The starting lineup isn't a big deal to me, but what I predict will happen, and will be bad for the team, is that Smart is going to run a 11-12 man rotation ala Hubie Brown in Memphis and it will be devastating to this team long term.
The seeds are already sown, Smart, just like when he came in last year, is going to be all about pushing the ball and running at a high pace. The Colorado Springs training camp is all about conditioning, I doubt they will even bring balls out there, Smart just wants the guys to be able to run the opponents off the court, and he is going to be doing substitutions like a hockey coach.
Will the big rotations and high paced play win us more games than last year? Yes, probably, especially at home, where the youth and high energy will be enough to overwhelm some of the older teams on the road. The problem though is that this team has too many players trying to prove something and at the first sign of the system not working will just revert to jacking up shots. Tyreke is looking for a new contract, is he okay with sharing half the SG minutes and shots with Thornton? Demarcus wants to be an all star, he's goign to make sure he gets his shots up, especially if there are three other guys he has to share the 96 front court minutes with (and that doesn't take into consideration Smart going small, which will eat into those minutes) How much impact can Hayes have defensively in 15 minutes a night? Thomas Robinson was the 5th pick in the draft, he wants to come in and show what he can do, but with his 20 minutes a night he'll never be comfortable and will see the rest of the team chucking away and want to join in. Isaiah Thomas looked like a nice solid point for the most part last year, but now with Brooks breathing down his throat he's going to be pressing and trying to do too much. Brooks, on the other hand, after being out of the NBA last year, is going to want t come in a prove something, but unfortunately the only thing that really makes him valuable is his scoring, so he will also be chucking away every time he touches the ball. Thornton will most likely have lost his starting job and will be trying to prove he is better than Tyreke, which will mean he needs his shots. Jason Thompson has always been at his best when he knows he has plenty of minutes and can let the game come to him, but with this many guys, his minutes should be going down and he will revert back to pressing to try and keep his job. James Johnson is best suited as a fill in defense and hustle play type of guy, but he will be trying to show that he deserves to be in the NBA, and especially with Salmons, Garcia, Outlaw and Honeycutt all wantign his minutes, he won't be able to play the type of game he needs to to help the team. Smart desn't have the credibility to completely shut down Salmons, which he should, but Salmons as well as Outlaw will be crammed into the game for a couple 5 minute stretches every night, not enough to be productive, but they will be willing and able to get a couple shots in each just so they aren't forgotten. The only guys who really won't be in the rotation are Garcia, Jimmer, and Honeycutt, and actually I think that spot minutes for both Honeycutt and Jimmer could pay dividends in the long run. Unfortunately there just won't be the room.
I'm expecting a complete mess this season, not for lack of talent, but because there will be no roles and no hierarchy, everyone will get into the game for enough minutes to get there shots off but no one will be able to get in a flow. At the end of this year, we will have won a few more games than last year, but we will have a bunch of players with lower trade value than last year and a bunch of guys having no idea what there role in this league should be other than shooting the ball before it gets to another player and the other guys take the shot instead.
