Doc, have we finally seen the last of 0-14 Cassell?

[EJPLAYA]

You hit it right on the head WHO. You have lowered your expectations of the guy and so you are willing to be happy with Sam playing like crap most of the time he is in there. I however look back at a body of work over the whole season of Eddie House's where we played great basketball and he was a huge part of it. You can single out whatever game you want, but Sam has been a bust. It makes no difference that other backup PG's aren't playing well. It is what he is consistently doing for/to this team.

As far as this phantom "House can't dribble and is being pressured into losing the ball" ... Show me some factual numbers. Everyone says "remember that Detroit game". He turned the ball over ONE time!!! That was back in December!! He has averaged .97 turnovers a game this season in 19 minutes. Sam averaged 1.76 in 23 minutes. Who's the one who has trouble with the ball?!

Face it. You just don't want to be honest with yourselves that Sam isn't any good anymore. He has shot 33.8% from the floor in the playoffs. This idea that he was bad in the regular season but is now playing well is not true. His assist numbers are lower than they were in the regular season as well.

Facts are these:

-Sam is getting torched on D and will continue to in any future rounds because he is too old and slow and never was a very good defender anyway.

-Sam is shooting a terrible shooting percentage for the playoffs (even worse than the regular season) and has missed 21 shots in a row. He also has a 7% lower free throw percentage than the regular season with us.

- Sam's assist numbers are 1/3rd of what his season average is, and are lower than the regular season.

- Sam's rebounding numbers are down from 2.5 to 1 in the post season.


Every major statistical category he has played worse in through the playoffs than the regular season when he came to us and people are still saying that he is playing better now that it is playoff time?! It's just not accurate guys!

[BballTim]

They were very good games. We don't win game one without Cassell's fourth quarter. We don't make that comeback in game two during the second quarter without Sam Cassell. That's very good. He's a backup point guard. That's very good.

  The first game was a mixed bag. If we'd have lost the game it would have been due to Sam's stint in the first half. The second game was good. I don't like to see him for 2 reasons. One, he plays poorly and looks for his own shot too much. Two, Doc's letting him stay in the game when he does a poor job, so we get the double whammy of his bad play plus his keeping Rondo on the bench.

[crownsy]

You hit it right on the head WHO. You have lowered your expectations of the guy and so you are willing to be happy with Sam playing like crap most of the time he is in there. I however look back at a body of work over the whole season of Eddie House's where we played great basketball and he was a huge part of it. You can single out whatever game you want, but Sam has been a bust. It makes no difference that other backup PG's aren't playing well. It is what he is consistently doing for/to this team.

As far as this phantom "House can't dribble and is being pressured into losing the ball" ... Show me some factual numbers. Everyone says "remember that Detroit game". He turned the ball over ONE time!!! That was back in December!! He has averaged .97 turnovers a game this season in 19 minutes. Sam averaged 1.76 in 23 minutes. Who's the one who has trouble with the ball?!

Face it. You just don't want to be honest with yourselves that Sam isn't any good anymore. He has shot 33.8% from the floor in the playoffs. This idea that he was bad in the regular season but is now playing well is not true. His assist numbers are lower than they were in the regular season as well.

Facts are these:

-Sam is getting torched on D and will continue to in any future rounds because he is too old and slow and never was a very good defender anyway.

-Sam is shooting a terrible shooting percentage for the playoffs (even worse than the regular season) and has missed 21 shots in a row. He also has a 7% lower free throw percentage than the regular season with us.

- Sam's assist numbers are 1/3rd of what his season average is, and are lower than the regular season.

- Sam's rebounding numbers are down from 2.5 to 1 in the post season.


Every major statistical category he has played worse in through the playoffs than the regular season when he came to us and people are still saying that he is playing better now that it is playoff time?! It's just not accurate guys!

I don't think its that people don't want to admit sam's doign a bad job, its just that we don't feel as strongly about him being a lost cause as you do.

for me personaly, right now, sam should sit, there's no doubt of that. His play of late has been terrable and this is the playoffs. this isn't youth league bball, i don't care about players feelings getting hurt, eddies or sam's. Right now sam is bad, eddie deserves a shot. but i wouldn't be opposed to ever seeing sam on the floor again or anything.

You know how i felt about Sam's role going in ej, from or sometimes to spirited discussions of how doc would use him  . I felt, at the time that he was going to be used in the 5-7 minute role to spell a rajon who was playing 38-40 a night. For some reason, before last night, doc has decided not to go that route.

And, its hurt us. i think sam in short 3 minute back up stretchs would have been fine, the 15-20 minute burn he was getting is ridculous. Not only that, for the most part (game 3 rajon was terrable, and he was bad in game 1. sam helped there i'll grant) doc ALWAYS takes rondo out at the end of the first. this is so amazing to me. it doesnt matter how he's playing, he's coming out. Other teams pick up on those thigns doc, and adjust to get bad matchups in for your backup PG, be it eddie or sam. Not only that, it tightins rajon up on the bench.

How many games in the atlanta series did we see rajon start off well, get yanked at the end of the first, buried for 8 minutes of sam time, and then come back in out of rythm? i'm not saying the kid doesn't need rest, but make it 2 minutes here, a minute and a half there...thats how good coaches keep players hot, quick rest. not long, drawn out rest periods.

right now, i would like to see rajon get, assuming his play demands it, 38 a night, and see eddie and sam split the last 10. this would work eddie back in gradually, sicne for some reason doc has buried him in the playoffs, and keep sam's defensive lapses hidden, while allowing him to mabey get himself back in rythm.

But no doubt, sam must play eddie, and limit sam's minutes going forward, if he chooses to stick with sam. I cannot stress enough how counter productive sam is in long stretchs. Short stretchs i understand, long minutes i never will.

[Who]

I however look back at a body of work over the whole season of Eddie House's where we played great basketball and he was a huge part of it. You can single out whatever game you want, but Sam has been a bust.

I completely agree that Eddie House has outplayed Sam on the whole of the season. I completely agree he played better than him in the regular season.

As far as this phantom "House can't dribble and is being pressured into losing the ball" ... Show me some factual numbers. Everyone says "remember that Detroit game". He turned the ball over ONE time!!! That was back in December!! He has averaged .97 turnovers a game this season in 19 minutes. Sam averaged 1.76 in 23 minutes. Who's the one who has trouble with the ball?!

Again, I completely agree. I think that's an awful reason for Eddie not playing and I'm honestly just as worried about Sam because he does very badly against guards that pressure the ball. Like Rondo did to him when the Clippers came to Boston. Sam gets flustered, tries to beat the defense himself, takes an incredibly long time to do it and leaves the team with 10 seconds to work with. I've said it a few times and around the time we signed him. The only hope is his reputation is big enough that the opposition doesn't do it towards him, otherwise he'll cause just as many problems.

Far easier for KG to walk to the center circle, put his hands up and pass the ball up through him. Less hassle, less turnovers, quicker into the offense and it's not about either of the point guard's ability to beat pressure/traps.

Facts are these:

-Sam is getting torched on D and will continue to in any future rounds because he is too old and slow and never was a very good defender anyway.

This is not a fact. Sam has had one bad defensive game in the last 5 matches.

Is it because he's a good defender? No
Is it because the Cavs aren't attacking him? Yes

But the fact is his defense hasn't been an issue for the majority of this series.

Will it be down the line? I expect so. I'm really concerned about Rodney Stuckey in the next round which I said the day we signed Sam.

The truth is that Delonte has been beating Rondo more often than Sam has been beaten off the dribble.

Facts are these:

-Sam is shooting a terrible shooting percentage for the playoffs (even worse than the regular season) and has missed 21 shots in a row. He also has a 7% lower free throw percentage than the regular season with us.

- Sam's assist numbers are 1/3rd of what his season average is, and are lower than the regular season.

- Sam's rebounding numbers are down from 2.5 to 1 in the post season.

Very true across the board. I could care less about his rebounding (he's a point guard) but very true.


Sam is not an issue if Rondo plays like he's supposed to.

Right now I only care about this series. I agree Sam played worse in the regular season than Eddie and that he played below par against Atlanta but I only care about this serie right now. What he did in the past is immaterial to me because I don't think it's anywhere near as good of an indicator as to how he'll play the rest of this series as the first five games of this series are.

In this series Sam Cassell has been acceptable. He's had two very good games, two poor games and one game where he did very little in very little minutes. He doesn't deserve all the criticism he's getting for his play in this series.

[EJPLAYA]

You hit it right on the head WHO. You have lowered your expectations of the guy and so you are willing to be happy with Sam playing like crap most of the time he is in there. I however look back at a body of work over the whole season of Eddie House's where we played great basketball and he was a huge part of it. You can single out whatever game you want, but Sam has been a bust. It makes no difference that other backup PG's aren't playing well. It is what he is consistently doing for/to this team.

As far as this phantom "House can't dribble and is being pressured into losing the ball" ... Show me some factual numbers. Everyone says "remember that Detroit game". He turned the ball over ONE time!!! That was back in December!! He has averaged .97 turnovers a game this season in 19 minutes. Sam averaged 1.76 in 23 minutes. Who's the one who has trouble with the ball?!

Face it. You just don't want to be honest with yourselves that Sam isn't any good anymore. He has shot 33.8% from the floor in the playoffs. This idea that he was bad in the regular season but is now playing well is not true. His assist numbers are lower than they were in the regular season as well.

Facts are these:

-Sam is getting torched on D and will continue to in any future rounds because he is too old and slow and never was a very good defender anyway.

-Sam is shooting a terrible shooting percentage for the playoffs (even worse than the regular season) and has missed 21 shots in a row. He also has a 7% lower free throw percentage than the regular season with us.

- Sam's assist numbers are 1/3rd of what his season average is, and are lower than the regular season.

- Sam's rebounding numbers are down from 2.5 to 1 in the post season.


Every major statistical category he has played worse in through the playoffs than the regular season when he came to us and people are still saying that he is playing better now that it is playoff time?! It's just not accurate guys!

I don't think its that people don't want to admit sam's doign a bad job, its just that we don't feel as strongly about him being a lost cause as you do.

for me personaly, right now, sam should sit, there's no doubt of that. His play of late has been terrable and this is the playoffs. this isn't youth league bball, i don't care about players feelings getting hurt, eddies or sam's. Right now sam is bad, eddie deserves a shot. but i wouldn't be opposed to ever seeing sam on the floor again or anything.

You know how i felt about Sam's role going in ej, from or sometimes to spirited discussions of how doc would use him  . I felt, at the time that he was going to be used in the 5-7 minute role to spell a rajon who was playing 38-40 a night. For some reason, before last night, doc has decided not to go that route.

And, its hurt us. i think sam in short 3 minute back up stretchs would have been fine, the 15-20 minute burn he was getting is ridculous. Not only that, for the most part (game 3 rajon was terrable, and he was bad in game 1. sam helped there i'll grant) doc ALWAYS takes rondo out at the end of the first. this is so amazing to me. it doesnt matter how he's playing, he's coming out. Other teams pick up on those thigns doc, and adjust to get bad matchups in for your backup PG, be it eddie or sam. Not only that, it tightins rajon up on the bench.

How many games in the atlanta series did we see rajon start off well, get yanked at the end of the first, buried for 8 minutes of sam time, and then come back in out of rythm? i'm not saying the kid doesn't need rest, but make it 2 minutes here, a minute and a half there...thats how good coaches keep players hot, quick rest. not long, drawn out rest periods.

right now, i would like to see rajon get, assuming his play demands it, 38 a night, and see eddie and sam split the last 10. this would work eddie back in gradually, sicne for some reason doc has buried him in the playoffs, and keep sam's defensive lapses hidden, while allowing him to mabey get himself back in rythm.

But no doubt, sam must play eddie, and limit sam's minutes going forward, if he chooses to stick with sam. I cannot stress enough how counter productive sam is in long stretchs. Short stretchs i understand, long minutes i never will.

I think we agree for the most part. I just don't think the playoffs in a tight race is the time to gamble on whether he is a lost cause or not. He hasn't played well often since he got here, so why keep risking it.

I want Eddie to play about 6-7 minutes a night consistently. That's it. If he is on fire then maybe he gets 4-5 extra ones, but other than that is should be Rondo.

[EJPLAYA]

I however look back at a body of work over the whole season of Eddie House's where we played great basketball and he was a huge part of it. You can single out whatever game you want, but Sam has been a bust.

I completely agree that Eddie House has outplayed Sam on the whole of the season. I completely agree he played better than him in the regular season.

As far as this phantom "House can't dribble and is being pressured into losing the ball" ... Show me some factual numbers. Everyone says "remember that Detroit game". He turned the ball over ONE time!!! That was back in December!! He has averaged .97 turnovers a game this season in 19 minutes. Sam averaged 1.76 in 23 minutes. Who's the one who has trouble with the ball?!

Again, I completely agree. I think that's an awful reason for Eddie not playing and I'm honestly just as worried about Sam because he does very badly against guards that pressure the ball. Like Rondo did to him when the Clippers came to Boston. Sam gets flustered, tries to beat the defense himself, takes an incredibly long time to do it and leaves the team with 10 seconds to work with. I've said it a few times and around the time we signed him. The only hope is his reputation is big enough that the opposition doesn't do it towards him, otherwise he'll cause just as many problems.

Far easier for KG to walk to the center circle, put his hands up and pass the ball up through him. Less hassle, less turnovers, quicker into the offense and it's not about either of the point guard's ability to beat pressure/traps.

Facts are these:

-Sam is getting torched on D and will continue to in any future rounds because he is too old and slow and never was a very good defender anyway.

This is not a fact. Sam has had one bad defensive game in the last 5 matches.

Is it because he's a good defender? No
Is it because the Cavs aren't attacking him? Yes

But the fact is his defense hasn't been an issue for the majority of this series.

Will it be down the line? I expect so. I'm really concerned about Rodney Stuckey in the next round which I said the day we signed Sam.

The truth is that Delonte has been beating Rondo more often than Sam has been beaten off the dribble.

Facts are these:

-Sam is shooting a terrible shooting percentage for the playoffs (even worse than the regular season) and has missed 21 shots in a row. He also has a 7% lower free throw percentage than the regular season with us.

- Sam's assist numbers are 1/3rd of what his season average is, and are lower than the regular season.

- Sam's rebounding numbers are down from 2.5 to 1 in the post season.

Very true across the board. I could care less about his rebounding (he's a point guard) but very true.


Sam is not an issue if Rondo plays like he's supposed to.

Right now I only care about this series. I agree Sam played worse in the regular season than Eddie and that he played below par against Atlanta but I only care about this serie right now. What he did in the past is immaterial to me because I don't think it's anywhere near as good of an indicator as to how he'll play the rest of this series as the first five games of this series are.

In this series Sam Cassell has been acceptable. He's had two very good games, two poor games and one game where he did very little in very little minutes. He doesn't deserve all the criticism he's getting for his play in this series.

Although I am glad you are doing it, you're backtracking. If you state that House has played better in the regular season than why on earth would you be opposed to him getting the 6-7 minutes that Rondo is out? The stats are what they are. Sam has worse numbers in the playoffs than the regular season since we got him. House hasn't had enough minutes to know WHAT he would do in the playoffs this year. We stall offensively when the second unit comes in and this guy has made a career out of lighting it up off the bench. This would be like me arguing that Scal should get all of Powe or BBD's minutes because of what he did in years past with NJ.

[winsomme]

I however look back at a body of work over the whole season of Eddie House's where we played great basketball and he was a huge part of it. You can single out whatever game you want, but Sam has been a bust.

I completely agree that Eddie House has outplayed Sam on the whole of the season. I completely agree he played better than him in the regular season.

As far as this phantom "House can't dribble and is being pressured into losing the ball" ... Show me some factual numbers. Everyone says "remember that Detroit game". He turned the ball over ONE time!!! That was back in December!! He has averaged .97 turnovers a game this season in 19 minutes. Sam averaged 1.76 in 23 minutes. Who's the one who has trouble with the ball?!

Again, I completely agree. I think that's an awful reason for Eddie not playing and I'm honestly just as worried about Sam because he does very badly against guards that pressure the ball. Like Rondo did to him when the Clippers came to Boston. Sam gets flustered, tries to beat the defense himself, takes an incredibly long time to do it and leaves the team with 10 seconds to work with. I've said it a few times and around the time we signed him. The only hope is his reputation is big enough that the opposition doesn't do it towards him, otherwise he'll cause just as many problems.

Far easier for KG to walk to the center circle, put his hands up and pass the ball up through him. Less hassle, less turnovers, quicker into the offense and it's not about either of the point guard's ability to beat pressure/traps.

Facts are these:

-Sam is getting torched on D and will continue to in any future rounds because he is too old and slow and never was a very good defender anyway.

This is not a fact. Sam has had one bad defensive game in the last 5 matches.

Is it because he's a good defender? No
Is it because the Cavs aren't attacking him? Yes

But the fact is his defense hasn't been an issue for the majority of this series.

Will it be down the line? I expect so. I'm really concerned about Rodney Stuckey in the next round which I said the day we signed Sam.

The truth is that Delonte has been beating Rondo more often than Sam has been beaten off the dribble.

Facts are these:

-Sam is shooting a terrible shooting percentage for the playoffs (even worse than the regular season) and has missed 21 shots in a row. He also has a 7% lower free throw percentage than the regular season with us.

- Sam's assist numbers are 1/3rd of what his season average is, and are lower than the regular season.

- Sam's rebounding numbers are down from 2.5 to 1 in the post season.

Very true across the board. I could care less about his rebounding (he's a point guard) but very true.


Sam is not an issue if Rondo plays like he's supposed to.

Right now I only care about this series. I agree Sam played worse in the regular season than Eddie and that he played below par against Atlanta but I only care about this serie right now. What he did in the past is immaterial to me because I don't think it's anywhere near as good of an indicator as to how he'll play the rest of this series as the first five games of this series are.

In this series Sam Cassell has been acceptable. He's had two very good games, two poor games and one game where he did very little in very little minutes. He doesn't deserve all the criticism he's getting for his play in this series.

Although I am glad you are doing it, you're backtracking. If you state that House has played better in the regular season than why on earth would you be opposed to him getting the 6-7 minutes that Rondo is out? The stats are what they are. Sam has worse numbers in the playoffs than the regular season since we got him. House hasn't had enough minutes to know WHAT he would do in the playoffs this year. We stall offensively when the second unit comes in and this guy has made a career out of lighting it up off the bench. This would be like me arguing that Scal should get all of Powe or BBD's minutes because of what he did in years past with NJ.

because playing better in the regular season is not the measuring stick in deciding which guy should get the backup minutes in the playoffs.

[Who]

Although I am glad you are doing it, you're backtracking. If you state that House has played better in the regular season than why on earth would you be opposed to him getting the 6-7 minutes that Rondo is out? The stats are what they are. Sam has worse numbers in the playoffs than the regular season since we got him. House hasn't had enough minutes to know WHAT he would do in the playoffs this year. We stall offensively when the second unit comes in and this guy has made a career out of lighting it up off the bench. This would be like me arguing that Scal should get all of Powe or BBD's minutes because of what he did in years past with NJ.

EJPLAYA,

I'm not backtracking at all. I told you in one of my earliest posts (halfway through page four) of this thread that I thought Eddie House was playing better and that I wanted him back in the rotation as the backup point guard after Sam's first 10-15 games here. I said that I wanted him back in the rotation before the playoffs and for the playoffs. I also said that I wanted him back in the rotation during the Atlanta series.

Now, two other things:

(1) I think the criticism Sam got for his play in the regular season is mostly deserved. I think he was inconsistent and below par against Atlanta also. But I do not think he deserves the waves of criticism he's getting for the Cleveland series. That's where we walk down different paths. I think his play has been fine. Inconsistent and not delightful but fine. Two very good games, two poor games, one did very little in very little minutes game. I especially don't feel he deserves the criticism for his play when the guy in front of him has been performing below average for large chunks of this series, and that's why Sam has been forced into more minutes.

(2) While I was calling for Eddie to play in Atlanta I've stopped since game three in Cleveland. Heck, this post is too long, I'll make a seperate post on my concerns with Eddie at this point.

For me, it's all about Rondo. Sam should never be playing in big situations or big minutes and he never will if Rondo performs to the level he's capable of.

[crownsy]

You hit it right on the head WHO. You have lowered your expectations of the guy and so you are willing to be happy with Sam playing like crap most of the time he is in there. I however look back at a body of work over the whole season of Eddie House's where we played great basketball and he was a huge part of it. You can single out whatever game you want, but Sam has been a bust. It makes no difference that other backup PG's aren't playing well. It is what he is consistently doing for/to this team.

As far as this phantom "House can't dribble and is being pressured into losing the ball" ... Show me some factual numbers. Everyone says "remember that Detroit game". He turned the ball over ONE time!!! That was back in December!! He has averaged .97 turnovers a game this season in 19 minutes. Sam averaged 1.76 in 23 minutes. Who's the one who has trouble with the ball?!

Face it. You just don't want to be honest with yourselves that Sam isn't any good anymore. He has shot 33.8% from the floor in the playoffs. This idea that he was bad in the regular season but is now playing well is not true. His assist numbers are lower than they were in the regular season as well.

Facts are these:

-Sam is getting torched on D and will continue to in any future rounds because he is too old and slow and never was a very good defender anyway.

-Sam is shooting a terrible shooting percentage for the playoffs (even worse than the regular season) and has missed 21 shots in a row. He also has a 7% lower free throw percentage than the regular season with us.

- Sam's assist numbers are 1/3rd of what his season average is, and are lower than the regular season.

- Sam's rebounding numbers are down from 2.5 to 1 in the post season.


Every major statistical category he has played worse in through the playoffs than the regular season when he came to us and people are still saying that he is playing better now that it is playoff time?! It's just not accurate guys!

I don't think its that people don't want to admit sam's doign a bad job, its just that we don't feel as strongly about him being a lost cause as you do.

for me personaly, right now, sam should sit, there's no doubt of that. His play of late has been terrable and this is the playoffs. this isn't youth league bball, i don't care about players feelings getting hurt, eddies or sam's. Right now sam is bad, eddie deserves a shot. but i wouldn't be opposed to ever seeing sam on the floor again or anything.

You know how i felt about Sam's role going in ej, from or sometimes to spirited discussions of how doc would use him  . I felt, at the time that he was going to be used in the 5-7 minute role to spell a rajon who was playing 38-40 a night. For some reason, before last night, doc has decided not to go that route.

And, its hurt us. i think sam in short 3 minute back up stretchs would have been fine, the 15-20 minute burn he was getting is ridculous. Not only that, for the most part (game 3 rajon was terrable, and he was bad in game 1. sam helped there i'll grant) doc ALWAYS takes rondo out at the end of the first. this is so amazing to me. it doesnt matter how he's playing, he's coming out. Other teams pick up on those thigns doc, and adjust to get bad matchups in for your backup PG, be it eddie or sam. Not only that, it tightins rajon up on the bench.

How many games in the atlanta series did we see rajon start off well, get yanked at the end of the first, buried for 8 minutes of sam time, and then come back in out of rythm? i'm not saying the kid doesn't need rest, but make it 2 minutes here, a minute and a half there...thats how good coaches keep players hot, quick rest. not long, drawn out rest periods.

right now, i would like to see rajon get, assuming his play demands it, 38 a night, and see eddie and sam split the last 10. this would work eddie back in gradually, sicne for some reason doc has buried him in the playoffs, and keep sam's defensive lapses hidden, while allowing him to mabey get himself back in rythm.

But no doubt, sam must play eddie, and limit sam's minutes going forward, if he chooses to stick with sam. I cannot stress enough how counter productive sam is in long stretchs. Short stretchs i understand, long minutes i never will.

I think we agree for the most part. I just don't think the playoffs in a tight race is the time to gamble on whether he is a lost cause or not. He hasn't played well often since he got here, so why keep risking it.

I want Eddie to play about 6-7 minutes a night consistently. That's it. If he is on fire then maybe he gets 4-5 extra ones, but other than that is should be Rondo.

oh no doubt, the more rondo the better, and the only reason i'd even consider splitting the back up minutes right now is doc has buried eddie so deep that i think it might take a few games for him to get in rythm.

But there is no doubt right now sam doesn't justify his minutes. and, like i said, this sin't youth league, go ride the pine until you get another shot to prove yourself.

I will say, as an aside though, I am impressed with sam's profesionalism. Last ngiht he was clearly rip'd at himself for letting everyone down when he went off, but when ever a steadly more clutch rondo came off the floor, there was no pouting or fake high five that you see out of some backups who are ticked because the starter is cementing thier bad night, sam was right over, along with eddie, giving rondo his just deserved props, and both of them were off the bench and yellign encourgment to rajon every trip down.

Another aside, can i say how cute it was to see little house under the basket when rajon took those 3's? you think that kid doesn't get big shots? he's what, 5? and he's out there on the shot, jumping to his feet while its in the air with 3 fingers up, and when it goes through he's going to the tiger fist pump!

Apple doesn't fall far from the tree 

[Who]

Eddie's more consistent and reliable play was the main reason I wanted him to play ahead of Cassell. But I'm no longer convinced he offers that.

• Eddie House has not played competitive minutes once in the playoffs. The last game where he played important minutes for a decent stretch was the final game of the season on April 16th. It's been 29 days since he played competitive minutes. In the last 36 days he's played minutes that mattered in only one game, the season finale. The season finale 29 days ago is hardly preperation for a do-or-die series.
• I'm a huge believer in match sharpness. Eddie doesn't have it. We saw last night Kobe turning the ball over because he hasn't played in two days, or Okur making dumb mistakes because he was rested for two days with his injury. Eddie has only had practices to play for over a month. He isn't match sharp. You can't get match sharpness in practice, you recreate the atmosphere or the team you'll be playing against. He is very unlikely his sharpness on the court will even be at an average level. If he isn't match sharp that means worse decisions, slower play, worse shooting, misses out on 50-50 balls and bunch of other horrible things.
• Going from practice to the intensity of game six is a massive difference. I don't like the odds of him being able to match that energy and high standard of play. It's going to be incredibly difficult for him to do that.
• Eddie's confidence is likely impaired. He's a cocky lad that is a streak shooter living off the confidence his shooting creates. You really think he's confident after sitting for over a month behind Cassell and Rondo? Man that's a long shot.
• It's also worth noting that Eddie House while being an 8 year vet has never had a good playoff run. He's been a disaster each year in the playoffs. He has nothing to fall back on, his knowledge of how to succeed in the playoffs doesn't exist. He hasn't played in a month and he has never succeeded at this level, how's he going to be prepared?
• It's not just Eddie who hasn't played competitive minutes. It's the whole team who haven't played competitive minutes with Eddie alongside them. Eddie is out of whack, and whoever is going to be on the court is going to have to make adjustments to him too. That's a lot of change. That cohesion, that fluidity of play, that understanding he had next to his teammates earlier in the year .... you can't expect that comfort level really there? No, I don't think so, not anymore. Does that reliability he offered really still exist? I don't think so.
  

It's gone on too long. It's too late. 29 days is too long for a series like this. It's by default. It's nothing Eddie did.

Like I said I thought Eddie deserved the backup point and should have been the backup point guard for the playoffs. It's just been too long.

I believe it's very likely he needs to be nurtured back into this team and that'll take game time. I was happy to play him against Atlanta because I didn't believe they were a threat to win this series. I never believed they were a threat. They were a poor side that had no business being in the playoffs. We were always winning that series. I believe Cleveland are a threat and I did before the series started. I'm not willing to risk Eddie in a series we can lose. Doc backed us into a corner with this Sam/Eddie decision because .... there won't be a series from now on where I think it's a good idea for him to be inserted into the team.

[nickagneta]

Regarding the fact that Sam has poor playoff numbers let's remember he has in fact gone 1 for his last 19 shots. That people is what they call a statistical anamoly. People hardly ever go 1-19. Take those last 19 shots out of the equation and Sam was shooting 44% and 37% from the three. Those aren't exactly bad numbers for a backup PG. Also, Sam has had 9 assists in his last 63 minutes, a good number for a backup.

But he did go 1 for 19. He's cold and he's been receiving way too much playing time.

But Sam was brought in here to help us win playoff games and without Sam in games 1 and 2 in this series and game 5 in the Atlanta series, we may well have lost all those games. He was that important in those games. It's not often that it can be said that a backup PG was one of the main reasons for a win in 3 of a teams 7 playoff wins.

I'm just not sure that Eddie House can claim that he was one of the significant main reasons in the Celtics winning 3 games in any one month this year. He might only be able to make the claim that he had about 5 of those types of games all year.

[crownsy]

im not real sure sam can claim that about game 2 this series either, game 1 certainly, but game 2 was a blow out, and yes he contributed, but so did a ton of other guys off the bench...that was a team effort that sam was apart of, i dont really see him as a reason we won that game.

Game 5 in atlanta was the same way, yes he played well, but we destroyed them. i fail to see how sam can claim to be a huge part of that one either.

Game 1 he was huge though.

[nickagneta]

im not real sure sam can claim that about game 2 this series either, game 1 certainly, but game 2 was a blow out, and yes he contributed, but so did a ton of other guys off the bench...that was a team effort that sam was apart of, i dont really see him as a reason we won that game.

Game 5 in atlanta was the same way, yes he played well, but we destroyed them. i fail to see how sam can claim to be a huge part of that one either.

Game 1 he was huge though.

Game 2 of this series may have ended as a blowout, for Cleveland, if Sam didn't come in and lead a second unit that sparked a great comeback. Sam's presence in the early part of the second quarter was the main reason that a 15 point deficit quickly became a 28-27 Celtic lead. The starters were god awful up until that point. But Sam passed well, got the ball to Leon and Posey where they could best help the Celtics, and his defense(for one of the very few times while being here) was excellent. Doc, Pierce and KG all credited Sam with being the catalyst to the game that lead to the final score. That to me counts as a significant contribution that effected the game.

As for the Atlanta game, you're probably right, a may be stretching it a bit. But Sam going 6-8 from the floor in that game was very significant early because in the previous two games in Atlanta, Doc's bench sucked. They were awful. Doc knowing that Sam and the bench were back was an important reason for the score to balloon to the point it did in the second that allowed the Celtics to cruise in the third and put it completely out of reach in the fourth.

To me that's winning games and that's what Sam was brought here to do. I'm not sure Eddie can have that type of effect for the Celtics and with his not playing competitive ball for a month, it's probably best for Eddie to take out the pom-poms and be a good team guy for the remainder of the season.

[crownsy]

im not real sure sam can claim that about game 2 this series either, game 1 certainly, but game 2 was a blow out, and yes he contributed, but so did a ton of other guys off the bench...that was a team effort that sam was apart of, i dont really see him as a reason we won that game.

Game 5 in atlanta was the same way, yes he played well, but we destroyed them. i fail to see how sam can claim to be a huge part of that one either.

Game 1 he was huge though.

Game 2 of this series may have ended as a blowout, for Cleveland, if Sam didn't come in and lead a second unit that sparked a great comeback. Sam's presence in the early part of the second quarter was the main reason that a 15 point deficit quickly became a 28-27 Celtic lead. The starters were god awful up until that point. But Sam passed well, got the ball to Leon and Posey where they could best help the Celtics, and his defense(for one of the very few times while being here) was excellent. Doc, Pierce and KG all credited Sam with being the catalyst to the game that lead to the final score. That to me counts as a significant contribution that effected the game.

As for the Atlanta game, you're probably right, a may be stretching it a bit. But Sam going 6-8 from the floor in that game was very significant early because in the previous two games in Atlanta, Doc's bench sucked. They were awful. Doc knowing that Sam and the bench were back was an important reason for the score to balloon to the point it did in the second that allowed the Celtics to cruise in the third and put it completely out of reach in the fourth.

To me that's winning games and that's what Sam was brought here to do. I'm not sure Eddie can have that type of effect for the Celtics and with his not playing competitive ball for a month, it's probably best for Eddie to take out the pom-poms and be a good team guy for the remainder of the season.

yea... i'll give ya game 2, he did play real well in that stretch.

and i do agree that eddie may be to rusty at this point thanks to doc buring him, but i would like to see him get some minutes. even 4 or 5 to get him back into it.

[Who]

Sam shouldn't be getting this much stick about his performances in this series. He's hasn't be great but he's done fine. Two very good games that helped the team win potential losses is important.

Let's have a quick look

Ray Allen - 17.4ppg on 44.5% shooting on the season against 10.4ppg 34% shooting against the Cavs.

Paul Pierce - Very good defensively, struggling offensively. The team's leading scorer at 19.6ppg on 46.4% shooting on the season down to 15.8ppg on 36.6% shooting on the series.

Who matters more to the team? Ray Allen or Sam Cassell? Paul Pierce or Sam Cassell?
It's not just them either. How about Leon Powe. He was the best big man off the bench during the regular season. He was the second best offensive option in the paint. He led the bench in scoring and second in rebounding to Posey. Leon was pumping in 7.9ppg and 4.1rpg on 57% during the season on 14.5mpg. Down to 5.6ppg, 3.2rpg on 47% in 15.8mpg (more minutes than the regular season with lower numbers) against Atlanta. Down to 4ppg and 2.8rpg on 39% shooting in 13.2mpg against Cleveland.

Or how about Perkins who's was very poor games in Games 2,3 and 4. The only reason Sam has gotten more mintues in this series is because Rondo hasn't been up to his usual standards for large chunks of this series.

This is across the board, lots of guys are having tougher times in the playoffs and the whole team has been frighteningly inconsistent. That's why we're losing every away game, because lots of players, many more important than Sam, are being inconsistent.

Cassell made two very big contributions in the first games, that's significant. He's the backup point guard, look above, those five players are all more important to the team than him and they're struggling. Which one is getting the most stick? Cassell. It's getting out of control.