this is a case of Doc poorly managing minutes against the heat

[clover]

We may be talking about fighting to finish as a 6th or 7th seed.

Yep.  Just do the math.  Roughly 25 out of the 66 games are on the second night of a back-to-back or the third game in four nights.  

Figure the team wins about 1/4 of those games.  That's 6-8 wins.  Then figure the team wins something like 2/3 of the remaining 41 games.  That's 27-28 wins.  


So I think we're probably looking at something like a 33-36 win season, which is equivalent to 41-45 wins.  So yeah, 6th or 7th seed sounds right.

I'm thinking you might be a little too generous with that part about winning 2/3 of the remaining games...

[csfansince60s]

in this condensed season Doc is goign to have to better manage the big 4's minutes if he wants to avoid games like tonight

Completely agree with this. Doc overplayed Ray, Rondo and KG in the Miami game which directly resulted in their crap performance against the lowly Hornets (the Hornets???).

Doc is a great guy, players love him and love to play for him. He is media savvy. He is great at setting up offensive plays off of timeouts. Doc has many strengths....HOWEVER...

Managing players' minutes, particularly with extended rotations of 10-11 guys which we will need in this compressed season, is not one his strengths. In fact it is a glaring weekness.

Aside from the inability to manage minutes, Doc has shown in the past and now, a strong reluctance and a Rondo-like stubborness to expand the rotation.

This stubborness may be borne out of Doc knowing his own limitations in managing minutes for more players OR a reckless desire to win now at all costs, including burning his core and compromising the team's chances to beat even the dregs of the league like the Eric Gordon-less Hornets last night.

Either way Doc's Rondo-like stubborness is hurting this team for the long haul this year.

Let's hope he smartens up.
 

[Jon]

This is true.  But it'll be easier to manage minutes with PP and Pietrus back.  With the likes of Sasha and Bradley out there, I think he felt he had to surround them with stellar talent. 

When PP and Pietrus back, it'll be easier to take our Ray or KG earlier. 

Still a fault with Doc; however, a problem that will partially solve itself with time. 

[Q_FBE]

Watching Rondo and Ray Allan going up for 40 minutes against the Bricks and the Cheat was not a good thing. But they played decent against New Orleans. Our problem is with the frontline that is playing like crap right now. Danny tried to shore that up with getting David West and that backfired miserably. Bass is the only one playing worth his salt right now. The Small Forward position has disintegrated, too.

[Lord of Mikawa]

I think Doc overdid it once he thought we had a chance of winning that game.

[Chris]

No, this is a case of the team playing lazy basketball.  It's 3 games into the season.  If they are already too tired to properly rotate, then we are in way too much trouble to even contemplate.

[Celtics4ever]

It's both I think.  Long minutes and lazy play.