Zach's a SG

[bleedspeed]

despite our Iron Horse starting PG missing 1/3 of the games so far.

ha

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Maybe our iron horse reached out to Derrick Rose for some injury rehab advice

[Coolbreeze44]

Good stuff Lip, really like what you said here. To me, some of Sam's statements and actions border on buffoonery. In this season of supposed development, Zach needs to be starting at the 2 guard right now. I think it's our best look today, and for the future. Ricky, Zach and Andrew should be our 1-2-3, when Ricky is healthy of course. If Ricky proves he can't stay on the court this year, we need to draft a PG next summer. But for today, those three guys need to be playing 35 minutes per night. Miller and Tyus can both back up Ricky, and each should play some. If Ricky's out and you have to start Zach at the one so be it. But limiting Zach's minutes playing pg behind Ricky is just wrong.

[TAFKASP]

Good stuff Lip, really like what you said here. To me, some of Sam's statements and actions border on buffoonery. In this season of supposed development, Zach needs to be starting at the 2 guard right now. I think it's our best look today, and for the future. Ricky, Zach and Andrew should be our 1-2-3, when Ricky is healthy of course. If Ricky proves he can't stay on the court this year, we need to draft a PG next summer. But for today, those three guys need to be playing 35 minutes per night. Miller and Tyus can both back up Ricky, and each should play some. If Ricky's out and you have to start Zach at the one so be it. But limiting Zach's minutes playing pg behind Ricky is just wrong.

Ironically, starting Rubio, Levine, Wiggins, Belly, and KAT is not only better for their future, it would be the best for today also.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I think the lineup we all eventually want will play itself out. Take Aaron Rodgers advice for now.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Everytime Zach plays the 2 and Wiggins plays the 3, they seem to do just fine. Until they both get the chance to play there and they get torched and man handled, I'm just not buying what Sam is selling. It comes off as BS to me that guys can't win their matchup if they don't have a combination of speed/height/strength advantage. Players have been disproving that theory for years and still are today.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Most of this board (other than me and a couple others) are invested in Zach moving to SG. While I like him where he is, backing up Ricky, I was intrigued by Sam's post-game comment when he cryptically said "I learned something different about my team tonight". What do others think he meant by that? They made an impressive 4th quarter run going small, with Miller essentially in for Towns and everyone moving up one position. Some of the things Sam might have ''learned" and could have meant by his comment:

1) The team moves better and comes back easier from big 4th quarter deficits with Towns on the bench. I hope not. I think Karl is a stud, and needs to be in there at critical moments. The team's better performance without KAT was situational, I think, since Indy had a very small lineup on the court.

2) Zach needs to play SG, because the team looked much better with him in that position. Again, I hope that wasn't Sam's conclusion. I think it was again situational like the Towns benching. I also don't think Sam learned that Zach could be effective playing SG against smaller SGs, because, I think he already knew that.

3) This team plays hard every night and never gives up, even on the 4th game in 5 nights. Aha, I think this is what Sam learned! And I think that is why he seemed so happy after a loss. I think he knows this team is tough, but I also think he expected they would be tired and outmanned last night. But instead, they looked like the fresher team in the 4th quarter...very impressive.


That's what I think Sam meant by his post-game comment, but I wonder what others thought.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I think Sam just talks. He talked about how LaVine was the starting shooting guard, about how he believed in him and development was his main priority. He talked about how Wiggins has advantages at shooting guard, but failed to realize he also has advantages at small forward. Sam has ignored that Flip, this team's assembler, acquired Tyus Jones and Andre Miller this past off-season, just one of several indications that he felt LaVine's better-suited to be a shooting guard.

Sam Mitchell just talks... and talks... and talks... A lot of the time, it's irrelevant[s] to what he actually thinks or does[/s]...

[Tactical unit]

One game vs the pacers is not why I think Zach is a SG, I have been saying he is a SG since last season. I'll trust what my eyes have been seeing with Zach and not what Sam thinks about his size. I hope Sam is adaptable but I give him zero credit for "finding that lineup" last night. He was down 20+ points, had nothing to lose by going to that unit and for all I know an assistant recommended small ball. Please point out the game or specific time frame of a game where Zach got man handled due to his size, I'd love to re-watch it cause apparently I missed something.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Sam Mitchell continues to be pummeled for thinking Zach LaVine is a PG. I thought it would be interesting to compare Zach's stats to the two PGs drafted ahead of him last year and the two PGs drafted in the lottery this year. Warning: these comparative stats are blatantly self-serving in supporting my narrative that Zach really is a good PG.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&y1=2016&p1=lavinza01&y2=2016&p2=smartma01&y3=2016&p3=paytoel01&y4=2016&p4=mudiaem01&y5=2016&p5=russeda01&p6=

I'm pretty sure Sam and his staff are privy to these stats, and it explains why he is so prickly when challenged about his decision. Overall, Zach's stats are better than all of the other four. Further, they are all starters, and Zach is a backup (well, at least when Rubio honors us with his presence on the court). Take a look at the advanced stats. Zach has by far the best TS% and PER and is tied with Payton for the best WS. Despite his 8 TO game two games ago, he is in the middle of the pack in TOV%. Turning to per 36 stats, Zach is by far the highest scorer, second in rebounds and third in assists. Stats are meant to be interpreted, so I invite anyone to make a case for Zach not having the best year this year of the five recent lottery PG draft picks.

And yet Sam is ripped mercilessly on this and other fan message boards for daring to think Zach is adequate as a PG! I can only imagine the abuse coaches in Orlando, Boston, LA and Denver are getting for continuing to start their respective disasters at PG...I expect all will be fired before the end of the year.

Fans will continue to say "Zach makes bad decisions, he doesn't have the basketball IQ to be a PG, etc", but those are only opinions...and statistics are facts. And as the great Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts". I'm pretty sure Moynihan would agree with me that Zach is performing just fine at PG compared to his peer group, and still getting better!