At Media Day on Friday coach Avery Johnson gave the media some thoughts on who the starters may be and what players will be playing where this season:
Obviously things could change if a certain player comes to New Jersey (but even if Carmelo comes, he is a big three himself), but the theme is still the same. Avery Johnson wants this Nets team to be big at every position. On Friday, I showed you that the Nets’ goal on defense is to hold teams to just 44% shooting next year, and it seems that he wants to do it with length/size on the perimeter to bother shots. Not only does Avery Johnson succeed in getting size on the outside by playing two guys who can play both the 3 and the 4 (Travis Outlaw and Damion James) exclusively at the three. But also, this decision allows for Terrence Williams to play shooting guard primarily, where his size can bother opposing shooting guards when on the defensive end.
I really like this decision by Coach Johnson. When you think about the league’s premier scorers, most of them come from the Small Forward or Shooting Guard spots. Throwing size at them will work at stopping these scorers (or at least slowing them down. Also, it isn’t like the Nets are giving up speed at these position when they are increasing size. Guys like Terrence Williams, Travis Outlaw, and Damion James are more than athletic enough to stay in front of the players they are defending.