Skinner Establishing Himself As The 8th Man

[Bufalay]

Barbosa, Ginobli, and Terry can start on a number of teams. And they are easily better than the players they are backing up on their own team.

yeah, I was not really being serious. I think saying someone else because they started on a particular team is pretty dumb.

 

[Bufalay]

Do I really have to counter this?

How about for instance:

Rajon Rondo <<<< Jason Terry

Marko Jaric <<<<<< Manu Ginobili

Robert Swift <<<<<< David Lee

Tyrone Lue <<<<< Leo Barbosa

and on and on. Some teams have depth at one position where other teams have a no starter material talent. There are even situations where some guys come off the bench to provide instant offense even though they are better than the guy in front of them ON THEIR OWN TEAM.

I would think this is pretty elementary.

thanks for taking up my challenge and possibly illuminating the point of a rational human being to sunsman. I actually thought of a bunch of these and though it was pretty freaking funny. The one that came to my mind was Penny Hardaway starting for the Heat.

Penny Hardaway <<<<<<<<<<< Everyone else in the league.

 

[Covert Rain]

I am all for seeing Amare and Skinner on the court at the same time. I would like to see this happen more often when the Suns are getting worked on the boards or when we need to lock things down defensively.

 

[Errntknght]

I am all for seeing Amare and Skinner on the court at the same time. I would like to see this happen more often when the Suns are getting worked on the boards or when we need to lock things down defensively.

I'm all for giving a shot but I don't have much faith in D'Antoni trying it - or realizing that it worked well, if it did. We had a very similar situation when Hunter was here - the team did quite well on the rare occasions the two of them played together but Mike would have none of it on a regular basis.

 

[azirish]

The problem is that D'Antoni likes Marion at the 4 slot and not as much at the 3. The emergence of Hill at the 3 means going to the "big" lineup means sending Marion to the bench.

Using Marion at the 4 means the Suns have to double the post, but EJ noted that the Suns are doing a much better job with dealing with the cutters which traditionally has been a major problem for them.

In any case, my enthusiasm for Skinner is simply that he has shown he deserves minutes. I don't see Marks playing as much except against guys with zero offensive skills on the inside. Even if Banks was more consistent, its hard to see how he's going to take minutes from the Suns guards.

 

[TheHopToad]

I don't think we can really measure how good Skinner is, or at least how valuable he is on this team, until we play the Spurs and see how he fares with Duncan. Then we'll know if he is a suitable replacement for KT. Isn't that really the only time we want something from that position?

 

[Mainstreet]

I don't think we can really measure how good Skinner is, or at least how valuable he is on this team, until we play the Spurs and see how he fares with Duncan. Then we'll know if he is a suitable replacement for KT. Isn't that really the only time we want something from that position?

I know what you are saying but the Suns need players on their bench that can get some playing time. If D'Antoni plays Skinner at least situationally that is something. I try not to compare Skinner with KT because KT is better in a half court game than Skinner. As for me I'm still missing what TT brought to the Suns front line.

 

[Rab]

Skinner has been a nice addition to the team. He and Amare on the floor together more would be something I wouldn't mind seeing either. Amare is sooo much better when he has help down low.

 

[Sunsman44]

Suns have the right idea in Skinner.

Now, if only they can play him 30 minutes a night and sign another big like him and play him 20 minutes a night alongside Amare and Diaw/Marion as the other bigs. Every team needs 4 bigs. Suns have two. And I'm very reluctant in calling Diaw a big because he is playing like sh** and is very timid and weak.

It is only with defense and bigs that u win a title. Not with a weak Frenchman guard-turned-center playing alongside a small forward who wants to get traded.

Amare needs help. Skinner needs to play more. Suns need to sign more bigs!

 

[TheHopToad]

It is only with defense and bigs that u win a title.....Suns need to sign more bigs!

I guess you have no use for Steve Nash then. Four bigs playing defense means abandoning the fast paced running style and sticking with more of a traditional half court game, which misutilizes Nash's talents.

Maybe we can trade him and Barbosa for Shaq. Would that make you happy?

 

[mojorizen7]

I'm afraid that Skinners minutes are going to dwindle as soon as Raja's ankle & shot get healthy. If D'Antoni could play 4 speedy PG's that could shoot the three(with S.Marion) he would.

 

[azirish]

In 2004-05 D'Antoni hated Hunter and played him anyway. At some point what matters is how the team does when a guy is in the lineup.

 

[azirish]

bump

I think it is becoming clear that Skinner is going to play a much bigger role than most of thought when he was signed. Tonight we saw something we never saw before - Amare and Skinner playing together. It worked very well.

11-21 versus Kings 16 minutes - 4 of 6 shooting 5 rebounds 2 blocks and an assist

11-20 @ kings 13 minutes - 1 of 2 (it was a 3), 4 of 4 from the line, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks

11-17 @Rockets 15 minutes 2 of 3, 8 rebounds, 2 blocked shots

11-15 versus Bulls 3 minutes nothing

11-13 versus Knicks 18 minutes, 1 of 3, 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots

11-10 @Magic 11 minutes, 1 of 2, 5 rebounds

11-9 @Heat 6 minutes, 1 of 1, 3 rebounds

Starting with the Knicks game, he's had two or more blocks every game and his rebounding per minute (0.338) for the season has been sensational.

 

[Stargazer]

A small but maybe telling sign tonight: When D'Antoni rested the starters to play the bench in the fourth quarter, he sat Skinner and put in Marks. I read that as moving Skinner away from the kiddie table and sitting him with the grown-ups.