I 2nd that, Lee also deserves more minutes
Only when he plays like he did today, and he's only done that maybe 2 or 3 times this entire season (today included).
The way he's played 90% of the time I wouldn't give him minutes either, but if he played like he did today I'd be starting him for 25-30 minutes a night until Bradley returns.
JG haters will shut up for at least a day.
This is why you don't get too down on him, you can see the capabilities he possesses.
Yeah but as with Lee, this is all irrelevant if he's only going to bring it 3 or 4 times in a 13 or so game stretch. Eveyone has their bad games, but that's just not good enough. All the talent in the world is useless if you barely ever see it.
rondo can play defense, but seems to not care for it..and would rather play the poke away D....instead of squaring in front of HIS man
I agree. Rondo has the ability to be one of the best on-ball defenders in the league when he puts in the effort. His defensive play a couple of years back was absolutely elite, but the more his assist average goes up the more his defense declines.
It seems like he doesn't want to play hard D because he wants to save his energy for the offensive end, and when we don't have Bradley out there we can't afford that. I'd rather he get back down to averaging 8 assists a night and play strong defense.
Whenever Rondo is out there our other guards looks horrendous defensively, but now that Rondo isn't there suddenly Terry and Lee look like defensive masterminds. It's no coincidence.
When you have an Elite defensive player like Bradley then you can cover for Rondo's lacking effort on that side of the floor. Guys like Terry and Lee however are solid enough defensively to make things hard for their own man, but not good enough to be able to do that AND cover for another teammates sloppiness.
I get what you're saying, but I'll take a wide open KG/Bass pick and pop jump shot any day, every day, all day.
The difference tonight is that Green is being much more aggressive and being fed the ball and Terry is given more reigns to play as the playmaker and not just a spot up shooter. His penetration is helping us tremendously.
Also Sullinger is probably having his best game of his career tonight doesn't hurt.
Even Lee is playing well.
Lets not forget this is the trailblazers people. They are going to be looking for the #1 lotto pick come draft day.
I'll take inside shots, free throws and layups over pick-and-pop jumpers anytime.
Also the "this is the Blazers" argument is void - Detroit slapped us, we needed overtime to beat Orlando (we have more talent on our bench then they do in their starting lineup) and we barely beat Washington (the worst team in the league) without their two best players.
If we played that was then this victory would not have been so decisive. We held them to under 80 points and our lead never droped below double digits - that is Celtics basketball.
The play of Green, Lee and Terry helped, but with Rondo out they had a bigger role in the offense - the fact that they had big games may not be an accident.
When you stop focusing on his offensive struggles and realize other good things he's doing on the floor? He's one of the few Celtics that I can say has been playing with high energy, regardless of whether he is playing well or not.
Not at all. His defense has been pretty mediocre at times, his decision making has been questionable, and I think he's leading the team in turnovers per 48 minutes.
I've seen 2 or 3 games this year where he's played as you describe, even if you ignore the scoring side.
Anyone wondering why Collins hasn't been playing that much? He is probably rusty, but it seems like it would take a lot of oil to get his engine running.
After today I think we know why - he looked terrible tonight, and he made a borderline All-Star (Aldridge) look like a hall of famer. On the defensive side Fab Melo looks a million times better, and offensively he really can't get much worse.
I don't think Rondo needs to play less. He just needs to stop being a liability on defense. The way he plays on that end of the floor is a large part of our defensive problems in my opinion.
To be honest, I don't think it would hurt. Maybe if he was playing 32 minutes a night instead of 38 he's have enough left in the tank to still bring some effort on defense.
I agree with you completely about his impact on our D. I think it hurts us even more then a lack of bigs.
I'd be resting Rondo another 6 minutes or so each night and splitting those minutes between Terry and Lee. I'd like to see Terry up around 30 minutes a night, and Lee up around 26 - 28 while Bradley is out.