Who's Ray's backup?

[the TRUTH]

Much has been made about the Celtics being thin behind the starters at the 3 and the 5. But if Marquis can stay relatively healthy, he may do a pretty good job backing up Pierce. And signing Pietrus would be a nice upgrade. I assume Ainge will still bring in a serviceable backup 5 in the near future. And the depth at the 4 and 1 is pretty solid.

But one major problem during the Big 3 era is that Doc has often been forced (or has done it anyway) to play Ray heavy minutes throughout the season, and that has led to inopportune slumps both in the regular season and the playoffs. One glaring hole I see on the roster right now that may not be filled is that Ray doesn't have a legit backup. Avery Bradley is nowhere near the player Delonte West is/was, and no one else fits what the Celtics need at that spot. Who do you guys think will fill this role?

[nickagneta]

I think Marquis is pretty much a more natural SG than he is a small forward. He's a SG in the mold of Tony Allen in that he's a pretty decent defensive SG that doesn't have a good shot but can be effective offensively when going to the net. Unlike Allen though, he has a really good handle, is an above average passer, isn't nearly as athletic but makes up for that with actually having a brain and the ability to use it.

Pietrus will be the backup SF, once healthy. Hopefully he is healthy. Marquis will be the backup to Ray Allen. Dooling will be Rondo's backup and Moore, Johnson and Bradley will be getting a ton of court time.....as starters for Portland in the NBDL.

Strangely enough the young player that will probably see the most minutes regularly might be the undrafted, NBDL veteran, free agent, Stiemsma. Not any of the players that actually got drafted.

[hpantazo]

Etwuan Moore

[jc3celticsphan]

heres his back up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbkj3eSYAb8&feature=channel_video_title

[lightspeed5]

if he clears the waivers, we will know within the next day if pietrus is coming. 

[xmuscularghandix]

Daniels, Moore, Bradley, or Dooling depending on the matchup

[Jon]

I think Marquis is pretty much a more natural SG than he is a small forward. He's a SG in the mold of Tony Allen in that he's a pretty decent defensive SG that doesn't have a good shot but can be effective offensively when going to the net. Unlike Allen though, he has a really good handle, is an above average passer, isn't nearly as athletic but makes up for that with actually having a brain and the ability to use it.

Pietrus will be the backup SF, once healthy. Hopefully he is healthy. Marquis will be the backup to Ray Allen. Dooling will be Rondo's backup and Moore, Johnson and Bradley will be getting a ton of court time.....as starters for Portland in the NBDL.

Strangely enough the young player that will probably see the most minutes regularly might be the undrafted, NBDL veteran, free agent, Stiemsma. Not any of the players that actually got drafted.

Exactly.  It's Marquis.  

And even if Pietrus doesn't come here, it'd still probably be Marquis.  

Even if Doc only plays Pierce and Ray 32 mpg (and let's face facts, like it or not, it's probably going to be even more than that), that only leaves 32 mpg of backup minutes between the 2 and 3 spots combined.  

If Doc is clever, there's no reason that even without Pietrus here, Marquis can't play at least 25 mpg of those 32 minutes, backing up the 2 and 3 spots.  

But if Pietrus comes, it makes this a whole lot easier.  

And I like Moore and think he has potential to be good.  But there's worse things that we can have than a good 11th man on the bench.  

[LooseCannon]

Avery Bradley is nowhere near the player Delonte West is/was

But unlike Delonte West, Avery Bradley is at least more likely than Jermaine O'Neal to actually be available to play.

[Celtics4ever]

Daniels is a match up nightmare for other teams as he is so strong in the post and a good slasher.   If he plays against SG the pickings ought to be good.  It is also a complete change of pace to the other team.  You go from sharpshooter marksman to slashing post up guy.  That will be hard for a team to adjust their scheme on.  I like it.

[Marcus13]

Ray better be ready to go 35 mpg again at the age of 36.

[gar]

If Pietrus' knee is OK we can run Marquis at the 2. If Marquis plays the point we could play three wings off the bench.

[Who]

If Pietrus' knee is OK we can run Marquis at the 2. If Marquis plays the point we could play three wings off the bench.

I am much happier with Marquis at the point than Dooling.

I would love to see Doc use Marquis at guard and Pietrus on the wing in a five man perimeter rotation come playoff time.

[bfrombleacher]

If we had Jeff Green, we would have been incredibly versatile. Even now we have choices. Sasha, Quisey, Pierce and now Pietrus are all swingmen (at the 2/3) with Pierce, Quise and Pietrus able to give different looks. We even got Keyon Dooling who can go 2.