Pacers Shake Up Starting Lineup To Take On Raptors

by Tom Lewis on Nov 23, 2009 10:27 PM EST in News Comment 10 comments

After a lackluster loss in Charlotte, Jim O'Brien announced a lineup change for tonight's game against the Toronto Raptors. According to Bruno's Scouting Report, Troy Murphy will return to the starting lineup at power forward and Jeff Foster will join him at center.

The switch moves Roy Hibbert to the bench as well as either Brandon Rush or Dahntay Jones. It also frees up Danny Granger to move back to small forward. The offense certainly needs a boost and having Murph available to spread the floor along with Granger at his natural position should help.

The defensive impact will be interesting and considering the Raptors have the leading offense in the NBA maybe it's better to focus on attacking their league worst defense. The question remains though: Is this lineup the go-forward plan of is it tailored to the Raptors with the idea to mix and match starters to fit the opponent?

Certainly starting Granger on Chris Bosh would be a problem and Foster can chase Andrea Bargnani out to the arc better than Hibbert.

The best part of this move by JOB though is that it surely caught everyone's attention. If the team plays like junk, changes will be made to find something that works so if you want to play make it work.

What do you think of the change?

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Interesting

If Foster is feeling good, he brings alot of energy and hustle. Foster does the small things well. I worry about the D though. Foster plays gritty position D, but he’s no shot blocker (or a shot changer). Murph has a solid jump shot and he knows how to put a body on someone and rebound, but his D is pretty awful. Guys blow right by him. We’ll have to see…it does make us deeper.

by Rush Rules!!! on Nov 24, 2009 1:28 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Given that the team has given up 100+ in 3 straight losses, I doubt lineups changes could hurt the D much.

by SethGrandpa on Nov 24, 2009 4:36 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

It certainly can't hurt

We’re not in a position to stick with the same starting five if it’s not getting results. I’d think Rush would go to the bench since D.Jones has been outplaying him, but we still haven’t really seen a whole lot from that preseason second unit, so that might work, especially if Rush is going to be on and off. Might be dangerous to have him having an off night if Danny and D.Jones are out for Rush.

by goodlucksaturday on Nov 24, 2009 6:16 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I painfully agree

As much as it pains me it’s time to put my pet project on the bench. Dahntay has outplayed Rush and deserves the start. If Hibberts having to go to the bench, then Rush should too. That depth may help us out. Really deepens our bench. Cmon Rush…I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

by Rush Rules!!! on Nov 24, 2009 12:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Really? Hibbert’s getting benched? Wow.

by Vic De Zen on Nov 24, 2009 10:22 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

dumb

hibbert needs to start, hansborough is foster 2.0 anyways. nothing against foster but its about time he accepts a glorified assistant coach while still holding a roster spot type of role. Go Pacers!

If Youre not First, Youre Last

by drsuessrunner07 on Nov 24, 2009 11:36 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

No, No, No

JOB has it all wrong. Look we drafted both Rush and Hibbert because they were seasoned college players. Then we went ahead and drafted another 4 year guy in Tyler. Now none of them are starting and we’re going old with Murphy and Foster. Two guys who’ve proven throughout their career that they can’t be starters for winning teams in the NBA. What’s the point JOB? I don’t think this is going to suddenly motivate anyone to play better.

by ThirtyOne on Nov 24, 2009 1:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

like foster back in the lineup

i’ve detailed my frustration with murph’s game, but i like this play against the raptors assuming he guards bargnani. they are very similar players, but murph is more physical which i think will give him an advantage..

ThirtyOne, you forget Foster was the starting center before the brawl when we were competing for a title. he is certainly starting material (too bad he has those back problems). but he is best when complimenting a post player. i would be interested to see foster lined up with hibbert- not to compare hibbert w/ jermaine, but that would be a similar situation when we were competing at a high level-

the lack of shotblocking with this lineup is the biggest concern.

by BenD on Nov 24, 2009 1:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I forgot that he started for that team as well as the 03-04 team. It seems like so long ago. But at this point he’s not nearly as effective as he was then. He was only playing 24 minutes a game back then and that was stretching the limits of his talent. Some could argue that he was the weak link to those teams, since we were loaded everywhere else.

I don’t worry about shotblocking as much as I worry about where the post offense will come from. Between Foster and Murphy there’s no one who will demand any attention in the post. In fact if either of them get baskets in the paint it is almost always off put backs and junk shots.

by ThirtyOne on Nov 24, 2009 1:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think Danny Granger could have done a good defensive job on Andrea Bargnani and I don’t think Chris Bosh or Andrea Bargnani could guard him. That would have been an interesting matchup for the Pacers.

I like the decision to sit Roy Hibbert though. I don’t think he’d have much joy trying to defend Bosh. Jeff Foster and Tyler Hansbrough are the best equipped to handle him (quicker feet to deny Bosh’s face up game). I think they’ll do a better job of keeping tabs on Bosh.

While I liked the idea of what Danny Granger could do against Bargnani … I’m also a big fan of the Troy Murphy vs Andrea Bargnani matchup. Two similar players offensively particularly after you factor in how incompetent Bargnani is at defending perimeter orientated bigs. Both guys have defensive flaws but Murphy is a much better rebounder … so the Pacers should get a big advantage in that matchup.

Plus Indy still has the Danny Granger vs Hedo Turkoglu matchup. Danny should be able to score freely against Hedo.

I think the changes are a good idea.

nbaroundtable

by NBR on Nov 24, 2009 6:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs