Can Pruitt guard shooting guards?

[Finkelskyhook]

I think we are going to see a whole lot of Pruitt in fact.

You must have access to the practice facility or be close to an NBDL team.

I have no idea who's minutes you think Pruitt is going to get.  Everybody in a championship (sans Cassell) backcourt is back and we've added Giddens.  Looking at the highlights of Giddens and what little we've seen of Pruitt there seems to be no comparison.  Giddens looks like he has more size, a better handle, and more range. 

[Birdbrain]

I think we are going to see a whole lot of Pruitt in fact.

You must have access to the practice facility or be close to an NBDL team.

I have no idea who's minutes you think Pruitt is going to get.  Everybody in a championship (sans Cassell) backcourt is back and we've added Giddens.  Looking at the highlights of Giddens and what little we've seen of Pruitt there seems to be no comparison.  Giddens looks like he has more size, a better handle, and more range. 

Let me clarify my statement.  In comparison to the comment about not playing at all we will see him a lot.  Meaning he'll be the 3rd PG IMO and play 5 or so minutes some games and help out House when teams are pressing.  So in relation to not playing at all last year we will see what type of skills he has this year.  IMO the fact that Danny didn't go out and get another PG and is fine with House a combo being the backup tells me he thinks Pruitt will be playing this year.  I don't need to actually see a player although I did see enough to surmise what might happen this year.  And Giddens won't be playing PG and I don't think he has a better handle than Pruitt.

[Jon]

I just don't see where he's going to get these minutes.  If he's going to get any, he's going to have to clearly beat out House or Allen to do it.  Rondo's young and very good, I can't see him getting less than 32 mpg, and he'll probably get closer to 35-36.  Maybe it's just me, but I don't see House and Pruitt "splitting" 12-18 mpg. 

Now between the 2 and 3, there should be about 24 mpg in backup minutes.  But if you're going to give Tony most of his minutes backing up the 3 and give some of the 2 minutes to House or Pruitt, you're going to be very small. 

We'll see.  Pruitt may have his day, I just don't see logistically how it happens.  And if Ainge really expected Pruitt to come through, I think he might have gone with an even cheaper backup 1 than House. 

  I'd expect Tony to play most of the backup sf and a lot of the backup sg, with Giddens/Walker getting occasional minutes. But if Pruitt's on the roster he's going to have to get a fair amount of backup pg minutes. Not as many as House, but enough that he'd be able to go during the playoffs if necessary.

How many backup minutes do you think there are going to be at the point guard position?  I think, best case (if you're House and Pruitt), you're looking at 16 mpg, though there'll probably be less.  Rondo is extremely important to this team, young, and on the verge of stardom.  It's highly likely he plays 35+ mpg, limiting the backup minutes to 10-13 mpg. 

Now what's the point of giving House 8-10 and Pruitt 2-5?  In minutes that small, Pruitt won't even have time to establish a rhythm, and more than likely it will affect House establishing his rhythm. 

I know a lot of you would like to see Pruitt succeed; however, unless he somehow beats Eddie House out in training camp, I can't see him getting more than garbage minutes in blow out games.  This team is too deep at the 1-3 spot and there's not enough minutes to go around.   

[Evantime34]

Pruitt will get time if he earns it, if you don't see him on the court it's because he's not better than House or TA. He will get third string point minutes which means not very many but if someone goes down he could step up. I think he will play sparingly probably have two or three games where he scores between 15-20 points and the rest he won't be much of a factor.

[BballTim]

I just don't see where he's going to get these minutes.  If he's going to get any, he's going to have to clearly beat out House or Allen to do it.  Rondo's young and very good, I can't see him getting less than 32 mpg, and he'll probably get closer to 35-36.  Maybe it's just me, but I don't see House and Pruitt "splitting" 12-18 mpg. 

Now between the 2 and 3, there should be about 24 mpg in backup minutes.  But if you're going to give Tony most of his minutes backing up the 3 and give some of the 2 minutes to House or Pruitt, you're going to be very small. 

We'll see.  Pruitt may have his day, I just don't see logistically how it happens.  And if Ainge really expected Pruitt to come through, I think he might have gone with an even cheaper backup 1 than House. 

  I'd expect Tony to play most of the backup sf and a lot of the backup sg, with Giddens/Walker getting occasional minutes. But if Pruitt's on the roster he's going to have to get a fair amount of backup pg minutes. Not as many as House, but enough that he'd be able to go during the playoffs if necessary.

How many backup minutes do you think there are going to be at the point guard position?  I think, best case (if you're House and Pruitt), you're looking at 16 mpg, though there'll probably be less.  Rondo is extremely important to this team, young, and on the verge of stardom.  It's highly likely he plays 35+ mpg, limiting the backup minutes to 10-13 mpg. 

Now what's the point of giving House 8-10 and Pruitt 2-5?  In minutes that small, Pruitt won't even have time to establish a rhythm, and more than likely it will affect House establishing his rhythm. 

I know a lot of you would like to see Pruitt succeed; however, unless he somehow beats Eddie House out in training camp, I can't see him getting more than garbage minutes in blow out games.  This team is too deep at the 1-3 spot and there's not enough minutes to go around.   

  How deep are we at the 1? We have Rondo and House, who Doc didn't want to play against pressure defenses. After that, your 3rd pg is either Pruitt or Tony Allen. I'd find a way to get Pruitt some minutes. I don't care in particular whether he succeeds or not, but we need to have a 3rd pg capable of playing if needed in the playoffs.

[Jon]

I just don't see where he's going to get these minutes.  If he's going to get any, he's going to have to clearly beat out House or Allen to do it.  Rondo's young and very good, I can't see him getting less than 32 mpg, and he'll probably get closer to 35-36.  Maybe it's just me, but I don't see House and Pruitt "splitting" 12-18 mpg. 

Now between the 2 and 3, there should be about 24 mpg in backup minutes.  But if you're going to give Tony most of his minutes backing up the 3 and give some of the 2 minutes to House or Pruitt, you're going to be very small. 

We'll see.  Pruitt may have his day, I just don't see logistically how it happens.  And if Ainge really expected Pruitt to come through, I think he might have gone with an even cheaper backup 1 than House. 

  I'd expect Tony to play most of the backup sf and a lot of the backup sg, with Giddens/Walker getting occasional minutes. But if Pruitt's on the roster he's going to have to get a fair amount of backup pg minutes. Not as many as House, but enough that he'd be able to go during the playoffs if necessary.

How many backup minutes do you think there are going to be at the point guard position?  I think, best case (if you're House and Pruitt), you're looking at 16 mpg, though there'll probably be less.  Rondo is extremely important to this team, young, and on the verge of stardom.  It's highly likely he plays 35+ mpg, limiting the backup minutes to 10-13 mpg. 

Now what's the point of giving House 8-10 and Pruitt 2-5?  In minutes that small, Pruitt won't even have time to establish a rhythm, and more than likely it will affect House establishing his rhythm. 

I know a lot of you would like to see Pruitt succeed; however, unless he somehow beats Eddie House out in training camp, I can't see him getting more than garbage minutes in blow out games.  This team is too deep at the 1-3 spot and there's not enough minutes to go around.   

  How deep are we at the 1? We have Rondo and House, who Doc didn't want to play against pressure defenses. After that, your 3rd pg is either Pruitt or Tony Allen. I'd find a way to get Pruitt some minutes. I don't care in particular whether he succeeds or not, but we need to have a 3rd pg capable of playing if needed in the playoffs.

Let me make myself more clear: we're too deep for Pruitt to get consistent minutes.  Will he get minutes in blow outs?  Sure.  And the more blow outs the C's have, the more minutes he'll get.  However, I'm saying that in a normal, close game, he probably won't get in.  As I suggested in my last post, there aren't enough minutes to go around. 

That is, of course, unless he beats out Eddie House in training camp.  But I'd say that's unlikely because he'd have to substantially beat him out.  This isn't like two rookies vying for the same position and you give the minutes to whoever's better, even if it's close.  House is an established vet who was a fairly big part of the championship run last year.  Unless Pruitt beats him out by a fair margin in training camp, he's not going to get many more minutes than he got last year. 

[jdub1660]

Pruitt is too small and inexperienced to to guard SGs.

[Chris]

I think we are going to see a whole lot of Pruitt in fact.

You must have access to the practice facility or be close to an NBDL team.

I have no idea who's minutes you think Pruitt is going to get.  Everybody in a championship (sans Cassell) backcourt is back and we've added Giddens.  Looking at the highlights of Giddens and what little we've seen of Pruitt there seems to be no comparison.  Giddens looks like he has more size, a better handle, and more range. 

You apparently haven't seen much of Giddens, because he has very little handle, while Pruitt is an excellent ball handler.

I think we will be seeing a good deal of Pruitt (relatively speaking).  I think he will share time at backup PG with House, with House seeing some minutes at SG.

Here is what it comes down to with Pruitt though.  He needs to be ready to be an NBA player.  If he is not ready to play minutes this year as the 5th guard, then he will likely be cut by midseason to bring in someone else.

You need to remember that they felt incredibly uncomfortable with House running the point last year.  I think a big reason they felt more comfortable with bringing him back is that they felt that Pruitt was ready to take some of those minutes as well.

[BballTim]

I just don't see where he's going to get these minutes.  If he's going to get any, he's going to have to clearly beat out House or Allen to do it.  Rondo's young and very good, I can't see him getting less than 32 mpg, and he'll probably get closer to 35-36.  Maybe it's just me, but I don't see House and Pruitt "splitting" 12-18 mpg. 

Now between the 2 and 3, there should be about 24 mpg in backup minutes.  But if you're going to give Tony most of his minutes backing up the 3 and give some of the 2 minutes to House or Pruitt, you're going to be very small. 

We'll see.  Pruitt may have his day, I just don't see logistically how it happens.  And if Ainge really expected Pruitt to come through, I think he might have gone with an even cheaper backup 1 than House. 

  I'd expect Tony to play most of the backup sf and a lot of the backup sg, with Giddens/Walker getting occasional minutes. But if Pruitt's on the roster he's going to have to get a fair amount of backup pg minutes. Not as many as House, but enough that he'd be able to go during the playoffs if necessary.

How many backup minutes do you think there are going to be at the point guard position?  I think, best case (if you're House and Pruitt), you're looking at 16 mpg, though there'll probably be less.  Rondo is extremely important to this team, young, and on the verge of stardom.  It's highly likely he plays 35+ mpg, limiting the backup minutes to 10-13 mpg. 

Now what's the point of giving House 8-10 and Pruitt 2-5?  In minutes that small, Pruitt won't even have time to establish a rhythm, and more than likely it will affect House establishing his rhythm. 

I know a lot of you would like to see Pruitt succeed; however, unless he somehow beats Eddie House out in training camp, I can't see him getting more than garbage minutes in blow out games.  This team is too deep at the 1-3 spot and there's not enough minutes to go around.   

  How deep are we at the 1? We have Rondo and House, who Doc didn't want to play against pressure defenses. After that, your 3rd pg is either Pruitt or Tony Allen. I'd find a way to get Pruitt some minutes. I don't care in particular whether he succeeds or not, but we need to have a 3rd pg capable of playing if needed in the playoffs.

Let me make myself more clear: we're too deep for Pruitt to get consistent minutes.  Will he get minutes in blow outs?  Sure.  And the more blow outs the C's have, the more minutes he'll get.  However, I'm saying that in a normal, close game, he probably won't get in.  As I suggested in my last post, there aren't enough minutes to go around. 

That is, of course, unless he beats out Eddie House in training camp.  But I'd say that's unlikely because he'd have to substantially beat him out.  This isn't like two rookies vying for the same position and you give the minutes to whoever's better, even if it's close.  House is an established vet who was a fairly big part of the championship run last year.  Unless Pruitt beats him out by a fair margin in training camp, he's not going to get many more minutes than he got last year. 

  Let me make myself more clear. Unless we're going to either sign another pg or have Tony Allen as our 3rd pg then  we're going to have to get Pruitt more minutes than he got last year. And "normal, close games"? We won more than half our games by double digits. There will be plenty of cases where Pruitt can get in the game. If he's not going to get any more minutes than he did last year then they should just cut him.

[Jon]

I just don't see where he's going to get these minutes.  If he's going to get any, he's going to have to clearly beat out House or Allen to do it.  Rondo's young and very good, I can't see him getting less than 32 mpg, and he'll probably get closer to 35-36.  Maybe it's just me, but I don't see House and Pruitt "splitting" 12-18 mpg. 

Now between the 2 and 3, there should be about 24 mpg in backup minutes.  But if you're going to give Tony most of his minutes backing up the 3 and give some of the 2 minutes to House or Pruitt, you're going to be very small. 

We'll see.  Pruitt may have his day, I just don't see logistically how it happens.  And if Ainge really expected Pruitt to come through, I think he might have gone with an even cheaper backup 1 than House. 

  I'd expect Tony to play most of the backup sf and a lot of the backup sg, with Giddens/Walker getting occasional minutes. But if Pruitt's on the roster he's going to have to get a fair amount of backup pg minutes. Not as many as House, but enough that he'd be able to go during the playoffs if necessary.

How many backup minutes do you think there are going to be at the point guard position?  I think, best case (if you're House and Pruitt), you're looking at 16 mpg, though there'll probably be less.  Rondo is extremely important to this team, young, and on the verge of stardom.  It's highly likely he plays 35+ mpg, limiting the backup minutes to 10-13 mpg. 

Now what's the point of giving House 8-10 and Pruitt 2-5?  In minutes that small, Pruitt won't even have time to establish a rhythm, and more than likely it will affect House establishing his rhythm. 

I know a lot of you would like to see Pruitt succeed; however, unless he somehow beats Eddie House out in training camp, I can't see him getting more than garbage minutes in blow out games.  This team is too deep at the 1-3 spot and there's not enough minutes to go around.   

  How deep are we at the 1? We have Rondo and House, who Doc didn't want to play against pressure defenses. After that, your 3rd pg is either Pruitt or Tony Allen. I'd find a way to get Pruitt some minutes. I don't care in particular whether he succeeds or not, but we need to have a 3rd pg capable of playing if needed in the playoffs.

Let me make myself more clear: we're too deep for Pruitt to get consistent minutes.  Will he get minutes in blow outs?  Sure.  And the more blow outs the C's have, the more minutes he'll get.  However, I'm saying that in a normal, close game, he probably won't get in.  As I suggested in my last post, there aren't enough minutes to go around. 

That is, of course, unless he beats out Eddie House in training camp.  But I'd say that's unlikely because he'd have to substantially beat him out.  This isn't like two rookies vying for the same position and you give the minutes to whoever's better, even if it's close.  House is an established vet who was a fairly big part of the championship run last year.  Unless Pruitt beats him out by a fair margin in training camp, he's not going to get many more minutes than he got last year. 

  Let me make myself more clear. Unless we're going to either sign another pg or have Tony Allen as our 3rd pg then  we're going to have to get Pruitt more minutes than he got last year. And "normal, close games"? We won more than half our games by double digits. There will be plenty of cases where Pruitt can get in the game. If he's not going to get any more minutes than he did last year then they should just cut him.

Keep in mind that things aren't all that much different than last year.  Cassell didn't get here until the last 1/3 of the season anyway, and Pruitt still didn't play that much. 

I don't think we're disagreeing that much.  If we once again win 66 games and we once again win half of them by double digits, well then there should be about 33 minutes where Pruitt gets garbage time in the fourth quarter.  I just find it doubtful that a team that has a strong starting point guard and a decent backup is going to find enough time for a third point guard to get meaningful minutes on a regular basis.

And why should they cut him if they don't plan to use him more?  This isn't Little League; everyone doesn't have to play.  Moreover, this isn't some goodwill charity either.  This is a business of trying to win.  The Celtics need players who aren't going to play on a regular basis that can step in if someone gets hurt.  Pruitt was a second round pick; he should be happy to still be in the NBA at this point. 

[zerophase]

no offense, as i've seen people like garnett be extremely thin and still be strong, but pruitt right now looks like a twig. i don't think he has the strength to guard someone at the shooting guard.

[moskqq]

When discussing people that can play the point, let's not forget Ray Allen.  While Ray is far more suited to play SG, he has played the point in the past when circumstances dictated. While Tony Allen can also play the point, he's not a possession-type player and his erratic ball control could force Ray to backup the point in an emergency.

Pruitt has yet to show that he can play the point effectively.  He has the size but lacks the mindset and skill set.  If he's improved these skills in DL he could provide help at the point but his time to shine will be limited.

[clover]

No, we don't want RA at the point.  Doc's now got 4 guys to play point ahead of Ray. 

All Pruitt has to do is hang on for enough minutes through the first half of the season--and show himself able to play better D than House and break through a pressure D better than House.

Then I think they'll force him into the rotation for the remainder of the season with the expectation to really use him some in the playoffs.

[BballTim]

Keep in mind that things aren't all that much different than last year.  Cassell didn't get here until the last 1/3 of the season anyway, and Pruitt still didn't play that much. 

I don't think we're disagreeing that much.  If we once again win 66 games and we once again win half of them by double digits, well then there should be about 33 minutes where Pruitt gets garbage time in the fourth quarter.  I just find it doubtful that a team that has a strong starting point guard and a decent backup is going to find enough time for a third point guard to get meaningful minutes on a regular basis.

And why should they cut him if they don't plan to use him more?  This isn't Little League; everyone doesn't have to play.  Moreover, this isn't some goodwill charity either.  This is a business of trying to win.  The Celtics need players who aren't going to play on a regular basis that can step in if someone gets hurt.  Pruitt was a second round pick; he should be happy to still be in the NBA at this point. 

  It's not little league, but they don't have unlimited roster spots. If Pruitt's not good enough to get any more than garbage minutes then he's not good enough to be the 3rd pg in the playoffs. Keep in mind tht the 3rd pg isn't a ceremonial position. House played a total of 18 minutes against Detroit even though he'd just taken the job from Cassell, so it's not like we can definitely get through with just House. Pruitt playing 33 minutes of garbage time during the season won't be at all ready to step in and play. We'd need another pg, and we'd need Pruitt's roster spot for him.

[slamtheking]

Personally, I'd like to see Pruitt get playing time and succeed---just like any good homer would like to see a C's draft pick do well.  I just don't think he'll get the minutes.

The C's are stacked at the 1-3 positions.  Rondo, Ray and PP figure to get about 32-35 minutes each leaving about 39-48 minutes to be split between House and TA.  Not to mention Veal getting some time at the 3 unless Danny signs a better 3 (fingers crossed) and then that player will cut into the available time further.  Pruitt gets how much out of that piece--5 minutes?  Doubtful.  Giddens and Walker figure to be in street clothes but Pruitt doesn't figure to get much time even with them out of the mix.

Throw in the fact that House wasn't signed to sit on the bench--certainly not for a 2-year contract.  Either House got the 2-years because Danny figures House is good enough to play for both years or that he's trade bait as an expiring contract but would need to be showcased his first year to increase his value talent-wise (justification for not having to add a draft pick to get a team to take him in a deal).  Same concept for Tony as House in that regard.

Pruitt will still be an understudy this year, just not in street clothes and primarily getting his minutes in blowouts where Rondo's/Ray's time is cut back.