Who Should Start: Weems or Kleiza?

[Built Ford Tough]

So it sounds like the Barnes deal is basically dead and unless the Raptors make a move for another small forward to fill the void left by Turkoglu, it will come down to Weems or Kleiza for the starting small forward spot.

 

Who do you think should start between the two?

[Poe]

It completely depends on a lot of things.

 

Like first of all, how much has Kleiza improved in Europe? How much has Weems improved his weaknesses (shooting) over the offseason? And second of all, what is the Raptors vision for next year? Better record or better draft pick?

 

It also depends on whether the Raptors find a replacement at center to bring better interior defense, and how much their interior D improves in general.

 

 

Well, here are my answers...

 

If the Raptors have a goal of making the playoffs, start Sonny Weems if Bargnani and Davis/Johnson are going to be filling the front court. The less interior defense, the better perimeter defense is needed to provide a better resistance to slashers to makes things easier for the big men. Despite Sonny's lack of height, he provides better defense, energy, and hustle than Kleiza, which will be more valuable than Kleiza's scoring and range.

 

If the Raptors manage to trade Calderon and get a center in return like that potential Chandler deal, then start Kleiza. His range and scoring would be more important than Weems' defense and hustle, since the overall range of the starting line up will be more limited when moving Bargs to PF, while the replacement center provides the much needed interior D to cushion the lack of perimeter defense.

 

 

If the Raptors plan on tanking for a pick, than it doesn't matter. Both are 24 years old, so both have an equal chance of developing from an age standpoint. So I suppose it should be given to the player who earns his minutes.

Edited July 21, 2010 by Poe

[Flight]

I think Kleiza is more of a true SF, isn't Weems kind of a SG/SF? I always thought of him as more of a SG.

[Warren2ThaG]

Give Weems it, the confidence will boost his moral and passion. Potential is sky high.

[YugoRocketsFan]

Kleiza has improved to a 3rd option player since going to Europe.

[BlueDevil]

id say kleiza just so the ball could go to derozan more

plus i think weems would be great off the bench as he is to much like derozan as a player

with kleiza, he has the ability to stretch the floor, which will open more lanes of derozan

really, im guessing derozan will be the 2nd option this yr, so whatever benefits him the most is what the raps should be looking for

[Clutch]

weems, screw kleiza lol

Edited July 21, 2010 by Clutch

[YugoRocketsFan]

weems, screw kleiza lol

 

Ah cant wait to see what people say when he is averaging 15 ppg.

[Clutch]

Ah cant wait to see what people say when he is averaging 15 ppg.

 

lol klieza is sick but i want to see weems start

 

obviously klieza will probably end up being the player that will give them a better chance of winning games as a starter

[*Swish*]

Give Weems it, the confidence will boost his moral and passion. Potential is sky high.

thank you. and he's more energetic and fires the crowd up.

[Check my Stats]

young money sonny obviously, he continues to get better at an extremely fast rate, he has great chemistry with our core players and is awesome in the open court. He probably won't start the first 20 games but I promise he will be playing more minutes than Kleiza by season's end.

[Built Ford Tough]

I think I would go with Kleiza instead of Weems, but it really depends more on who else the Raptors have in the starting lineup. The only positions that are clear right now is DeRozan at shooting guard and Bargnani at center (unless they make a move for a starting caliber center then he would slide to the power forward spot).

 

If Jack and Johnson (or even Davis) are the other two starters, then I think that Kleiza fits a lot better with the starters than Weems would. Kleiza isn't as good of a defender as Weems is, but his ability to stretch the defense on offense and his solid rebounding would compliment the Raptors very nicely due to Bargnani's poor rebounding and DeRozan's lack of a consistent three point shot on offense. Putting Kleiza into the starting lineup will open up driving lanes for Jack and DeRozan as opposing defenses will have to respect the shooting ability of Kleiza and Bargnani (as well as Jack when he isn't slashing) and it would also open things up a bit more for Johnson down low for putbacks, lobs and dump ins. I don't think that this would be the case if Weems would be the starter as the only real pure shooter on the floor at the beginning of the game would be Bargnani (Jack shot the ball very well last season, but was an average shooter in seasons prior so I wonder if that great shooting season is an anamoly, or the real deal). It would really clog things up for the Raptors.

 

Defensively, Jack and DeRozan are both solid defenders (or at least I expect DeRozan to be this season at least) while Johnson is a good defender down low, so I think that the Raptors can afford to have Kleiza's poor defense int he starting lineup. His rebounding ability would be a very welcome addition to the starting lineup and would help make up for his lack of defense.

 

However, if the Raptors are going to keep Calderon in the starting lineup, I think it would make more sense to have Weems start due to his superior defensive ability. He isn't the long range threat that Kleiza is, but Weems would benefit more from Calderon's passing ability as he is better at moving off of the ball and is much more athletic.

 

I don't think it is that big of a deal who starts though because I think that the two of them will basically split the time and will both see around the same amount of time. They'll probably split the time at the 3 and spend some time at the 2 (Weems) and 4 (Kleiza).

[Newman]

Weems unless the Raptors really want to make the playoffs and feel they can make the playoffs. Obviously Kleiza is a better player at this point but developing Weems is not a bad idea.