How do you rank our centers?

[RodyTur10]

Simple question, how do you rank our centers at their current level? It's TTT anyway 
Excluding Tacko Fall (not a real option i.m.o) and Grant Williams (not really a center).

[gouki88]

It's really tough. I was playing with this all throughout tonight's game (and over the whole season, really). All of our big-men are significantly floored. They defend different types of opposition to different extents (Thompson did really well on Giannis and was poor against Miami, for example), which makes it really difficult for me to state that one is definitively the best defender of the bunch.
Thompson is the best rebounder, Theis is the best at undervalued things like hedging, screening and hand-offs, and Timelord provides the best vertical threat we've had in years on both ends.

I'm not sure I even have an answer...

[Jvalin]

In a vacuum, imo Timelord > Thompson > Theis. That being said, fit matters. The C's are built around Tatum and Brown. They are both versatile wings who defend multiple positions. We want to maximize the effectiveness of our 2 best players, hence we run a switch-heavy defensive scheme. This means we need a starting Center who can play D on the perimeter. Timelord ain't got the lateral quicks to play D on the perimeter. From this perspective, imo Thompson > Theis > Timelord.

I believe Theis is our best perimeter defender. Thompson is a bit worse on perimeter D, but he's the better player overall, hence I rank him above Theis.

[BitterJim]

Right now, I'd have to go with Theis-Thompson-Timelord, with Theis only beating out Thompson due to his familiarity with the system (and this is based on a vacuum, so their ideal role with this team rather than their actual role this year. I'm trying not to punish Theis and Thompson for being played together). Thompson getting more familiar with the team/the team getting more familiar with him and Timelord continuing to improve could change my rankings a lot, though.

[tstorey_97]

Theis is better than Thompson because he's been here doing it for years and Thompson has played 8 games. Theis has more "things" he can do fairly well. The team "changes" depending on who is on the court also.

Robert is great and I think will continue to improve. He makes up for his weaknesses with energy and "upward" range. He can get his hand to any ball in flight pretty dang well.

I will say Robert and Grant with PP, Tatum and Semi quite simply "mowed down" the Miami bench (1st half). It was a sight to see. Miami would arrive at half court and the Celtics defensive buzz saw just murdered'em. This started the 14 to 5 point Celtics run or whatever and Robert and Grant were right in the middle of it. Spoelstra couldn't hit the "timeout button" quick enough.

I suppose you could just arrange Semi-Grant-Robert-TT-Theis as our "one center" and hope Stevens gets the matchups right.

[Tr1boy]

Timelord


TT
Theis

[jambr380]

Time Lord, Theis, Thompson.

That is not to say I am really low on TT, but I guess I expected a bit more - maybe he is just taking a little time getting started. No matter what, I want TL getting a lot more minutes - the guy is a game changer.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

What's with the "who's better" conversation? Why? Each guy brings unique abilities that help our team win games. Each one can help us in the playoffs in different ways. The Cs are paying a combined 17 million on a three-man center rotation.

[Roy H.]

I’m with goukki; it’s really hard to differentiate.

I really like Timelord in his current role.  He’s thriving with the bench.  Regarding a starter, I lean toward Theis.

[mig3zwo]

you might have to rank them in categories... athleticism, bb iq, shooting... whatever you think matters.

they each have good aspects in their game... and bad ones. outside shooting comes to mind.
I think Theis complements team defense and offensive flow best, as he just knows how and when to switch, and to set proper pics and seals. but thats about it.

TT and TL are better rebounders, scorers and better athletes... but does it always help he team win?

Get the bone saw and see if we can build a TTT-hybrid.

[td450]

It seems that Robert Williams is taking the next step. I wasn't sure he would.

One thing that has been showing up for a while but became really obvious last night: Williams is a different player on offense when Pritchard is playing. Williams is showing some real cleverness in finding the right spots to receive the ball and finish, and Pritchard is consistently getting him the ball in traffic with enough room to score.

[knuckleballer]

As others have said, it’s difficult to determine an order of best to worst especially with TL’s improved play.  They all bring different strengths and weaknesses to the table. 

Trying to figure out their playing time is the challenge.  I think it’s clear that having more than one of the three on the court together doesn’t work.  So what should be done?  There’s 48 minutes in a game.  Playing each about 16 minutes a game isn’t going to make any of them happy and probably isn’t good for the flow of the team.  Mixing and matching their minutes to their opponents and game situations is likely the answer, but I’m not sure that’s going to work well either. 

I like the idea of giving each one every third game off.  It’s outside the box and I doubt Stevens would go for it.  TT has a lot of mileage and Theis and TL have both had their share of injuries.  It might help keep them healthy while allowing each to get meaningful minutes in the games they play.  I doubt this will even be considered though. 

I feel something needs to be done though because the two big lineup is a failure.  I suspect we’re just going to continue to be frustrated by it.  Hopefully, they can make a move for a good sized wing or power forward/swing at the trade deadline (possibly trading away Theis).  Or perhaps an injury will sort it out.

[Somebody]

Tie between TT and Theis to me. Timelord is still a "stealth burner" in the vein of Nick Collison imo - he's only so effective because teams don't realise how much he is burning them in limited minutes.

[Jvalin]

Tie between TT and Theis to me. Timelord is still a "stealth burner" in the vein of Nick Collison imo - he's only so effective because teams don't realise how much he is burning them in limited minutes.

So basically Timelord is effective cause other teams are stupid?

[LilRip]

I went with Thompson > Timelord > Theis

Theis right now has the benefit of being in the system for a while now and TT is disadvantaged by missing training camp. I gotta believe this is why Theis is there in crunch time while TT is not.

But if I were starting a team today, and I already had Tatum and Brown and Smart and Kemba? I’d take TT first. He has enough mobility that switching is still possible and he generates extra possessions for a 3-point-happy team.

Generally tho, all 3 are productive role players and we should be happy we have so many bigs. I think CBS needs to stop with his 2-big lineup tho. Stick with TT, play TL as first big off the bench, and then play DT in spot minutes.