jameskerti
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@thunderup32 I agree that you have to be careful with the rotation. This isn't a time to make serious changes. But I do think playing Cole in certain situations against teams that have a matchup advantage on Perkins and Nazr wouldn't cause any serious problems.
@FF_pickups I hear you, but the stats I cited in the article, the ones I used to advocate for Aldrich, relate specifically to their ability to defend against spot-up shooters. Of course Perkins has tougher matchups than Aldrich, but that's unrelated to Perkins' and Nazr's struggles at closing out on shooters. That's been consistent. That's all I'm saying.
@courtsense Yeah, it's a fun topic. And if all goes well, Cole will be a serious part of the rotation next year.
@supreethm92 I hear you, but as @howlingfantods pointed out in the comments below, those statistics in cleanup time are surprisingly more meaningful than you would believe/
But I do think you have a point. I'm just advocating that Aldrich poaches minutes from Perkins and Mohammed in certain situations, not replacing them in the rotation entirely.
And I agree on his conditioning. Good point.
@shiki That's part of the reason, but I'm mostly advocating that Aldrich poach minutes from Perkins and Mohammed.
@f5alcon @criznazy53 I'm a little higher on Mullens than you guys are. His problem isn't so much his skills as it is his shot selection. He makes 56% of his shots around the basket. They've been using him as a spot-up shooter, which is not his skill set. He's also a pretty good defender.
@Thunder S Yeah, Nazr has range that Cole doesn't have. However, Nazr doesn't tend to actually make those shots, so it's questionable how helpful they actually are.
Nazr has better ball skills than Cole though. For now, anyway.
@TaoMaas You have a good point. I don't think turnover is the problem so much as it is that Reggie Jackson hasn't been very good. He doesn't make shots and he turns the ball over a lot.
@dream catcher Agreed. I'm looking forward to that,
@ThunderChick2010 Thanks, ThunderChick.
Good question. I think most teams are hesitant to reduce the minutes of a guy like Mohammed who has been around the league for awhile. And with the Thunder being a young team, they probably fear upsetting the main veteran presence in their front court.
@bballmangc *Nazr
@bballmangc Thanks for the response!
I hear you, but Nazar's only made 15 of 43 jump shots this year. Sure, he's CAPABLE of making them, but you don't want him taking those shots either.
Also, opponents are only shooting 28% from the field when defended by Cole in the post-up. Those numbers would probably go up against opponents with superior post moves, but still, he looks pretty solid from what I've seen.
@IdiotBayless If you're going for unnatural, play Cole at the point, Fisher at center, and replace Brooks with Westbrook as head coach.
@OkcBaby Especially if you pair him with Ibaka. That's a hell of an interior presence, particularly on the defensive end.
@iballsohard I think so, too. He hasn't shown much of a post game yet, and I'd like to see that from him. But he already has some other good skills on the offensive end that can help the team.
@Brob785 Exactly. It'd be nice to give him some more minutes this year so we have a better idea of what to expect from him next season.
@howlingfantods @SmackDaddy I agree with that too. I don't believe Aldrich is a situational guy for most teams, but with the Thunder, using him as such is the best way to get him into the lineup right now.
@SmackDaddy No doubt. I don't think the data is helpful enough to advocate giving Nazr's minutes to Cole outright or anything like that. That's why I tried to focus on identifying the specific situations in which Cole would help the most. Thanks for the feedback!