From Distance: Breaking Faces and Rotations

Four point play….

1. While I, like most NBA fans, am incredibly disappointed that Joel Embiid is out for the next two to four weeks due to an orbital fracture, there is a level of dark humor to be enjoyed.

Poor Markelle Fultz has been the target of much scrutiny during his strange rookie campaign. His case of “the yips“, brought on by his mystical shoulder injury combined with Jayson Tatum’s success in Boston has understandably made Fultz ripe for criticism.

After a miserable season, the young man finally made it back to the court and what happened? He broke the face of “The Process.” Sheesh.

That is rough all around. If I’m a Philly fan, Fultz sits somewhere between a 6 and an 8 on the Philly Love-Hate index. Rocky, of course comes in at number 1 with the 10 spot belonging to the Dallas Cowboys.

Fultz may prove to be a good NBA player. He might supplant Anthony Bennett as the worst number one overall pick in recent memory. We don’t know yet. Regardless of ultimate outcome, he has already made a huge impact on this current NBA season.

Had Fultz not been out, I doubt the Sixers would have enjoyed such a successful campaign. Rookies of his ilk rarely contribute to winning despite the occasional talent flash of the future. His unavailability allowed the Sixers to play solid veterans around their two young superstars.

Ben Simmons didn’t have to share point guard duties with another rookie. T.J. McConnell had a chance to siege his NBA destiny with heady and skillful play.

Had Fultz been in the rotation for the whole season, the Sixers would likely be competing for the seventh or eighth seed instead of pushing the Cavaliers for the third spot. Philly coach Brett Brown was liberated of having had to play a guy “for the future”.  Until this week.

Fultz’s had a promising first game. What could go wrong? Ya know, other than potentially destroying Philly’s chance of getting out of the first round by accidentally headbutting a teammate on what should have been a routine dribble handoff? Impact player indeed.

Let me be clear. I don’t mean to pile on Fultz. It would just be really difficult not to hate the dude right now as a Sixers fan. Then again, this could end up working out in his favor. Someone couldn’t have written the first part of his potential redemption story more perfectly. If the kid goes on to great things, this first chapter is going to be a beautiful setup.

2. Also in a new chapter of his career is Jordan Clarkson, the Cavalier. It isn’t often that the writers here at Cavs: The Blog disagree rather vehemently, but trenches are currently being dug in our offices over Mr. Clarkson.

After trying to give the young man the benefit of the doubt post trade, I am decidedly not a fan of the Jordan Clarkson experience. It is clear that Jordan has great confidence, a varied and solid skill-set, and slightly above average athleticism. He can get buckets in a variety of ways. None of that is overlooked.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t shown an ability to consistently harness those skills into positive basketball action. Over the years, Cavs fans have grown accustomed to over-dribbling chuckers.

We have gotten use to defending or abhorring the likes of Jarrett Jack, Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert. Only Kyrie had the otherworldly talent to warrant such abject ball-stoppage.

It was frustrating to watch Kyrie consistently stop good offensive flow in order to establish his triple threat position. We consistently lamented Irving’s reluctance to make simple ball swings without hesitation.

Yet, when it came down to it, Uncle Drew was a straight magician with the rock. Even playing less than efficiently, he was able to be a positive offensive player. Still, he was never as positive in the regular season as he should have been.

Clarkson is more effective than Jack or Shump, but nowhere near the level of Kyrie. His talent and skill-set are impressive, but in order to be a legitimately good player, Clarkson needs a software overhaul.

I don’t see it happening. He’s 25 years old. Sure, he has plenty of time to make drastic changes to his game, but I don’t have great confidence that his entire mental approach is going be altered in such a fashion. I would be more inclined to assume that he is what he is.

3. With that in mind, many people believe that a team needs a few high variance players to reach an ultimate peak.

The idea goes something like this:

“The Warriors are so good at full strength that the only way you have a chance to beat them is by having some random microwave guy go crazy. You gotta steal a game!”

Yeah, maybe. Or maybe surrounding the best player in the world with guys who consistently make the right basketball play, every possession over the course of a seven games series would actually be a far better plan of attack.

When has LeBron been surrounded by guys that don’t mess up AND can shoot? Looking back at the 2015 Finals, LeBron did wonders with a squad that played smart hard ball. Even Shump was more or less locked in that year. I give Blatt the credit for that, but I digress.

Of course, that team couldn’t shoot. LeBron played heavy minutes with Mozgov, Thompson, Dellavedova, and Shump. Seriously, think about that for a moment. That team was up 2-1 with Delly as the only decent three point threat.

Now let’s give LeBron guys who understand team defense, are consistent in their strategy, don’t get caught up in moment, and can shoot the rock.

How about we let the only variance be whether good, open, three point shots fall or not, and/or whether the opposing squad has the patience to make the extra pass on every possession.

My nine man playoff rotation:

4. Honestly, I’d be fine if I didn’t see another minute from anyone else. There is already enough shooting, play-making and smarts with the above guys to win the East without a problem.

Osman and James can be moved to the backcourt or frontcourt as necessary. Let both Rodney Hood and Cedi handle more in PnR. Both, especially Hood, are being underused as creators. Every 15 dribble mid-range pull-up from Clarkson takes the ball out of these guys’ hands.

But what about Clarkson, Green, and J.R.?

Of the three, I still believe most in Smith. His playoff production has been far more consistent than his regular season play in recent years. Opposing teams still respect his three point shot, even when it isn’t falling. It wouldn’t be a travesty to let him roll.

As a small ball five, Jeff Green can be useful in certain match-ups. Nevertheless, he is too easy to guard for the opponents. Any three point shot attempted by Green in the playoffs is a win for the opposing team.
Returning to Jordan. I don’t trust him. He plays like he is Russell Westbrook. We have seen how effective that is in the postseason. Subtract 60 percent of the talent and you are left with a guy who can just as easily ball-hog a team out of a series as into one. The Warriors would welcome that.

My nine guy rotation above features zero players who aren’t mentally locked in both strategically and effort wise. They make open shots and rotate properly on defense. Everyone but Zizic can hit a three with regularity.

I admit Green, J.R. and Clarkson look much cooler at their best freewheeling best. Unfortunately, they frequently take more off the table as they put on the table.

What do you all think? Are you on the high-ceiling Clarkson train with Nate and Evil Genius, or do you want to sit next to me on high-floor island?