InGameStrategy
Well-Known Member
Yes. Seriously.Seriously? Boozer is erased by the Lakers and Millsap is simply too short to come out as a net positive. If anything, a starting 4/5 of Jefferson and Okur might only make sense against the Lakers as Jefferson is going to get torched playing 4 against a lot of teams (and Odom will kill Jefferson just as bad as Boozer or worse if they end up matched against each other).
While Jefferson is probably an upgrade over Boozer, especially against the Men in Jaundice, whether Okur is a liability in a MO/AJ pair is not clear. He simply hasn't proven to be able to play on both ends of the court in playoff games against competitive teams; just ask Houston. He still might play the matador role against a driving Odom and Bryant, just like Boozer did (and Millsap, too, despite his best effort). He wasn't very agile before the Achilles injury, and I'm not optimistic that he'll come back any more fleet of foot--or tendon.
I know that it might surprise you that I think this, but AJ + Fes might be decent against the Fakers. Boozer and Fes were pretty good in the playoffs, despite the lack of scoring (and experience) by KF, and Big Al brings even more height. And if Sloan gets Fesenko minutes, he'll probably be more prepared for the basics against all teams.