Should the Grizzlies make Matt Barnes a starter?
The Grizzlies have no shooting. Like, we're talking no shooting at all. Mike Conley, who has severely struggled from beyond the arc this year and is shooting just 33 percent from three, is currently the best long-range threat on the roster.
Jeff Green isn't making threes. Neither is Courtney Lee or Matt Barnes or Mario Chalmers or Vince Carter. Tony Allen never has and never will. The Grizzlies' spacing is totally and completely scrunched. So, maybe it's time to make a change.
Joe Mullinax wants to prescribe a dose of Barnes into the starting lineup. From Grizzly Bear Blues:
It's not like Barnes' entrance into the starting lineup will automatically solve things for the Grizzlies. He, himself, is making only 29 percent of his threes, though he is coming off a season during which he drained 36 percent of his attempts from downtown. Still, that was in Los Angeles, where he had far better spacing and Chris Paul as his point guard. Things aren't nearly the same in Memphis, where defenders feel comfortable helping off every shooter on the outside.
Allen has been a real problem for the Grizzlies this year, though. His complete inability to do anything offensively allows defenses to take risks that they wouldn't try with other players. Essentially, the opposition isn't even guarding him anymore, and because of that, the Grizzlies are essentially going 4-on-5 when he's out there. In that sense, maybe inserting Barnes, who is also offensively challenged but not to the same degree, could help.
For this and other (namely defensive) reasons surely Barnes could take minutes away from Jeff Green. Yet Head Coach Dave Joerger continues to invest time in Jeff, and while Green has been better so far this season than he was in, say, the Golden State 2nd round playoff series, he has yet to consistently show he is worthy of starter's minutes, outside of his vaunted "potential."
Then, there is Tony Allen, who has made Grizzlies' fans all over very sad at points this year. He seems disconnected, not the guy who bobs his head to Future's "Go Harder" but more like the guy who tells you to turn the music down, he is trying to sleep. In recent games TA has been better, and he played arguably his best game in weeks against Detroit. But he still carries with him the baggage of a guy who simply cannot be asked to be a viable offensive threat, at least not on the perimeter. That, coupled with issues defensively with his footwork and communication in scheme on switches and help defense, makes one wonder why he stays as a starter instead of Barnes.
