The starting lineup something has to change.

[The Oracle]

Per 48 stats: Smart, Bradley, Turner, Bass, Zeller lineup

   Min.     pts.     +/-     3PA
   206     92.2    -13     13.7

Per 48 stats Bass-Zeller combo for the year

   Min.     pts.     +/-     3PA     
   516     91.7    -9.1    15.4


     The starting lineup has been consistently getting drubbed on a nightly basis!  The bench has been the main reason the C's are 8-4 over the last 12 games.  Starters themselves are not necessarily the problem as most of them have performed much better in mixed lineups with the bench.   
     
     I think the biggest problem is the spacing that you lack in lineups when Bass and Zeller are paired together.  It is clear that the scoring is really poor, the 3 point attempts fall off a cliff and any lineup including Bass and Zeller is just flat getting killed.  The starting unit is desperate for floor spacing and playmaking and if this team were to make the playoffs there is no way they would have any chance of beating good teams trotting out that lineup on a nightly basis.  You simply can't expect the 2nd unit to dig you out of a hole every night especially when rotations shorten in the playoffs. 

     If you made me choose I would go with Smart, Turner, Crowder, Bass and Olynyk.  Leaving Thomas, Bradley, Jerebko and Zeller on the bench.  9 man rotation, much more balanced offensively and defensively.  Thats what I would like to see but the truth is Bradley does'nt deserve to lose his starting spot so probably just go Smart, Bradley, Turner, Bass and Olynyk.

     I would really like to get an extended look at Zeller-Olynyk.  The statistics show them to be very good offensively and poor defensively but its a limited sample, very sporatic and came mostly early in the year.

[More Banners]

2nd unit defense is against opposing 2nds, mostly, and our talent level across the roster is rather even, so...

Changing things around might not lead to any significant gains.

And Bass shoots corner 3s, and Zeller has been showing a nice 17ft jumper on the pop.

Just go with it.  Not worth ruffling feathers at this point.

[Chris22]

We are playing the basketball version of rope a dope.

It's working

[jambr380]

2nd unit defense is against opposing 2nds, mostly, and our talent level across the roster is rather even, so...

Changing things around might not lead to any significant gains.

And Bass shoots corner 3s, and Zeller has been showing a nice 17ft jumper on the pop.

Just go with it.  Not worth ruffling feathers at this point.

Yeah, an argument could be made that any one of our top 10 players might be our best player (or at least most effective). That is great for our depth, but it is a league based on stars and we really need a couple of them to take it to the next level.

[hwangjini_1]

i think the biggest problem is that the talent on this team is pretty even 1 through 8 or 9. the celtics basically have a pretty good 9 man bench. the trouble is that they dont have much in the way of nba quality starters.

so, it wont matter whom CBS trots out as starters, the talent level is pretty even. what seems to happen frequently is that the starters get beat, but when the benches come in the celtics pound other teams benches. the celtcs bench is pretty good with crowder, olly, IT, jerekbo, and who-ever-is-hot-tonight.

i dont think changing the starting lineup for this team would create a big difference on a consistent basis. besides, given the results of the past 20 or so games, why change what is working?

[Tr1boy]

imo I like how things are right now

It's interesting how CBS will start Zeller but then bring in KO to start starting in the 3rd

Turner starts but usually Crowder finishes games (same with IT).  Unorthodox rotation that i'm sure confuses opposing team players and coaches.