker in the entire league and get him away from the rim. OK thanks a lot James Naismith I think we'll pass. There are 96 minutes to be shared at the 4/5 spots. I can guarantee you AD and ASik won't be able to average 48 min a game. 3 man rotation w/ Asik/Davis/Anderson is the best in the Association IMO, and there are some good ones (Noah/Gasol/Gibson for example). We need guys to steal minutes at the 3, b/c I think you will see a lot of that 3 guard lineup this year. I'd like to see us pick up a defensive minded wing for matchup purposes, but it will be tough for any wing to break into the top 6 in minutes played anyway.

[Hornetsfanspain]

AD will be the best 4 in the league and one of the best players of the NBA, every player at their position, see Tyreke at the SF last season xDDDDD

[ItIsRynosTime]

I'm not saying you're wrong necessarily....but when people talk about positions with Davis, the real question is "can he defend the 3 position". Because of Ryno's unique skill set, You could have Ryno start at the 3 on offense but guard the 4 on defense....that would theoretically leave Davis starting at the 4 on offense but guarding the 3 on defense. I'm not sure how well that would work....but I don't think anyone's considering making him an offensive wing player.

That makes sense to me. Asik is a slightly better rebounder than Anthony Davis. The team rebounding would be very good. I don't care about a small edge to give up on the defensive end because you have 3 very good defenders and elite offense.

I understand the desire to start Ryan as he's probably our third best player. But Davis's skill set is best where he is. I also don't want him to get soft like Durant who can't battle inside like AD even though he has a very similar profile

It's not just about what AD's best position is or what will pad his numbers the most. It seems people here are more worried that he gets another 20-10 year, that is very unlikely because Asik is capable of getting 11 or so rebounds per game. AD makes sense to play the 4 on offense and then split time between the 3 and 4 on defense.

Odom came off the bench

Odom couldn't shoot lights out, there wasn't enough space on the floor for him to operate with Gasol and Bynum inside. Also don't think Lakers bench was as good.

While it's an appealing thought to always have our five best players on the court the appeal ends there. He's a big man and while sure maybe he could match up with some SF's just fine it would be destroying a ton if what made him an all star this year. Guy leads the league in blocks so let's put him guarding three point shooters every night. He's constantly beating Boozers and Randolph's back in transition so let's match him with Rudy Gays and Shawn Marion's. Our best rebounder would be spacing in the corner or defending the arc. It seems you guys just look at AD and are like "well his potential is limitless" but he hasn't shown a reliable three pointer or handles OR the ability to defender quicker SF's and you guys are all like "well he can". Maybe he can, but should he? Nah.

Anderson will get 32+ minutes a night. Who cares if he gets them starting or not. And more than likely, he won't.

Bench players never play that many minutes and if they are they should be starting. In your example he would have to play say 14 minutes consecutive in the 1st half and 18 minutes consecutive in the 2nd half and you said 32+. Especially with Monty's rotations he leaves the starters in for a while so it means all of Anderson's minutes are together on no rest. For example if he gets into the game with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter he will probably play the last 18 minutes of the game consecutively with no rest. You don't want to be fatigued at the end of a game as a shooter. Playing over 30 minutes off the bench, you don't get the proper rest between minutes and your minutes are clumped closer together. Obviously coming into the game colder as a shooter. If he comes off the bench he'll probably play 30 minutes. Just seems he should start and play 35-36 minutes with proper rest, especially if he's asked to finish the game.

[tyler]

While it's an appealing thought to always have our five best players on the court the appeal ends there. He's a big man and while sure maybe he could match up with some SF's just fine it would be destroying a ton if what made him an all star this year. Guy leads the league in blocks so let's put him guarding three point shooters every night. He's constantly beating Boozers and Randolph's back in transition so let's match him with Rudy Gays and Shawn Marion's. Our best rebounder would be spacing in the corner or defending the arc. It seems you guys just look at AD and are like "well his potential is limitless" but he hasn't shown a reliable three pointer or handles OR the ability to defender quicker SF's and you guys are all like "well he can". Maybe he can, but should he? Nah.

Anderson will get 32+ minutes a night. Who cares if he gets them starting or not. And more than likely, he won't.

+1

[tyler]

Bench players never play that many minutes and if they are they should be starting. In your example he would have to play say 14 minutes consecutive in the 1st half and 18 minutes consecutive in the 2nd half and you said 32+. Especially with Monty's rotations he leaves the starters in for a while so it means all of Anderson's minutes are together on no rest. For example if he gets into the game with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter he will probably play the last 18 minutes of the game consecutively with no rest. You don't want to be fatigued at the end of a game as a shooter. Playing over 30 minutes off the bench, you don't get the proper rest between minutes and your minutes are clumped closer together. Obviously coming into the game colder as a shooter. If he comes off the bench he'll probably play 30 minutes. Just seems he should start and play 35-36 minutes with proper rest, especially if he's asked to finish the game.

Answer this one question yes or no. Is the only reason you wanting Anthony Davis as a 3 is because you want Ryno to start?

[Kurgan]

Who cares is ryno starts or not? There are 96 minutes to be divided among him davis and asik, and while davis should get the most of those (like, 36 mins or so) the other minutes can be divided between ryno and asik. Maybe davis will even play 2 minutes as SF. I don't really care how many minutes ryno plays as long as we win. I'm a fan of the team, not of the player.

[ItIsRynosTime]

Answer this one question yes or no. Is the only reason you wanting Anthony Davis as a 3 is because you want Ryno to start?

Anthony Davis can start at the 4 and Ryan Anderson can start at the 3. As long as we have our three most important players starting and getting the most minutes: AD, Ryno, and Jrue. They should all get 35+ minutes per game and you can only accomplish that by starting.

[Mr. West]

Fairly obvious that you only want Davis at the 3 so Ryno can start. It just doesn't make sense to ask an all star to change positions no matter how you dress it up. Sorry.

[ItIsRynosTime]

Fairly obvious that you only want Davis at the 3 so Ryno can start. It just doesn't make sense to ask an all star to change positions no matter how you dress it up. Sorry.

No worries, Ryno will start at the 3. Monty might have learned something and he likes Ryno since he knows what to do in Monty's system. It all makes sense.

And then when it comes to guarding Kevin Durant, AD will do it. The more important question is how are the Thunder going to guard us? We have enough weapons to overpower them. We could and should be a top 4 team in the West next year. If we're healthy, we have better and much younger players than the Spurs. Once again, we should finish with as good or better than the Spurs. We will get out-coached but we should be able to out hustle and out play them. There is no excuse to lose to players who are 38, 36, and 32 years old and the rest of the team that is very deep but isn't as good individually as us. In my opinion, that was the Spurs last championship and I don't think they can carry that hunger over to this season. The Pelicans should beat the Spurs in the season series.

[tyler]

Anthony Davis can start at the 4 and Ryan Anderson can start at the 3. As long as we have our three most important players starting and getting the most minutes: AD, Ryno, and Jrue. They should all get 35+ minutes per game and you can only accomplish that by starting.

The reason why I'm saying this is because Mr. West made an excellent post on why Davis should play at the 4 position and all you could refer to was bench players or should I say Ryno not getting 35-36 minutes. Also you referred than Asik, Ryan, and Davis would be a defensive power house or fairly good on defense when we all know Defense is not Ryan's strong suit. It sounds like you want only Ryno to get his stats up