As you're well aware by now, the Jazz will be without Deron Williams tonight (personal reasons) as well as Ronnie Price (big toe).
Sloan has chosen to bring AK off the bench for tonight's action so as to have a second ball handler on the court for the second team.
That means that rookie Wes Matthews will start alongside fellow rookie Eric Maynor. Yes, those two that must carry around pink backpacks at all times this season.
Maynor will get to show what he can do with significant minutes and while leading the first unit on the floor.
So we'll have Maynor and Brewer in the back-court with Matthews, Boozer, & Memo up front. 82games.com doesn't have any data on the 5-man unit, so that will be interesting to see how they do.
That's when things get funky. With those starters, we have AK, Millsap, Fess, and the KOOF on the bench. That's it. AK will likely come off the bench first. I don't know who will be the true point guard at that point but we could see any one of AK, Matthews, or Ronnie B bring the ball up the floor. Look out if Maynor gets into foul trouble early.
It's all part of the new element of surprise the Jazz will be employing to switch things up. The 76ers won't know what hit them. Little do they know that Fess will be breaking out his crossover tonight and taking it to the rack all night long.
Honestly though, it's a bit exciting to see just how things will go tonight with so many people out right now. Kind of feels like a new team albeit one without Deron.
So what of Philadelphia? Well, they've beaten the bad teams they've played (barely, though they do have a win against a decent-good Bucks team) and have lost to the good teams. That sounds eerily familiar.
They're not a good three-point shooting team, thank goodness. They're only hitting about 30% right now. But they have the potential to kill us inside with AI and Speights. Thaddeus Young could be out tonight.
But what do I know about the 76ers? Check these guys out
And the Jazz guys