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| 2012/2013 NBA Preseason | ||
|---|---|---|
 | @ |  |
| November 17, 2012 | ||
| Verizon Center | ||
| 7 p.m. | ||
| CSN, 106.7 The Fan | ||
| Starting Lineups | ||
| Mo Williams | PG | A.J. Price |
| Randy Foye | SG | Jordan Crawford |
| Paul Millsap | SF | Trevor Ariza |
| Derrick Favors | PF | Jan Vesely |
| Al Jefferson | C | Emeka Okafor |
| 2011/12 Advanced Stats | ||
| 91.4 (12th) | Pace | 92.5 (9th) |
| 106.8 (6th) | ORtg | 101 (T25th) |
| 106.1 (19th) | DRtg | 106.2 (21st) |
| Also see: SLC Dunk | StoryStream | ||
WASHINGTON -- Let's just jump right into it: the Wizards will be changing their starting lineup. Jan Vesely will start for Trevor Booker, and Jordan Crawford will start for Bradley Beal. Utah is also changing its lineup, starting Randy Foye for Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors for Marvin Williams.
Randy Wittman was really coy about his changed lineup. He initially suggested that things would stay the same, but then later indicated that a change would happen.
"Listen, I think you guys know me well enough that I'm not one to stand aside and I'm not afraid to push different buttons, whether it's a lineup change or how many minutes a guy gets," he said. "I just felt like it may be time for a change."
Why Vesely and Crawford? Crawford's inclusion makes sense, in that he's played far better than Beal thus far this season. The decision to start Vesely is a bit more curious, given Vesely's struggles this year. He couldn't keep Elton Brand off the glass on Wednesday, and Derrick Favors will be a much bigger challenge.
Speaking of Favors, he will be starting with Millsap and Jefferson in the Jazz's vaunted "big" lineup. Before the game, Corbin said that he goes to that lineup to "force our will on other teams." The Jazz have struggled recently, so a change was in order. Corbin did say that he would be watching for foul trouble and would move away from his big lineup if it gives up too much from a speed standpoint defensively.
Corbin also said the move was made in part to get young guard Gordon Hayward more chances to make plays.
"He's too much of a weapon for us to him not to have opportunities to get the ball," Corbin said. "With the starting group, he hadn't had a chance to get it in his hands as much. We want to bring him off the bench and go to him a lot more."
Meanwhile, Wittman did say that newcomer Shaun Livingston would get plenty of chances. Livingston spent a lot of time working with Sam Cassell before the game, particularly on throwing passes to a curling guard, then immediately receiving a pass back and shooting a mid-range jumper. I would expect to see Livingston get at least 15 minutes tonight.
"We're going to keep it simple with him," Wittman said. "There's some things that when he was here his first trip through here that we still have in our system that we'll use and he's familiar with. We'll keep it simple for him. Obviously, he's only been here two days, [but] we're going to throw him out there."