No Eddie Tonight

[Redz]

Just relaying note from the front page.  A death in the family will keep Eddie House out of action tonight.

Eddie's been on a bit of a roll.  Do we finally get to see some Pruitt?

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2008/12/house_out_for_j.html

[BrickJames]

Again, sorry to the House family.

I want to see Cassell for two reasons: one, we haven't seen him yet this year and two, I think he is a better matchup for DWill.  Thoughts?

[Chris]

Again, sorry to the House family.

I want to see Cassell for two reasons: one, we haven't seen him yet this year and two, I think he is a better matchup for DWill.  Thoughts?

I agree on all accounts. 

[Redz]

Again, sorry to the House family.

I want to see Cassell for two reasons: one, we haven't seen him yet this year and two, I think he is a better matchup for DWill.  Thoughts?

I'm a little curious about Sam too...Matchup wise I don't know what to expect from either guy.

[EJPLAYA]

Condolences to the House family!

This would be a great time to see what Pruitt is made of. A very rusty Sam can't be better than Gabe. Rondo will get more minutes than usual unless he is in foul trouble. We need to see what Gabe can do given the chance. Nothing to lose.

[D Dub]

^^  I agree.

I am thinking Pruit would be better off defending D Will than Sam.  Kind of cruel to wake Sammy from his hibernation and tell him to guard one the leagues best pg's.  I would prefer Sam stay inactive until after the All Star break.

[Chris]

Condolences to the House family!

This would be a great time to see what Pruitt is made of. A very rusty Sam can't be better than Gabe. Rondo will get more minutes than usual unless he is in foul trouble. We need to see what Gabe can do given the chance. Nothing to lose.

You think a couple minutes of garbage time a week makes Gabe less rusty than Sam?  They both have been practicing, as far as I know, so I think the "rust" part doesn't really come into play.

Of course none of us know who is better at this point in their careers, Gabe or Sam, since no one has seen Sam play since last year, and Gabe has barely played any NBA ball at all.

With that said, I have a feeling we will be seeing more Gabe than Sam tonight, because I don't think they are ready to break the glass on Sam yet.

And yes, I am still convinced they plan on Sam being the backup PG by the end of the season.

[RAcker]

Expect Rondo to play A LOT of minutes tonight if he is able to stay out of foul trouble.  To me this is not good, but not necessarily bad either.  It forces a team that is playing really well to shake off any ounce of funk they could be slipping into and really concentrate on playing mistake-free ball. 

Eddie has knocked down key shots to end opponents' runs lately and it will be good to see the other guys (and I expect Pruitt to see the backup minutes) forced to take those shots.  Hey, we have won minus KG, so why not E House?

[Chris]

Expect Rondo to play A LOT of minutes tonight if he is able to stay out of foul trouble.  To me this is not good, but not necessarily bad either.  It forces a team that is playing really well to shake off any ounce of funk they could be slipping into and really concentrate on playing mistake-free ball. 

Eddie has knocked down key shots to end opponents' runs lately and it will be good to see the other guys (and I expect Pruitt to see the backup minutes) forced to take those shots.  Hey, we have won minus KG, so why not E House?

This is going to be a tough night, because Williams is very good at getting players in foul trouble.  Hopefully Rondo can stay out of it, but I am not too confident.

[mikeford]

Perhaps more importantly, no
<-----

I kid, of course. My condolences to the House clan all the same.

[Bankshot]

Condolences to Eddie and his family.  

That Eddie isn't going to play stinks.  Eddie is the difference between a 5 pt win and a 15 pt win or a 10 pt win and a blowout.  On nights the C's struggle, he could be the difference in a win or loss.  He can turn a game around for the Cs rather quickly.  Still a good test to see which bench player will step up.

[EJPLAYA]

Condolences to the House family!

This would be a great time to see what Pruitt is made of. A very rusty Sam can't be better than Gabe. Rondo will get more minutes than usual unless he is in foul trouble. We need to see what Gabe can do given the chance. Nothing to lose.

You think a couple minutes of garbage time a week makes Gabe less rusty than Sam?  They both have been practicing, as far as I know, so I think the "rust" part doesn't really come into play.

Of course none of us know who is better at this point in their careers, Gabe or Sam, since no one has seen Sam play since last year, and Gabe has barely played any NBA ball at all.

With that said, I have a feeling we will be seeing more Gabe than Sam tonight, because I don't think they are ready to break the glass on Sam yet.

And yes, I am still convinced they plan on Sam being the backup PG by the end of the season.

Considering Sam played almost 20 games of regular season and the playoffs without shaking that rust off, YES I DO!

[Chris]

Condolences to the House family!

This would be a great time to see what Pruitt is made of. A very rusty Sam can't be better than Gabe. Rondo will get more minutes than usual unless he is in foul trouble. We need to see what Gabe can do given the chance. Nothing to lose.

You think a couple minutes of garbage time a week makes Gabe less rusty than Sam?  They both have been practicing, as far as I know, so I think the "rust" part doesn't really come into play.

Of course none of us know who is better at this point in their careers, Gabe or Sam, since no one has seen Sam play since last year, and Gabe has barely played any NBA ball at all.

With that said, I have a feeling we will be seeing more Gabe than Sam tonight, because I don't think they are ready to break the glass on Sam yet.

And yes, I am still convinced they plan on Sam being the backup PG by the end of the season.

Considering Sam played almost 20 games of regular season and the playoffs without shaking that rust off, YES I DO!

He also played 38 games earlier last year with the Clippers where he played much closer to his career norm (12.8 pts, 4.7 ast, in 25.7 minutes).  That would at the very least provide reasonable doubt that his play with the Celtics last year was an accurate view of where he is now.  There is just as much evidence that he was either injured, or tired (which could be why he is sitting out the beginning of this season), which led to an aberation where he played significantly below his career norm.

So NO YOU DON'T (sorry, couldn't help myself).

[MBz]

Is it possible we'll see Tony Allen play a little PG tonight?  Doc has used him at the point in the past and to be honest, I'd rather have him guarding Williams then either Sam I Am or Pruitt.

[Chris]

Is it possible we'll see Tony Allen play a little PG tonight?  Doc has used him at the point in the past and to be honest, I'd rather have him guarding Williams then either Sam I Am or Pruitt.

Its a possibility, although the problem is, who then is the backup wing?  In the past Doc has tried to change his rotation as little as possible when guys got injured, often trying to simply slip a non-rotation guy into the rotation over having established role players try to play outside of their role.  I would expect the same thing tonight.  Although I wouldn't be surprised to see Tony covering Deron for a good portion of the night, but I think someone else will be running the point on offense.