The lineup of 3 point guards was painful to watch
Before the game, Monty Williams hinted that we would see a lineup featuring Ty Jerome, Cameron Payne, and Jevon Carter, and he did not lie. In fact, those three players stayed on the court together much of the second half.
It did not go well.
The Celtics shredded the second unit in general, but the lack of cohesion demonstrated by these guys was widespread. The three point guards seemed like they took turns on who brought the ball up the court and ran the offense. When it wasn’t their turn, there was a lot of standing around and ball-watching on offense which then led to a lot of isolation play, something that is not these guys’ strength.
After playing well in the first scrimmage game, Cam Payne regressed in his second outing. Part of it may have had to do with this lineup an being unsure of his role, but he put up only six points (on 1-7 shooting) and had zero assists. On defense, he looked lost and his man constantly drove by him with ease.
Carter was his usual great self when it came to on-ball defense, coming away with three steals and a block. He made a few open shots, but when he was forced to create his own offense in the 3-point guard lineup, he struggled.
Then there’s poor Ty Jerome. He had only two points on 1-7 shooting and again, played timidly much of his time on the floor. Still, he was the first point guard off the bench, so Monty must see something in him that I don’t.
In fact, Monty must see something in this lineup that I don’t because he said after the game he still likes the three point guard lineup in combination with Cam Johnson and Frank Kaminsky and claimed that tonight they simply missed a lot of shots.
I love Monty as the coach of the Phoenix Suns, but he says some really puzzling stuff at times.
So, it looks like we will see more of this when the Suns take on the Raptors on Tuesday in their third and final scrimmage before games start to count.