POLL - Possible Replacements for Andre Miller

[Skandery]

so who were the 4 players?

[jemagee]

A. Kyle "I need a cool nickname" Lowry
B. "Sweet" Lou Williams
C. Michael "Mike" or "Bib" Bibby
D. Sergio "Spanish Chocolate" Rodriguez

[DuckyNinja]

This seems like a genuinely bad combination.

Do the 82games.com 'unit' stats go back that far?  Be curios to see how they perform when not together as well...and how that team was in general

Why, it does!  Let's make some observations, shall we:

-On a 15 man team, not a single player played less than 10% of team minutes.  That's just stupid.  Some coach should've been fired over that.  Notable names include Olowakandi, Wilcox, Zhizhi, Ely, Brand, Odom, Piatkowski, Jaric, Q Richardson, Maggette, Miller, and Dooling.  The team had a TON of talent.  The other 3 guys were Rooks, Parks, and Fowlkes.

-Not a single 5 man lineup played more than 7.5% of the time together.  What.

-Miller was in 18 of the top 20 most-played lineups.

-Of those, 6 of the 8 with a 50% or higher win share had both Miller and Brand.

Really, looking at it, it looks like this was a team with way too much talent and a coach who didn't know who to play, so he played everybody with no real rhyme or reason.  I'm not sure you're gonna glean anything meaningful from looking at those 02-03 stats other than the coach was a dumbass.

[tk76-]

I don't know much about that Clips team, but looking at http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAC/2003.html

They won 12 games less than the prev year (with the addition of Miller) but also Miller was the only regular that did not miss about 20 games or more.   I'm guessing that everyone had injuries throughout the season, and that contributed to the multitude of line-ups (not that it can be totally explained by injuries.)

Games missed to injury for their regulars:

Miller: 4
Brand: 22
Magette:20
Odom: 35
Candyman: 48 (starting center)
Wilcox: 38 (main PF/C reserve)
QRich: 25
Ely: 32
Jaric: 18
Pietowski: 20

Imagine the Sixer's top 10 players missing a combined 262 games to injury, with 9/10 players missing significant time.  I would think that would greatly impact rotations and team chemistry.

Again, not a complete excuse, but a factor in the struggles for that Clippers team.

[tk76-]

Also, looking at that Clipper team, I'm pretty sure that most of the main players could not hit a jumper- although QRich, Magette and Odom thought they could shoot.  Brand was a few years away from developing his midrange jumper.  I'm sure spacing was a huge problem for them- which explains why a stiff like Pietowski got major minutes.

Does seem to represent some of the same problems the Sixers face.

[Skates]

Also, looking at that Clipper team, I'm pretty sure that most of the main players could not hit a jumper- although QRich, Magette and Odom thought they could shoot.  Brand was a few years away from developing his midrange jumper.  I'm sure spacing was a huge problem for them- which explains why a stiff like Pietowski got major minutes.

Does seem to represent some of the same problems the Sixers face.

The coaching too, perhaps?

[bebopdeluxe]

Does anybody know the status of Randy Foye?  Wasn't he recently pulled from the T-Wolves starting lineup in favor of Telfair?

Not sure if he is a pure-enough PG...but I wonder if we could interest them in Sammy for Foye and Jason Collins (a $6.2 million expiring contract)?

[Skates]

Does anybody know the status of Randy Foye?  Wasn't he recently pulled from the T-Wolves starting lineup in favor of Telfair?

Not sure if he is a pure-enough PG...but I wonder if we could interest them in Sammy for Foye and Jason Collins (a $6.2 million expiring contract)?

I think Minnesota surely could use a legitimate center since they are playing Jefferson and Love, both really PF's as their bigs.  With two offensively talented bigs they could make Sammy a big part of a second unit.  He could do the same thing here, but it would not go down very well on a team where he has been a long time starer.  They would probably want us to take back the immortal Brian Cardinal who's contract expires after next year to even out the salaries a little more.  I don't know whether they are giving up on Foye yet though.  He certainly seems like he might need a change of scenery though.  I have no idea if Foye would blossom into the answer here, but his combo guard game might work with Brand, sort of like a more talented, quicker Willie Green.

[jemagee]

Telfair's minutes have been up and down - i know i was htinking about picking him up for my fantasy team, not sure what's going on in Minnesota

[jemagee]

Another guy I'd like is a restricted free agent this off season - and most likely his team won't let him go?

10. Ramon Sessions, Bucks
Teams are always in hot pursuit of point guards. Because Sessions is once again starting in Milwaukee, his high assist numbers are turning the heads of a number of GMs. However, one has to believe the Bucks will find a way to keep the guy.

[Skates]

Telfair's minutes have been up and down - i know i was htinking about picking him up for my fantasy team, not sure what's going on in Minnesota

Another team where you need only to look to your signature line, and think of Kevin McHale, for the asnwer or lack thereof.  The T'Wolves will be drafting a PG this summer with this PG rich draft and their usual good to great draft position.  Foye could likely be had in the right package.

Sessions I think will stay with Milwaukee.  He should replace Ridnour as the starter at some point.

[jemagee]

Sessions I think will stay with Milwaukee.  He should replace Ridnour as the starter at some point.

Dude was supposed to be my fantasy sleeper this year and the bucks done messed it up by starting ridnour.

Speaking of ridnour - he is ostensibly a point guard right?

[Skates]

Sessions I think will stay with Milwaukee.  He should replace Ridnour as the starter at some point.

Dude was supposed to be my fantasy sleeper this year and the bucks done messed it up by starting ridnour.

Speaking of ridnour - he is ostensibly a point guard right?

Wasn't Ridnour at one time the supposed replacement for Iverson on the national team?  Of course, that was before Ridnour started sucking so bad and the new wave of point guards in CP3 and Deron Williams came along. 

[anklebreaker]

Sessions I think will stay with Milwaukee.  He should replace Ridnour as the starter at some point.

Dude was supposed to be my fantasy sleeper this year and the bucks done messed it up by starting ridnour.

I share your pain.  Sessions went off for a few games before Ridnour got the nod, so I'm not so sure I understand the demotion. 

[tk76-]

Was reading Fagan's Sixer chat today (Inq beat writer.)  She said she expects Speights to start over Sam at sometime this year.  She has been real high on Speight's since training camp, and has reported how the coaching staff has been equally enthused by his play.

Personally, I would be very surprised to see Speight's beat out Sam for the starting spot this year- but I'm sure he will get a few starts due to injury or to send Sam a message if he is in a funk.  I was asking about him replacing Sam back on draft day, so its not like I think Sam has earned any special treatment.  I just would not expect him to lose his starting spot so soon to the kid.