Possible starting five?

[SHAQATTACK]

I think when KO is on the floor the team will have more success ...no matter who else is out there......he just makes a difference when he is on the court.

He makes plays that put up points ......an asset Celtics sorely need with Pierce gone.

[tomrod]

The thing about the point guard is that you have to keep in mind that you need enough shooting and enough ball handling.

Smart, Bradley, Green, Olynyk, Sullinger you are gonna have a lot of turnovers. You need another ball handler, and Smart is not shooting well.

If you start Turner instead of Bradley you lose shooting (and defense) and gain ball handling.

If Smart shows he can shoot and command a team then he starts, but if he doesnt prove ready then you have to go with another lineup.

Pressey cant start, there's too many pg's that would just abuse him as a starter.

In the end, you just have to hope that Smart is ready and start Smart, Bradley, Green, Sullinger, Olynyk.

[More Banners]

I think when KO is on the floor the team will have more success ...no matter who else is out there......he just makes a difference when he is on the court.

He makes plays that put up points ......an asset Celtics sorely need with Pierce gone.

The bench could well be a scoring force with crazy ball movement, which is great when Rondo gets a blow.

I have Bass/Zeller penciled in as starters, given the veteran and experienced starter status of both (and Bass' new 3pt shot), which allows the Sully/Olynyk duo to wreak havoc against 2nd units.  Though still raw, this is the nicest big rotation we've had in a while.

[AngryAndIrritable]

Starting Pressey is a no brainer for me. Giving Smart the starting job puts him under too big a spotlight too early, plus I would want him having some minutes at SG also.

In the unlikely event that Pressey has a Jeremy Lin-esque breakout period then we have a very welcome selection dilemma.

And what evidence do we have that Pressey is going to have any kind of breakout?  I think..um none.  Pressey is not going to challenge RR for the starting pg spot.  If things go well, he isn't going to be playing anything more than mop up minutes.  Probably less than Thorton.

I understand why people like pressey.  He hustles, he gives 100%.  I get that people root for the underdog, and that is kind of pressey's role, but I wish people would just accept that he is an undersized guard that is a liability in a lot of cases on defense and isn't a good shooter.  He played a lot last year because we really didn't have anyone else.  He had a few good games last year.  Well so did Chris Johnson.  But he had a lot of pretty poor games as well, and a lot of games where he just didn't take care of the ball well enough.

If pressey ends up playing a major role this year it is because we have been hit hard with injuries.

I did say that it was unlikely.

Nobody is suggesting starting Pressey because he's a capable starting point guard, because he isn't at the moment and may never be. If he starts it would be for the reasons myself and others have listed above.

[Csfan1984]

Any one think lineup of
Smart, AB, Turner, Green, Olynyk gets some early preseason action.

[GreenWarrior]

I don't think there will be a consistent starting line-up. we're gonna play match ups.

[nickagneta]

For all the love of youth, this starting five is going to need someone running it that has experience running an NBA offense. Rondo's hand will heal and he isn't being dealt because, quite honestly, his value is probably at an all-time low.

So eventually the starting lineup will be:

Rondo
Bradley
Green
Bass
Sullinger

The second team will be

Smart
Turner
Wallace
Olynyk
Zeller

Pressey
Thornton
Young
Powell
Faverani

will be the third team with Powell and Young probably getting time at the DLeague level.

Now this is all based on no deals going down and, let's face it, if there were deals to go down to dump Wallace, Bass Thornton and Rondo, like SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many here at Celticsblog want, they would have happened already. So until something happens where a contender needs some of those players, those are the lineups that will be seen, IMHO.

[Celtics18]

For all the love of youth, this starting five is going to need someone running it that has experience running an NBA offense. Rondo's hand will heal and he isn't being dealt because, quite honestly, his value is probably at an all-time low.

So eventually the starting lineup will be:

Rondo
Bradley
Green
Bass
Sullinger

The second team will be

Smart
Turner
Wallace
Olynyk
Zeller

Pressey
Thornton
Young
Powell
Faverani

will be the third team with Powell and Young probably getting time at the DLeague level.

Now this is all based on no deals going down and, let's face it, if there were deals to go down to dump Wallace, Bass Thornton and Rondo, like SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many here at Celticsblog want, they would have happened already. So until something happens where a contender needs some of those players, those are the lineups that will be seen, IMHO.

I have no disagreements with you on the 1 through 3 positions.  I think it will clearly be Rondo, Bradley and Green once Rondo is healthy.  I think that the guard rotation will be a bit more up in the air until Rondo returns, with Turner and Smart probably both being legitimate candidates for the starting point guard job.

I'm not convinced that you are right about Bass/Sully being the best, or most likely, front court pairing.  I think that both Tyler Zeller and Kelly Olynyk have reasonable chances of winning starting positions.  Not for development purposes, but because they may end up being the best candidates for the job. 

It will be interesting to see how coach Stevens manages the roster this year.  One thing is for sure, there's bound to be plenty of room for second-guessing by all of us arm chair point guards. 

[rondohondo]

opening night

PG: Smart
SG: Bradley
SF: Green
PF: Bass
 C: Sully

Bass starts to raise his value


when Rondo comes back

PG: Rondo
SG: Bradley
SF: Green
PF: Sully
 C: KO

[MBunge]

opening night

PG: Smart
SG: Bradley
SF: Green
PF: Bass
 C: Sully

Bass starts to raise his value


when Rondo comes back

PG: Rondo
SG: Bradley
SF: Green
PF: Sully
 C: KO

Sully will not start at center.

[fairweatherfan]

Seems pretty likely to be

Rondo
Bradley
Green
Sully
Olynyk

with Smart beginning the season at PG, and Zeller waiting in the wings if Sully/KO don't mesh well (I think they will).

[mmmmm]

For all the love of youth, this starting five is going to need someone running it that has experience running an NBA offense. Rondo's hand will heal and he isn't being dealt because, quite honestly, his value is probably at an all-time low.

So eventually the starting lineup will be:

Rondo
Bradley
Green
Bass
Sullinger

The second team will be

Smart
Turner
Wallace
Olynyk
Zeller

Pressey
Thornton
Young
Powell
Faverani

will be the third team with Powell and Young probably getting time at the DLeague level.

Now this is all based on no deals going down and, let's face it, if there were deals to go down to dump Wallace, Bass Thornton and Rondo, like SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many here at Celticsblog want, they would have happened already. So until something happens where a contender needs some of those players, those are the lineups that will be seen, IMHO.

I agree with most of your points but I don't think they'll go with Bass/Sully as the starting front court.  That pairing forces Sully to be the center - something Ainge apparently promised Sully he was not going to have to do so much of this year.

Zeller has experience starting and is by far our best pure center so I anticipate he will end up getting the starting gig.

So the competition would be between Bass, Sully & Olynyk at the 4 spot.    Bass might get the early nod out of respect as a 'veteran', but ultimately I expect Sully or Olynyk to take that spot.

I think through the course of the season that all 4 will get minutes rotating through the 4 & 5 spots in various combinations but I hope we avoid using the Bass + Sully twosome very much.  That particular pair has proven to be just awful defensively in both the last two seasons.   Just not enough length there.

My personal preference would be to see Sully & Zeller start with Bass & Olynyk off the bench and then match ups as appropriate from there.   That gives us a 7 footer on the floor with both pairs.

Olynyk may push Zeller for that starting C position, given he's put on a lot of muscle and if his defense shows improvement.  But I think early on he'll come off the bench.