My defense of Morris Peterson was more popular than I thought it would be, getting linked by Truehoop and Kelly Dwyer at Yahoo! and was mentioned on The Basketball Jones podcast.  So here's a little follow-up posting my full table of 5th options.  Again, this list was created by taking the lowest-scoring player with starts in at least half their team's games.  I made a few judgement calls – like Josh Boone over Collins in New Jersey, since I believe Boone is starting now.  For three teams it wasn't obvious who is the real fifth starter – mostly because of lineups being shuffled a lot or injuries.

And again – this is purely evaluation as a scoring production.  I know some of these guys are out there for rebounding or defense, but the fact remains that as a fifth scoring option amongst the starters, Mo Peterson produces well, and a lot of these other guys don't.  I'm talking to you, Ben Wallace.  Oh- I also realized I was probably unfair to Troy Murphy in the original post.  He's a better scorer than Mo Pete too.

And to close this post, I'm going to pluck out a comment made by Wow from the original post, since his question got me thinking, and post my reply and his as well.

Wow: Uh I got linked here from Truehoop but mopete isn't supposed to be the 5th scoring option… you're saying tyson chandler is better endowed in scoring than mopete? WHAT THE HELL?

Ryan: Indeed – that's exactly what I'm saying. Tyson Chandler's ability to finish around the rim makes him a vital offensive peice. A player doesn't have to commence a play as long as he's capable of finishing it. It's the same premise as a pick and pop/roll or a drive and kick. That leads to another point. Good offensive players don't have to be offensive creators. You really should only have two, maybe three of those sorts of players on your team – otherwise everyone needs the ball in their hands to score. The Hornets are perfectly designed in this respect. They have creators in Paul and West and Pargo/Bobby off the bench and exceptional finishers in Peja, Chandler and Pete. Look at the Spurs – they have creators in Duncan and Parker – with Ginobili off the bench. Bowen, Finley, Barry, Horry, even Oberto – they are all finishers.

Wow: After mulling it over I see your point… but isn't Chandler's increased role on offense also due to the fact that Peterson's offense has digressed? Man, I guess I just miss the the MoPete from 2 years back.

So what do the rest of you think?  Would you rather have a few creators and a crew of finishers around them?  Or do you think having more creators than that does help a team?  The Warriors seem to be built that way with Davis, Ellis, Jackson, Harrington and Azubuike all capable creators.  Which would you prefer?