Eddie, the starting lineup is interesting but it will have trouble scoring IMO
about IT on Porter, Porter is 203 cm, the height disparity seems too big to me
Yeah, Porter is 6-9 and has a long wingspan. However, he has no post-up game. He's similar to Crowder who needs to be facing the basket no matter who's defending him and can't take advantage of a mismatch. That said, I would welcome the Wizards try to take advantage of Porter inside. That would completely disrupt their offensive gameplan and force them to play a style they have never played. Besides, would Wall and Beal be willing passers? Or would they still try to get theirs? Knowing their style I would guess the latter.
He also doesn't drive to the hoop. Thomas would just have to hop up and down trying to bother his spot-ups. I find that preferable to IT getting rolled over by either Beal or Wall all series, which he absolutely would.
That's my mindset too. Let's force Porter to beat us and do so in a way that he's uncomfortable doing.
Here's an image of Thomas next to Porter. Obviously the height disparity is great, but it's not undoable. Thomas fronting a posting Porter, while Horford is doubling off Gortat from the weakside to defend the entry pass is my thinking.
Is Porter going to be uncomfortable when he's shooting 3s over a player a foot shorter than him? Is he going to be uncomfortable cutting to the basket while guarded by IT? If they do post him, how many offensive rebounds are going to be given up with Horford having to board against Porter and Gortat? If I'm the Wizards, I go after IT no matter who he is guarding. They aren't going to win if they let IT coast on defense.
If the Wizards make Porter the focal point of their offense, then I like our chances to advance. Letting Thomas get torched vs Wall and/or Beal is not a recipe for success. Rather put him on a weaker offensive player that will be asked to do something he's unaccustomed to doing.
Agree. But a simple 1-3 pick and roll gets IT back on Wall since the C's like to switch, unless they change up their strategy (have IT hedge) when the 1-3 pick and roll comes. Does it make more sense to have IT on Wall, and hope that Wall gets iso heavy (much like the Brooks OKC model was, where Harden, Durant, and Westbrook would basically just take turns running iso) due to advantageous matchup and elects not to move the ball around? Or will they simply just try to attack IT on switches to get him on Wall or Beal to get the favorable matchup that way? I guess we'll see.
I'm comfortable with continuing to start Green in game 1. Our offense and rebounding with Green in the starting lineup was a plus, or at minimum acceptable. What does concern me about that is having two negative defenders in IT and Green on the floor at the same time, which may not work as well against Washington as it did the Bulls. I like JJ as much as anyone, but I think it's too tall of an order to put him into the starting lineup and ask him to produce like a starter.
I mean, he did it last year in the Atlanta series, so why couldn't he do it again?
JJ is one of those guys who plays so much better with a limited role in the starting lineup than a larger role with the bench, similar to how Brown was this year. And he's actually a perfect matchup for Morris. Morris really likes to iso-post up his defender and shoot over them with the turn-around jumpshot, especially smaller defenders, and that's how he takes advantage of his position. But JJ is just as big and long, if not bigger and longer, than Morris, and he has the requisite foot speed, mobility, and athleticism to deal with him off the dribble and out on the perimeter. And when you consider JJ's shooting ability and the fact that he's really only going to be asked to defend, rebound, set good screens, and hit the open shot, I don't see why the moment would be too big for him, especially after he did the exact same thing last year in the playoffs.
I just think both Green and Crowder are too small to share the starting lineup together. JJ gives you the extra height and length that Amir would give you, while also giving you the shooting and spacing the Green would provide.
I also like the idea of putting IT on Porter, which I suggested early in the thread, too. But I'd put AB on Wall and Crowder on Beal. Strangely, the Chicago series was actually an outlier with AB. Usually, AB really struggles with bigger, iso-heavy mid-range pull-up guys like Butler, Derozan, etc., but he does really well with speedy guys like Wall, Kemba, Irving, etc. If he can limit himself with the fouls and stay out of foul trouble, he's probably our best bet on Wall. Crowder isn't as ideal as AB or Smart on Beal, but he can still cover him, though he has to step up his defense from what he showed against Chicago.
Ultimately, I expect Brad will continue to start Green, for better or worse. I think that just creates two mismatches for the Wiz in the starting lineup, but it will also give us mismatches on the other end. So it might work. But Horford should have an even better series against Gortat than he did in the Chicago series. He should really take advantage of that matchup out on the perimeter where Gortat simply can't guard.