The most convincing comment in the forum on Coach Christie's handling of recent games is that he defers to the "stars" too much. His reliance on the starting line-up, with their limited defense, is consistent...just examine the playing times in post #398. The heavy minutes load in a back-to-back game looks to have taken a toll.
While DeRosan pretty much won the first game of the Pelican pair at the end, he had to be a bit fatigued in this game with so many minutes played. Christie, and the team, stuck with him for his reputation and recent performances. The decision was logical but the outcome didn't match the logic. How soon Christie should have recognized the failings and changed approach is up for debate. It appeared that he was in a repeating cycle of "next shot" in anticipation that DeRosan would repeat his performance of the night before. It was a reasonable expectation but changing the strategy came too late.
The remedy is evident. Start the "stars" as the hierarchy demands. Then quickly schedule DeRosan (for Ellis, LaRavia, Lyles, Valanciunas), Monk (for a PG such as Carter or Fultz) for defensive replacements unless DeRosan and/or Monk are remarkably effective scoring in that game. Bring them back in the game on a "need" or performance boost basis. Monk would essentially be a 6th man spark, at which he excels, while DeRosan could remain fresh the entire game by playing intermittently.
Such a tactic would leave Sabonis, LaVine, and Murray as true starters with sufficient offense while more defense would join them on the floor. LaVine and Murray would carry the perimeter scoring chores. Murray would have the incentive to be far more aggressive and may be more consistent in the offensive participation that the team only sees in spurts with him as the fifth option.
This simplistic observation is solely based on what is seen on the TV screen. There are far more complexities at play for Christie to navigate than to which we are privy. Thus, the likelihood of the above coming to fruition is minimal at best.
Experimenting to this extent when desperately trying to win to earn a playoff position may be counterproductive in Christie's view..
