Cassell sprains wrist

[Roy Hobbs]

Once again none of you guys look at the main  reason he is playing over House. Do you all forget House bringing the ball up against Linsey Hunter?
PP began to bring it up and that was even worse. Eddie House has a real dribbling problem against constant pressure. Every possession is vital. As cruel as it is to House, whom I love as well, that is the way it is. We lead the finals 2-0, so Doc is doing ok so far.

There is no Hunter in this series. 

Plus, it's not like Cassell was a savant bringing the ball up the floor.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LPMHMpmg6SE

[Chris]

Once again none of you guys look at the main  reason he is playing over House. Do you all forget House bringing the ball up against Linsey Hunter?
PP began to bring it up and that was even worse. Eddie House has a real dribbling problem against constant pressure. Every possession is vital. As cruel as it is to House, whom I love as well, that is the way it is. We lead the finals 2-0, so Doc is doing ok so far.

There is no Hunter in this series. 

Right, but I think the issue is Cassell hasn't lost the job yet.  He played decent in game 1, and very well in game 2.

When you look at when he has made changes before, he has always given the incumbent from the previous game a chance to prove they deserve to stay in there, even if it is a bad matchup.  Look at what they did with Powe against Detroit.  He was a bad matchup against them on paper, but because he was the incumbent, he was given game 1 (where he played below average), and game 2 (where he made a couple quick mistakes), and then was pulled. 

[wdleehi]

Once again none of you guys look at the main  reason he is playing over House. Do you all forget House bringing the ball up against Linsey Hunter?
PP began to bring it up and that was even worse. Eddie House has a real dribbling problem against constant pressure. Every possession is vital. As cruel as it is to House, whom I love as well, that is the way it is. We lead the finals 2-0, so Doc is doing ok so far.

There is no Hunter in this series. 

Right, but I think the issue is Cassell hasn't lost the job yet.  He played decent in game 1, and very well in game 2.

When you look at when he has made changes before, he has always given the incumbent from the previous game a chance to prove they deserve to stay in there, even if it is a bad matchup.  Look at what they did with Powe against Detroit.  He was a bad matchup against them on paper, but because he was the incumbent, he was given game 1 (where he played below average), and game 2 (where he made a couple quick mistakes), and then was pulled. 

To me, if the lakers are going to put Kobe (or another larger defender) on Cassell to take away to post up (the only good weapon Cassel has shown), Cassell has to get the ball to the guy being guarded by the PG.  They haven't done that. 

So if Cassell offense is being taken away, his defense being bad, and the Celtics not adjusting to the new advantage, I rather see House get a shot and see if he can open the inside up even more. 

[BringToughnessBack]

After the game, they showed Doc walking down the tunnel to the locker room.  Who was next to him, practically holding his hand?  Sam.

He plans to be a coach. So he tries to learn a few things.

Sure.  But there's no doubt in my mind that Sam's butt-kissing / politicking is the only reason he's getting minutes over Eddie.

If I told you there was a player who:

* was shooting 17% over the last 13 1/2 games;
* played no defense; and
* rarely passed the ball,

would you be recommending him to get steady and consistent playing time?

Wow, that sounds like a certain former Celtic sitting in the stands last night...I think that Sam I Am reminds many of us Celtics fans of a certain former Celtic who had a love affair with the 3 point line...I have no problem with Sam when he is hitting his shots and not killing us on D and passing to the open players

In all seriousness, I am for giving a bench player a chance but if he really stinks when he is out there..go elsewhere the next time you make a substitution. Sam I Am did hit some big shots for us in the earlier round of the playoffs when we needed some points but he has definitely had trouble putting up consistent performances. Anyways, if KG likes him, that is good enough for me...

[Chris]

Once again none of you guys look at the main  reason he is playing over House. Do you all forget House bringing the ball up against Linsey Hunter?
PP began to bring it up and that was even worse. Eddie House has a real dribbling problem against constant pressure. Every possession is vital. As cruel as it is to House, whom I love as well, that is the way it is. We lead the finals 2-0, so Doc is doing ok so far.

There is no Hunter in this series. 

Right, but I think the issue is Cassell hasn't lost the job yet.  He played decent in game 1, and very well in game 2.

When you look at when he has made changes before, he has always given the incumbent from the previous game a chance to prove they deserve to stay in there, even if it is a bad matchup.  Look at what they did with Powe against Detroit.  He was a bad matchup against them on paper, but because he was the incumbent, he was given game 1 (where he played below average), and game 2 (where he made a couple quick mistakes), and then was pulled. 

To me, if the lakers are going to put Kobe (or another larger defender) on Cassell to take away to post up (the only good weapon Cassel has shown), Cassell has to get the ball to the guy being guarded by the PG.  They haven't done that. 

So if Cassell offense is being taken away, his defense being bad, and the Celtics not adjusting to the new advantage, I rather see House get a shot and see if he can open the inside up even more. 

In the C's offense, that is not just on Cassell.  Yes, for much of the time, Cassell has not really run the offense, and has pounded the ball himself, but last night, he was moving the ball within the offense very well, and the ball simply wasn't making it to that guy (although they were scoring anyways)...your point does stand in game 1 though.

For the record, I do think House should be in there as well...I am just saying that this is what Doc has done all playoffs with the bench guys.  So many people complained in the Detroit series that Doc didn't give Powe a shot...but in fact, he was given the same shot that Cassell is being given right now to prove himself...and so far, Cassell has played better at the beginning of the LA series than Powe did at the beginning of the Detroit series.

[Kuberski33]

To me, if the lakers are going to put Kobe (or another larger defender) on Cassell to take away to post up (the only good weapon Cassel has shown), Cassell has to get the ball to the guy being guarded by the PG.  They haven't done that. 

So if Cassell offense is being taken away, his defense being bad, and the Celtics not adjusting to the new advantage, I rather see House get a shot and see if he can open the inside up even more. 

But if you go with House, you're barely beating the 8 second count over half court and by the time you're into your offense, the shot clock is down to 14 seconds or less.  Plus the 2nd unit is usually out there minus two of Pierce/Allen/KG.  So it takes even longer to seek out your other 'shooter' or work it down low.

The whole thing breaks down with Eddie in there.  I'm not saying Cassel's the all that great, but he is the best option on the current roster, so you need to go with him. 

[jay_jay54]

I was watching the postgame show on NBA.TV, one of the analyst made an interesting comment,Phil Jackson need to put Kobe on Rondo,to stop him from penetrating their defense.I think Rondo could handle Kobe,but i think of the other possibilites from Ray Allen,or whoever Kobe is suppose to be gaurding,haven't quite figured that one out yet?But what do you think of Kobe defending Rondo?

[Bahku]

Once again none of you guys look at the main  reason he is playing over House. Do you all forget House bringing the ball up against Linsey Hunter?
PP began to bring it up and that was even worse. Eddie House has a real dribbling problem against constant pressure. Every possession is vital. As cruel as it is to House, whom I love as well, that is the way it is. We lead the finals 2-0, so Doc is doing ok so far.

And Fisher's on ball defense is excellent so you'd be asking Eddie to bring it up against one of the league's best in that area of the game.  Sam ain't perfect and he's definitely not the long range solution, but for the here and now, he's the best option on the roster. 

Sam is absolutely NOT "the best option on the roster". He's counter-productive to everything the Celts are trying to do on both ends of the floor, and a tempo-killer. Sam played over six minutes last night, was 0 for 2 field goals, 0 for 1 three-pointers, (for a grand total of 0 points), and had one assist! How in the heck can you justify that by saying Eddie can't bring the ball up the floor against Fisher but Sam can? Eddie's played against Fisher before and done at least as well as Sam has, without making the horrible decisions to pound the ball and waste time by slowing the offense down and letting the opponent set up their defense that Cassell does.

Sorry, but all the excuses that everyone keeps putting forth for Sam just hold no water at all. He's a detriment to this team when he's on the floor, he produces nothing, has no momentum or energy, only passes as a last resort, and the one positive he does have, his jumper, only goes down in one out of five or six games. There's no amount of "Veteran IQ" or "historical insight" or "buddy-buddy-ism" with Doc, or "Eddie can't handle Fisher like Sam" justification that makes up for the fact that Sam does nothing positive on a consistent basis that helps this team. He should be on the floor at garbage time and nothing more, and he's the worst option on the roster, not the best ... not remotely.

[kenmaine]

That anyone could seriously believe that Sam is a better option than Eddie House after all the evidence of the last couple of months is mind-boggling to me. House is not that bad bringing the ball up, and Sam's not that great. Small advantage to Cassell, which may mean, at most, one turnover less/game. Of course, the couple of seconds Sam may save getting it over half-court are dwarfed by the ten seconds he spends dribbling into position for his own shot.
No, I don't think Cassell is totally useless, but come on, he's pretty much sucked outside of a nice seven or eight minute stretch two games ago. And even in that game, he negated most of the good he did in the first half by stinking in the second.

Even with Sam out, I have doubts that Doc will use House. I have no real basis for thinking it, but if it's not personal between Doc and Eddie, I'm baffled.

A couple of months ago I sarcastically called him Sam Gagne too, and figured things might play out the same way as they did for the Sox last year, but at least Francona eventually realized that Gagne was killing them and benched him.

[Chris]

Sam is absolutely NOT "the best option on the roster". He's counter-productive to everything the Celts are trying to do on both ends of the floor, and a tempo-killer. Sam played over six minutes last night, was 0 for 2 field goals, 0 for 1 three-pointers, (for a grand total of 0 points), and had one assist! How in the heck can you justify that by saying Eddie can't bring the ball up the floor against Fisher but Sam can? Eddie's played against Fisher before and done at least as well as Sam has, without making the horrible decisions to pound the ball and waste time by slowing the offense down and letting the opponent set up their defense that Cassell does.

Sorry, but last night is a bad example for your argument.  I hate the +/- stat for anyone but a PG (and its not great for them either), but Cassell was second on the team with a +11.  That doesn't happen if the offense is not running, and the defense is not playing well when he is in there.

Granted, you are right for many games, but last night he played pretty close to flawlessly (even the shots he took were within in flow, and the ball rotated to him).  Last night he got them into their offense quickly, moved the ball well, and was a big part of them building the lead in the first half, rather than the usual fall-off when Rondo sits down.

[Bahku]

To me, if the lakers are going to put Kobe (or another larger defender) on Cassell to take away to post up (the only good weapon Cassel has shown), Cassell has to get the ball to the guy being guarded by the PG.  They haven't done that. 

So if Cassell offense is being taken away, his defense being bad, and the Celtics not adjusting to the new advantage, I rather see House get a shot and see if he can open the inside up even more. 

But if you go with House, you're barely beating the 8 second count over half court and by the time you're into your offense, the shot clock is down to 14 seconds or less.  Plus the 2nd unit is usually out there minus two of Pierce/Allen/KG.  So it takes even longer to seek out your other 'shooter' or work it down low.

The whole thing breaks down with Eddie in there.  I'm not saying Cassel's the all that great, but he is the best option on the current roster, so you need to go with him. 

What are you talking about here?!? How does it break down with Eddie on the floor? He's far better at bringing the ball up the floor quickly and maintaining the tempo than Sam is, and he's proven that in the few minutes he's been given in the playoffs. His energy is better, his attack mentality is better, he's more of a three-point and field-goal threat, he's a better passer, he doesn't pound the ball and allow the defense to set up, he doesn't look for his shot before even thinking about anyone else, he doesn't have an agenda to prove he's still "got it", he causes more turnovers by the opponent, he hustles more, goes to the floor after the ball more, etc, etc, etc. Sorry, but Sam is a terrible addition to this team, and nowhere near the player and defensive threat that Eddie is.

[Bahku]

Sam is absolutely NOT "the best option on the roster". He's counter-productive to everything the Celts are trying to do on both ends of the floor, and a tempo-killer. Sam played over six minutes last night, was 0 for 2 field goals, 0 for 1 three-pointers, (for a grand total of 0 points), and had one assist! How in the heck can you justify that by saying Eddie can't bring the ball up the floor against Fisher but Sam can? Eddie's played against Fisher before and done at least as well as Sam has, without making the horrible decisions to pound the ball and waste time by slowing the offense down and letting the opponent set up their defense that Cassell does.

Sorry, but last night is a bad example for your argument.  I hate the +/- stat for anyone but a PG (and its not great for them either), but Cassell was second on the team with a +11.  That doesn't happen if the offense is not running, and the defense is not playing well when he is in there.

Granted, you are right for many games, but last night he played pretty close to flawlessly (even the shots he took were within in flow, and the ball rotated to him).  Last night he got them into their offense quickly, moved the ball well, and was a big part of them building the lead in the first half, rather than the usual fall-off when Rondo sits down.

I hate the +/- stat, too, because it's a very poor indicator of a player's total effectiveness on the floor, and to say that Sam's performance last night was "flawless", just because he was forced to finally pass the ball, (due to the fact that the Lakers were swallowing him up whenever he touched it), is not remotely objective.

If that was a flawless performance, I'll take Eddie's "flawed" performance any day. Sam is a tempo-killer, and he did it again last night, despite his team's efforts to cover and take up the slack for his lack of energy and momentum. Honestly, to be pleased with Cassell's performance last night ... sorry, but it makes no sense whatsoever.

I'll admit that the damage he did was minimalized by the production of the rest of the team, but to say he's playing perfectly because of a misleading +/- stat, I just don't get it. It's the same kind of thinking that has caused Doc to keep hurting us by putting this guy on the floor, and it's denial of the worst kind.

To have absolutely no points and one assist in over 6 minutes .... how can that possibly be "flawless" production?!? Time for this perfect playing to be flawless while warming the wood.

[Mr October]

Sammy has had his moments. But as the bulk of us have been saying all post season, it is Eddie House time!

[celts55]

While I have to agree that tha Sam experament has not been working and I would MUCH prefer to se House get the limited backup minutes, I can not be happy if the guy got hurt. I would feel much better about it if Doc would just make the switch.

[Chris]

Sam is absolutely NOT "the best option on the roster". He's counter-productive to everything the Celts are trying to do on both ends of the floor, and a tempo-killer. Sam played over six minutes last night, was 0 for 2 field goals, 0 for 1 three-pointers, (for a grand total of 0 points), and had one assist! How in the heck can you justify that by saying Eddie can't bring the ball up the floor against Fisher but Sam can? Eddie's played against Fisher before and done at least as well as Sam has, without making the horrible decisions to pound the ball and waste time by slowing the offense down and letting the opponent set up their defense that Cassell does.

Sorry, but last night is a bad example for your argument.  I hate the +/- stat for anyone but a PG (and its not great for them either), but Cassell was second on the team with a +11.  That doesn't happen if the offense is not running, and the defense is not playing well when he is in there.

Granted, you are right for many games, but last night he played pretty close to flawlessly (even the shots he took were within in flow, and the ball rotated to him).  Last night he got them into their offense quickly, moved the ball well, and was a big part of them building the lead in the first half, rather than the usual fall-off when Rondo sits down.

I hate the +/- stat, too, because it's a very poor indicator of a player's total effectiveness on the floor, and to say that Sam's performance last night was "flawless", just because he was forced to finally pass the ball, (due to the fact that the Lakers were swallowing him up whenever he touched it), is not remotely objective.

If that was a flawless performance, I'll take Eddie's "flawed" performance any day. Sam is a tempo-killer, and he did it again last night, despite his team's efforts to cover and take up the slack for his lack of energy and momentum. Honestly, to be pleased with Cassell's performance last night ... sorry, but it makes no sense whatsoever.

I'll admit that the damage he did was minimalized by the production of the rest of the team, but to say he's playing perfectly because of a misleading +/- stat, I just don't get it. It's the same kind of thinking that has caused Doc to keep hurting us by putting this guy on the floor, and it's denial of the worst kind.

To have absolutely no points and one assist in over 6 minutes .... how can that possibly be "flawless" production?!? Time for this perfect playing to be flawless while warming the wood.

Well, you saw a different game than me, because I never saw the tempo "killed" last night (except for in the 4th quarter).

He was flawless in running the offense.  That is the job of the PG.  Everyones biggest complaint of Cassell is that he shoots too much, and doesn't move the ball, and now that he does it, he is doing something wrong, because he isn't scoring?