The roster flaw that still hurts...

[Roy H.]

The Celtics have arguably the deepest team of any contender.  But, there's still a pretty big hole on the roster that many have complained about since day one:  a backup center who can defend and rebound.

That problem has only gotten larger with Grant Williams completely out of the rotation.  Grant wasn't a rim protector or a rebounder, but last year he added switchable defense and was able to give Grant or Timelord a rest when needed.  Last night, our best option was Blake Griffin.  I love what he's added in the locker room, but it's unacceptable that he's our go-to big when we need stops and rebounds.

I will never, ever understand the decision to roll with Kornet and Vonleh out of training camp.

[tazzmaniac]

The Celts have Horford and Timelord.  That's better than most teams have. 

[Roy H.]

The Celts have Horford and Timelord.  That's better than most teams have.

We also had all kinds of flexibility to add a third big that can rebound and play inside, and decided we were good with Kornet, Vonleh, and letting the trade exceptions expire.

[Moranis]

The Celtics have excellent guard depth, but have had significant roster issues with the interior (and even wing) depth all season long.  That is why I never understood why everyone called this team deep.  They have like 7 or 8 players you can rely on and it has been that way all season long.  They brought in Muscala to help with that and he can't even play.  Grant's true ability is of an 8th or 9th man (I do think he should be playing more).  The team has needed size all year.  The team needed to not have basically 5 worthless players on the roster all season long.  The flaws have been there all season and are only going to be magnified in the playoffs.

[liam]

The Celtics have excellent guard depth, but have had significant roster issues with the interior (and even wing) depth all season long.  That is why I never understood why everyone called this team deep.  They have like 7 or 8 players you can rely on and it has been that way all season long.  They brought in Muscala to help with that and he can't even play.  Grant's true ability is of an 8th or 9th man (I do think he should be playing more).  The team has needed size all year.  The team needed to not have basically 5 worthless players on the roster all season long.  The flaws have been there all season and are only going to be magnified in the playoffs.

I think this team is at least 10 deep but you have to play the players for them to affect the game.

[Smartacus]

The Celts have Horford and Timelord.  That's better than most teams have.

We also had all kinds of flexibility to add a third big that can rebound and play inside, and decided we were good with Kornet, Vonleh, and letting the trade exceptions expire.

Nerlens Noel would have been a nice pickup to address this flaw but I think the FO felt comfortable with giving Kornet a chance.

[Vermont Green]

The Celtics biggest weakness is big depth, not necessarily specific to center over PF but just the overall big rotation.  That is true.  But I don't think that is an issue.  Grant Williams is as good as most back up bigs that are still playing (on a playoff team).

The Celtics have "worked around" this weakness by going with the 1 big line up, making RWill the back up center.  Most on here prefer the 1 big line up so I don't understand why that would be suddenly viewed as a issue.  We have 7 players who would be starters on most teams; 3 Guards, 2 Wings, and 2 Bigs.  Of those 3 groups, the bigs is the weakest.  A different bench center doesn't change that.

If we were using Grant more and the 1 big line up less, Al could essentially be the back up center (or RWill, however you want to look at it).  But we are choosing to go small, not play Grant, so any back up center that was say as good as Grant, wouldn't play either.

[celticinorlando]

I was shocked to see Blake in the game in important minutes. One more legit big would have been important to have.

I am also a bit tired of small guards like Young, garland, mitchell, quickley, SGA getting to the rim with ease.

[Indocelts]

I think there are times when we really need 2 bigs lineup, like this series with the Hawks. Unfortunately, we don't have the 3rd big who can play solid offense and defense so both Al and TL can only play together in a limited time.

I like the hustle that Blake brings, but he is limited offensively. Muscala brings 3pt threat on offense but he is hunted down and looks lost on defense. Kornet is simply unplayable.

I blame Joe on why he can't integrate Muscala as our 3rd big. Not enough practice with the starters, perhaps?

[tazzmaniac]

I think there are times when we really need 2 bigs lineup, like this series with the Hawks. Unfortunately, we don't have the 3rd big who can play solid offense and defense so both Al and TL can only play together in a limited time.

I like the hustle that Blake brings, but he is limited offensively. Muscala brings 3pt threat on offense but he is hunted down and looks lost on defense. Kornet is simply unplayable.

I blame Joe on why he can't integrate Muscala as our 3rd big. Not enough practice with the starters, perhaps?

Which teams have 3 bigs who can play solid offense and defense in the playoffs? 

[Moranis]

I think there are times when we really need 2 bigs lineup, like this series with the Hawks. Unfortunately, we don't have the 3rd big who can play solid offense and defense so both Al and TL can only play together in a limited time.

I like the hustle that Blake brings, but he is limited offensively. Muscala brings 3pt threat on offense but he is hunted down and looks lost on defense. Kornet is simply unplayable.

I blame Joe on why he can't integrate Muscala as our 3rd big. Not enough practice with the starters, perhaps?

Which teams have 3 bigs who can play solid offense and defense in the playoffs?

depends on your definition of big, I mean are guys like Randle and Hachimura considered bigs?  Either way the most obvious team is the Bucks with Giannis, Lopez, and Portis. 

of course I took the question more as, can you find a 3rd big that you actually trust enough to play and right now Boston doesn't have that guy.  That is the problem.

[Roy H.]

of course I took the question more as, can you find a 3rd big that you actually trust enough to play and right now Boston doesn't have that guy.  That is the problem.

Right.  Tatum is our de facto third big, which works fine in a lot of situations.  However, situationally not having a reliable option to defend and rebound hurts.

And, on nights when Horford or Timelord don't have it -- whether it be due to health, foul trouble, or just playing poorly -- it puts us into a bad situation. 

Also:  I have no idea how Grant Williams got dropped from the rotation completely.  How does a guy go from 26 minutes per night to zero?  He's no doubt a flawed player, but he can offer something as an 8th or 9th man.

[Indocelts]

I think there are times when we really need 2 bigs lineup, like this series with the Hawks. Unfortunately, we don't have the 3rd big who can play solid offense and defense so both Al and TL can only play together in a limited time.

I like the hustle that Blake brings, but he is limited offensively. Muscala brings 3pt threat on offense but he is hunted down and looks lost on defense. Kornet is simply unplayable.

I blame Joe on why he can't integrate Muscala as our 3rd big. Not enough practice with the starters, perhaps?

Which teams have 3 bigs who can play solid offense and defense in the playoffs?

I don't care about other teams. I think the Cs need to have Al and GW playing together more but they can't because Joe doesn't trust the other bigs he has. He has Muscala, but i don't think he prepares him well enough to be the 3rd big. That's the Celtics roster flaw.

[Vermont Green]

MIL has a clear 3 big rotation with Giannis, Lopez, and Portis, but I can't think of another team.  PHI's third big is probably Paul Reed.  NYK would be Hartenstein.  DEN it is probably Jeff Green.

The Celtics appeared to have a decent 3 man big rotation with Horford, RWill, and Grant, but for whatever reason, Grant has fallen out of the rotation.  Even Griffin and Muscala are probably better than some of the 3rd or 4th bigs that are out there.  Nerlens Noel or someone like him was not going to make any difference.

The main point is that unless this back up big was someone who is about as good as Portis (apparently would need to be better than Grant), he wouldn't be playing and wouldn't be making any difference.  I am as puzzled as anyone as to why Grant isn't being used.

[boscel33]

I thought I responded but it didn't go through.

This is on Brad.  Even though he had the ability to spend (per the owners) he didn't and I bet he was not allowed to.  Some fairly decent TPE's expired this year, then he loses out on Poeltl and settles for Muscala, who hasn't now played in 4 of 5 games.