2013-2014 Should Be A "See What We Have" Year

[PhoSita]

I don't think you need to get rid of Pierce and Garnett to open the doors for Bradley and Sullinger. Those two youngsters can come on just fine while playing alongside Pierce and Garnett. Better even. They will develop better with KG/Pierce than without. Sullinger in particular. Having Garnett alongside Sully is a big help to him. Bradley's effectiveness is more tied to Rondo, offensively at least.

Jeff Green is the only one whose situation changes positively by moving Pierce and Garnett. Pierce really. Garnett is a help to Green but Pierce is in the way. Forces the team into unorthodox lineups in order to get J.Green big minutes. Anyway, I have little to no confidence in Jeff Green so I couldn't care less about moving out two quality performers like KG and Pierce to help J.Green out.

To me the biggest thing is Rondo.  I just don't think we can really know if Rondo has the potential to step up and be "the guy" for major stretches of the regular season as well as in the playoffs until we free him up to be that guy.  For whatever reason, I think he defers to Pierce and Garnett, probably because he spent his formative years in the league being a supporting player for them. 

Whether we're letting Rondo prove himself that he is a franchise player we can build around, or we're pumping up his value so somebody else sells us the farm because they think he can be a foundational piece for them, I think Pierce and Garnett have to go for that to happen.


As for young guys like Bradley and Sullinger, you may be right, though I think those guys would get more opportunities to grow into key roles if the team was focused first and foremost on developing them as such.  Where if you keep Pierce and Garnett Doc is going to be coaching the team and managing minutes with the goal of winning games with Pierce and Garnett as the central pieces.

I think Sullinger will have a much better chance of growing into a significant role in the offense if he's not playing with Pierce and Garnett.

Your point as far as the value of Pierce and Garnett as mentors is well taken, though.

[PhoSita]

  I don't think that's really true. We had two different styles of play last year (before and after Rondo's injury) and PP and KG were playing during both of them.

This is mostly true, with one really important caveat:

With Pierce and Garnett on the floor, this team has very consistently ground to a halt late in games. 

Even when the entire rest of the game goes well playing a different style, you see them slow it way down and fall back on Pierce isos or Rondo and Garnett playing hot potato in the corner until Garnett gets an open jumper or Rondo takes an end of the clock three.  As long as Pierce and Garnett are around, I think Doc and the rest of the players are going to look to them in those essential moments of games and we're going to fall back into old habits that once were tried and true but are now really flawed because this team isn't built to win that way anymore.

Ultimately, I see that we're gonna become the next Atlanta Hawks or Milwaukee Bucks of the East with that lineup.

Unless you bring in a Center that's similar to a Dwight Howard-caliber player minus the ego and preinjury.

See the post I made in response to another person who said basically the same thing.

The idea isn't to go forward with that as a core that is going to win the Eastern Conference.  Of course that would be foolhardy.

The idea is to see what we have, and have some basis to show other teams, "This is the value of these players" so it's not all "Well, they COULD be really nice players if they got the chance."  That puts us in a much better position to make moves.

[Vermont Green]

To me the biggest thing is Rondo.  I just don't think we can really know if Rondo has the potential to step up and be "the guy" for major stretches of the regular season as well as in the playoffs until we free him up to be that guy. 

See, I think we do know and the answer is no, we can't contend with Rondo as our best player.  In the last 3 years, has the team ever played contender level without Garnett healthy?  And that is with Pierce.

This is not about dissing Rondo, it is more about respecting KG and PP.  This hypothetical team of Rondo, Bradley, Green, Bass and Sullinger?? is not that good, no matter how well Rondo plays, at least that is my opinion.

[PhoSita]

To me the biggest thing is Rondo.  I just don't think we can really know if Rondo has the potential to step up and be "the guy" for major stretches of the regular season as well as in the playoffs until we free him up to be that guy. 

See, I think we do know and the answer is no, we can't contend with Rondo as our best player.  In the last 3 years, has the team ever played contender level without Garnett healthy?  And that is with Pierce.

This is not about dissing Rondo, it is more about respecting KG and PP.  This hypothetical team of Rondo, Bradley, Green, Bass and Sullinger?? is not that good, no matter how well Rondo plays, at least that is my opinion.

I'm not even really talking about contending, I just want to see how Rondo plays when from the very start of the season he is the guy everybody looks to.  I want to see what he can be without Pierce or Garnett in the equation.  Once we know the answer to that question I think it'll make it much easier to decide what to do with Rondo moving forward.


Again, I want to be clear.  THIS IS NOT ABOUT CONTENDING, OR EVEN REALLY COMPETING, WITH RONDO / BRADLEY / GREEN / SULLINGER.

I'm not saying we should "see what we have" in the sense that I think that you take Pierce and Garnett off this team and you're left with a 50 win team or anything like that.  I think that's nonsense, honestly.  That team would struggle to get to 35-40 wins, and might be far worse than that.

I'm more interested in seeing how these players can perform individually and as a unit, and in what ways they grow or struggle, once you put them in that situation.