It was a ballsy move to plug Gilyard in at point and take the ball out of Smart’s hands (especially with Rose out) but I think it’s the best thing Jenkins has done so far this season. Unless they bring in a legit wing and everything changes, I can see Ja seamlessly transitioning into this system, and a Bis, Jaren, Bane, Smart, Ja lineup being good enough to salvage the season.
Or maybe scraping together a win against a reeling Clippers team isn’t evidence enough that anything is “working” yet.
It’s effectively a 3-guard lineup. As long as you have one of the three who can reliably cover a wing, it works. I’m just a little skeptical of what it will look like in the short and long term.
In the short term (no pun intended… OR IS IT), Gilly does the best that he can do and I respect how well he’s played, but no NBA opponent will respect him. The Clippers were trying to exploit him on mismatches and they just weren’t able to burn us for it. We won’t continue to be so lucky.
In the long term, perimeter defense won’t change enough when Ja returns to prevent opposing teams from lighting us up from three. All things being equal amongst players on the team —and there doesn’t seem to be a ton of difference between perimeter protection by anyone not named Smart— taller players will make it more difficult to make those shots. So not having a wing at Z’s or GG’s height out there can hurt.
Unfortunately, none of our actual wings are ready for the starting role.
Bane had a crazy block on PG and has generally seemed viable guarding wings. Z is tall and bouncy, but his lateral quickness leaves something to be desired. I ultimately think our penchant for leaving 3 point shooters open is going to need a scheme fix, but for now, having a quicker guard who can close out faster after an over rotation may lead to better defense than a taller/longer guy who’s less agile.
I feel like our perimeter issues often come from over helping inside leaving too much a gap to make up on the swing passes. That’s not a height issue that’s a spacing/awareness issue.
Granted, Gil is likely going to be too short in the long run, but he’s helping us long in the short run… When rose comes back he’ll obviously be less of a liability with less minutes, and then when Ja comes back no issue at all. Still got fix the over helping issues though.