The Bench

[Mike-Dub]

I'd like to see some Nate Robinson to provide a spark off the bench, and some Michael Finley who could hit us some timely threes.

[Brendan]

I would put Sheldon in first off the bench. Baby is doing nothing for me. Nothing but making stupid fouls, stupid mistakes, stupid turnovers, and stupid shot selections. Baby is not a team player, he gets into the game and looks to force the shot to try and prove his worth to this team, even though it just makes him look like a fool. He is at his best when he is hustling and being the energy guy, not when he is looking for his shot.

I'd like to see Nate get a chance but I would just be worried about his rhythm. I can even remember the last time he saw the floor in meaningful minutes. To put him in now, he might be ice cold and really ruin the rhythm of the game. Not his fault, I think its Doc's for not playing him. Finley has the ability to get hot and make some outside buckets but hes not getting any minutes, Quis finally saw the floor last night but was ineffective. T.A. really didnt play all that well last night. And Sheed we wont even go there. Give Sheldon a run. I think he would turn some heads. Just look at the way he played to start the season and how much of a help he was, he did nothing to deserve to ride the pine.

I mean the Celtics, with Sheldon playing big minutes taking Baby's place, were 23 and 5. Baby comes back, Sheldon looses his minutes, and they go 27 and 29, under .500 for the rest of the season. I dont think that stat lies, when Baby is on the floor, this is actually a much worse team.

Davis had one bad game. 

So did Pierce.  Should the Celtics bench him in favor of Finley or Daniels?



Davis should still be the first big off the bench. 

It's not 2008 - they can't rely on Pierce to cover LBJ, fouls in the first half prevented us from blowing them out, and fatigue at the end really hurt. If LBJ wants to hold back until the end, I'd put Ray on him early and go to the bench for Tony or Q to cover him next. Let Pierce stay fresh and cover him at the end, he needs to go into the end of the 4th Q with 2 or less fouls.

[looseball]

The bench has to produce in order for the Celtics to win. Otherwise Doc would be forced to play the starters to much and they may fizzle in the 4th quarter.  

Doc is never "forced" to play the starters too much.  It's just that the starters have a long leash and the bench has a short hook.  And if you do play the starters too much they WILL fade in the second half.  Last night the big three scored TWO points between them in the fourth quarter, and the bench gets the blame.

The coach has to know the maximum output per minutes played for his starters, and not push them past their limits.  Younger guys might handle extra minutes well, and might even thrive on it.  But our big three are all on the downside of their careers, and though the spirit is willing...

It's up to Doc to maximize the big threes minutes and use the bench accordingly.  It will probably involve playing different guys different nights, but to write off the bench because the first guys in aren't having a good night is bad strategy.

[xmuscularghandix]

I think what lost us the game was our insistence on Pierce being the go-to-guy when our clear mismatch all night was KG. Dude was killing it.

I have confidence in this series. But we have to pick up the game with our hard fouls. Shaq is laying Rondo out and no one's getting easy baskets.... meanwhile PP is letting MO WILLIAMS dunk on him. Mo should still be getting scraped off the floor.

[Mike-Dub]

I think what lost us the game was our insistence on Pierce being the go-to-guy when our clear mismatch all night was KG. Dude was killing it.

I have confidence in this series. But we have to pick up the game with our hard fouls. Shaq is laying Rondo out and no one's getting easy baskets.... meanwhile PP is letting MO WILLIAMS dunk on him. Mo should still be getting scraped off the floor.

After thinking about it, Paul should have made Mo have to earn his two points at the line and gave him a hard foul, but the risk you are playing with that is that Paul can get a flagrant or a flagrant two, and it could spark a Cavs run, which it did anyways by Paul not fouling him.

So I say I like what you are thinking and Paul should have gave Mo Williams a hard foul there and made him earn his two points.

Would have shown that we aren't gonna let you beat us up and that we're here to play.

[pearljammer10]

I would put Sheldon in first off the bench. Baby is doing nothing for me. Nothing but making stupid fouls, stupid mistakes, stupid turnovers, and stupid shot selections. Baby is not a team player, he gets into the game and looks to force the shot to try and prove his worth to this team, even though it just makes him look like a fool. He is at his best when he is hustling and being the energy guy, not when he is looking for his shot.

I'd like to see Nate get a chance but I would just be worried about his rhythm. I can even remember the last time he saw the floor in meaningful minutes. To put him in now, he might be ice cold and really ruin the rhythm of the game. Not his fault, I think its Doc's for not playing him. Finley has the ability to get hot and make some outside buckets but hes not getting any minutes, Quis finally saw the floor last night but was ineffective. T.A. really didnt play all that well last night. And Sheed we wont even go there. Give Sheldon a run. I think he would turn some heads. Just look at the way he played to start the season and how much of a help he was, he did nothing to deserve to ride the pine.

I mean the Celtics, with Sheldon playing big minutes taking Baby's place, were 23 and 5. Baby comes back, Sheldon looses his minutes, and they go 27 and 29, under .500 for the rest of the season. I dont think that stat lies, when Baby is on the floor, this is actually a much worse team.

Davis had one bad game. 

So did Pierce.  Should the Celtics bench him in favor of Finley or Daniels?



Davis should still be the first big off the bench. 

Davis had ONE bad game? What about the other 56 games he stunk up this season? Leading the league in getting his shots blocked, making him basically lead the league in Turnovers. He bogged our team down to a 27 and 29 record in those 56 games played. Bench him.

[snively]

Well to be fair, Doc HAS to play Sheed.  He has the size we need, Shelden and Baby don't.

I'm not sure I agree. The Celtics need Sheed's size against Shaq and Zeke, but they get run all over the building by Varejao and Hickson. I'd like to see Shelden and BBD's energy against those guys.

In all honesty, I've been screaming this kind of thing for a couple years. I'd like to see the second unit be more of an energetic, pressing kind of team that creates havoc for the opposing team. It isn't going to happen. I could see however, a combination of Shelden and BBD bringing a lot more energy to the floor.

I think we can get a little more out of Sheed.  He only took one bad shot last night, a 3.  His other shots: a dunk, two very nice looks in the post and a wide-open 17-footer.  Would you rather Baby or Perk got those shots?

Of course he was an oaf on the boards, but Baby was too (both had rebounds torn out of their hands by Varejao).  

I'd like to see more of Sheed on Shaq to avoid the Sheed/Varejao match-up, and work Perk, our best rebounder, in a bit more against Varejao/Hickson.  Either that or just play Perk for 35 minutes and give Baby all of the 26 minutes behind him and KG.

[Bankshot]

I would put Sheldon in first off the bench. Baby is doing nothing for me. Nothing but making stupid fouls, stupid mistakes, stupid turnovers, and stupid shot selections. Baby is not a team player, he gets into the game and looks to force the shot to try and prove his worth to this team, even though it just makes him look like a fool. He is at his best when he is hustling and being the energy guy, not when he is looking for his shot.

I'd like to see Nate get a chance but I would just be worried about his rhythm. I can even remember the last time he saw the floor in meaningful minutes. To put him in now, he might be ice cold and really ruin the rhythm of the game. Not his fault, I think its Doc's for not playing him. Finley has the ability to get hot and make some outside buckets but hes not getting any minutes, Quis finally saw the floor last night but was ineffective. T.A. really didnt play all that well last night. And Sheed we wont even go there. Give Sheldon a run. I think he would turn some heads. Just look at the way he played to start the season and how much of a help he was, he did nothing to deserve to ride the pine.

I mean the Celtics, with Sheldon playing big minutes taking Baby's place, were 23 and 5. Baby comes back, Sheldon looses his minutes, and they go 27 and 29, under .500 for the rest of the season. I dont think that stat lies, when Baby is on the floor, this is actually a much worse team.

Davis had one bad game. 

So did Pierce.  Should the Celtics bench him in favor of Finley or Daniels?



Davis should still be the first big off the bench. 

Davis had ONE bad game? What about the other 56 games he stunk up this season? Leading the league in getting his shots blocked, making him basically lead the league in Turnovers. He bogged our team down to a 27 and 29 record in those 56 games played. Bench him.

Regular season doesn't matter anymore.  It's who's playing well in the playoffs, and Davis has proven that he can play in big games, despite what he's done before said big game.

[misha]

The bench is our biggest problem. We need someone like Posey that can guard  players like Lebron and Kobe, while also being able to hit  important 3 point shots. And C's don't have player like that.

Quis lost his confidence and he's not a threat from the outside anyway. Finley, at 37, can't defend well. Nate has been written off by Doc. And nobody expects Tony to make shots, though he's doing already beyond expected. Somebody needs to step up.

Inside, we have Baby who's doing well. I wasn't in a Sheed hate club, but another performance like that and I'm gonn kill him myself. At least show some heart and pride... Until he demonstrates that he can be the player we want him to be (big if), I would put Sheldon instead of him as our second big from the bench aftwer Baby.

[LB3533]

Our starters will be gassed by the time we make the NBA Finals.

We need to play some peeps off the bench.