[tweet](https://twitter.com/bouncepassos/status/1708853298936127721)
>”If Manu Ginobili can come off the bench, anyone can and i don’t wanna hear it.” -Pop when asked about this year’s starting five
who do we think he’s talking about here? Keldon or Sochan?
by KuyaJohnny
12 Comments
I think he’s talking about me tbh
Everybody.
Every single person on the team. Team picked first overall last year, there’s room for improvement in every single which way so that means anyone could earn a starting spot
The smart thing to do would simply be to experiment with different lineups, therefore everyone should be ready to come off the bench.
I will say…I see no reason whatsoever to bench Keldon. Starting Sochan, Jones, and Wemby is a spacing wreck, Keldon is clearly a better overall player than Sochan as of the last time we saw them play, make Sochan earn his spot, don’t give it to him because of “potential” or something.
Keldon would be a nice, high energy 6th man
Definitely Sochan.
Wemby 👀
I think Pop is signaling the obvious – lineups are gonna be fluid because they’re experimenting to find the best ones. No one should be taking moving to or from bench personally because all they care about right now is creating winning habits.
Honestly, given how little noise the team has made about this, I’m pretty sure it’s because of all the nonsense questions we’ve repeated here and elsewhere about who should or should not start.
Wemby off the bench confirmed
I’m as big of a Jeremy fan as anyone and when we first won the draft lottery I was a big proponent of running him as a lead ball handler with the starters
But the more I think about it, the more I feel like him being a sixth man just makes so much sense how few true natural playmakers their project to be with the second unit and the nature of his play style and energy. Allowing him to have full command of running a second unit featuring shooters such as Malachi, Doug, cedi, Graham, julian in some capacity could not only create a genuinely intriguing and dynamic second group, but I think if the goal is for him to eventually be a true point forward, having 25 to 30 minutes, a game where he is the undisputed guy with the second group would be much more beneficial for him, and the team in the long run, then having him jostle with Victor, Johnson, Devin, for on ball touches, or have to play as more of a off ball energy specialist like he Did in college or earlier in the season last year
Love it tbh, it shows the humility needed to win. Also can’t argue with Manu, Pop and what they achieved.
The best part of that quote is the “I don’t want to hear it part.” As in, don’t ever ask me again. But the truth is Pop is in search of chemistry, and that’s more important than who starts. He will experiment with lineups but I predict he starts Keldon. But he won’t necessarily start him every night.