5 spot

Figure that Gus Leeper, even if he stays healthy and is as good as we hope he can be, will play about 25 minutes per game. It is just rare for a heavy big man to log more than that. With Javes gone, that leaves 15 minutes to be filled at the 5 spot. Figure that Will Neighbour slides over for 5 minutes per game when someone else plays the 4. Figure that James White slides over for 5 minutes when we play small ball. Figure that Poulter gets 5 minutes, if for no reason than to help him develop. That makes the 15 minutes Gus is not playing, and that is OK. We can handle that. Where we could have a big problem this year is if someone is having to play there more than those minutes out of necessity because of injuries or because someone is not getting it done. That could throw our whole system out of sync.


Having Neighbour play somewhere other than the 5 is one of the unique features of this team, and if he has to play more than fill-in minutes there, we will be hampered materially. James White is too small for the 5, but if he plays with the energy we have seen him have, he could be an effective undersized 5. But the idea situation is for Leeper to get it done. We really, really need him to get it done.