“Why did you just put the best offensive big man this team has had on the market? He was being developed, he was making strides, and he would have forced his way into the lineup without question.” Pio Reina was an angry man, and he wanted answers.
“You’re right to be angry,” Roberto started, “but business is business. That was a business move. Now for the corresponding basketball move. I’m aware of what the young man can do, but I’m also aware of what he can’t do. Let’s talk. What would you want in order to be able to move Masuecos around on the floor?” Roberto Gurgone knew his friend was angry, so he appealed to the basketball mind.
“A big to anchor the defense, provide rebounding, and an inside threat on offense.” Pio didn’t think he’d get it, but he thought he might as well shoot his shot.
“Okay, here’s a guy that meets your requirements. He walks in and starts. What do we put around him in the starting five? Colenbrander, Onrubia…” Roberto let the thought trail off. Pio jumped on it.
“Hairigyan, and the rest change depending on matchups and training. The problem is---”
“No longer a problem. Sorry to cut you off there. You want a rebounder and a post threat on the second unit, right?”
“Go on.”
“You need to train up Furka anyway, and he takes care of half the equation right now. We’re training up Billings; he’ll help out. Kenet and Audinys give you matchup options”, continued Roberto.
“I don’t like where this is going. Don’t do that. Please, not that.” Pio knew exactly where this was heading, and Roberto knew that he knew.
“Pio, we need to get these kids up and running. You want defense, rebounding and ball security. That’s Furka. Right now. That’s Hairigyan. Right now. Billings is right there on the doorstep. We have to go all in on the bigs right now. You know I’m gonna move him and you know I’ll replace him up front. He doesn’t have the ball security you want. We’ll be deeper up front, have more flexibility, stronger defensively and on the boards, and---”
“AND WE’LL BE IN DIVISION 4 NEXT SEASON DEVELOPING GUARDS!” Pio was red hot now. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then continued. “We haven’t had a capable shooting big man like Gareca. We haven’t had a young big man with his offense. We need guys who can put the ball in the bucket.”
“Pio, I get that. Hairigyan can replace a lot of Gareca’s production. Billings is as good a rebounder, has better ball skills, and is better defensively. He and Hairigyan can replace Gareca’s outside shooting. You want time to bring along Furka, I’ll get you that, but it’s gonna cost. You know who that cost is, and we can replace his production in waves. We’ll be deeper as a result. Deep enough to have the anchor in place to replace the temporary anchor and not miss a beat. And I know you’re already getting the guards some work; let’s update the plan and fill in the staff later. I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“And your contingency plan?”
Roberto slides the file over to Pio to look at. “Why don’t you look at the film while you’re at it?” Roberto felt confident he won his friend and his head coach over. “Now how long do you need to get him up to speed?”
“Forget the first guy; give me this guy, and all is forgiven. He doesn’t have to start. We can play him with Furka on the second unit. They complement each other almost perfectly and the overlap is exactly what we want. We can fix his faults.”
“And the other thing?”
“I’ll always hate losing players, but not as much as I hate losing games.”