Anderson starting SF?

[BeeBall Reasons]

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.

[speedyG]

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.

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

[fullcourtpress]

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

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

[Pelicans78]

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.

[Ryno_33 NOLA]

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

This

What if Davis developes a 3 point shot?

And this

[aas3452]

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.

[504s Deek]

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

Then when?

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

[Pelicans78]

Then when?

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

When he proves to be consistently productive off the bench.

Anderson was productive before he started.

[AD23forMVP]

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

[Pelicans78]

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

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.

[BeeBall Reasons]

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.

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

[mrsaints]

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???

[AD23forMVP]

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.

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.

[Pelicans78]

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.

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.

[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.

[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

[RaisingTheBar]

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.

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.

[BeeBall Reasons]

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.

[RaisingTheBar]

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

[DC-Hornet]

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

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

[BeeBall Reasons]

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

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

[speedyG]

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

[GameBreaker]

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?

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

[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!

[Pelicans78]

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!

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