We have to play Shavlik Randolph

[Fred Roberts]

Absolutely, we need to rotate Shav and Wilcox in to keep KG fresh, give different looks to our front line and get more active on the glass. Kenyon Martin & Birdman are both playing REALLY well right now so Doc and Danny better realize we need to put in the bigs we decided to go with over them.

I'm also high on T-Williams as a better PG after seeing all those turnovers.

[connor]

Absolutely, we need to rotate Shav and Wilcox in to keep KG fresh, give different looks to our front line and get more active on the glass. Kenyon Martin & Birdman are both playing REALLY well right now so Doc and Danny better realize we need to put in the bigs we decided to go with over them.

I'm also high on T-Williams as a better PG after seeing all those turnovers.

The logic that Doc needs to play Shav and Wilcox simply because K-Mart and Birdman are playing well doesn't make sense.

Both of those guys have shown more on the court than Shav or Wilcox, Doc shouldn't just play our scrubs just because he made a mistake passing on those guys. That would be an even bigger mistake.

I think Jordan Crawford and Shav have to be the first two off the bench.

"And it has come to this."

Yeah. 

Guys, hate to break it to you, but the dudes who were playing in China at the beginning of the season are not going to save our season.  If that's where we're at, we've already lost.

He's not being asked to do anything crazy, just play solid D and rebound.  Someone who played in China can do that, we've already seen Shav do it this season.  KMart is helping the Knicks out.  Who cares where he was before, he has the ability to produce.

Shav's defense has been pretty suspect at times and his play really suffers due to his impressive ability to pick up fouls so quickly (admittedly some of them are rookie calls).

We didn't lose to the Knicks because we got killed on the boards, we actually had the same number of rebounds (they had 6 more offensive rebounds). We lost because our team was careless with the ball and turned it over too many times unnecessarily.

But then we could have outrebounded them perhaps.  It's not just about matching their output.

His defense is solid enough, definitely better than Wilcox.  And he can score inside some.  I'm not saying this is how I wanted the season to go, but I think Shav deserves some time.

I'm not saying that Shav wouldn't help on the boards and his defense probably isn't going to be bad enough to derail us.

But we were totally capable of winning game one and probably would have if we didn't turn the ball over 20 times. I think if we focus on playing a more efficient game we can win without having to make any major changes. Why not see if that will work next game before changing our strategy?

I'm not saying Shav (or Wilcox) shouldn't be on the court, I think its inevitable given the fact that Green's minutes are so ridiculously high, but I don't think that getting them on the court is going to be the difference maker in this series and it shouldn't be a point of emphasis going into game two.

In my mind Doc needs to just keep drilling home the fact that we need to protect the ball. Thats the difference maker. 

[Snakehead]

I think Jordan Crawford and Shav have to be the first two off the bench.

"And it has come to this."

Yeah. 

Guys, hate to break it to you, but the dudes who were playing in China at the beginning of the season are not going to save our season.  If that's where we're at, we've already lost.

He's not being asked to do anything crazy, just play solid D and rebound.  Someone who played in China can do that, we've already seen Shav do it this season.  KMart is helping the Knicks out.  Who cares where he was before, he has the ability to produce.

Shav's defense has been pretty suspect at times and his play really suffers due to his impressive ability to pick up fouls so quickly (admittedly some of them are rookie calls).

We didn't lose to the Knicks because we got killed on the boards, we actually had the same number of rebounds (they had 6 more offensive rebounds). We lost because our team was careless with the ball and turned it over too many times unnecessarily.

But then we could have outrebounded them perhaps.  It's not just about matching their output.

His defense is solid enough, definitely better than Wilcox.  And he can score inside some.  I'm not saying this is how I wanted the season to go, but I think Shav deserves some time.

I'm not saying that Shav wouldn't help on the boards and his defense probably isn't going to be bad enough to derail us.

But we were totally capable of winning game one and probably would have if we didn't turn the ball over 20 times. I think if we focus on playing a more efficient game we can win without having to make any major changes. Why not see if that will work next game before changing our strategy?

I'm not saying Shav (or Wilcox) shouldn't be on the court, I think its inevitable given the fact that Green's minutes are so ridiculously high, but I don't think that getting them on the court is going to be the difference maker in this series and it shouldn't be a point of emphasis going into game two.

In my mind Doc needs to just keep drilling home the fact that we need to protect the ball. Thats the difference maker.

Fair enough.  I don't really disagree but to me Shav needs some time and Jordan Crawford should be getting more or less all of Terry's minutes.  Jeff can't play that many minutes.

C's just tweeted this too:

@celtics 2m
Doc warns the media not to look only at #s. Says film showed him that certain groups just missed shots & that's what led to poor +/- numbers

[green7]

also doc has bass looking stupid out there trying to guard melo it worked a few times but i don't like it, he should just be the back up center off the bench.


bradley
lee
pierce
green
kg

^ i love this line up

and replace crawford for Randolph and williams

[connor]

also doc has bass looking stupid out there trying to guard melo it worked a few times but i don't like it, he should just be the back up center off the bench.


bradley
lee
pierce
green
kg

^ i love this line up

and replace crawford for Randolph and williams

If anything Crawford should be getting more minutes, not subbed out for Randolph and T-Will.

He was a great presence out there on Saturday even if he didn't score any points. In fact I thought the fact that Crawford was on the court for 11 mins and didn't put up a shot is really encouraging. Has that ever happened in his entire career to this date? Probably not. Its a sign that he is actually taking his shot selection into consideration, which is his major flaw (outside his suspect D).

And I thought Bass did a valiant job guarding Melo. He did a great job staying in front and not giving up easy points at the line by fouling a quicker player. Its a really tough matchup for him, but I don't mind seeing it from time to time if Bass can put that much effort in.

[MBunge]

@celtics 2m
Doc warns the media not to look only at #s. Says film showed him that certain groups just missed shots & that's what led to poor +/- numbers

Gah.  I hate that "missed shots" argument.  It's not entirely untrue but avoids both the kind of shots being taken and whose taking them.  If you're only shooting jumpshots, you're going to have stretches where you're just going to miss.  And if somebody has been struggling with his shot all season (looking at you, Jason Terry), hoping that he'll finally start hitting them is nothing more than desperation.

Mike

[kgainez]

"And it has come to this."

Yeah. 

Guys, hate to break it to you, but the dudes who were playing in China at the beginning of the season are not going to save our season.  If that's where we're at, we've already lost.

and a 20+ year old rookie from the D-League didn't help us last year
smh 

If KG is playing 35 minutes, I'm wondering how much more harm Shav can do with 13 minutes. He's a big body that can rebound.

Not sure why this is hard to understand. I like how you all pretend 30+ppg in Chine is nothing out here. He obviously can shoot, and if guys decide not to guard Shav, I doubt he has a hard problem taking a shot or running towards the rim.

Is this stuff really that hard to figure out???

[CelticConcourse]

Steamer didn't play last year; Shavlik will not play this year.

I'll take Wilcox over Shavlik any day.

[kgainez]

Steamer didn't play last year; Shavlik will not play this year.

I'll take Wilcox over Shavlik any day.

Steamer did play, a lil

And Idc who plays. We just need a big in there when KG goes out.

[nickagneta]

In this series Doc wants guys who can close.on 3 point shooters on the floor. Randolph cant do that. Hence, we wont see him play.

[CelticConcourse]

Steamer didn't play last year; Shavlik will not play this year.

I'll take Wilcox over Shavlik any day.

Steamer did play, a lil

And Idc who plays. We just need a big in there when KG goes out.

Yeah, I'll take the consistent Wilcox

[Tai]

I mean, I have nothing against Shav, but it just feels naive to say he'll be the guy to take us to the promised land. I mean, surely Wilcox would get first dibs (I know I know, you want to say it's cause he's a veteran right?).

Who we really needed was Jared Sullinger, if anyone.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I don't care who it is but either Shav or Cox should be getting minutes. No one thinks either is going to be a savior, so please stop saying that b/c NOT ONE person asking for them to get PT has said anything even close to that. Yes we rebounded evenly but it matters WHEN they got some of their rebounds, especially in a game that close... NYK got HUGE rebounds at the end but Shav or Cox probably wouldn't have helped at that time b/c you put your best in to close the games. They could have probably helped much earlier in the game when he had leads that were quickly gone, by helping on the boards and getting putbacks. People think turnovers were the problem, I think that the NYK out hustled us at the end, we looked tired and old and PP and KG were the only two old guys out there (maybe Terry too but he wasn't in there too much). How Jeff, AB, Lee, etc. let guys like KIDD and Felton get those key rebounds at the end, I can't tell you but I know it was pitiful!


To those talking about Doc putting Bass on Melo... I think Bass played the best defense against him, sure Melo is going to get his but Bass made it extra hard on him. I don't know why Doc kept Bass out like that in the 4th, I know he had about 4 fouls but you have to let him play with the 2 in his pocket! Bass played very good D on Broid last season playoffs too... no one can stop those guys but Bass is STRONG, smart, and quick enough to give them fits.

Green was EXHAUSTED, that's on Doc for not using our bigs instead of doing Jeff and Bass as the 4/5 so he could get more rest. Early in the game is when you try guys like Wilcox and Shav, no way you don't use either of them. Now is the time for Doc to tell them both, if you're going to foul, MAKE THEM FEEL IT! It's pretty much how you beat Mia too, you got to make them think twice about just barreling in or make them not want to foul you hard in fear of retaliation. Guys like K-Mart and Birdman (I'm fine with what we have), they are smart, they hit and bump you b/c they know it's not called as much in the playoffs... give Shav and Wilcox that job, they can bring some energy!

Another thing, Shav may still be injured, he hurt his back last game.

[KGs Knee]

I despise Duke.

Down with Duke.

Poor misguided soul.

Duke>UNC....all day, everyday.

This is common knowledge.