Should Scal Start Against the Magic (to guard Rashard Lewis)? (merged)

[Smitty77]

Greg,

Big Baby is NOT averaging 8 rebounds per game.  Also, he is averaging almost 42 minutes per game and has had 6 OT games in the first series to increase his minutes.  He is NOT a great rebounder by ANY stretch.  Granted, Scals is a worse rebounder, but he is a MUCH better perimeter defender.  Someone else mentioned Lewis posing up Big Baby:  I am NOT worried about that as Davis can easily keep him off the block with his superior strength.

I am arguing with myself here and I know that.  I think that Glen is much quicker than we give him credit for and therefore might do better than we think on closing out of Lewis' outside shooting.  IF Lewis is just shooting over him in the first quarter, then we can bring Scals in.

OK, I just convinced myself that we ought to not change something that is working in two days.  We can make this change piecemeal in the first game or two and then make the change before heading to Orlando.

Wow, this is a great argument to have.  I am just very fearful of Scals picking up five fouls in 10 minutes I guess.  However, we do need a back up for Perk.  IF Perk can play smart and avoid foul trouble, we are OK regardless.

There, I think I just wrote the most schizophrenic response in CelticsBlog history:-)

[BASS_THUMPER]

great thread

nice to see the love and people are starting to see he can make a diffrence

start scalabrine even tho right now wit baby ballin it would never happen

Fact of the matter is, Big Baby is very nimble and is faster than Scals.  And while Scal is obviously the better perimeter defender, having Scal start would kill Big Baby's confidence.

true

baby game has improved...scal is better off the bench...one reason cause when he subs in the other team are tired and scal is fresh..but he does play better d..he  always run at the shooter with a hand up.


start scal!

[EJPLAYA]

Greg,

Big Baby is NOT averaging 8 rebounds per game.  Also, he is averaging almost 42 minutes per game and has had 6 OT games in the first series to increase his minutes.  He is NOT a great rebounder by ANY stretch.  Granted, Scals is a worse rebounder, but he is a MUCH better perimeter defender.  Someone else mentioned Lewis posing up Big Baby:  I am NOT worried about that as Davis can easily keep him off the block with his superior strength.

I am arguing with myself here and I know that.  I think that Glen is much quicker than we give him credit for and therefore might do better than we think on closing out of Lewis' outside shooting.  IF Lewis is just shooting over him in the first quarter, then we can bring Scals in.

OK, I just convinced myself that we ought to not change something that is working in two days.  We can make this change piecemeal in the first game or two and then make the change before heading to Orlando.

Wow, this is a great argument to have.  I am just very fearful of Scals picking up five fouls in 10 minutes I guess.  However, we do need a back up for Perk.  IF Perk can play smart and avoid foul trouble, we are OK regardless.

There, I think I just wrote the most schizophrenic response in CelticsBlog history:-)

Agree with the rebounding issues, as BBD is at best a mediocre rebounder. I don't know that he is much better than Scal.

As far as sticking with what is working, that seems to suggest two things that I would disagree with.

1- This has been working. We had to go 7 games including 3 overtime games against a team that had no business being in that series.

2- Teams shouldn't make adjustments to take away another teams strength. The ONLY way that the Magic should beat us is if the beat us from the outside. We are a much deeper team even without KG. They have ONE inside guy in Howard that is not much of a consistent inside scorer.

If we allow them to play their game we have a big chance of losing this series. If we limit their outside damage we should win this no problem. Why not take advantage of matchups?!

[Txusberg]

As much as I love Big Baby's improvement, the fact that he had just 2 rebounds last night (Moore had also 2 boards in just 2 mins) makes me wonder if we can rely on him as a physical presence in the paint. He is undersized , he doesn't block shots as Perk does and he is not a great rebounder. He has the body and strength to push Howard out of the paint and in the past he did a good job defending big centers like Shaq or Duncan and he can help coming from the bench if we go with Scal as PF starter but he need somebody with length to complement his game. Maybe a combo of Moore and Davis can work. Lets see, we have a new series to see how it goes.
As far as Scal, i am definitively up for him as a starter with Perk. He provides outside shoot, he spreads the floor and he defends well. He has his limitations (last night when Rose blocked his "dunk attempt" showed his lack of athleticism  ) but he knows how to help the team doing exactly what he is supposed to do. Go Celts!!

[clover]

This is only anecdotal observation, but it seems to me as if Big Baby is great at swooping in for the key rebound in tight end-of-game situations.  That suggests to me that he could be a better full-game rebounder than he is, despite his lack of height.

[MaineBleedsGreen]

Don't dismiss Gortat -- he's a quality player and a terrific rebounder. He'll provide nearly all the rebounding Howard does, and a healthy chunk of the defense too. A limited offensive player, but he knows this and plays within himself, so he's fairly solid there(very efficient, gets garbage buckets, makes few mistakes).

Gortat is, by a large margin, the second best rebounder in this series. Second best in the East playoffs overall? Behind Howard. Out of remaining teams in the East playoffs? Jeez ... he has a good case.

Gortat is largely hidden in the shadows, playing behind Howard, down there in Orlando but he is a seriously talented player. I can't wait to see which GM has the foresight and backbone to make a very aggressive play for him this summer.

Great point on Gortat. I've been beating this drum lately too. I think he'll get a very strong offer this off season. He's a restricted free agent, so it could get really interesting.

Oh, and I do like the idea of starting scal. Everyone has made my points already, but my biggest reason is so Perk and BBD can platoon on Howard and we can try to avoid relying on Mikki to play big minutes at the 5 against DH.

[Finkelskyhook]

With or without Garnett we're the better team.  Davis has earned the start and presents problems for Lewis that Scal doesn't on the other end.  Leave him in and make Lewis play defense.  He won't have to against Scal.

[ToppersBsktball10]

if kg doesnt play ill take big baby

[BillfromBoston]

With or without Garnett we're the better team.  Davis has earned the start and presents problems for Lewis that Scal doesn't on the other end.  Leave him in and make Lewis play defense.  He won't have to against Scal.

What exactly are those advantages?

Look, Davis played great against Chicago offensively and Lewis isn't a great defender, but none of Davis' strengths are designed to affect Lewis.

Davis is a face-up shooter who will occassionally fake and take it to the rim. Lewis is longer and faster than Davis, so he won't get beat by Davis' footspeed and can recover and challenge Davis' drives with his length.

Davis doesn't post up very effectively and he isn't rebounding well at all thus far, so I just don't see where he is going to give Lewis problems.

They are both spot shooters, with Lewis having more range and a greater pedigree.

I expect Davis to score some points, but if Lewis starts going off the team is going to have to go to Scal or get really creative and put Pierce on Lewis and play Marbury or TA more in a small lineup.

The Lewis/Davis matchup is the worst of all the starting 5 IMO and I'm sure Doc will say the same thing, (already has actually.)

[BillfromBoston]

The best starting 5 might just be with Pierce at the 4 and Eddie at the 2 with Redick and Tony at the 2 with Petrius - Marbury gets mixed in at the 2 when needed.

This series should all be about matchups - we've got personnel to do this effectively - Davis/Scal/Marbury off the bench at 5/4/1 with the rotating SG situation.

We'd have speed advantages at the 4, 3, 1 and good shooting/floor spacing for our slashers.

[fairweatherfan]

The best starting 5 might just be with Pierce at the 4 and Eddie at the 2 with Redick and Tony at the 2 with Petrius - Marbury gets mixed in at the 2 when needed.

This series should all be about matchups - we've got personnel to do this effectively - Davis/Scal/Marbury off the bench at 5/4/1 with the rotating SG situation.

We'd have speed advantages at the 4, 3, 1 and good shooting/floor spacing for our slashers.

That's a really interesting idea.  Eddie can probably stay with Redick pretty well on D, and it effectively adds a little more frontcourt depth by benching Baby and Scal.  I don't know how well Ray would do on Turkoglu though.  I'm curious to see if Doc tries this because if it clicks it could solve a lot of our problems in the series.

[CoachBo]

The best starting 5 might just be with Pierce at the 4 and Eddie at the 2 with Redick and Tony at the 2 with Petrius - Marbury gets mixed in at the 2 when needed.

This series should all be about matchups - we've got personnel to do this effectively - Davis/Scal/Marbury off the bench at 5/4/1 with the rotating SG situation.

We'd have speed advantages at the 4, 3, 1 and good shooting/floor spacing for our slashers.

Not enough defense at the 2, and I'm irrevocably opposed to any scheme that leaves Tony the Mistake on the floor for more than a handful of possessions at a time.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I like the small lineup idea, especially if Turk is still playing subpar. Pierce is capable of taking Lewis constantly off the dribble and putting him in foul trouble early... and Howard at that if Lewis can't keep up with him and Howard has to help.

I have no problem with Tony though if the Celtics themselves play smarter. For one, no reason to have Tony in the strong side of the ball with 5 seconds left in the clock for instance. Keep him in the weakside slashing and setting screens and picks for Allen, House, Rondo, etc.

It would all depend on how well we rebound with a small unit though.

[Spfldkid]

It would be a miracle if scal could stay near lewis, i expect him to get a lot of fouls because he will be 2 steps behind lewis, then scal will set up in the corner, like usual, wasting a 6' 9" guy who should be in or around the paint mostly, then run to the corner now and then to draw someone out...but no one ever covers scal in the corner, because he doesn't hit much, and he doesn't even follow his own shot, it is rotten that we have to think of scal as a player and not a novelty act....He has been in the league 7 years, has no post game, no inside moves, never makes a layup, dunk, no way, slow feet and is near the play on D because the court isn't really that big...! Nothing personal against the original poster or anyone else, not even scal, probably a nice guy, just not a player, we would be better off with naraja, at least he is big and an enforcer...! And that padded headband is too much....

[Smitty77]

EJPlaya,

Great points!!  I especially think that #1 is valid in that we certainly should NOT have been taken to 7 games!!

Smitty