"How in the world was putting Pierce on Hamilton (and Green at small forward) going to have ANY negative effect on the team?"
TP MBunge
I get not changing game plans as a general rule but when one thing is clearly not working, I'm willing to try anything different that might work. Again, you can always go back to the "first" thing that wasn't working on that particular night...
But I also think we should bring Melo up and give him a few minutes here and there.
I am really completely unconcerned about Melo messing up the dominance we are currently inflicting on the league with our size and superior skill at this point. Truly, I'm not worried about any irreversible damage melo could do to this team by playing 5 10 minutes in a a random game.
I actually don't think he's ready yet, but any 7 footer putting up 14 blocks one night, 16 boards another night, 26 points another night - I'll give him 5 minutes in a big league game, do a heat check on him...
I would have done a heat check with Pierce on Rip, Green at SF - see what's up for 3-5 minutes...
Long way to a point - trying something different is Ok. Especially when you are a border line lottery team.
The John Starks analogy is spot on as well. I think Phil Jackson is the best coach I've ever seen at making those types of little in game changes. In fact, he wouldn't hesitate to pull his entire starting unit if needed. I enjoyed that part of his coaching.