Father Time vs. Doc - Who's hurting KG more?

[MBunge]

The struggles of KG are clearly a big part of Boston's poor play this season.  Now, he's getting up there in basketball years and age can suddenly show up in an energy guy like KG, but I wonder how much his decline is being exaggerated by some poor coaching decisions from Doc.

We've heard alot about how Doc is really on KG about scoring more but even at his peak, KG only averaged about 22-23 points a game.  Demanding he return to that form at his age and after playing a smaller offensive role for years in Boston seems like a fool's errand.  And while Doc has shown a remarkable commitment to keeping KG's minutes down, something he's apparently incapable of doing with either Ray or Paul, he's putting KG at the 5 in lineups as much or more than he ever has.  KG has never liked playing center, he's never really been physically built for it and the passage of time has only made those things more true.  If Doc can accept that he has to play KG only 30 or so minutes a game, I don't understand why he can't accept that KG needs to stay at the 4, even if that means he has to play the Steamer for 12 to 16 minutes a night.

Mike

[Marcus13]

I agree this would make KG more comfortable...but it isn't going to help the fact that he can't run, jump, rebound, fight for positioning, hit a jump shot, or move his body to get into position for defensive rotations anymore.

[greenpride32]

I think the point of playing KG at the 5 (aside from the fact that we're short on quality bigs) is to help him conserve some energy.  There are plenty of 4's in this league who are very athletic and can play a perimter game just like KG.  On the other hand the majority of 5's are pure post players.  They're likely to have a size advantage over KG, but Kevin doesn't need to really chase them around and can just anchor himself in the paint.  

But as Marcus pointed out, if KG has declined you really can't cover it up.  Just remember in the 08 season KG played the 5 also when the C's ran small ball.  When he still had his legs it didn't matter if it was the 4 or the 5 he could still be effective.  I think the issue is more of KG's knee injury from a few years ago; he's never been the same since then.  He keeps himself in good shape so it was more of a freak injury than father time.

[PosImpos]

Father time.

[csfansince60s]

Shame on KG for coming into the season unprepared physically and mentally. He supported the hard-line union position and was among the many who thought there wouldn't be a season. That's all on KG.

Doc, however, is making a bad situation worse by playing KG on a bum ankle. Only bad things can come of this.

Doc should be sitting KG until he is ready to contribute. The ankle that is hurt is on the opposite leg from the knee that was surgically repaired. Favoring the side of his injured ankle puts him at greater risk for his knee. (Quite possibly, favoring of his surgically repaired knee could have caused the ankle sprain, and so on and so on...)

While we do need KG now, we will need him a lot more later in the season//playoffs (if we make it).

Resting him puts more pressure on everyone else, players and Doc alike, and with Wilcox out Doc will have to play JJJ and Stiemsma more. That won't be so good in the short run, but can only help in the long run by seeing what we have in them and giving them the burn that they need to develop more quickly.

[LB3533]

Shame on KG for coming into the season unprepared physically and mentally. He supported the hard-line union position and was among the many who thought there wouldn't be a season. That's all on KG.

Doc, however, is making a bad situation worse by playing KG on a bum ankle. Only bad things can come of this.

Doc should be sitting KG until he is ready to contribute. The ankle that is hurt is on the opposite leg from the knee that was surgically repaired. Favoring the side of his injured ankle puts him at greater risk for his knee. (Quite possibly, favoring of his surgically repaired knee could have caused the ankle sprain, and so on and so on...)

While we do need KG now, we will need him a lot more later in the season//playoffs (if we make it).

Resting him puts more pressure on everyone else, players and Doc alike, and with Wilcox out Doc will have to play JJJ and Stiemsma more. That won't be so good in the short run, but can only help in the long run by seeing what we have in them and giving them the burn that they need to develop more quickly.

I agree, sit KG and let him rest, especially on back to backs.

We either start Bass or Stimsema and go with that.