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Ok, hello, good morning. My name is Hubie Brown, I'm a coach, ok, I'm a color commentator for television broadcasts of the NBA! I'm a Hall of Famer. Alright?
(Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports)
Lets get right down to the business at hand here, ok -- Its the end of training camp. Everybody is healthy and ready to give their full effort out there on the floor. We've installed a Triangle offense as our offensive set. Everybody is picking it up little by little. So! Come on!! There will be some growing pains. However, we have established some continuity with our veteran's camp and guys are competing -- and we feel good as a unit! Out on the floor. In the locker room, guys are staying involved, even from the sideline. Ya love to see that.
Now. We know Carmelo Anthony is our main meal ticket. He's our number one guy. But there is some confusion about whether is he a small forward, ok... or should he play a power forward, the 4-man. Ok? He's a scorer! We have a lot of wing players, now, ok, and will need to manufacture time for a lots of guys on the floor. We also have a group of bigs, ok. Some of them are getting a ton of money and some of them are not. Management is going to play a role here, ok, there's no doubt about that! But everybody need minutes, and everybody needs to perform!
The key to settling our rotation players is what... do we do... with Amar'e Stoudemire. Now! We do know about the injury history, here. But the guy is a proven scorer in the pick and roll play. Ok, and he knows where and when to pop out to the top of the key, or whether to roll toward the basket. He should be effective in the two-man game with any of the guards, ok, and even with Carmelo, who we know is our number one option, ok? He can also be a good top-of-the-key outlet man for broken plays! Amar'e should be consistent with the 18 foot stand still jump shot off the catch and shoot play, and we know the guy still finishes with a high percentage at the basket. Most important of all, you have a quality guy who's a hard worker and a nice young man who just needs to catch a break!
So! Do we like the idea of the guy starting right out of the gate and getting 25 or 30 minutes a game? We know Amar'e can be a legitimate explosive second scorer option on a playoff caliber team here, ok? With any luck he gives your team a good effort-- contribution as the help side defender on the other end. If he gives ya 15-20 points and 8-plus rebounds on a given night, what you're gonna have is an established pecking order. We can have STAT ease into the ball game and not worry about forcing the issue. Which, I mean, come on, the guy is trying hard to be a contributor! Ya gotta reward your big man. Let's let him show us what he's got. If it doesn't work out-- ok, look, its still in the early part of the year. There will still be plenty of time to reconfigure your rotation. And the guy has showed that he's a team player in the past, and an asset to your ball club.
Now! Maybe you're worried about the workload of minutes! So you want the guy to come in and to perform right away, then you're gonna substitute in your other big guys with Andrea Bargnani, cus ya gotta get this guy going also. This way, we have Stoudemire now getting extra rest, ok, and he can be fresh for the crunch time... minutes.
There is a chance, here, too, ok, where Bargnani!? Is the guy who you think you need in the starter's role, ok? Now we're asking Stoudemire to come in, to give a strong effort off of the bench and help lead the young guys and your bench unit while Carmelo gets a blow. Whether do you wanna give him big minutes or not, really, ok, says more about Bargnani now!
Ok. So. The only other option ya have at your disposal to consider here, is the trade. Now, it's a contract season for the guy, and it's also, ya hope, a statement season for this young man. So in a trade scenario ya. gotta. be able. to wait. for. the right moment. Ok?! So, what'll it be? And look around the comments before ya leap to your decisions!