Buy outs or not, it's an 8 man playoff rotation

[jimmywolfrey]

Green is more of a SF than anything.  He could even be seen as Scottie Pippen Point Forward type offensively.  He isn't a PF in the rebounding sense..but he can defend many PFs though. I don't see him playing big minutes at the 4.

If healthy Delonte will play no matter which PG they bring in as a 3rd pg.  I can see the Rondo, Ray, Delonte, Pierce, Garnett playing some.  Doc is going to go with the normal starting guys first...and hopefully adjusts as needed depending on whats working the 2nd half.  We will have depth to do that.  We have players with different specialties. 

And if we get Corey Brewer, we would have a longer defender if needed though I still don't think he would be an upgrade defensively against Shooting Guards over DWest. Dwest is darn pesky out there.  But some of the bigger SG, I think it would be beneficial to have Brewer out there for some minutes instead of Delonte.

[Cman]

I think the real benefit of bringing in players like Murphy is insurance.  You never know who might get hurt, and better have a deep bench than no bench.  The other side benefit is that the starters mins can be more limited going forward, to save their tired old legs for the playoffs...

[17wasEZ]

I've been thinking about who we would bring in after the buy outs since the trades and I've tried to figure out who would help us the most. I too, thought about how important chemistry is and if it was possible to bring 4-5 new guys along quick enough to have any cohesion with the rest of the team. Then Doc said in the last few days that it was important to get Shaq back to work on player rotations and it dawned on me--Doc prefers an 8-man rotation in the playoffs. That said, the rotation would most likely be:

Rondo/West
Allen/West
Pierce/Green
Garnett/Green/BBD
Shaq/BBD

Obviously, Kristic would be available and most likely see minutes at C.

That leaves insurance spots (and 6 fouls each) for JO & Wafer. Bradley will probably not sniff the floor.

So if my assumptions are correct--what room would there be for a guy like Murphy? Would he be like Finley and just eat minutes up for the remainder of the season and just be added insurance for the playoffs? I know that a few of these guys who are coming available could certainly help us, but how much will they actually play? I would feel better with a 4/5 guy, and a PG. Other than that, I'm not sure if it matters.

I think the playoff roster will be adjusted on an as need basis.  Just like in the past when House or Cassell or TA, etc.  were used much more in one series than another, that's what I think this year's roster will be like. Even Shaq will probably be used that way.

[snively]

My ideal playoff rotation =

PG: Rondo 38 minutes/West 10
SG: Ray Allen 34/West 10/Pierce 4
SF: Pierce 32/Jeff Green 16
PF: KG 28/Murphy 20
C: Shaq 22/JO 20/KG 6

Given JO's uncertain health and Murphy's learning curve, I'm sure Baby and Krstic will end up with some or perhaps all of those back-up big minutes, but that would be my ideal.

I love the idea of going big with West, Pierce and Green on the perimeter in spurts: very hard for teams to match up with that kind of size and skill, especially with bigs providing floor spacing for post-up opportunities.

Love Murphy's skill-set, but I'd want him on the floor with either KG or JO as much as possible to hide him defensively.  Shaq + Murphy would be as vulnerable defensively as Shaq + Jamison was last year. 

[BballTim]

My ideal playoff rotation =

PG: Rondo 38 minutes/West 10
SG: Ray Allen 34/West 10/Pierce 4
SF: Pierce 32/Jeff Green 16
PF: KG 28/Murphy 20
C: Shaq 22/JO 20/KG 6

Given JO's uncertain health and Murphy's learning curve, I'm sure Baby and Krstic will end up with some or perhaps all of those back-up big minutes, but that would be my ideal.

I love the idea of going big with West, Pierce and Green on the perimeter in spurts: very hard for teams to match up with that kind of size and skill, especially with bigs providing floor spacing for post-up opportunities.

Love Murphy's skill-set, but I'd want him on the floor with either KG or JO as much as possible to hide him defensively.  Shaq + Murphy would be as vulnerable defensively as Shaq + Jamison was last year. 

  I'm hopeful that Green is, at minimum, a better player than Murphy or West, and will garner more minutes than they will in the postseason.

[Chief]

My ideal playoff rotation =

PG: Rondo 38 minutes/West 10
SG: Ray Allen 34/West 10/Pierce 4
SF: Pierce 32/Jeff Green 16
PF: KG 28/Murphy 20
C: Shaq 22/JO 20/KG 6

Given JO's uncertain health and Murphy's learning curve, I'm sure Baby and Krstic will end up with some or perhaps all of those back-up big minutes, but that would be my ideal.

I love the idea of going big with West, Pierce and Green on the perimeter in spurts: very hard for teams to match up with that kind of size and skill, especially with bigs providing floor spacing for post-up opportunities.

Love Murphy's skill-set, but I'd want him on the floor with either KG or JO as much as possible to hide him defensively.  Shaq + Murphy would be as vulnerable defensively as Shaq + Jamison was last year. 

  I'm hopeful that Green is, at minimum, a better player than Murphy or West, and will garner more minutes than they will in the postseason.

I personally would like to see Green play limited minutes at the 4.

[birdwatcher]

Its nice to have the flexibility for sure, but in the coming weeks I'm sure Doc is going to start talking about shortening the rotations--he does every year--and I don't think it has to do with limited talent. He will certainly use up as many fouls as necessary from his bigs when he needs to. And to clarify, I never meant that BBD & Green would be on the floor at the same time--I was plugging people in to the positions I felt they'd be playing.