Ajinca, first in rotation, not Anderson !

[Tinman]

If AA can (IF) remain a major contributor, then he should be first rotational, not RYNO ! That way, Monty can 86 that agregiously INEPT front court (defensively) of Davis & Anderson as your Bigs ! AD would not have to play the 5 at all ! Anderson should come in for Cunningham ! Reke, Q & then FILL it in w/ Jimmer et al ! This would also allow Omer to come back in to relieve AD for a spell (Having AA & OA as your bigs !) Thats pretty long defensively & AA's offensive game is stellar! A rotation with only having to play AD at the 5 when you WANT to & not when you NEED to, would be ideal ! SideNote>I am an OA fan ! Doesnt whine or complain> Just averages 7 & 10 (30 minutes a game) ! He's here to let the other guys HOG the ball ! Thats meant respectively ! This team has 5 AGGRESSIVE, want, need the ball kinda guys ! He stands down there and gets beat on the head, slapped in the face, arms get crashed & plays against beast almost every night ! I'll take his 7 & 10 in 30 minutes every night !

[504ByrdGang]

Ryan has been a huge liability defensively this year

[tdcreator]

This is a good reason for Monroe. I just wonder if his offense is enough to offset his defense.

[Tinman]

Ryan has been a huge liability defensively this year

Totally agree !It makes AD's job at the 5 MUCH MORE difficult ! AA is not a very good defensive plyer per say, but his length alone can cause problems for other bigs ! He is SUPER LONG ! You could even go to a type of zone w/ OA & AA on the court ! It woukd be like 1 big expansion joint in the paint !

[Tinman]

Ajinca offensive skills are as good as Monroes & hes 3 inches taller ! & Monroe plays NO DEFENSE ! Id rather have OA & AA than AA & Monroe !

[SaintPelican225]

If AA can (IF) remain a major contributor, then he should be first rotational, not RYNO ! That way, Monty can 86 that agregiously INEPT front court (defensively) of Davis & Anderson as your Bigs ! AD would not have to play the 5 at all ! Anderson should come in for Cunningham ! Reke, Q & then FILL it in w/ Jimmer et al ! This would also allow Omer to come back in to relieve AD for a spell (Having AA & OA as your bigs !) Thats pretty long defensively & AA's offensive game is stellar! A rotation with only having to play AD at the 5 when you WANT to & not when you NEED to, would be ideal ! SideNote>I am an OA fan ! Doesnt whine or complain> Just averages 7 & 10 (30 minutes a game) ! He's here to let the other guys HOG the ball ! Thats meant respectively ! This team has 5 AGGRESSIVE, want, need the ball kinda guys ! He stands down there and gets beat on the head, slapped in the face, arms get crashed & plays against beast almost every night ! I'll take his 7 & 10 in 30 minutes every night !

I could go for that....Ryno is hurting us with his lack of D and selfish play on offense....decreased minutes would be ok with me

[Mythrol]

Whether or not Ryno is a liability on defense AD+Ryno has a better net rating than AD+Asik. If you believe that those numbers are relevant then it's clear AD should play more with Ryno and Asik should play more with Ajinca.

MM already discussed on Twitter playing more 3 big lineups going forward to get Ajinca more minutes. Not at the expense of Ryno's minutes but at the expense of Cunningham and Jimmer's. I like this idea quite a bit as what we have seen so far is our 3 bigs lineup plays really well. This allows you to give Reke all his minutes at guard too (which is even more important with Jrue out).

All of this can ONLY happen if Ajinca can somehow keep his fouls down. It's irrelevant if he can't stay in the game. He was on the verge of fouling out today in his 33 minutes.

[Tinman]

Man, I know ! For as smart a guy as Ryno is> Whew, some of his shots are atrocious ! Should I say shot selections ! Hey, I wouldnt mind putting AD on the 3 when able ! AD, OA & AA !!!! Gracious, that would be Pelican Car Wash comin through the lane !

[Mythrol]

Man, I know ! For as smart a guy as Ryno is> Whew, some of his shots are atrocious ! Should I say shot selections ! Hey, I wouldnt mind putting AD on the 3 when able ! AD, OA & AA !!!! Gracious, that would be Pelican Car Wash comin through the lane !

I don't think that lineup works because none of those guys can pull someone out to 3pt. The reason the AD, Ryno, Asik lineup works is because on offense Ryno draw whoever is on him out to 3pt. With the way our guys drive this is important. You can already see with AD, Cunningham, Asik that midrange jumpers aren't quite enough.

[Tinman]

Whether or not Ryno is a liability on defense AD+Ryno has a better net rating than AD+Asik. If you believe that those numbers are relevant then it's clear AD should play more with Ryno and Asik should play more with Ajinca.

MM already discussed on Twitter playing more 3 big lineups going forward to get Ajinca more minutes. Not at the expense of Ryno's minutes but at the expense of Cunningham and Jimmer's. I like this idea quite a bit as what we have seen so far is our 3 bigs lineup plays really well. This allows you to give Reke all his minutes at guard too (which is even more important with Jrue out).

All of this can ONLY happen if Ajinca can somehow keep his fouls down. It's irrelevant if he can't stay in the game. He was on the verge of fouling out today in his 33 minutes.

AD & Ryno have better numbers because they are playing against subs ! APPLE/ORANGE ! OA & AD guard GASOL & ZEBOi AD & Ryno guard Koufus & Tony Allen or Jon Leuer ! I mean, you cant honestly compare that ! Can you ?

[Tinman]

I don't think that lineup works because none of those guys can pull someone out to 3pt. The reason the AD, Ryno, Asik lineup works is because on offense Ryno draw whoever is on him out to 3pt. With the way our guys drive this is important. You can already see with AD, Cunningham, Asik that midrange jumpers aren't quite enough.

Understand the premise, but disagree with your conclusion ! I dont need 3 pt shooters when I have 2 7 ft wingman who love to shoot 15-18 foot baseline jumpers ! IMO, I have a better chance of consistant scoring this way ! AD & AA guys will have to follow them to the corners ! I HAVE NO concern not having a 3-point shooter at all ! YOU DONT have to have a 3pt shooter to spread the court ! AD on a wing & AA on the other wing 18 ft out ! Whos clogging the lane ? If someone is, then reke dishes for an easy 15-17 fooyrt ! If noone is clogging, then Reke to the rim !

[Mythrol]

AD & Ryno have better numbers because they are playing against subs ! APPLE/ORANGE ! OA & AD guard GASOL & ZEBOi AD & Ryno guard Koufus & Tony Allen or Jon Leuer ! I mean, you cant honestly compare that ! Can you ?

AD and Ryno routinely close out games together.

Understand the premise, but disagree with your conclusion ! I dont need 3 pt shooters when I have 2 7 ft wingman who love to shoot 15-18 foot baseline jumpers ! IMO, I have a better chance of consistant scoring this way ! AD & AA guys will have to follow them to the corners ! I HAVE NO concern not having a 3-point shooter at all ! YOU DONT have to have a 3pt shooter to spread the court ! AD on a wing & AA on the other wing 18 ft out ! Whos clogging the lane ? If someone is, then reke dishes for an easy 15-17 fooyrt ! If noone is clogging, then Reke to the rim !

You are allowed to disagree. But we already have the numbers that show just having Asik in instead of Anderson lowers Reke's fg% at the rim. You take out another 3pt shooter and it is only reasonable to think that the lane will get more clogged. If he is driving into a clogged lane it makes outlet passes even harder. 5ft is a big deal of space and while AD is fine to defend the 3 on defense, on offense you really need that 3pt threat. Having only one guy on the court that can hit a 3 just isn't good, no matter what you might think.

I could see Ainca, AD, Ryno getting some time possible. But removing Ryno without replacing his 3pt shooting and already having the main attacking guard not be able to shoot 3s, I cannot see working out very well.

You are all on board the Ajinca train after a couple good games, that's cool. I've just seen far too many times that players cannot keep up that production. Especially when the players have such high foul rates.

I remember all too well just a couple weeks ago that people thought Ajinca was trash and wanted to move him to keep Withey. I also have seem multiple games where people were calling for Ajinca to be benched and give Withey some time. I'm very happy he played awesome today and I'm just as excited to see him going forward, but I'm not ready to make any drastic moves based on today.

[lsutigers33]

I really think we need AA to play more b/c he scores around the rim. I was a fan when we picked him up. He seems like he has more energy than Asik. I've said it so many times that we need more players who can score around the rim for better percentages if We keep playing the high pick and roll with AD hitting jumpers.

Im tired of seeing EG and RA shooting 30% from the field. I am not sure we will get much for RA anymore if we did trade him.

[Perth_Hornet]

Dat 2 game sample size doe

I say rest AD against Knicks and see how Alexis goes.

[N.O.Bronco]

I really think we need AA to play more b/c he scores around the rim. I was a fan when we picked him up. He seems like he has more energy than Asik. I've said it so many times that we need more players who can score around the rim for better percentages if We keep playing the high pick and roll with AD hitting jumpers.

Im tired of seeing EG and RA shooting 30% from the field. I am not sure we will get much for RA anymore if we did trade him.

If Ajinca could learn to stay out of foul trouble - which granted is the biggest issue with most bigs that never make it - he would be starter material.

Also I am not sure where this EG 30% is coming from. He is 48% from 3 over the last 5 games. 42% since the Minny game. He is are most efficient 3-point shooter right now. I'd actually say one of the teams bigger problems is that they ignore an open Gordon in favor of contested inside shots far too much. For instance tonight - despite it woking out for us - Evans forced a shot into 4 defenders when he had Gordon wide open at the corner three(not to mention a cutting ajinca) for what would of been an easy drive and floater. He gets completely ignored for stretches of the game while other players force bad shots.

[luckyman]

I really think we need AA to play more b/c he scores around the rim. I was a fan when we picked him up. He seems like he has more energy than Asik. I've said it so many times that we need more players who can score around the rim for better percentages if We keep playing the high pick and roll with AD hitting jumpers.

Im tired of seeing EG and RA shooting 30% from the field. I am not sure we will get much for RA anymore if we did trade him.

EG has not been shooting 30% from the field. He's been one of team's better shooters since he came out of that very early slump.

Ryno on the other hand has had a very down year.

[Perth_Hornet]

I really think we need AA to play more b/c he scores around the rim. I was a fan when we picked him up. He seems like he has more energy than Asik. I've said it so many times that we need more players who can score around the rim for better percentages if We keep playing the high pick and roll with AD hitting jumpers.

Im tired of seeing EG and RA shooting 30% from the field. I am not sure we will get much for RA anymore if we did trade him.

That's why we need to trade Ryno after a few good games. Sell high.

[PeliKhan]

Dat 2 game sample size doe

I say rest AD against Knicks and see how Alexis goes.

nah bruh, AD playin @ MSG is always good TV. Plus I luv seeing Davis own Melo

EG has not been shooting 30% from the field. He's been one of team's better shooters since he came out of that very early slump. .

Did someone say Trade Value??? hehe for real tho, if he keeps playin well there might be a shot in hell of trading him this season...

[lsutigers33]

If Ajinca could learn to stay out of foul trouble - which granted is the biggest issue with most bigs that never make it - he would be starter material.

Also I am not sure where this EG 30% is coming from. He is 48% from 3 over the last 5 games. 42% since the Minny game. He is are most efficient 3-point shooter right now. I'd actually say one of the teams bigger problems is that they ignore an open Gordon in favor of contested inside shots far too much. For instance tonight - despite it woking out for us - Evans forced a shot into 4 defenders when he had Gordon wide open at the corner three(not to mention a cutting ajinca) for what would of been an easy drive and floater. He gets completely ignored for stretches of the game while other players force bad shots.

Talking about some games he just shoots awful. I understand his avg is higher, but if you are know as a shooter, 41% and 74% from line isn't great.

[DroopyDawg]

Ryan has been a huge liability defensively this year

To an extent... offensively as well.

[RaisingTheBar]

Ryan has been a huge liability defensively this year

He's also been a liability offensively too often this year.

[MichaelMcNamara]

If we want THIS Ajinca, then he has to be the primary or secondary option on a unit. Playing with Ryno and Tyreke on the second unit will effectively relegate him to the role he was in prior to this two game break out.

My solution would be to sub Ryno in at the 6 or 7 min mark of the first and let him and AD play the remainder of the 1st quarter. Then, you start with Asik and Ajinca in the 2nd quarter. Let them play together for about 4 mins, then go three big man lineup with Ryno for 2 mins. AD comes back in at the 6 min mark for either Ajinca or Asik - whoever is playing worse or has the worse matchup. Then that guy comes out at the 4 min mark and AD/Anderson finish the quarter with a conventional SF.

This gives Ajinca at least 8 mins a game as a primary weapon and 4-8 more as a complimentary option. It gives you three big lineups for 8 mins a game, meaning we only need 136 minutes from conventional perimeter guys. So, the minutes would look something like:

Bigs

AD - 36
Ryno - 28
Asik - 26
Ajinca - 14

Perimeter

Jrue -- 36
Tyreke - 36
Gordon - 32
Q-Pon - 22
Dante - 20

[N.O.Bronco]

Talking about some games he just shoots awful. I understand his avg is higher, but if you are know as a shooter, 41% and 74% from line isn't great.

He is our most consistent and efficient guard in recent time.

Of his last 12 games he has shot over 40% 9 out of 12 games. Shot over 50% 6 out of 12 times. Only shot under 35% twice in those 12 games. No other guard can say that on our team. I mean the guy isn't Kyle Korver and never will be but since the Minny game he is on pace to have his best statistical shooting season from the 3 point line in his career. He is our best catch and shoot player according to NBA.com and is only .2% points lower then Klay Thompson in catch and shoot efg%. What exactly were you expecting from a career sub 40% 3 point shooter being asked to mostly be a 3 and D guard? He has actually impressed more then I thought he would in that role.

[BallSoHard]

Let them play together for about 4 mins, then go three big man lineup with Ryno for 2 mins. AD comes back in at the 6 min mark for either Ajinca or Asik - whoever is playing worse or has the worse matchup.

Agree with the premise, but it's been rare at least from what i've seen for Monty to play the guy whos got the hot hand in favor of timed rotations. I could absolutely be wrong on this, and I think Monty is trending in right direction concerning this, but i'd say overall it's not a strategy he evokes often.

[BallSoHard]

He is our most consistent and efficient guard in recent time.

Of his last 12 games he has shot over 40% 9 out of 12 games. Shot over 50% 6 out of 12 times. Only shot under 35% twice in those 12 games. No other guard can say that on our team. I mean the guy isn't Kyle Korver and never will be but since the Minny game he is on pace to have his best statistical shooting season from the 3 point line in his career. What exactly were you expecting from a career sub 40% 3 point shooter?

Which is (FINALLY) exactly what we need from him.