Starter VS bench - - A really big deal ??

[Gray Mule]

If a player doesn't start, but he plays as many minutes as the starter, what is the big deal? Does one player, who is the designated starter get a much bigger paycheck just because he starts and the player who comes off the bench and plays just as many minutes and contributes just as much get paid a lot less??

Is it an ego thing? If I can't be a starter here, I'm going to take my ball and go home. I start, or else I'm leaving here and going somewhere I can start.

Does starting mean THAT much? To a few, it may. Winning, being a part of the team, supporting your team - That's what should matter. Knowing that you are a part that makes up the whole, that matters.

Question. Who started most of our games as PG last season? Even tho he didn't play extended minutes, he WAS our starter. Right now, he's not playing. Don't know why. He may be injured, in the dog house or else he's just not playing.

Starting VS bench - Does it really matter that much ??

Winning basketball is a team game. That's what should matter.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Mule, for us longtime people that have watched the NBA, it isn't a big deal at all. There have been plenty of 6th men in the NBA who have been vital cogs to their team. The most important thing to those guys who don't have superstar talent, is to have the ability to contribute on a nightly basis.

A lot has been made over the fact that we can't keep Chill and Smoove and Marvin on the same team for too much longer. Some believe that these guys would want to branch out to another team, be a starter, and make a name for themselves. And that may very well be true.

But the history of this league has shown that, for the most part, the guys who do that, are usually guys who are touted to be potential stars in this league.

T-Mac is a good example of a guy with superstar talent, who chose to leave a good team to make a name for his own.

But Detlef Schremph ( probably the first great European player in the NBA ) is a perfect example of a guy who had the ability to be a starter, yet, didn't cause a stink with whatever team he was on, because he knew that he was going to get his minutes.

The great thing that Billy Knight has done in regards of the salaries of this team, is that he's positioned the Hawks to be able to resign Smoove, Chill, and ZaZa if need be in the near future, without killing the cap or mortgaging the future of this team.

But if one of these guys feel that they can be better players somewhere else, or get more money from somebody, he's also in position to work out a nice sign and trade deal to still keep us right where we need to be. The Squawkers that hate Knight will never admit to that, but that is the truth.

Shelden . . . a Hawk at least through 2010

JJ & Speedy . . . signed through 2010

Marvin . . . a Hawk at least through 2009

ZaZa, Chill, and Smoove . . Hawks at least through 2008

So our core players are locked in for at least another 2 years. Plus role players like Lue, Salim, and Solomon Jones are locked in for another 2 years.

And how big will it be if an unsigned FA rookie like Bozeman plays his way to a 3 year - 5 million deal, to solidify the bench even further?

Plus we'll have a 1st round draft pick in the 2007 draft.

and 2008.

and 2009.

It's clear that Knight had a plan here that extended far beyond the immeadiate season. If JJ keeps playing like a superstar, and if Chill, Marvin, and Smoove progress into being very good young players, people will be worshipping the ground that Knight laid down by 2008.

But back to the topic. It's all about playing time. The reason why Lue doesn't complain, is that he knows that he'll get 25 minutes a game as a backup, and he'll be able to do what he does best. Plenty of guys in this league have flourished playing that 6th or 7th man on a team.

- Adreian Dantley

- Dell Curry

- Detlef Schremph

- Vinnie Johnson

- Robert Horry ( for a plethora of teams )

- Mario Elie ( almost his entire career )

- Bobby Jackson ( almost his entire career )

- Michael Cooper ( for those great Laker teams )

- even a young guy like Kevin McHale for those early Celtic teams.

Playing time is more important than being a starter, unless you have undeniable superstar talent.

[GoDawgs21]

Northcyde can I give you hug. I mean that in the most nonhomo way possible.

Soth has got under my skin and these are the exact points I have tried to make to him, but I'll admit most of the time I get so upset I go into a tangent.

There is room to sign all these guys, there is time before that, and how can you label someone a "bad pick" and yet have him as a starter in the league. You want to talk about bad picks go back to the Babcock admin. How many top 6 picks are still starters in the league 5 years later. I am willing to bet its less then 60%. Yes there may have been someone marginally better. But to draft a starter or valuble contributor off the bench is invaluable. Even if for nothing else the trade value he may command in his FA year. You most certainly will get a 1st rd pick for a guy like that. There will always be one or two players drafted lower that turn out being a little bit better but guess what if you get drafted at the 27 spot 26 gm's passed on you, not jsut one guy.

This is my final shot on this issue. I just dont see how you can call someone a "bad pick" then turn around and say he could be a starter for most teams in the league. He may not have been the best pick, but he wasnt a bad pick. If you want a bad pick look at the 8 pick he might not even be in the league in a year. Anytime you can draft a guy that starts or is a valuble cog, thats a victory. We went what 7 drafts under Babcock and didnt draft one starter. We get now 5 players in 5 picks that wither are starters, significant contributers avg 9/8 as the 6th man, or as some say coveted FA's in a few years.

As a long time Hawks fan to imagine we could ever draft 5 guys that anybody would want is amazing. Before you go and say well look at when we picked. Babcock had his share of top 5 picks and still never drafted a starter. BK's avg pick is 11.6 or the 12th pick. Thats 2 spots from being out of the lotto. Like I posted the other day with that list, name one GM in the past drafts that BK is in that hasnt got at least one dud. That dud is what we always got, now we have something of value, hustling player, scorer, contributor, or even value on the market in a trade. Wither you like the pick or not we are 5 for 5 in getting talent that matters and havent had a wasted pick. Not to many other GM's can say that.

[Final_quest]

I think there is another precedent to consider. How many RFAs leave there teams without compensation? I'm not talking about players that barely make the team. I'm talking about desirable players.

[BusBoyIsBack]

It's not a big deal at all. The people complaining that one of our top 5 picks will be benched in the future need to realize that if they both get the same amount of minutes, it doesn't really matter. This is a league where depth matters.

We're not playing NBA Live.

[joannes3000]

Even in NBA Live, depth matters.

Good points brought up all around. I've always been of the train of thought that the only controversy over the benching of one of our 1st round picks is controversy here and nowhere else, especially not on the court or in the locker room. I doubt that Chillz is upset that he doesn't crack the starting lineup in the boxscore when he's playing starter minutes.

I would think that in the long run, when we get Marvin back and up to speed again, nobody is gonna be complaining about having that much more talent on the team. That's what seems to be the dominant theme of our team and it's a refreshing one at that - nobody's out there playing for a superstar contract or a shoe endorsement. Even JJ came over, I think, with good intentions of wanting to play more of a leadership role as opposed to a 4th option on a loaded Suns team.

Say what you will about money, in regards to JJ or the league in general, but I think that our team has more of a team mentality than most teams.

[BusBoyIsBack]

Quote:

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Say what you will about money, in regards to JJ or the league in general, but I think that our team has more of a team mentality than most teams.

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I agree 100%. I think Childress, Marvin, Shelden, and SMoove can all co-exist even though they all are high first round picks. They could care less how high they were drafted at this point. We are going to do a great job of rotating them in the lineup. Like Billy Knight said one time, there are 48 minutes at every position. When you do the math, there are plenty of minutes to go around at each position. Especially when you have interchangeable parts like we have.