LQOTD: Is Meeks starter material?

Lakers question of the day: is meeks good enough to start? He has a bit over 100 starts in his career. Has not shot very well and has averaged 10-2-2. He isn't a defensive specialist. Is he good enough?

He's a role player. He can be a starter or a bench player depending upon how he fits.

hes there to shoot 3s, play defense and spread the floor for big 4. So in our team's system yes hes starter material

The whole system needs spacing, and he creates that as well as hits 3s. So yes, he is for us.

Yes he is, but he's better off the bench imo. If Meeks is gonna start and Jamison/Hill are out of the rotation we only really have one quality bench player in World Peace.

It hurts the bench i he starts, but then again Metta would be coming off the bench...so yeah I'm down

In a pinch, yeah, he can play there. But I'd say a decided NO when you have a healthy Kobe Bryant and MWP. There's no reason for him to be starting with the players we have. None.

Mike Antoni is starting to make my freaking head hurt.

Absolutely.

oh yea...i'd like to see that lineup used...like others have said, he definitely helps space the floor...and he hustles

He has starter talent, but I would prefer if he was the 6th man. Let him play the role of Harden-lite. He has been excelling as the energy / scoring punch off the bench every great team needs.

On this Laker team? Yeah, he's good enough to start. He stretches the floor really well, on a consistent basis. Also works hard on defense. He can start or be a spark off the bench. It's definitely nice to have him on this team. I never understood why he did not play for Brown.



Oh yeah, length.

TIME wrote:He has starter talent, but I would prefer if he was the 6th man. Let him play the role of Harden-lite. He has been excelling as the energy / scoring punch off the bench every great team needs.

^^ I agree. That's explicitly what Mitch brought him here for. To add scoring punch off the bench. Not to mention providing a reliable backup for Kobe Bryant. Playing him alongside Kobe means we don't ween ourselves away from playing Kobe 40 plus a game. Personally, I don't get it. MWP is a three. Kobe is a 2. Meeks is a good backup 2 but not really starting caliber from what I've seen. I like the kid a ton. He's terrific and I'm glad he's getting some burn. But I don't want him starting unless Kobe is hurt.

Yes he is, but once Nash comes back he's not finishing material. I still want Nash/Bryant/Artest/Gasol/Howard on the floor to finish games.

Since he is a spark, I rather have him off the bench.

1. Our bench completely sucks
2. We can't leave Pau or Howard on the bench.

Peace is a rhythem player or else I wouldn't have an issue with him coming off the bench but thats not good for him. He needs playing time to be good. Meeks can be effective immidiately.

My problem with the off the bench theory is he does not get nearly as many good looks off the bench, has to struggle to fight around screens, get handoffs and chuck. With the starters, he's open more, and he's hit with the ball wide open and hits some big shots. So yes, I do think he's starter material, with the way he finished the game yesterday he looked like he belonged out there with the best players on the team. As for his defense, I don't know I think I'm not seeing what everyone else is seeing when they say it's terrible or bad. He stays in front of his man, he's very quick, and he's at least constantly giving maximum effort there. So yeah, he's been a starter before, he's playing very well for us recently and we need one guy out there at least that's a 3 point threat, Nash will get him open looks too.

KB24 wrote:Since he is a spark, I rather have him off the bench.

1. Our bench completely sucks
2. We can't leave Pau or Howard on the bench.

Peace is a rhythem player or else I wouldn't have an issue with him coming off the bench but thats not good for him. He needs playing time to be good. Meeks can be effective immidiately.

^^ I agree with all of this.

therealdeal wrote:Yes he is, but once Nash comes back he's not finishing material. I still want Nash/Bryant/Artest/Gasol/Howard on the floor to finish games.

Defensively, I wouldn't mind:

Meeks/Kobe/Artest/Gasol/Howard

lakerfan2 wrote:

therealdeal wrote:Yes he is, but once Nash comes back he's not finishing material. I still want Nash/Bryant/Artest/Gasol/Howard on the floor to finish games.

Defensively, I wouldn't mind:

Meeks/Kobe/Artest/Gasol/Howard

That lineup we had in the 3rd when we made our run of Morris/Meeks/Kobe/Artest/Howard was actually a ton of fun to watch defensively. The effort was through the roof.

So, no disagreements?

he should be coming off the bench... we need his scoring punch more with second unit..

KB24 wrote:Since he is a spark, I rather have him off the bench.

1. Our bench completely sucks
2. We can't leave Pau or Howard on the bench.

Peace is a rhythem player or else I wouldn't have an issue with him coming off the bench but thats not good for him. He needs playing time to be good. Meeks can be effective immidiately.

Ron Artest still got 30+ minutes last night because Pau was getting most of his time playing the 5. It's not like Artest is switching places with Meeks and getting 20 minutes a night. He played well and stayed aggressive.

This whole scoring punch off the bench thing is being way overblown. Ron Artest gave them 17/7 4 steals and a couple 3s because he played 36 minutes. How is that any different from Meeks playing 30+ minutes the last few games and putting up scoring numbers in the same range? It's not that bad of an idea.


Pringles' encouraging of older players to run up and down the court jacking up 3s is way worse. Instead of punishing Charlotte with a slower, methodical half-court game, they tried to outrun and outgun two of the fastest players in the league in Sessions and Walker.


letsgoletsgoletsgo

No ! Meeks is our plug off the bench, his roles is to provide offense for the 2nd unit, having punches off the bench is crucial to us.

And moving Kobe to SF is just a band-aid over the situation and a very bad choice, Nice try DAntoni

Nash Pau and Dwight will find him wide open for 3's. he already plays big minutes with him. I don't want Kobe starting at SF but its not up to me. will he do well? most likely yes. but I feel he's more important as a spark off the bench who plays starter minutes like Dallas did for Terry. I think he can play that role very well for us. I hope we leave Kobe at SG And not SF and let the spark off the bench stay a spark off the bench but with more minutes with the starters

With D'Antoni running the show, yes. He needs shooters in his offense, we don't exactly have a whole lot of them. The more shooters you have on the court with Dwight, the better. And with him wanting to have Ron play both backup forward spots, yes, Meeks is a starter for this team. I like him starting more so than I do Morris.

Is he starter caliber across the league? No. He's a 6th man, first guard off the bench for most teams who can come in and is capable of giving you big minutes in any game if need be. I think he can become more than that, but he has to show more consistency inside the 3 point line, especially when attacking the basket.

TIME wrote:He has starter talent, but I would prefer if he was the 6th man. Let him play the role of Harden-lite. He has been excelling as the energy / scoring punch off the bench every great team needs.

This. I hoped him, Hill & Jamison would provide just that (Hill = hustle) but 'Tawn isn't even playing. MWP off the bench has been exactly that these past few games (I still rather Metta started though).