Review of the season

[lv20gt]

Saying Moses could take 4s off the dribble is a bit misleading because he was rarely blowing by PFs. He could take them off the dribble in the sense that he could catch it 10 feet away, take one or maybe 2 dribbles and then elevate. That worked because few PFs were used to being physical on defense. Moses was able to pretty much get to his position with a bit of physicality and then use his quick jumping ability to elevate over smaller defenders. It was why he often got in trouble and picked up offensive fouls. But if we put him in a situation of constantly working on centers that likely won't be as effective for a couple of reasons. The first is centers, or whoever usually had to defend them on a given team, are more used to playing positional defense. They usually have a better understanding of defending by not letting a player get to a spot. Moses will have a harder time because of that. Further, while some teams have undersized centers where this won't be true, most of the better teams we face will have someone with greater height which will make Moses' quick jumping ability not as effective against them as it is against 6-7/6-8 PFs, especially with shotblockers who are better used to timing their jumps.

The advantage a guy like Moses would have in that situation is quickness and shooting. However, Moses hasn't really demonstrated the ball handling skills on a consistent basis to warrant putting him 18 feet away and trying to beat his guy off the dribble even against centers. And while he added a midrange jumper to his game, it wasn't really reliable and he was still just a 25% three point shooter so most teams would probably have their center making him prove that he can hit those shots before having him go away from the paint. Is it possible he improves on those factors? Sure. But if he does then that will also just make the matchup advantage he has against PFs that much more effective anyways.

Concerning Usher, if he's not stretching the floor from the 4 then what is he doing at the position? We'd be significantly smaller, with probably worse defense and rebounding for what tradeoff? Compare the lineups of Jose, Mike, Bubba, Jordan, and Moses to Jose, Mike, Bubba, Moses, and Saba. The first isn't spreading the floor any more than the second, so what is the advantage being gained? Against certain lineups Usher's defense on the perimeter might be more worthwhile but that's a situational factor. I also don't understand why you are acting like that lineup with Saba/Moses/Usher would make life for Jose hard. How is that lineup making things any harder for him than what we had in our starting lineup this year with Banks/Moses/Usher?

 

[MiracleWhips]

Saying Moses could take 4s off the dribble is a bit misleading because he was rarely blowing by PFs. He could take them off the dribble in the sense that he could catch it 10 feet away, take one or maybe 2 dribbles and then elevate. That worked because few PFs were used to being physical on defense. Moses was able to pretty much get to his position with a bit of physicality and then use his quick jumping ability to elevate over smaller defenders. It was why he often got in trouble and picked up offensive fouls. But if we put him in a situation of constantly working on centers that likely won't be as effective for a couple of reasons. The first is centers, or whoever usually had to defend them on a given team, are more used to playing positional defense. They usually have a better understanding of defending by not letting a player get to a spot. Moses will have a harder time because of that. Further, while some teams have undersized centers where this won't be true, most of the better teams we face will have someone with greater height which will make Moses' quick jumping ability not as effective against them as it is against 6-7/6-8 PFs, especially with shotblockers who are better used to timing their jumps.

The advantage a guy like Moses would have in that situation is quickness and shooting. However, Moses hasn't really demonstrated the ball handling skills on a consistent basis to warrant putting him 18 feet away and trying to beat his guy off the dribble even against centers. And while he added a midrange jumper to his game, it wasn't really reliable and he was still just a 25% three point shooter so most teams would probably have their center making him prove that he can hit those shots before having him go away from the paint. Is it possible he improves on those factors? Sure. But if he does then that will also just make the matchup advantage he has against PFs that much more effective anyways.

Concerning Usher, if he's not stretching the floor from the 4 then what is he doing at the position? We'd be significantly smaller, with probably worse defense and rebounding for what tradeoff? Compare the lineups of Jose, Mike, Bubba, Jordan, and Moses to Jose, Mike, Bubba, Moses, and Saba. The first isn't spreading the floor any more than the second, so what is the advantage being gained? Against certain lineups Usher's defense on the perimeter might be more worthwhile but that's a situational factor. I also don't understand why you are acting like that lineup with Saba/Moses/Usher would make life for Jose hard. How is that lineup making things any harder for him than what we had in our starting lineup this year with Banks/Moses/Usher?

I agree with your take. Anyone who thinks differently should take a look at the game against FSU this. He had to work extremely hard playing the 5 when Banks got into foul trouble. Also note that James being a respectable post presence allowed Moses to go head to head on 4s across the league. In order to maintain that effectiveness Saba would have to come in and be a post threat because if not I could see teams still putting their 5 on Moses