Anderson starting SF?

Hello again everyone. ESPN Insider has said that Anderson could be our starting small forward. I have not read the article but someone summarized it for me. If Anderson is our starting small forward how do yall think it will work? I personally think Anderson can guard most small forwards, Monty and Dell keep saying that he has other skills he didnt show in Orlando. And when we play OKC, Miami, and the Celtics etc. we can start Aminu, move Anderson to the 4 and start Davis at the 5 because those teams don't have dominant centers anyway. I think its completely possible and Monty will do that. I expect Anderson to start every game this year.

So, lets say than Davis puts weight on next year, does Anderson move to the 4 and Davis to the 5 and Lopez to the Bench?

I saw that article, but im not sure if that is correct, i think he will play at the 3 often, but starting there, im not sure about that

I dont think this needed another thread, but I do believe that davis will be primarily a center in at most a year. And I think what you said is correct. When Davis moves over to the 5 move Anderson as starting 4 and let Lopez come off the bench. I like Lopez starting and Anderson off the bench just this year.

I disagree because Anderson can guard SF, I know he can. Batum and stuff I think he can guard them. plus Lopez wont play a whole quarter so when he leaves Aminu will come in. I think that a little bit more than 1/4 of Anderson's minutes will be at SF

regardless of the fact that Anderson would be better off at either the 4 or the 5 than the 3, a Sf that can shoot means very little, A Powerforward that can shoot, changes everything.

Putting Anderson at the 3 role (whether you like positions or not) would just limit his potential. We want to get the best out of our players, and to do that, we want him coming off the bench as our 6th man, getting plenty of minutes. My opinion anyway.

Yea i guess i agree with yall on the potential thing but I hope he is our starting 4 and Lopez will come off the bench.

he'll play the 3 offensively and 4 or 5 defensively, positions are squat, look at lebron

Yes I believe he will play the 3 against teams that have centers that we do not want Davis or him guarding or teams that have small forwards we don't want him guarding. I could see home playing the 3 against Dallas, Orlando, Chicago, and the Lakers. I see him playing power forward and Davis at center against teams like Miami, San Antonio, Minnesota, Portland, and the Clippers. Then I could see him coming off the bench against Oklahoma City, Memphis, New York, and New Jersey. I think they see him as a slightly bigger better rebounding Peja that can play power forward in the pick and roll/pop.

It doesn't matter if he can guard the opposing team's small forward. The problem is it would be a bad thing if he was being guarded by a small forward. It is much easier for a SF to guard him than a PF. His value is pulling a big guy out to guard against his 3 point shooting to open things up.

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

he'll play the 3 offensively and 4 or 5 defensively, positions are squat, look at lebron

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Please tell me that you're not comparing R. Anderson to Lebron James. Anderson is best suited to play the 4. I totally disagree that positions are squat. If that is true we should go and get a bunch of 2 guards that can score and run and gun the whoe game but it won't work because the other team will probably have a center and we couldn't rebound the ball. Lebron is a freak of nature not the norm. Also if positions didn't matter, we wouldn't have traded for Lopez. We could have let any big on the team play that role. Just my opinion.

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Originally Posted by BeeBall Reasons

regardless of the fact that Anderson would be better off at either the 4 or the 5 than the 3, a Sf that can shoot means very little, A Powerforward that can shoot, changes everything.

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Good post

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Originally Posted by Hornets2013

Putting Anderson at the 3 role (whether you like positions or not) would just limit his potential. We want to get the best out of our players, and to do that, we want him coming off the bench as our 6th man, getting plenty of minutes. My opinion anyway.

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Also a good post

On offense, he can be SF. On defense, he can be PF. For instance, when playing teams like Miami, Boston, OKC and etc. Davis can play the Lebrons, Pierces and Durants while Anderson can play the opposing PF. It would be like when the 76ers had Iverson and Eric Snow. Iverson played the SG on offense and the PG on defense because of size, speed and skill set. Snow played the opposing team's SG on defense and PG on offense because of size, speed and skill set.

Yeah that's cute ESPN is saying that Anderson COULD start at the 3, but what does Monty say? He and Demps have the ONLY say on how he wants to play him not ESPN!

mmaybe since we're thin there, but I think he should just come off the bench as PF and get spot minutes at SF and C

I watched every game of his for 3 years with the magic. I'm a huge fan of his, but the man is not a 3. He has very average lateral quickness, and doesn't have fast enough feet to guard most of the SF's in the league. His role is to be a floor spacing big man. As was said above, a PF who can shoot means a lot more than a SF that can shoot, because that is expected from a 3. A stretch 4 is useful as it throws out opposing defenses, and creates open looks for the shooter. Most NBA bigs are reluctant to chase guys off the 3pt line, it's not their role, or within most of their abilities. Also, Ryan's worst games always came against teams who played small ball against the magic. He got shutdown by athletic 3's almost always, as he just got run off the line, and his post game is still severely lacking.

People need to stop acting like Robin Lopez is some sort of saviour...

1) Robin Lopez is a scrub

2) I think there is definitely the opportunity to play a combination of Davis, Smith and Anderson at the forwards/centre. Davis has the athleticism to guard most 3s and offensively it would be pretty tough for oppositions to guard 3 guys who aren't far off a combined 21 feet tall who can all shoot. If even one of them has made strides in their post play (which from all account AD is working on almost exclusively, and you can imagine the other 2 guys are too) then that'd be extremely tough to guard. Having said that, I don't think that will be used necessarily every game or for extended minutes. I truly believe that will be the 4/5 rotation with Robin getting maybe 10 minutes a game too.

I think if we throw traditional thinking out the window and play our guys to their strengths then we can be a matchup nightmare for teams.

The man just signed a 4 yr / $36 million contract to the worst team in the West record wise. Do you seriously think he will go to the bench? His ego would die. I'm sure moving him to the bench wasn't part of Dell's and Monty's plan when they discussed it with him.

He constantly praises the vision/pitch Dell sold to him. I doubt it included him on the bench.

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Originally Posted by StefanC

The man just signed a 4 yr / $36 million contract to the worst team in the West record wise. Do you seriously think he will go to the bench? His ego would die. I'm sure moving him to the bench wasn't part of Dell's and Monty's plan when they discussed it with him.

He constantly praises the vision/pitch Dell sold to him. I doubt it included him on the bench.

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THIS

Anderson will most likely guard the most favorable low post matchup on the opposing team. He will be totally ineffective trying to guard out on the wing. I could see his role on offense being similar to that of Peja's. I think the problems he creates for opposing teams on offense will more than offset his defensive limitations.

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Originally Posted by UptownFuz504

Please tell me that you're not comparing R. Anderson to Lebron James. Anderson is best suited to play the 4. I totally disagree that positions are squat. If that is true we should go and get a bunch of 2 guards that can score and run and gun the whoe game but it won't work because the other team will probably have a center and we couldn't rebound the ball. Lebron is a freak of nature not the norm. Also if positions didn't matter, we wouldn't have traded for Lopez. We could have let any big on the team play that role. Just my opinion.

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5 positions as in pg sg sf pf c don't matter. There's three positions in bball: ball handler, wing, and big. And teams usually play 1:2:2 ratio of those. Anderson is a big. The only wings he could guard are ones that really can't shoot and he can sag off them alot

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Originally Posted by StefanC

The man just signed a 4 yr / $36 million contract to the worst team in the West record wise. Do you seriously think he will go to the bench? His ego would die. I'm sure moving him to the bench wasn't part of Dell's and Monty's plan when they discussed it with him.

He constantly praises the vision/pitch Dell sold to him. I doubt it included him on the bench.

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Who cares if you come off the bench if you get starter minutes! I think he will have the same position he did before last year, but he will get starter minutes from his match-up problems. I'm sure Monty and Dell (who are known for their honesty and class) told him their intentions with him. He can provide scoring off the bench, and cause mismatches that will allow him to play his game (just like Lou Williams, Manu, and James Harden but in a big man position).

What if Davis developes a 3 point shot

Everyone can shoot threes then, which makes us the most un-guardable team in the league. With Davis being the game changer on defense.

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Originally Posted by StefanC

The man just signed a 4 yr / $36 million contract to the worst team in the West record wise. Do you seriously think he will go to the bench? His ego would die. I'm sure moving him to the bench wasn't part of Dell's and Monty's plan when they discussed it with him.

He constantly praises the vision/pitch Dell sold to him. I doubt it included him on the bench.

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He would get torched by most decent SFs and I doubt we move our future star player out of position to cater to Ryan Anderson, so I'm guessing he's fine with being a 6th man for now. Maybe we're counting on Davis to bulk up and play C in the future

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

he'll play the 3 offensively and 4 or 5 defensively, positions are squat, look at lebron

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thank you. it's a given. he will be standing on the arc all year long on offense.

and he will be guarding the opposing SF, PF or C (whichever one can't score)

Don't get me wrong, he really will be the SF in clutch situations, but not to start a game

Davis and Anderson are the future frontcourt starters. Davis will eventually be a center controlling the paint while Anderson does his damage from the perimeter.

I do think Monty will find a spot for Anderson in the starting lineup. He's gonna get 35 minutes a game due to how potent he is offensively. He will help Gordon more than anyone else.

Personally, I don't think Aminu is ready to start.

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Originally Posted by Hornets78

Personally, I don't think Aminu is ready to start.

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This

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Originally Posted by BeeBall Reasons

What if Davis developes a 3 point shot?

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And this

The only way anderson plays SF in this team is if Monty plays a 2-3, 3-2 or 2-1-2 zone on defense. Anderson is too slow to guard an average sf in the NBA.

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Originally Posted by Hornets78

Personally, I don't think Aminu is ready to start.

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Then when?

At some point you need to let them get the minutes and see what they can do. Look at Ryan Anderson.

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Originally Posted by 504s Deek

Then when?

At some point you need to let them get the minutes and see what they can do. Look at Ryan Anderson.

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When he proves to be consistently productive off the bench.

Anderson was productive before he started.

Aminu isn't ready, but we don't have anyone to knock him out of the starting slot yet so...

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Originally Posted by CP3forMVP

Aminu isn't ready, but we don't have anyone to knock him out of the starting slot yet so...

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That is true. He is the default starter at SF unless Monty wants to start Lopez/Anderson/Davis.

I do think Demps will use the cap space next offseason to sign a legit starting SF.

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Originally Posted by Hornets78

That is true. He is the default starter at SF unless Monty wants to start Lopez/Anderson/Davis.

I do think Demps will use the cap space next offseason to sign a legit starting SF.

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The problem is, there aren't any, unless you consider Josh Smith a SF

I for one would like to see Davis coming off the bench. With a stating line up like this:

PG Greivis Vasquez/Austin Rivers
SG Eric Gordon/Xavier Henry
SF Al-Farouq Aminu/Lance Thomas/Darius Miller/Hakim Warrick
PF Ryan Anderson/Anthony Davis/Jason Smith/Lance Thomas/Hakim Warrick
C Robin Lopez/Anthony Davis/Jason Smith

I believe Davis will improve faster in this role because he can play both positions in the best scenario i.e. against mismatches, end of quarters, end of game and will have to opportunity be be pulled and coached on the side and then reinserted. There is no need to pigeon hole him to any position right away. His body (6'10 230lb) isn't really fit to play center or power forward right now against NBA bigs (coming in off the bench allows the coach to play match up).
He will grow with the game, get more minutes, experience more success, play more position (flex 3), gain more confidence coming off the bench.

Coaching this kid mental is just as important as coaching him the game of basketball.

This will give Robin Lopez confidence in starting and allow a much through evaluation off his skill set right away. Also this will be good for Ryan Anderson too.

WE ARE NOT A PLAYOFF TEAM....NO NEED TO GET THIS KID HURT BANGING AGAINST PLAYERS 262 - 300 LBS Ala Greg Odom. He needs o be at least 245 - 255 to stand a chance.

What do you guys think???

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Originally Posted by Hornets78

That is true. He is the default starter at SF unless Monty wants to start Lopez/Anderson/Davis.

I do think Demps will use the cap space next offseason to sign a legit starting SF.

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I'm not even sure if that's necessary. If everything goes "according to plan" I think Aminu is the perfect 5th starter for this team.

If he can cut down the mistakes (turnovers, etc) on offense and maybe develop a decent jumper (not a great jumper, just where you can rely on him to hit on the average percentage of open looks) I'm perfectly happy with him. People need to adjust their expectations.

Break it down on both ends. If everything works out, you have Rivers, Gordon, Aminu, Anderson, and Davis. Offensively, Rivers will be able to put the ball in the hoop at a high rate. We already know Gordon can, probably one of the better and well rounded scorers the league has. You have Anderson who brings the spacing with his long range shooting and he can crash the offensive boards. Then you have Davis who supposedly has this offensive game we haven't seen, what's his offensive ceiling? I mean, would you disagree if I say those are four guys that could average 18 points per game in like 4 years? Gordon well above 20 as well. If that's the case, why can't Aminu start? Get out on the break, catch some lobs, crash the boards, hit some open jumpers every once and a while. Between Rivers, Gordon, Anderson, and Davis, that's a great four for Aminu to be on side of.

On defense, you have Rivers who imo will never be a good defender, but he'll be quality because he'll be able to be covered up. You have Gordon who is already a excellent wing defender. You have Anderson who like Rivers, may not be good, but he is quality and gets the job done well enough. Then of course you have Davis who could be the best defender in the NBA by the time he's up for his next contract. Add another guy like Aminu that has a good chance at being another shut down wing defender? Between Rivers, Gordon, Aminu, Anderson, and Davis? That's an elite defensive starting 5.

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Originally Posted by CP3forMVP

I'm not even sure if that's necessary. If everything goes "according to plan" I think Aminu is the perfect 5th starter for this team.

If he can cut down the mistakes (turnovers, etc) on offense and maybe develop a decent jumper (not a great jumper, just where you can rely on him to hit on the average percentage of open looks) I'm perfectly happy with him. People need to adjust their expectations.

Break it down on both ends. If everything works out, you have Rivers, Gordon, Aminu, Anderson, and Davis. Offensively, Rivers will be able to put the ball in the hoop at a high rate. We already know Gordon can, probably one of the better and well rounded scorers the league has. You have Anderson who brings the spacing with his long range shooting and he can crash the offensive boards. Then you have Davis who supposedly has this offensive game we haven't seen, what's his offensive ceiling? I mean, would you disagree if I say those are four guys that could average 18 points per game in like 4 years? Gordon well above 20 as well. If that's the case, why can't Aminu start? Get out on the break, catch some lobs, crash the boards, hit some open jumpers every once and a while. Between Rivers, Gordon, Anderson, and Davis, that's a great four for Aminu to be on side of.

On defense, you have Rivers who imo will never be a good defender, but he'll be quality because he'll be able to be covered up. You have Gordon who is already a excellent wing defender. You have Anderson who like Rivers, may not be good, but he is quality and gets the job done well enough. Then of course you have Davis who could be the best defender in the NBA by the time he's up for his next contract. Add another guy like Aminu that has a good chance at being another shut down wing defender? Between Rivers, Gordon, Aminu, Anderson, and Davis? That's an elite defensive starting 5.

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You make alot of good points. The key for Aminu is just not being an awful inefficient offensive player which he has been so far in his career. He won't have to do alot offensively, but he does need to develop some sort of jumper (shot 27% from 3's), decrease turnovers and shoot a decent FG% (shot only 41% from field). The team won't ask much from him offensively, but he can't be a liability either. Defensively he has elite potential. Still, we will learn alot from him this season. Wouldn't surprise me in the future if Darius Miller gives him strong competition for the starting job. His skill set offensively and defensively allows him to be a perfect role playing SF around Davis and Gordon. That's why this season is very important for Aminu. So far, he's been a very awful player in his first two seasons, mostly because of his offense.

I don't think Lopez is the answer at all as a starting 5. He hasn't shown anything in the last 2 seasons that makes him look like anything other than an OK backup. I'm fine with him being on the team for depth. Hopefully he magically returns to 09-10 form, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Anyway, this is the best starting lineup against most teams (excluding the Lakers, Grizzlies, whoever D. Howard ends up with, and maybe one or two other teams with some size in the paint)

PG Greivis Vasquez/Austin Rivers/ Roberts from summer league?
SG Eric Gordon/Austin Rivers/ X Henry (I really still hope for a good FA reserve 2 guard here, especially with Gordon's injury history)
SF Al-Farouq Aminu/Lance Thomas/Darius Miller
PF Ryan Anderson/Jason Smith/Hakim Warrick
C Anthony Davis/ Robin Lopez

I'd say that we would match up fine with about 25 of the NBA teams with that starting 5. Against those few much bigger teams, maybe we would start Lopez at the 5, slide AD to the 4, and have Ryan Anderson play as a 6th man for those particular matchups.

If peja,belly, turkoglu,and Isyasova can start I don't see why Anderson can't! We have good defenders in every spot plus a very good defensive coach I don't see the problem with having him at three! He's a good rebounder and a solid scorer he is not going to be playing defense standing in one spot I'm sure he's smart enough to be where he needs to be! Idk call me crazy

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Originally Posted by sleepingbunch

I don't think Lopez is the answer at all as a starting 5. He hasn't shown anything in the last 2 seasons that makes him look like anything other than an OK backup. I'm fine with him being on the team for depth. Hopefully he magically returns to 09-10 form, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Anyway, this is the best starting lineup against most teams (excluding the Lakers, Grizzlies, whoever D. Howard ends up with, and maybe one or two other teams with some size in the paint)

PG Greivis Vasquez/Austin Rivers/ Roberts from summer league?
SG Eric Gordon/Austin Rivers/ X Henry (I really still hope for a good FA reserve 2 guard here, especially with Gordon's injury history)
SF Al-Farouq Aminu/Lance Thomas/Darius Miller
PF Ryan Anderson/Jason Smith/Hakim Warrick
C Anthony Davis/ Robin Lopez

I'd say that we would match up fine with about 25 of the NBA teams with that starting 5. Against those few much bigger teams, maybe we would start Lopez at the 5, slide AD to the 4, and have Ryan Anderson play as a 6th man for those particular matchups.

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i dont think you understand that depth charts/starers can change from game to game much less from season to season. i think everyone collectively agrees that we are not winning a championship this year, and the overall goal for davis is to groom him into a center. i dont see what the problem is in starting davis/lopez for this season and next year, hopefully when davs is ready to take on that 5 role, and have a starting front-court of anderson/davis with lopez backing up davis. there is nothing wrong with anderson coming off the bench this year, especially since he will get over 30 mpg.

I don't think this team will ever go anywhere with Rivers as the starting point guard, i like him much more as a 6th man. I see the team for the future as

PG: ______ / Vasques
Sg: Gordon / Rivers
Sf: ______ / Aminu or Miller
Pf: Anderson / Smith
C: Davis / a true center

I want both Pg and Sf to be able to stretch the defense (I hope Vasquez can be that point guard, we'll see). We'll always have problems with Pekovic, Bynum, Howard, and other strong centers, just like the rest of the league, hopefully our backup whether it be Lopez or someone yet to be named can do some banging.

lopez is near as traditional and true of a center you can get and would make a good backup for our future.

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Originally Posted by Hoy504

If peja,belly, turkoglu,and Isyasova can start I don't see why Anderson can't! We have good defenders in every spot plus a very good defensive coach I don't see the problem with having him at three! He's a good rebounder and a solid scorer he is not going to be playing defense standing in one spot I'm sure he's smart enough to be where he needs to be! Idk call me crazy

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I agree 100%. If Peja can play the 3, then Anderson shouldn't have any problems.

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Originally Posted by DC-Hornet

I agree 100%. If Peja can play the 3, then Anderson shouldn't have any problems.

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but the point is that he's more valuable at the 4.

Peja was a decent ball handler compared to Anderson though, a little more mobile and a more crafty scorer

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Originally Posted by HornetsFan1

Hello again everyone. ESPN Insider has said that Anderson could be our starting small forward. I have not read the article but someone summarized it for me. If Anderson is our starting small forward how do yall think it will work? I personally think Anderson can guard most small forwards, Monty and Dell keep saying that he has other skills he didnt show in Orlando. And when we play OKC, Miami, and the Celtics etc. we can start Aminu, move Anderson to the 4 and start Davis at the 5 because those teams don't have dominant centers anyway. I think its completely possible and Monty will do that. I expect Anderson to start every game this year.

So, lets say than Davis puts weight on next year, does Anderson move to the 4 and Davis to the 5 and Lopez to the Bench?

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Unless there's a major injury, Lopez will spend most of the time on the bench.

How do u think he's more valuable at 4? He doesn't have Howard next to him to protect him if he's being bullied down low! I think Lopez and Davis will make a better one two punch at the 4-5 defensively! They can feed off each other and cover up and slip ups that the back court let's by! Plus Davis is showing he can hit a midrange jumper that can stretch the defense and give shooters like Anderson more open looks with Lopez still under the rim to help out on the offensive glass! It's just how I picture it!

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Originally Posted by Hoy504

How do u think he's more valuable at 4? He doesn't have Howard next to him to protect him if he's being bullied down low! I think Lopez and Davis will make a better one two punch at the 4-5 defensively! They can feed off each other and cover up and slip ups that the back court let's by! Plus Davis is showing he can hit a midrange jumper that can stretch the defense and give shooters like Anderson more open looks with Lopez still under the rim to help out on the offensive glass! It's just how I picture it!

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He's more valuable at the 4 because he extends PFs to the perimeter opening up driving lanes.