Now that Love is shooting/moving around better, and Shumpert is starting to defend like the ballhawk we know he can be- the time has come to admit the bench needs JR Smith's scoring a lot more than the starting unit does. We all know the current setup has been successful- and no one wants to mess anything while we're winning. But the fact is we can be an even
better team. Shumpert's shooting has steadily gotten better, but it is not a
threat in the 2nd unit. (it's just gravy when he gets it to fall- doesn't impact the game)
JR's skillset plays individually to our bench players strengths:
(Delly/JR/LBJ/Jones->Marion/Tristan)
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Delly would have an immediate pressure valve to pass to, relieving how much teams can pressure the ball. JR has a quick release and gets in position at or 2 steps inside the 3pt line. This would also allow Delly to get his "shove shot" working as a surprise move, rather than relying on it 4-5x a game.
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Tristan's O-board ability would work awesomely with this setup, plus he can do garbage cleanup/putbacks. Less defensive attention on Tristan= better success for him. This would be with JR's dangerous shooting- not Shump's mediocre jumpshot.
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Marion- would work better as another facilitator with JR as a primary scorer. Was 3rd fiddle in one of the greatest offenses ever with Nash/Amare. People forget that even playing
out of position he shot over 47% for us the 1st month here
in an unfamiliar system. Even with that awesome jump shot of his
Marion's health is
the catalyst for this team.
-James Jones is basically a placeholder until/if Marion comes back. Until then he's just another pressure valve, which works if LBJ is the 5th guy.
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Lebron- obviously we could mix this up but we'll just say Lebron for now.
Now, the question of how Blatt can pull this off w/o damaging egos. Coaches will make multiple switches to their lineup (usually 2 starters to the bench & vice versa) to avoid singling out one guy. The possibility of Marion coming back is this opportunity. Putting Marion back in for Jones is the perfect time for Blatt to ask JR to be our bench savior- plus he'll get to play with Lebron to do it.
Jones <==> Marion
JRSmith<==> Shumpert
Blatt is apparently a master of treating his guys with respect, and being an advocate for their success. He can either take the Marion opportunity, if his health works out, or implement it after going down in a playoff series.
IT. JUST. WORKS.