Doc : "Maybe we need to think about [making changes]"

[Spilling Green Dye]

The Quis for Ray swap does have some pluses. If the ball is going consistently to Ray, then Paul gets stagnant. If the ball is going to Paul for pick and rolls and isos, then Ray's shot attempts go down. Could be a better distribution of shots for both with Ray coming off the bench in 6th man role. Also, Ray is the biggest weak link in the starting unit defense. With Quis, the starting unit could jell as a tough defensive minded unit that gets its points off of transition. Pierce is no longer as effective as a slasher, but Quis is. Pierce takes Ray's role as the guy who stretches the defense with 3-pointers. Ray solidifies the offense for the 2nd unit, which is not a great defensive unit, but could be a good offensive unit.

TP Samjones, I completely agree that there could be a lot of benefit to this.

Putting someone on the 2nd unit does not equate to a demotion.  Ray has stepped up his game offensively, and could really help out the second unit.  How many times has Marquis gotten a wide open 16 footer and clanked it?  All too often.  The shots are there, and as has been mentioned before the ball movement stops with both Ray & Pierce since they typically are shooters/scorers.  

Another idea is to start Tony Allen, but I do like seeing his play on the second unit.  If you go back to our championship season, a starting lineup with Tony Allen was actually very statistically successful (more so than I remembered).  

To me the starting unit needs to be a unit that matches up well with the opposing team, and focuses on setting the Defensive focus for the game.  The second unit, IMO, should be more energic with presses, and focus on getting quick buckets to potentially increase the lead.  

Starting Wallace in place of Perkins has led to a net negative for the starting lineup, and I don't think its entirely b/c of Wallace.  Perkins would be useless on the 2nd unit b/c he can't really create his own shot.. he primarily benefits from the good ball movement of the first unit.  

If you go back through our championship year 5-man rosters, as well as this years rosters, you'll see that we are most productive when our PF & C consist of one jump shooter (KG, Wallace, Davis) and one player who finishes around the hoop (Perkins, Powe, Sheldon(sorta), etc).  Hence, adding two shooters in Wallace and KG has not panned out.

To conclude, I'm all for either resting Pierce to get him healthy and start Tony / Quis in his place, OR let Ray come off the bench.  Also, I'd like to see Doc not make full 5-man substitutions, but instead phase people in.  Lastly, it's clear that this team has been taking so many jump shots that I'd like to see Sheldon get some minutes on the second unit.
 

[Brickowski]

Why send Ray to the 2nd unit?  Ray is playing well. Pierce is the one who should be coming off the bench.

[Evantime34]

Why send Ray to the 2nd unit?  Ray is playing well. Pierce is the one who should be coming off the bench.

Agreed. Ray is looking like the player we need to run the offense through for most of the game.

[Greenbean]

At this point Im open for a Sheed start. He did have his best month in january shooting near his career percentages from the field and from 3. In that month he played 30 minutes a game due to injuries.

Of course we went 6-8 in January...

[Spilling Green Dye]

Why send Ray to the 2nd unit?  Ray is playing well. Pierce is the one who should be coming off the bench.

Why do you assume that starting = the most minutes played?  What's wrong with our supposed "best offensive player" playing with mostly the second unit and getting the most minutes total?  Why do the substitutions have to be 5 players at a time? 

[Spilling Green Dye]

At this point Im open for a Sheed start. He did have his best month in january shooting near his career percentages from the field and from 3. In that month he played 30 minutes a game due to injuries.

Of course we went 6-8 in January...

Not sure if you read my previous post in this thread, but our team is dramatically worse when we have two shooting big men in the lineup at the same time.  Conversely, when we have a shooter & a banger (KG & Perk, Sheed & Sheldon, etc) we are better off.  If we started Rasheed then logically we'd have to bench KG, which doesn't add up.

[Andy Jick]

Oh please...Doc isn't going to do anything.  Making changes in the starting lineup will only make things worse, not better...  This isn't a team full of 23 year olds - they're veterans, and they won't respond to "change" well.  If Doc makes changes, he might as well warm up to the fact he'll be sitting next to Mike Breen next season...

Face it, folks...this team is done.  This era is done...

[ForexPirate]

I posted this elsewhere, but I really think this is the problem with the team.  Rondo spoke out in the media about someone griping in the locker room about not getting enough touches and playing for a contract.

A few games later, Perk complained in the orlando game about not getting enough touches and was benched for the rest of the game (the game was tight and we could have used him against superman) but he was being punished.  Doc made him sit in the "time out" chair.

Doc needs to find a way to assimilate Perk into this team.  There aren't that many shots for him with the first unit.  But he is a good high percentage shooter and Perk has a good point that he should get more touches.  His defense is also extraordinary.     

So, I think Doc should make Perk the sixth man off the bench with the second team.  (Let Sheed start.)  Perk could become a go to guy for the second unit.  He may even shoot an even higher percentage against the other teams second string as well.  I would rather see him taking shots in the paint than seeing BBD on the second team having his lunch handed to him any time he tries to shoot in the paint.


Doc - don't be so stubborn and give this a try.  Though it may seem like a demotion from first string to second string, if you made Perk a go to guy for the second unit, it may not be perceived as a demotion.  Think about it.  You have to do something and this might also solve your locker room problems, second team performance issues, etc ...

[marseye]

 

[hpantazo]

I posted this elsewhere, but I really think this is the problem with the team.  Rondo spoke out in the media about someone griping in the locker room about not getting enough touches and playing for a contract.

A few games later, Perk complained in the orlando game about not getting enough touches and was benched for the rest of the game (the game was tight and we could have used him against superman) but he was being punished.  Doc made him sit in the "time out" chair.

Doc needs to find a way to assimilate Perk into this team.  There aren't that many shots for him with the first unit.  But he is a good high percentage shooter and Perk has a good point that he should get more touches.  His defense is also extraordinary.     

So, I think Doc should make Perk the sixth man off the bench with the second team.  (Let Sheed start.)  Perk could become a go to guy for the second unit.  He may even shoot an even higher percentage against the other teams second string as well.  I would rather see him taking shots in the paint than seeing BBD on the second team having his lunch handed to him any time he tries to shoot in the paint.


Doc - don't be so stubborn and give this a try.  Though it may seem like a demotion from first string to second string, if you made Perk a go to guy for the second unit, it may not be perceived as a demotion.  Think about it.  You have to do something and this might also solve your locker room problems, second team performance issues, etc ...

Perkins needs to be reminded that his high FG% is due to all the open looks he gets playing with Rondo and the big three. I think moving him to the second unit will make him realize that.