Paroxysm Playoff, Round 2: How Deep is Your Love?

Awwwwww, yeah. It’s about that time. Yeah, you know what time it is.

Oh, you don’t know that? Well, let me tell you. It’s time to go deep… deep into the heart of the “Race for the 8.” We’re gonna get so deep, deeper than you’ve ever gone.

And why is that, you might ask? Well, because the #2 reason on the Tic-Tac-Dough Board of Wonderment belongs to the team with superior depth. As we are nearing the end of the regular season, many problems start cropping up for teams – especially those frantically scrambling to grasp that last invite to the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Fatigue, injuries, players finishing strong, players struggling, addition and attrition. As Matt noted in the previous post, great coaching is the first, pointed element when it comes to deciding these increasinly close contests. But, the coach can only do as much as his rotation will allow. Following is a study into the comparative strengths and weaknesses of each team’s depth.

Before I get into individual analysis, let it be know that the HP gurus have been discussing this topic via email threads and G-chats for the past couple days. We have diagnosed plenty of scenarios: what are the differences between good depth and bad depth; when you have more stars to lean on, does that make your depth as important; is a (hypothetical) entire second starting unit contributing from the bench better than 2 or 3 above average subs filling a myriad of positions?

So, between these discussions and our own individual analyses of the teams, here are the losers and winner (singular) of this piece of the delicious, deep Paroxysm Playoff pie.

Charlotte Bobcats: The Cats lose this category off the bat simply by virtue of the recent demotion of both Sean Singletary and (HP Fave) Alexis Anjinca to the D-League. No, I’m not kidding.

However, a more honest assessment of the Bobcats depth would indicate a surprisingly able and affable PG rotation with Felton and Augustin. Brown has lightened up on both in the latter half of the season and their results have gone up greatly. We all know Crash is a liability, but Diaw has been a godsend at the 3/4 spots, often times operating as the de facto point and letting the smaller guards play off the ball and get open. The Okafor/Diop tandem up front, supported by the inexplicably untraded Sean May has provided Charlotte with the beef and grit they were lacking earlier in the season. Raja Bell and Vlad Rad flank the wings, with Vlad sometimes offering less disappointing defense than the late Matt Carroll. Bell has been a stabilizer for the backcourt in a way that the more productive, yet mercurial J-Rich was not. Brown is happy to ride the horses that got him here, so depth management is not essential to his plans, but if anyone would have told you at the beginning of the season that Larry Brown would be able to turn a team that traded for both Diaw and Radmonavic (2 notorious space cadets) and they both helped this team fight for a playoff spot – you would have been slapped. Seriously.

Milwaukee Bucks: The Bucks are de facto losers of this category based simply on the awesome amount of back breaking injuries they have absorbed. Redd and Bogut on the sidelines dooms this team. On the bright side, these development have awoken the good coaching nodes somewhere in the recesses of Scott Skiles’ brain – and the Bucks have benefited.

You know you depth is not ideal when the PG running you team who everyone hates (Ridnour) is replaced, due to injury, with the PG in your doghouse who everyone loves (Sessions) and your team starts to blossom. Then, Ridnour comes back and both guys are achingly sporadic. At times, the Bucks can be downright scary on the wings, sometimes good (monster nights by Jefferson and VNuv) or bad (HP Fave Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s occasional spazzing out, combined with foul trouble on the starters, leaving Joe Alexander with way too much PT). However, we all recognize (and had a hard fought HP debate) the merits of the variety of skills and abilities Mbah a Moute brings to the table.  Regardless, the relative health and skill diversity of the wings can help the Bucks overshadow other glaring holes. The one hole it cannot cover is the festering gash in the middle. Gadzuric should be playing in Bosnia and Elson has been a warm body (and that’s a compliment) since he left San Antonio. Obviously the Bucks would be even closer to the spot with a marquee scorer like Redd and the reliable, if unremarkable, play of Bogut in the pivot. But for now, they are the craft brew equivalent of an ice cold Schlitz.

Indiana Pacers: Yes – Mike Dunleavy’s injury really hurts the Pacers’ depth. There, I said it. The fact that the Pacers are still in the hunt is remarkable to me. The fact that they get so little conversation in our email threads proves that, perhaps, I shouldn’t be so surprised. Granger and Ford can be lethal, but otherwise, the Pacers are just lacking any real offensive or athletic punch from their second-tier starters and short bench. Murphy tries hard, but is still Troy Murphy. Foster has dropped off and Rasho never had it to begin with. Jack has been pretty steady but Brandon Rush has not developed into that 7th man killer the Pacers were hoping for when they let Bayless skip town. They are, by far, the skimpiest team left running.

New Jersey Nets: The Nets and the Bulls depth questions elicited the most chatter in the HP Bat Cave. Which is the better star sqaud – Carter/Harris/Lopez or Rose/Gordon/Deng? Would you rather have the lethargy of Brad Miller or the incompatability of Sean Williams? Thomas/Noah or Anderson/Boone? Just kidding on the last one. But underneath, these either/or scenarios form the crux of the debate between these two teams and who would truly have the upper hand in this discussion.

I give that upper hand to the Nets. For starters, I think the Harris/Carter/Lopez triumvirate trumps any big 3 the Bulls run. Also, I think the guys on the Nets bench, especially Keyon Dooling, Ryan Anderson, Trenton Hassell/Bobby Simmons and others have a varying degree of flexibility and ability that the Bulls actually relented with the (surface-wise smart, but depth devastating) trades of Gooden, Noc and Hughes. Yes, THAT Larry Hughes. The Nets guys appear better and can have more impact because they are constantly around at least 1 of the 3 guys that are monumentally better than anyone in the Bulls Top 3 not named Derrick Rose. Depth is often good because players, regardless of actual number,  operate in close proximities and in synchronicity with those around them most often. A quality 8 man rotation is imminently preferable to a pretty good 6 man rotation – together with the 3 awful guys at the end of the bench that your coach inexcusably plays.

Speaking of which, I now come to the Chicago Bulls: The Bulls lose the depth category based on the fact that all of their players, with the slight exception of Rose, are so predominantly 1 dimensional and/or severely limited in part of their game that it hampers the sheer amount of physically gifted bodies they suit up every night. Noah and Thomas run and jump, but do not score well or have discernable ball skills. Gordon treats defense like teetotalers treat Jaeger bombs. Deng’s body is falling apart, quickly. Aaron Gray is a less skilled Brad Miller. Brad Miller is Brad Miller. John Salmons, who has seemingly not taken a liking to VDN, is just the opposite. He can do just about everything fairly well, but outside of scoring bursts and occasional ball handling success, doesn’t overwhelm his opposition. And the worst part of the Bulls, at least from the HP perspective, is that none of their players are actually fun. They don’t look good on the court. They aren’t exciting, or prone to wild distortions of roundball reality. They are just what you expect them to be. And, if you cannot use that statement in reference to the Spurs, it just makes you team look like a hack. For VDN, that might be close to a compliment. (and yet, these guys are still the odds on favorite to get the 8. Does that say more about Rose than we are inclined to dole upon him?)

New York Knicks: The winner of Sqaure 2 in the Paroxysm Playoff are the Knicks. A lot of it comes from D’Antoni’s style. He’s playing more players (mainly because he has so much less to play FOR than when he was in Phoenix) and they are playing better for him. Al Harrington could reasonably be the player of the month – EVERY MONTH. Yep, that Al Harrington. David Lee is second in the ENTIRE LEAGUE in rebounding (stupid HowardSmash smash smash). And Nate Robinson, if we redesigned the HP logo today, might actually make the head banner. Yeah, its that nuts in MSG.

But really, its so much more than that in NYC. Its fun to see Duhon go from 20 assists one night to a 10 day skid where he only accumulates 2, knowing full well he is playing at the exact same level. Q Rich and L Hughes are two of the most mind boggling enigmas in the league, but ones that are not only fun to watch – they are legitimately decent players in the league. Wilson Chandler is, frankly, nutcakes. There is no explanation for the Danilo experiment or the Wilcox conundrum. Everyone on this roster is alternatively amazing and awful. And, in HP world, that makes for dynamic depth. It doesn’t matter that the parts don’t really fit – the system doesn’t fit. SSOL can both princes and paupers make us, but this is a newer, sexier version. Sure, you get a lot of squishy, messy mishaps, but there are also times of wild ecstasy and inexplicable inconsistencies. This system may not win a championship (and with a 7 man roation in Phoenix, how could it?) but with a bag full of broken, though functional toys in New York, it might just be good enough to win the six team race for the 8th place.

And that’s all we care about here at HP. Stay young, Galinari.

Oster-Tags: Paroxysm Playoffs