Rondo, Bradley, Green, Bass, Olynyk
I believe that's the most balanced starting 5 we have, and is a nice balance between slashing, shooting and defence.
Sully is in horrible condition this pre-season, as much as he has impressed the box scores with his 'on paper' production, this completely covers up the fact that his defence has been well and truly horrendous as a result of his total lack of mobility and size.
Against the Raptors it was almost embarrassing - their bigs were shooting straight over Sully like he was a SG. He jumped with his arm up to contest, but due to his lack of height and vertical he wasn't able to even come close to bothering the shot...and when they weren't shooting over him they were running by him like he was standing still.
After Sully sat I saw them trying the exact same thing against both Olynyk and Zeller with minimal success. I think they managed to shoot over Olynyk's outstretched arm one time...every other time he was able to get his hand up high enough to bother the shot, or was able to use his (relative) agility to cut off the drive and force them in to a tough position.
Transition effort was even worse by Sully. Olynyk was constantly one of the first men back on defense and one of the first men up on offense. I saw a number of possessions where Sully either jogged back incredibly slowly (by the time he got back there was already a change in possession) and a possession or two where he didn't get back at all.
Sully has looked reasonably energetic in about the first 3-5 minutes of getting in the game, but after that time has passed he looks slow in every possible way. At times you could see that he saw a chance to make a move, was about to step, then backed off because he realised he was too slow to get to it.
Sully is now in his third season in the league. His back has been repaired, his finger is no longer injured, he's had a full training camp...and he's just about out of excuses. I'm hoping he comes off the bench, because that way he can come in for 5 minutes at a time, play hard, and really provide a spark for us.
My optimal second unit would be:
Smart
Thornton
Turner
Sully
Zeller
My only reason for not starting Zeller (over Bass) is that we need a defensive player with some size off the bench to pair with Sully, as his D is truly horrific. Bass is a solid defensive player, but the Bass+Sully combination is too lacking in size...and we all know by now that having this combination in the game (at any time) is a pure disaster.
On the other hand Olynyk is a legit 7 footer with decent mobility, so having Bass along side Olynyk wouldn't be so bad. Bass can man up against stronger and more physical bigs, while Olynyk can take the longer and skinner big (assuming there is one).
Also this combination ensures there is always a big in the game with three point range - either Sully or Olynyk.
just a small point here. olly is 7 foot, but the real measure of importance is not the top of a center's head. the more important measure is standing reach. and from there we factor in jumping ability.
the average center in the nba has a standing reach of 9'1.7". our very own olly has a standing reach of 9' even, which, obviously, is below average. add into that the fact that olly is not a terrific leaper and you can see that even though the top of his head is 7 feet from the floor, his ability to contest shots, etc. in the nba is probably below average for centers.
next, you mention olly's agility. please, i know of no one who seriously puts this forth as a strength for olly. his agility is really questionable, and that is putting it nicely. he seems to be better this year than last, but he still is not an agile cat out there. lateral movement is not his forte. i like olly's game a lot, but these are weaknesses, not strengths for him.
but aside from this small point sniping by me, your post is a good one and i dont mean to distract from it.
Topic: Opinion on C's Starting Five. (Read 9766 times)