Prichard out of rotation, a mistake

[liam]

Who do you take out of the rotation for him?

 I'd play him over Nesmith h

Nesmith isn't in the rotation.

yep and Nesmith pretty clearly has a much higher ceiling.  Pritchard is very old, he will most likely be out of the league in a season or 2 based on what he is right now.

I disagree with your opinion. Pritchard has a longterm future as a valuable back-up point guard.
Excellent pick by Ainge, although Bane would have been fine as well.

Could've had Bane and Pritchard and Nesmith!


BAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

[droopdog7]

Coaching is about choices.  Who is PP going to play over?  I don’t see anyone.  And you can’t be scraping minutes here or there because that takes away from the effectiveness of others and doesn’t really help PP to get scrap minutes.

[Vermont Green]

The guard rotation just does not have enough minutes:

Smart    34 min
Schro     34 min
Brown    33 min
Rich       24 min
Lang      19 min

That is 144 minutes for two positions (96 min).  Not everyone has played all the games so this is not a projection for a fully healthy roster but it still shows what has to fit into the available playing time.  Even if you say that Richardson is a SF, that is still 120 guard minutes.  Or take out all of Langford's minutes, still at 101 minutes.

There just are not minutes for Pritchard.  This is not a surprise.

[wdleehi]

Pritchard playing with Schroder just doesn't work defensively.   Not enough minutes left to play next to Smart or with neither Smart nor Schroder on the floor. 

[ozgod]

In a vacuum Pritchard probably deserves minutes. Unfortunately it's not a vacuum, he has lots of competition for the spot which he didn't have last year. He needs to be ready in case of injury but right now he's probably behind Smart, Schroder and Richardson for the ball handling spots and he's too small and too poor a defender to really play on the wing.

[gift]

It's likely that next season proves to be a make it or break it season for Pritchard. Right now he's buried, but that doesn't mean he can't improve. Schroder is gone next year and Smart and Richardson are no guarantees to be around. He might have his opportunity next year (or later this year). Team option for the year after that.

[td450]

Coaching is about choices.  Who is PP going to play over?  I don’t see anyone.  And you can’t be scraping minutes here or there because that takes away from the effectiveness of others and doesn’t really help PP to get scrap minutes.

So we have Richardson, who is a useful vet, and will remain a better player in the short run. However, playing him destroys the ability of the team to develop 3 different younger players, two of whom could become better than him down the road.

So yeah, its about choices. I would prefer to play Langford and Nesmith. If they aren't showing improvement at about 2/3 of the way through the season, start playing Richardson to get him ready for the playoffs.

I'd rather see Richardson as insurance, and develop Langford and Nesmith. I'm not sure there was going to be any place for Pritchard once we lucked onto Schroder. We should have traded him for whatever we could get, even a 2nd rounder.

[slamtheking]

Coaching is about choices.  Who is PP going to play over?  I don’t see anyone.  And you can’t be scraping minutes here or there because that takes away from the effectiveness of others and doesn’t really help PP to get scrap minutes.

So we have Richardson, who is a useful vet, and will remain a better player in the short run. However, playing him destroys the ability of the team to develop 3 different younger players, two of whom could become better than him down the road.

So yeah, its about choices. I would prefer to play Langford and Nesmith. If they aren't showing improvement at about 2/3 of the way through the season, start playing Richardson to get him ready for the playoffs.

I'd rather see Richardson as insurance, and develop Langford and Nesmith. I'm not sure there was going to be any place for Pritchard once we lucked onto Schroder. We should have traded him for whatever we could get, even a 2nd rounder.

so Richardson sitting on the bench for 2/3 of a season, after just being resigned to a new deal, to give time to lesser players in the hopes they develop into useful rotation players RATHER THAN playing the better player to win games when we're having a lot of difficulty doing that very thing is the route you're proposing to go?  No thanks.  I'd rather win games and get a better playoff seed, avoid the play-in round and try to have HCA at least through the first round if not second.

[td450]

Coaching is about choices.  Who is PP going to play over?  I don’t see anyone.  And you can’t be scraping minutes here or there because that takes away from the effectiveness of others and doesn’t really help PP to get scrap minutes.

So we have Richardson, who is a useful vet, and will remain a better player in the short run. However, playing him destroys the ability of the team to develop 3 different younger players, two of whom could become better than him down the road.

So yeah, its about choices. I would prefer to play Langford and Nesmith. If they aren't showing improvement at about 2/3 of the way through the season, start playing Richardson to get him ready for the playoffs.

I'd rather see Richardson as insurance, and develop Langford and Nesmith. I'm not sure there was going to be any place for Pritchard once we lucked onto Schroder. We should have traded him for whatever we could get, even a 2nd rounder.

so Richardson sitting on the bench for 2/3 of a season, after just being resigned to a new deal, to give time to lesser players in the hopes they develop into useful rotation players RATHER THAN playing the better player to win games when we're having a lot of difficulty doing that very thing is the route you're proposing to go?  No thanks.  I'd rather win games and get a better playoff seed, avoid the play-in round and try to have HCA at least through the first round if not second.

Any team that doesn't carve out room to develop talent is giving up on their best opportunity to improve. Richardson is fully baked. He's a a very solid rotation guy, but isn't a plus starter. 

After Tatum, we have had 8 1st rounders, one of which became the Horford and salary space that got us Richardson. We currently have Robert Williams starting and Grant Williams as a steady but very replaceable rotation guy. That is a major team failure unless Langford and Nesmith emerge as useful players.

I get it. Richardson will be the better option for one and maybe two years. But if Langford and Nesmith developed into solid rotation players at the level Richardson is at, we go up a notch in talent and salary cap management. Being a bit better short term isn't worth it. We aren't winning anything if we don't take some chances at improving.

[Moranis]

Coaching is about choices.  Who is PP going to play over?  I don’t see anyone.  And you can’t be scraping minutes here or there because that takes away from the effectiveness of others and doesn’t really help PP to get scrap minutes.

So we have Richardson, who is a useful vet, and will remain a better player in the short run. However, playing him destroys the ability of the team to develop 3 different younger players, two of whom could become better than him down the road.

So yeah, its about choices. I would prefer to play Langford and Nesmith. If they aren't showing improvement at about 2/3 of the way through the season, start playing Richardson to get him ready for the playoffs.

I'd rather see Richardson as insurance, and develop Langford and Nesmith. I'm not sure there was going to be any place for Pritchard once we lucked onto Schroder. We should have traded him for whatever we could get, even a 2nd rounder.

so Richardson sitting on the bench for 2/3 of a season, after just being resigned to a new deal, to give time to lesser players in the hopes they develop into useful rotation players RATHER THAN playing the better player to win games when we're having a lot of difficulty doing that very thing is the route you're proposing to go?  No thanks.  I'd rather win games and get a better playoff seed, avoid the play-in round and try to have HCA at least through the first round if not second.

Any team that doesn't carve out room to develop talent is giving up on their best opportunity to improve. Richardson is fully baked. He's a a very solid rotation guy, but isn't a plus starter. 

After Tatum, we have had 8 1st rounders, one of which became the Horford and salary space that got us Richardson. We currently have Robert Williams starting and Grant Williams as a steady but very replaceable rotation guy. That is a major team failure unless Langford and Nesmith emerge as useful players.

I get it. Richardson will be the better option for one and maybe two years. But if Langford and Nesmith developed into solid rotation players at the level Richardson is at, we go up a notch in talent and salary cap management. Being a bit better short term isn't worth it. We aren't winning anything if we don't take some chances at improving.

Richardson just turned 28.  He will be in his prime for several more seasons.  Very good chance he is better than Langford or Nesmith for the entirety of their respective careers. 

The simple reality is, Nesmith and Pritchard just haven't shown enough to have earned more minutes (they both are playing over 9 mpg in 19 games, so it isn't like they aren't seeing the floor).  Langford has been better which is why he is getting double the minutes of the other two young players. There are plenty of minutes available, they all aren't going to get them, but they could all be getting more if they had earned more.

[todd_days_41]

PP is gonna kill it in China in a few years....

If a team in need of a back-up ball handler would give up a late 1st for him I'd do it RIGHT NOW. His value is unlikely to improve.

Too bad Miami has no picks for like a dozen more years.

[liam]

PP is gonna kill it in China in a few years....

If a team in need of a back-up ball handler would give up a late 1st for him I'd do it RIGHT NOW. His value is unlikely to improve.

Too bad Miami has no picks for like a dozen more years.

If his shooting comes back to or exceeds last year's level, he'll be in the NBA as a bench guard for years.

[todd_days_41]

PP is gonna kill it in China in a few years....

If a team in need of a back-up ball handler would give up a late 1st for him I'd do it RIGHT NOW. His value is unlikely to improve.

Too bad Miami has no picks for like a dozen more years.

If his shooting comes back to or exceeds last year's level, he'll be in the NBA as a bench guard for years.

Fabulous. TJ McConnell, eat your heart out.

As it is, he's not a rotation player, so I'd take a 1st for him -- not that anyone's likely to offer one. If his value is a 2nd, I'd just keep him as a cheap 3rd string.

[cons]

I'm def a pritchard fan
i haven't given up on him

isnt schroder definitely gone next year? we cant possibly re-sign him right?

Im still hoping PP gets minutes here after DS is eventually gone

I think he'll be a player in the league for awhile. I just hope its for us, not someone else.

[liam]

I'm def a pritchard fan
i haven't given up on him

isnt schroder definitely gone next year? we cant possibly re-sign him right?

Im still hoping PP gets minutes here after DS is eventually gone

I think he'll be a player in the league for awhile. I just hope its for us, not someone else.

Last year PP shot 41% from 3 which is elite. This year he's been horrible so far and he's still shooting it as well as Marcus Smart. Both shooting 30% from 3. If he averages 40% from 3 on a regular basis he'll be in the NBA.