I know it's a radical idea, but looking at Ginobili coming off the bench (and even Barbosa to a degree), it just might work. Everything is contingent on:

a). We get an athletic wing player in the draft, that can finish and attack the rim (like a Thaddeus Young). He'd get thrown into the fire and be our starting SG. Drastic, yes, but it would certainly accelerate his learning curve.
b). Tayshaun steps up his scoring load to around 17+ PPG, to compensate for Rip's scoring drop.
c). Flip Saunders can commit to playing no one more than 35 MPG.
d). Rip realizes that this can be for the good of the team, leading to a title.

Rip would give our bench instant credibility. Rip and Dice alone would probably make our bench the most productive in the NBA. Rip would probably contend with Leandro Barbosa of Sixth Man of the Year. I could see 25-30 consistent points per night from our bench alone.

Our team would stay much fresher and the energy would be through the roof. If no one starter is playing more than 35 MPG, that means we see more Maxiell, Delfino, and Amir. All energy guys.

Come playoff time (man, that seems like an eternity away now) our guys aren't worn down and our team plays with much more intensity. Thoughts?

I don't think you are crazy. Many teams have done that because you can feature that player off the bench. Other than Manu, guys like Gordon have come off the bench as well. What it does is allow you to post up Sheed more to start a game and then throw RIP in there as a change of pace.

I like the idea, but not with drafting a guy. This makes more sense of you bring in a guy like Hill or Mo Pete to start for RIP. You have to have someone NBA ready. You would still give RIP his 33 minutes off the bench though.

Another possibility would be to start Delfino. Clearly he is not a full time scorer and more of a complimentary player. If he played with our starters he would provide the little things and not be counted on to score. Right now he is looked at to be our scorer off the bench, which he is not.

Never will happen in a million years, but honestly that is a pretty damn good idea. It would be interesting to see if Rip would go for that. What do you think about drafting a point guard or acquiring one and playing Chaunce at the 2 even though he would be undersized? The remaining length of us would help and how many SG's "actually" post up during a game or work on that part of their game?

I agree it won't happen. Flip is too stupid to do that. RIP could be our Vinny Johnson. I think RIP would do it as long as his minutes are the same. It would actually get him more shots and I bet he'd actually score closer to 25+ a game than 20.

And no, I don't want Billups at SG. He couldn't guard swingmen and we'd be burnt there. Prince takes the best wing player and that would leave Billups on SF's at times.

Next season, Joe D was talking about everyone's minutes going down. So, maybe they can sell Rip on the idea of playing less minutes and just playing them at a different time. Plus, Rip's always looking for a new challenge.....becoming 6th MOTY could be another challege. Joe D/Flip could also sell Rip on the idea of being the leader of the second unit, since Chauncey is pretty much the leader of the starters.

He'd come in maybe 5-6 minutes into the quarter and finish each quarter strong. Imagine when the opposing team is bringing in their reserves, we're bringing in Rip to run havok and score buckets. We could go on like 8-0 runs to finish nearly every quarter.

This is the same idea that I have been championing, only I suggest bringing Tay off the bench (assuming we can land/draft a starting calibre SF, i.e. Battier).

Tay needs his minutes cut, too.

edit: I also think it's more realistic with Tay than with Rip since Tay hasn't been an All Star yet. I don't think Rip sees himself as a 2nd unit guy, not that Tay does, of course.

i think i'm envisioning Rip as opposed to Tayshaun, more from an energy standpoint. the mere fact that Rip's game is him running around like a laser all over the court would run havok on the opposing back up players.

also, i think you keep tayshaun as a starter for his defense.

i know it'd be a tough sell for Rip to come off the bench, but in light of all the disappointments and the Spurs' success (Ginobili) maybe he'd consider. you'd tell him that he's still finishing every game (like Dice), but you're just playing him stategically different.

getting a GHill or MoPete as a starter, instead of throwing a rookie out there is probably much more realistic. then, i guess you can draft a PG prospect.

i see three potential negatives here:

1. Rip's ego won't allow it and he pouts (he might object, but i doubt he becomes a problem).

2. Flip Saunders mucks up the rotation and no chemistry is developed (possible).

3. Our starters can't score with Rip not being there (possible, but i think they pick up the slack).

I think this is where Rip will eventually end up, but he's not there just yet.

Prince is easily a better candidate to come off the bench.

I think Rip's game would actually benefit from less minutes. Rip was a ~20 ppg player in ~32 mpg back when we had the Alternators, getting to the line a lot.

I think everyone's game would benefit from less minutes. They'd be able to work a little bit harder during the minutes they had instead of having to save some for the end. You can't notice it as much during the beginning of the season but towards the end you can really start to tell who needed 3-4 less minutes per game all season.

I think Tay off the bench would be a bad idea. He isn't aggressive enough with his scoring, and the pressure on him to score would be even greater. I also think RIP and Dyess work well together with dribble hand offs. If you bring RIP off the bench, it allows you to post Sheed and Tay more and then focus on the screen stuff with RIP off the bench. It's too hard to get Sheed AND Rip going at the same time because if you are feeding one, you are not feeding the other. They are BY FAR our best scoring options when you feed them.

I think Tay off the bench would be a bad idea. He isn't aggressive enough with his scoring, and the pressure on him to score would be even greater.

That's exact reason that I think it would work.

Tay wouldn't have to compete with four other scorers (starters) for shots.

I think he lacks the confidence to shoot right now, but if he knew that he was being relied on to carry more of the load, he certainly has the ability.

I think he's confused about his role in the offense right now, so this would help define it more for him.

Rip and McDyess have games that suit each other, Rip coming off that curl and either shooting, McDyess jumper, or McDyess roll. The question is can the first lineup get consistent scoring? A recommitted Sheed, and maybe a scoring 2 guard in the draft would allow this to happen. Rip would be reassurred that the lineups going down the stretch would be
Chauncey
Rip
Tayshaun
McDyess
Sheed

What facility do you plan on committing Rasheed to?