A Really, Really Weird Idea

[George O'Brien]

One of the problems the Suns have is that they do not have anyone at SG that is consistently effective. JJ's shooting runs hot and cold, Penny's defense is not really very effective, Casey is too tentative, and Barbosa is too raw.

Here is my really weird idea - why not use Zarko at SG? I don't mean all the time, but maybe 10-15 minutes worth.

On offense, it would give the Suns an SG who can shoot, pass, and likes to cut to the basket. At 6'11", he would create matchup problems for every guard in the NBA since he could shoot over them. He would typically have unobstructed vision of the passing lanes and be in a position to make alley oop passes.

On defense, he would make if very hard for jump shooters because he has a 7'1" reach. Because of this heigth, he would not have to guard players as closely and might not be as easy to get around as a shorter player would be.

With his heigth, he would add another rebounder to a team that has a lot of problems on the boards.

Pretty crazy, huh?

 

[King A]

what if the opponent just puts their small forward against him.
it's not that big small forwards are rare

remember cliffi always played garnett

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Originally posted by King A
what if the opponent just puts their small forward against him.
it's not that big small forwards are rare

remember cliffi always played garnett

Then the SG will cover Marion? On most teams that would be another mismatch, so it is moot.

Zarko will most likely cause match up problems his entire career. Unless of course he reacts teh same way Marion did when he was taken out.

In the future, I think a lineup of Stephon, JJ or Penny, Shawn, Amare and Zarko is much more likely than

Marbury, Zarko, Shawn, Amare and White/Jake.

It would be an interesting lineup however. A very "long" lineup as they like to say this season. It would cause matchup problems galore for the other team, but I am not sold that Zarko could keep a 6'4 shooting guard at bay on the defensive end. If our center was a shot blocking presence, or Amare hangs out in the lane then it might work I guess.

That is most likely something that will need to be tested in the summer however. Of course, we don't even know who will be on the team by the summer. I just have a feeling that the C's will get antsy if the team continues to falter once Amare is back.

 

[Joe Mama]

I'll be shocked if we don't see Shawn Marion, Cabarkapa, Marbury, Amare Stoudemire, and a center in the game together often once the injured players return. It fits right in with D'Antoni's idea of having the best players in the game together..

Unfortunately one those guys returned I'm not sure how D'Antoni is going to keep everyone happy. I personally believe JJ and Jacobsen should be the guys to lose minutes. But much of it will depend on matchups and who has the hot hand. Marbury and Marion lead their minutes reduced as well once the injured players return. Each of them should have their minutes reduced 5-10 minutes per game to keep them fresh.

Joe Mama

 

[tobiazz]

Originally posted by thegrahamcrackr
In the future, I think a lineup of Stephon, JJ or Penny, Shawn, Amare and Zarko is much more likely than Marbury, Zarko, Shawn, Amare and White/Jake.

I hope not. I don't like that lineup. When you think about lineups, you really need to think about the playoffs and having Marion at PF or Zarko at C in the playoffs will be a disaster because they will get worn out by bigger players banging them. The officiating is very light in the playoffs.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
Here is my really weird idea - why not use Zarko at SG? I don't mean all the time, but maybe 10-15 minutes worth.

Pretty crazy, huh? [/B]

I said the same thing about month ago. Zarko has not been healthy enough, long enough to try it.

I do believe that you will see it. MickyD seems to like to experiment some with lineups, even when we are losing.

 

[capologist]

This idea was recently discussed in a <a href="http://www.phxsuns.net/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=538&start=25">thread</a> at PhxSuns.net.

I started the discussion with:

it’s possible that we could ultimately use [Marion] at SG. One of the knocks against this is that Marion doesn’t really excell in ball handling and playmaking. However, if Zarko excells in these skills at the SF position, we may not need all that much from Marion. Basically, he could defend opposing SGs, but still play the baseline on offense. In another year or two, we might find that we’re very effective with a lineup of Steph, Shawn, Zarko, Amare, and a decent center.

I later followed up with:

On further reflection, I’m not wild about that Steph/Shawn/Zarko/Amare/center lineup. It could be effective for limited stretches, but we wouldn’t want to use it a heck of a lot.

It’s not just a question of skills, but also of what spots on the floor they like to work from.

Zarko seems to like to work from the middle of the offense; particularly against the zone, he seems to like to position himself near the free throw line and work from there to reverse the ball or to go to the rim if the defense lets him. So if we have Shawn, Amare, and a center all playing near the baseline, Zarko playing near the free throw line, and Steph penetrating, that leaves us really vulnerable in transition, because nobody’s in a position to get back.

At any given moment, we need to have at least one man positioned higher than the top of the key or so. Steph, Shawn, and Zarko all have range and are capable of being effective from there, but it’s not clear whether any of them can be at his most effective if he spends a lot of time up there. Unless the center is also somebody who can share that responsibility, the lineup would probably be effective only for limited stretches.

 

[George O'Brien]

capologist makes some good points. My guess is that the Zarko at #2 would make the most sense against a slow break team, but obviously the player rotation would have to be set to avoid having too many guys hanging around the basket.

In any case, I think that having Zarko at #2 on offense make much more sense than having Marion at #2 if they are going to play at the same time.

 

[Forrestham]

I loved how Z played before he was hurt. While the team has made some boneheaded moves, the drafts have been pretty good. I want to see Barbosa play more. He brings good energy. He is a little out of control but he makes things happen when he is in there.

For you on Phxsuns.net, How do you sign up to get on the board

 

[George O'Brien]

I agree about Barbosa. He is that rare kind of player who can change the course of the game through his defense.

Barbosa is really young and does not have a lot of experience playing point guard even in Brazil. I'm sure M D'A is leary of having him run the offense. But if you team him with Penny or Stephon, he does not have to be a true point guard to be useful.

 

[Errntknght]

I don't think we'd have too much problem with backcourt coverage playing a lineup of Steph, Zarko, Shawn, Amare and Jake. The last spends most of his time out high so he can screen for Marbs and Shawn doesn't play on the baseline that much - I wish he did but that's another matter. Also, it's a fairly fast team all around.

I do think the other team would have their SF cover Z with SG on Shawn - it's not like Shawn ever posts any one up. In fact, one drawback to the lineup might be having Shawn playing against a quicker player that could deny him the ball more and stay in front of him better. Now, Shawn might counter that by working the baseline more to exploit his height advantage but would he?

I'm interested in seeing Zarko play a good bit more - he seems to have a better idea of where to manuever to than most of our guys and he might discover he can do a lot of damage working back and forth on the baseline. He can pop out to the middle from there quite easily so it's not going to hurt that part of his game - it may well work better coming from the baseline. This team needs more high percentage shots and we have plenty of guys going one-on-one in trying for them so I'd sure like to see someone working the baseline hard - and a quick guy down there doesn't clog things up for Amare like a low post center would. If the guy screened for Amare now and then he might even help him getting to the bucket.