If we get Bowen...It's all over, we win...

[cdif911]

defensive swings seem to last longer than offensive ones, the Plastic Man made it til almost 40 in the league...

I'd welcome Bruce back with open arms, especially after we get Daniels

[Evantime34]

My .02 in 2007 when we won the title most people didn't have a problem with Eddie as the back up point until the playoffs when Detroit exposed him.
I think he will be fine for the regular season, especially playing against poor teams. Against good teams in the regular season and in the playoffs Rondo will play more minutes. So if it worked in 07 why won't it work now?
Also Daniels can help with the point duties which allows Eddie to play the two on offense and the one on defense, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem.
Bowen would be a great help when playing against the top wings in the league as well as with the development of Walker and Giddens. I don't see why you don't sign him.

[Fafnir]

I picked out one game because it was a good example. Eddie was our backup point and we were the best team in the league.

I'm not sure what you're really arguing, that we would be better with a true backup point? I'll give you that. We'd also be better with better backups at a lot of positions. I just don't think there are any FAs left of sufficient quality that will do any better than Eddie in that role.

I think you're overrating his "pesky defense". Eddie is a bad defender at the one, for all of his effort. He's a disaster at the two.

What?! YOU were the one asking why it wasn't feasible to have House guard the one and now you are saying the guy can't defend! Then you agree with me that we need help at the other spots?! I think you're just trying to argue because you aren't even sticking with your own points. Based on everything you've said you agree that we need a better defender at the one, someone who can bring the ball up the ball and create better than House which will allow him to play the two, and that we need a better backup at the C spot. That's what I said. Why are you arguing?!

How am I not sticking to my own points? You argue that Eddie needs to be at SG to be effective. I disagree and I don't think I've varied what I've said about that.

Eddie isn't a good defensive player, that doesn't mean he can't be our backup point guard. He's an even worse defender when asked to defend the two, so he needs to play at the one. Someone else on the floor needs to be able to help him break pressure.

I never really talked about our backup Center situation. For what its worth I think we're fine there because Sheed is a much a C as he is a PF at this point in his career. We just need a quality fourth big, whether at the PF or C.

Because you made this big stink about me not replying to why Eddie couldn't guard the one and have someone else bring the ball up the floor. Then you go and say the guy can't defend. I think that Eddie does a better job being a pesky ball denial defender on the 2 guard than manning up 1-1 the PG. You say he can't defend either. Why then would you throw out the idea that he should be defending the one and someone else bring the ball up so we don't have to go after a PG?! Wouldn't it be smarter to get a solid PG backup that could defend and not have an issue pushing the ball up like I said in the first place? Let me answer that for you. YES IT WOULD...

Eddie isn't a good NBA defender at either position, that's not inconsistent with what I've said. He's a better defender at the 1 than the 2 because he gives up less rebounds and size to NBA points. His offensive contributions make up for being a below average defender. His defensive liabilities are worse at the 2, that's why he's a better fit with a wing who can handle if other teams press. You still haven't answered why that is a bad option, we've run it before with this team.

I'd love to have a point guard who was better than Eddie for this team, but there aren't any available as FAs.

[Fafnir]

2 years ago, Eddie House at point guard was problematic as Rondo was unproven.  That's not a problem anymore.  Moreover, Rondo is insanely athletic and has Havlicek-like endurance that will allow him to play close to 40 mpg (and perhaps more in the playoffs).  Who plays the whopping 5-10 mpg behind him in meaningful games is not of enormous consequence. 

Thus, while I don't love Eddie as a PG, given what he can do shooting the ball, and how good the team will be around him, I think we can get by with House (or PP or Allen or Daniels) bringing the ball up the court for 5-10 mpg. 

While I agree with you conclusion that House will be fine at the point I don't think Rondo is best used at 40 MPG. He's better when he's giving full effort on both ends being a disruptive force. When he's played heavy minutes he doesn't do that every possession.

[Fafnir]

My .02 in 2007 when we won the title most people didn't have a problem with Eddie as the back up point until the playoffs when Detroit exposed him.
I think he will be fine for the regular season, especially playing against poor teams. Against good teams in the regular season and in the playoffs Rondo will play more minutes. So if it worked in 07 why won't it work now?
Also Daniels can help with the point duties which allows Eddie to play the two on offense and the one on defense, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem.
Bowen would be a great help when playing against the top wings in the league as well as with the development of Walker and Giddens. I don't see why you don't sign him.

I think we'll call Bowen, who knows if he's interested in coming here. We'll just have to see once he clears waivers.

[birdandcowens]

Hi guys,
First post of many, I hope.
I think if we have a bench of Marbury, House, Daniels, BBD and Sheed, that is substantial.  The 11th and 12th players could right now be Scal and Swift.  ( I am assiming TA and Walker are gone in the Daniels deal)  Hide Hudson and Giddens in the DL.  At trade deadline, we have Scal's nice contract to trade, and can pick up what we need at that point.  I think it is more important to be playing well at the end of the season than the beginning, so let's just keep everyone healthy until then!!

[Jon]

2 years ago, Eddie House at point guard was problematic as Rondo was unproven.  That's not a problem anymore.  Moreover, Rondo is insanely athletic and has Havlicek-like endurance that will allow him to play close to 40 mpg (and perhaps more in the playoffs).  Who plays the whopping 5-10 mpg behind him in meaningful games is not of enormous consequence. 

Thus, while I don't love Eddie as a PG, given what he can do shooting the ball, and how good the team will be around him, I think we can get by with House (or PP or Allen or Daniels) bringing the ball up the court for 5-10 mpg. 

While I agree with you conclusion that House will be fine at the point I don't think Rondo is best used at 40 MPG. He's better when he's giving full effort on both ends being a disruptive force. When he's played heavy minutes he doesn't do that every possession.

Well, 40 might be a bit overkill, but I certainly see no reason why someone with his athleticism and conditioning can't play 36-38 mpg in the regular season and maybe a little more in the postseason. 

Keep in mind that we've only really seen him do the 40+ mpg thing in last year's playoffs when the team had no KG and no bench.  Thus, he was asked to do a lot more.  With KG back and Wallace and Daniel ensuring that multiple qualities players will always be in the game, Rondo shouldn't have to do as much as he did last year.  Thus, I think he won't have to take plays off; he just won't have to do as much every play. 

[jv2764]

Darius Miles could not make this team last year and now you want them to go after a 38 year old player?  Go ahead and sign him.  He may not even make the cut.  A waste.

[Fafnir]

2 years ago, Eddie House at point guard was problematic as Rondo was unproven.  That's not a problem anymore.  Moreover, Rondo is insanely athletic and has Havlicek-like endurance that will allow him to play close to 40 mpg (and perhaps more in the playoffs).  Who plays the whopping 5-10 mpg behind him in meaningful games is not of enormous consequence. 

Thus, while I don't love Eddie as a PG, given what he can do shooting the ball, and how good the team will be around him, I think we can get by with House (or PP or Allen or Daniels) bringing the ball up the court for 5-10 mpg. 

While I agree with you conclusion that House will be fine at the point I don't think Rondo is best used at 40 MPG. He's better when he's giving full effort on both ends being a disruptive force. When he's played heavy minutes he doesn't do that every possession.

Well, 40 might be a bit overkill, but I certainly see no reason why someone with his athleticism and conditioning can't play 36-38 mpg in the regular season and maybe a little more in the postseason. 

Keep in mind that we've only really seen him do the 40+ mpg thing in last year's playoffs when the team had no KG and no bench.  Thus, he was asked to do a lot more.  With KG back and Wallace and Daniel ensuring that multiple qualities players will always be in the game, Rondo shouldn't have to do as much as he did last year.  Thus, I think he won't have to take plays off; he just won't have to do as much every play. 

Could be, hard to tell till we see him play this year. Regardless there isn't any reason he can't play in the high thirties at least as far as minutes go.

[trey_h]

I would be very comfortable with daniels and bowen as backups. a lot of this depends on whether we can get Daniels in a S&T or not. If we can, we'll still have the LLE for bowen, who might be a little more enticed by the few 100k more than the vet minimum.

[TradeProposalDude]

Bowen kinda looked done last I saw him. But he is the perfect player to have come off the bench in a James Posey role here. At least he is the best option on the market. He stretches the floor with that 3 point shot and plays tough defense. I don't know how much is left in the tank, but I won't dispute any effort going into bringing him here.