Starting SG: Smith or Shumpert?

[614balling]

I haven't been able to see any games recently so I've tried keeping up by following the games online but one thing I noticed is that iman shumpert is now starting ahead of Jr smith. I'm saddened if Jr lost his starting spot because of the suspension. That's usually something you'd see a coach do to college players, not NBA professionals. I see that shumpert was an absolute monster for the cavs before pulling his groin and perhaps that's why he's starting now. Could it also be because with shumpert the cavs are less of a three point shooting team than with Jr, and thats what it needs to be without love providing the spacing and additional shooting. shumpert is more of a slasher and has perhaps a smarter offensive game. It makes me wonder how the team woukd have looked with the shumpert of this series starting when love still played. The starting lineup with Jr getting heavy minutes was a team that scored a lot of points and made many three pointers.

Do you like shumpert over Jr in the starting five?

 

[Zen]

pop this in the JR Smith thread.

 

[Jack Brickman]

I haven't been able to see any games recently so I've tried keeping up by following the games online but one thing I noticed is that iman shumpert is now starting ahead of Jr smith. I'm saddened if Jr lost his starting spot because of the suspension. That's usually something you'd see a coach do to college players, not NBA professionals. I see that shumpert was an absolute monster for the cavs before pulling his groin and perhaps that's why he's starting now. Could it also be because with shumpert the cavs are less of a three point shooting team than with Jr, but shumpert is more of a slasher and has perhaps a smarter offensive game. It could also be that without love the spacing isn't there as much and the cavs aren't the fun and gun three point shooting team that it was and so it needs to play more of a slashing style . It makes me wonder how the team woukd have looked with the shumpert of this series starting when love still played.

Do you like shumpert over Jr in the starting five?

Personally, I think that Shumpert should continue to start in this series simply for his ability to lock down Rose. Smith hasn't been a bad defender, but he's nowhere near as good as Shumpert is when he's locked in. Given that Kyrie couldn't guard a traffic cone right now, starting the better defensive player is in our best interests.

 

[614balling]

Please peep the edits

 

[Randolphkeys]

I think the Cavaliers juggled the starting lineup because the rotation has been shaky since Love was injured. When the rotation won more games than anyone else for two months, don't go changing anything. The team seemed rattled without Love and they started out flat in the,series against Chicago with Jones stepping in as starting power forward. They needed to reset their identity.

When Thompson was promoted to the starting lineup, the bench looked weak. Bringing in the former 6th man of the year to his former role allows Shumpert to get into rhythm as a defensive stopper against the opponent's top man while the bench becomes more lethal.

 

[Paul]

Personally, I think that Shumpert should continue to start in this series simply for his ability to lock down Rose. Smith hasn't been a bad defender, but he's nowhere near as good as Shumpert is when he's locked in. Given that Kyrie couldn't guard a traffic cone right now, starting the better defensive player is in our best interests.

Part of me feels like JR might be more of an offensive factor if he started, but I think the bigger concern is trying to stop the Bulls from getting off to a good start offensively. I'd like to see Shump start and defend Rose. If we can contain Rose, that doesn't leave a ton of offensive firepower for the Bulls, especially since I think Thibs is frustrated with Mirotic's defense. If he's reluctant to use Mirotic, then containing Rose and Butler would pretty much win us the game. I don't have any stats to back it up, but from what I gather on these forums, Shumpert is doing the best job on Rose, so I think he should start.

 

[CavsHomer]

Shumpert.

His defense on Rose is too valuable + he shoots the ball pretty solid this series.

But in the end, it doesn't really matter who starts, because the Kyrie, Smith, Shumpert, James, Thompson/Mozgov lineup is what is working perfectly against Chicago right now.

 

[Otsego Mar]

So the question that's really on our mind is - When the Cavs advance, who starts at SG against ATL/WAS?

I hope they go back to JR, as many have mentioned that JR's suspension, Shump's groin, and Shump's defense on Rose are 3 reasons why he has been starting this series.

I think getting JR involved offensively early in the game is what will help him have one of those 8-15 games from beyond the arc.

 

[Stark]

Shumpert is a good fit for this series, but when facing Atlanta or Washington, especially if Wall is out for Washington, I'd like to see Smith back in there.

 

[Ohio]

It's tough. Shump made no shots in Chicago. But in Cleveland he's hitting shots. When he's hitting shots, he's the better option. But when he's not, our offense is suffering, particularly with Kyrie playing hurt.

JR has been our most consistent shooter in this series.

 

[Walter White]

I'd go JR game 6 just to shake it up a little bit and maybe catch Chicago off guard. Plus, we start slow and JR helps with that. And it would be nice to get him in a rhythm early so it can carry through the whole game. Shump hasn't been starting on Rose anyway, Kyrie has. First sub might as well be giving Kyrie a rest to bring in Shump on Rose.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Shumpert is a good fit for this series, but when facing Atlanta or Washington, especially if Wall is out for Washington, I'd like to see Smith back in there.

He's a good fit for next series too. Kyrie can't guard Teague or Wall. We'll need Shump.

 

[Kypus]

I think the bigger concern is trying to stop the Bulls from getting off to a good start offensively. I'd like to see Shump start and defend Rose. If we can contain Rose, that doesn't leave a ton of offensive firepower for the Bulls, especially since I think Thibs is frustrated with Mirotic's defense. If he's reluctant to use Mirotic, then containing Rose and Butler would pretty much win us the game.

I dreamed about this post lastnight and had to search for it just now.

This is it. This will win us the series.

 

[Kbiz]

Shump. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. We need his D with a hobbled Irving more than we need JR's offense.

 

[614balling]

You know what, I'm all for shumpert and that's not a knock on Jr at all. The starting lineup with mozgov, love, lebron, Jr and kyrie is still the best on the team but without love shumperts slashing and passion can spark the start of the game. Once the other team is shaken Jr can come in and kill em with three pointers, great defense and all around game. Jr and shump seem to work as a tandem. I seem them as a single entity of hustle, defense, passion, athleticism, shooting, slashing. They bring a significant affect to each game.
slashing