Gabe Pruitt....I like!

[mainevent]

Lost in the shuffle from our first ps game and the POB and Sir William hype was the solid play of Ole' Gabe. Smiley, I like to call him. Smiley to me was the second best PG last night. Honestly, Eddie is Vinnie Johnson part deux. If he's hot, he's good. If he's off, get him off the floor quick. Couple that with the fact that his size is a detriment guarding bigger points ie Lou Will last night. As soon as LW came in the game and Eddie was in, I knew he would get abused. Now Smiley on the other hand, did a very good job on LW. He has length at the point, he's heady, plays under control and simply does what he's supposed to do. This kid can NOT get cut. Period. I hope Doc was watching the game last night (I'm sure he will watch the film a trillion times either way) but Gabe belongs. Point blank, Period. The backup 1 spot should be his this time next year and that translates to not being a downgrade when RR needs a breather. He can also play the 2 if need be...again, his height allows that to happen. Another year on the roster, getting bigger, gaining confidence, I think Smiley upgrades our second unit tremendously. If it's between him and Scal getting cut and Michael Rappaport makes the team, I will call the brain doctor personally and tell him he's a basket case!

By the way, I see Sammy boy as more of a bench coach and spot player than an actual rotation player.

[RonJohn]

Look for Pruitt to be trade bait as well. If he plays like he did last night, he maybe shipped out with someone to create room on the roster. I personally thought he looked okay, but there was a struggle with the pressure from the 6ers and Scal ended up with the ball in his hands. Not a good decision from the one. If you need him as a relief valve that's fine, but get the ball back immediately from him.

[crownsy]

Look for Pruitt to be trade bait as well. If he plays like he did last night, he maybe shipped out with someone to create room on the roster. I personally thought he looked okay, but there was a struggle with the pressure from the 6ers and Scal ended up with the ball in his hands. Not a good decision from the one. If you need him as a relief valve that's fine, but get the ball back immediately from him.

that was a designed play they were running to beat the press, its not gabe's fault that scal sucks at basketball and getting rid of the ball quickly. he ran the play as diagramed.

the play worked fine when it was powe or walker catching the outlet out of the press after the back court pick. they did a fine job of setting the pick, rolling to catch the outlet and getting it back to the 1 as he came across halfcourt.

[Zoots]

I was impressed with Pruitt's play last night too.  It was the best I've seen him look as a C.  He did a very solid job defensively on Lou Williams, and for once, didn't look tentative when running the point.

Hope to see a lot more of Gabe this pre-season to see how he follows up this solid outing. 

[ManUp]

Pruitt looked really good although I think he should've been a little more aggressive finding his own offense. He has a sweet jumper he might as well use it. Too bad we have 3 point guards who are probably ahead of him in the depth chart. He's a great fit for the 3rd unit which seems to be made up of athletes.

[jdpapa3]

I don't think Lou Williams scored on Gabe once. He was scoring on Eddie at will. Just shooting jumpshots over him easily. Williams went into a jump shot on one play and had to pass in mid air because Gabe was going to stuff it.

[2short]

I think Pruitt looked good and we didn't really get to see the best part of his game (sweet jumper).  I think he's fine for 3rd string and developing as backup pg/sg.  Can't understand sams signing.

[KJR]

I completely agree with the post.

Gabe Pruitt should be the backup point guard by mid-year, if not before.  He at least deserves a lot of playing time during pre-season and early in the year.  It's worth it to risk losing a game or two in the fall in order to have a better team by April.

The most important quality for the backup point guard is defense.  The starting five will almost always give the team the lead.  It's nice if the second unit can extend the lead, but at a minimum they should not give it up.  How many times last year did we see the second unit lose the lead early in the second period only to have the starters regain the lead by halftime?

Against Stuckey, LWilliams, Pargo we need a defender that can keep them from having big games.  Pruitt has the ability to be a much better defender than Eddie or Sam.

The second most important quality for the backup is continuing to get everyone involved on offense (and not turning the ball over).  It's not important to heave up a bunch of shots.  Eddie is best at being a wide open spot shooter when Rondo, Pierce or Ray Allen is penetrating.  When Eddie's dribbling the ball, other teams trap on the way up the floor.  Either there's a turnover, or he breaks the press by passing to a big man above the top of the key.  When we do this, we're playing into the other team's hands.  This is not our best offensive set, with KG, Baby or Powe turning, dribbling and distributing the ball.  It also pretty much eliminates Eddie as a shooter, unless he's playing a two-man game, and then he doesn't have proper spacing.

I haven't seen enough of Pruitt to know if he's good enough to be directing the team and distributing the ball, but he deserves a shot.  He has the fifth best stroke on the team, and he seems pretty athletic.  I'd give him a lot of playing time early in the season and see what he can do.  We can always go back to Eddie and Sam if necessary, and we will be no worse off.

The reason Doc was always shifting between Eddie and Sam at backup point last year was because neither one was consistently effective and both got torched on defense.  If Pruitt defends the point better and can distribute the ball without a lot of turnovers, the second unit will perform much more consistently this year.

Eddie should be the third option at both the 1 and the 2, a role player as a spot shooter.

[Eeyore III]

Another nice post, mainevent, TP for this and your main-page post on the back-up SF situation the other day.

It's hard to get a nickname to stick, though, even though Smiley is pretty good.  I'll be attending the annual Manchester NH game tomorrow, and will be looking to see how Smiley does on Skip To My Lou, and how POB does on Yao (ouch!).

[mainevent]

Thanks Eeyore...only my observations but I really like what I am seeing from both Smiley as the backup 1 and Sir William as the backup 3. Hope you have good seats for the game tomorrow. I live in Atl, but my corporate HQ is in Boston. I managed to barter my way into tickets for 2 home games at the Garden this season. We actually sponsored the Celtics the year before KG and declined to renew last year because our contract was due to be signed before the big trade and the company didnt see the value (I know, I felt like kicking the COO's you know what after the trade happened..Lol!)

[xmuscularghandix]

i'd really like to see gabe as the backup point, or atlease the 3rd (over sam).

when it was house/TA it looked more like Tony was the 1 and Eddie was the 2, which is fine by me becuase it takes care of the issue of teams pressuring EH, and it could create matchup issues (example) tony allen being guarded by a point guard.

[liam]

I like Gabe a lot too, from what I've seen. He should be playing combo guard off the bench. I'd love to see him on the floor with Rondo. It's fun to watch a team push the ball with two ball handlers in there. I like Gabe's shooting also and that half court pass the other night was a true point guard move.