Okay I will try again: Are you suggesting because those two lineups don't work, replacing Shump/Jackson with Buddy will not work either? Are you saying we should not bother playing that group more than 24 minutes since it will be doomed to fail?
Look I don't think Bagley and Willie is ideal either because I don't think Willie is good. The better the player the more positional variability. When you are good player you make the circumstances work. That is how Isaiah excelled in a "toxic environment" on a team that "did not know how develop young talent". Good players adjust or expand their game regardless of their circumstances. That is the basis to put your best players on the floor and let them to figure it out. Yes, combinations are important but you can get in trouble overthinking it and overlook the obvious. Last year Yogurt was playing Buddy behind Goose Egg Jackson. Let that sink in. Buddy is on pace to set records for threes made. He is pumping in 20 PPG on high efficiency. He is one of the most feared shooters in the league yet he was playing behind a guy who barely has NBA talent!! An all-star caliber player vs an Omri wannabe!
Goose Egg Jackson is shooting 35% FGs in wins and 50% in losses. This is a stark contrast. By definition he is a losing player. When we lose he plays! Do you expect this guy to step up in games that we win? Well, don't expect more than 35% FGs and 26% on threes. Basically he will get you 1 out of 3 two-pointers and 1 out 4 three-pointers while getting bullied on the other end. But when we get routed or he is unguarded by a superior opponent he will suddenly become a 40% shooter. He will get you the empty points. This is a useless player but in the estimation of our coach he was worthy starter last year over Buddy and worthy of significant minutes this year. So we are to trust him now to conclude prematurely the aforementioned lineup is incompatible? Bagley, Bogs, Buddy and Fox are our four best players, certainly 4 out of 5 of our most talented. If we cannot be competitive with this group regardless of the 5th component our rebuild is in trouble. Yet the data is inconclusive. There is stubborn refusal by Yogurt not experiment in the midst of struggles and draw conclusions based on conjecture instead of evidence.
Bagley was hurt psychologically not starting against the Grizzlies and it has thrown him off these last two games but he still put up 14/7 when he is pressing a bit. That is how talented he is. Yogurt is too close to his team to see things clearly, certainly too close minded to make bold moves that could pay off. He doesn't have all the answers. If he did we wouldn't have played like crap over the course of this road trip, lucky to win two games.
