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johnlg00 writes:

in response to CoverOrange:

Could it be that having McRae, Richardson, Lopez play the point for several games has allowed Golden to focus less on running the team and more focus on making plays?

The way he's playing now reminds me some of Tony White. White had the confidence of Fred Jenkins.

I would have to say that Golden is still the best distributor on the team. The offense was pretty stagnant while he was out or otherwise below par. McRae is, I think, the least well-suited for that role of any of those you named. He isn't selfish but he isn't as good with his own offense when he is the primary ball-handler.

We tend to think of PGs as players who move everybody around the court, look for people cutting toward the bucket, feed the post from out high, and hit shooters coming off screens. Golden is not really that guy. He is pretty good running it up the floor--now that he IS running it up the floor!--but most of his assists come when he drives, draws the defense to him, and then dumps it off in close.

I think it DOES help to have somebody to give him periodic rest during the games to help keep him fresh. By sandwiching his breaks around media timeouts, the coaches can get him significant rest while only being out for a minimum of actual game time when the team's ball-handling will suffer. Another thing to think about would be putting on a press while Golden is out. That would give the team more open-court opportunities where a PG is not as important, put a few more miles on the opponents' clocks, and allow Golden to be more energetic on defense when he comes back in.

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