Hard Willy, please give the Keyonte, Ace, Taylor, Lauri, Kessler starting lineup a chance and a long leash.

[fishonjazz]

Keyonte: Bigger/longer and more athletic than the opponents point guard on most nights. A plus shooter.
Ace: Bigger/longer and more athletic than the opponents shooting guard on most nights. A plus shooter.
Taylor: Bigger/longer and more athletic than the opponents small forward on most nights. A plus shooter.
Lauri: Bigger/longer and more athletic than the opponents power forward on most nights. A plus shooter.
Kessler: Bigger/longer than the opponents center on most nights.

My favorite traits in a basketball player are size, length, athleticism, and shooting. That lineup has those things in spades.

On the other hand,..... #tanknote so that lineup might not work too well for tanking. I want one more top 5 pick before we really start trying to win.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I think it will likely be the starting lineup unless Brice gets the nod over Hendricks.

 

[fishonjazz]

2 reasonable criticisms of my post are:
1. That I listed Key as a plus shooter when so far in his career that has not been true. I am basing off expected improvements and his great form with a sprinkling of hopium to make that declaration.
2. Taylor probably isn't more athletic than most nba small forwards since most nba small forwards are pretty athletic and taylor isn't some freak athletically. He is probably about average.

Still love that lineup

 

[slc]

Sounds good to me
Ace should definitely start He's ready

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Key/Walker PNR with Lauri/Ace/Hendricks spacing. Going to be nasty work.

 

[Shad]

Ace, Lauri, and Walker will definitely start. The defense would be pretty bad with brice and keyonte starting but I'd still try it.

 

[gomretat]

Key? Has he had a transformation? Why start someone who plays little defense, is inefficient on offense and a bad decision maker?

 

[SoberasHotRod]

I'm on board.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Key? Has he had a transformation? Why start someone who plays little defense, is inefficient on offense and a bad decision maker?

Looked much improved in all areas last night.

 

[Peter Effin' Parker]

I think it will likely be the starting lineup unless Brice gets the nod over Hendricks.

I think Brice is the 6th man scorer off the bench. . . that just feels like his destiny. Instant offense.

 

[KqWIN]

Only problem I see with this lineup is that there's really only one ball handler. It works it Key turns into Cade or whatever, but I think it would serve everyone well to balance out the lineups more when it comes to playmakers and play finishers. I also like giving Key the opportunity to play a bit without the ball but it's not possible in this lineup. The bench would be filled with players who are good passers and ball movers. Not against playing this lineup for stretches, but think we can put together more balanced lineups.

 

[KqWIN]

I like Collier and Lauri together, so I'd probably start Key and Collier in the backcourt. You could argue there are spacing concerns with Kessler and Collier together. If that is a big enough concern you could go with WCJ. When the bench comes in, I think we'll be running a lot of the offense through Nurk/Flip and that also suits a player like TH well. Anderson, Niang, and Love are all guys who can pass/move the ball as well.

Sub patters are flexible enough that you can get anyone in any lineup, but generally I'd space out the ball handlers/passers more evenly.

 

[homeytennis]

How long is Collier supposed to be out? The paper said hamstring and that could mean several weeks.

 

[fishonjazz]

Ace, Lauri, and Walker will definitely start. The defense would be pretty bad with brice and keyonte starting but I'd still try it.

The lineup has Hendricks rather than Brice. Hendricks can defend.
Also, the defense is likely gonna suck regardless of lineup. Which is how we get a top 5 pick next season.

 

[fishonjazz]

Key? Has he had a transformation? Why start someone who plays little defense, is inefficient on offense and a bad decision maker?

I disagree that 7-11 is inefficient on offense or that 9 assists and zero turnovers indicates bad decision making.
Pretty much every starter will play little defense btw.

 

[fishonjazz]

Only problem I see with this lineup is that there's really only one ball handler. It works it Key turns into Cade or whatever, but I think it would serve everyone well to balance out the lineups more when it comes to playmakers and play finishers. I also like giving Key the opportunity to play a bit without the ball but it's not possible in this lineup. The bench would be filled with players who are good passers and ball movers. Not against playing this lineup for stretches, but think we can put together more balanced lineups.

Agreed. It lacks playmaking and ball handling for sure. I think every lineup will have to give up something. I dont think a team constructed like the jazz (so many dudes under 22 years old) has a lineup that has everything you could want in a lineup.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Only problem I see with this lineup is that there's really only one ball handler. It works it Key turns into Cade or whatever, but I think it would serve everyone well to balance out the lineups more when it comes to playmakers and play finishers. I also like giving Key the opportunity to play a bit without the ball but it's not possible in this lineup. The bench would be filled with players who are good passers and ball movers. Not against playing this lineup for stretches, but think we can put together more balanced lineups.

Anderson instead of Hendricks could be a good balance. I think if I were Hardy that would be the lineup I would start with and see how it goes: Key, Ace, Anderson, Lauri, Kessler.

 

[KqWIN]

Anderson instead of Hendricks could be a good balance. I think if I were Hardy that would be the lineup I would start with and see how it goes: Key, Ace, Anderson, Lauri, Kessler.

I don't hate it. Coud give Anderson the Keith Bogans and have him play the first 5-6 minutes of each half and that's it. If he's going to get 10-12 minutes, maybe those minutes make the most sense.

You could go with a lot of options there tbh. Flip, Collier, WCJ, Brice....I think any of those inclusions instead of TH creates a better balance. We could still get TH the minutes he needs and playing with the playmakers/passers off the bench isn't a bad spot for him to be.

 

[fishonjazz]

Ya after thinking about it some more and reading others thoughts, there just aren't enough guys who I trust to dribble against pressure in this lineup. Probably need to put Key at the 2 and start Collier or WCJ which moves Ace to the 3 and puts hendricks on the bench.
My dream of having size/length advantages everywhere just doesn't really work. Unless........ Ace is a better ball handler than I think he is.

 

[KqWIN]

It would be fun to see Flip with the starters. He can shoulder a lot of the playmaking burden by playing at the elbows with his dribble handoff game. Just gives us another option in the half court besides Key.

We saw John Collins thrive in this playmaking 4 role and I'd say Flip is even more talented as a playmaker from that spot.