Small ball nearly gave me and everyone else at the Garden a heart attack tonight. The Celts were up 14 and it was time to rest KG. So what does Doc do? He throws this lineup on the floor -- Rondo, Lee, Pierce, Green and Bass. Are you kidding me? OKC cut the lead from 14 to 6 when this lineup was on the floor, with lots of easy buckets. Doc called timeout and got KG back in. OKC did cut it to three, but KG was the difference in the end, playing great D, grabbing boards, and hitting a key bucket and free throws. There is absolutely no reason Doc had to have that tiny ball lineup on the floor tonight.
This. Regardless of how many true centers are in the league, for our defense and rebounding to work, we need 2 real bigs on the floor. KG and Bass, Wilcox and Bass, Wilcox and Sullinger, KG and Sullinger. When we go to Green or Pierce at the 4, we just get sliced going to the basket, and killed on the boards. The plus/minus numbers support what's obvious with our own eyes:
Garnett and Wilcox are each + 11.5, and Green is -6.
This has always been Doc's flaw as a coach -- he can only see the potential of small ball, some kind of mythical team that is flying in transition -- whereas he can't see the reality of C's small ball -- destroyed on defense, and unable to rebound period. Scottie Pippen is not walking through that door!