Suggestions for Doc: Help the C's Win a Game

[Bankshot]

I think Doc or someone from the Celtics reads the blog, so I thought we could give Doc some suggestions on what he could do to get the team winning again until Danny makes a trade or adds someone else to the roster.  What changes can doc make to the current rotation that could help them?

My suggestions are:

1.  Keep using 2 starters with the bench.  He's done it the last two games and the bench has performed better as a result.  He should not go away from this if possible.
2.  Gabe Pruitt.  Play Pruitt at least 15 mpg, taking some of both Eddie and Tony's minutes.  Play him even more (cutting out Tony altogether, as Gabe gets even better).  I was too stunned to see Doc remove Gabe from the game and keep House in even though Gabe had performed better on both ends of the court.  I think that was the fatal move that killed the Celtics chance of winning last night.
3.  Bench the non performers and play the performers.  For instance, last night in the 4th quarter, the Celtics needed people on the floor who could score (Rondo and Perk in the game enables the other team to double down on the Big 3 because Perk and Rondo can't score.  Perk and Rondo had no business on the floor in the 4th quarter they way they had performed in the game.  Baby and Gabe were playing great defense and scoring.  They should have been in the game with the Big 3 in the 4th quarter. I know this move might sound drastic, but Doc needed to do whatever it took to get that win last night and I think those two replacing Perk and Rondo gave them the best chance in the 4th quarter.  I realize Baby and Pruitt are not vets, but what better options does Doc have on the bench?  None!

Any other suggestions?

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

The tired 2 of Ray and KG should be benched or rested to put it nicely, they look like geezers and cant hit the broad side of a barn, and boy was it funny watching KG try to actually back someone down half his size last night..now we know why he normally just goes into his predictable fade away

[Redz]

Bankshot,

I agree with your points about Gabe...keep playing him and let him rise to his level of competence.

[Bankshot]

The tired 2 of Ray and KG should be benched or rested to put it nicely, they look like geezers and cant hit the broad side of a barn, and boy was it funny watching KG try to actually back someone down half his size last night..now we know why he normally just goes into his predictable fade away

It was actually pretty sad watching KG fail to back down a smaller guy in the post.  I don't think he could back Rondo down in the paint.

[nickagneta]

Yeah, don't listen to Bankshot's third suggestion. Defense wins games it's what this team was built around and Rondo and Perk are two of the better defenders at their position in the league. This team needs stops and they need better offensive efficiency.

They need to run more sets, complete offensive sets, late in games and desist with the isos, one pass or no pass dribble drives, and overall ball hogging and stagnation that has been this team's offense late in games.

- Do not allow Ray or Paul to take the ball up with less than 6 minutes left in the game. They then tend to do nothing more than look for their shot. Whenever they bring up the ball late, this offense resembles last year's second team offense with Sam I Am running the show. It's bad and ineffective.

- Stop with the one pass feed in to KG who then attempts a move. Ball movement and moving without the ball is the key and this team has stopped doing that late in games. KG has also all but stopped passing the ball out of the low post late in games.

- Try quickening the pace fast breaking more late in games as slowing down Rondo late takes him completely out of the game. Give him the green light to push it fast up the court and look for an opening. Make the other team have to sprint back on defense. If nothing else comes of it maybe you'll tire the other team out a bit by having them sprint back on defense.

[Redz]

Yeah, don't listen to Bankshot's third suggestion. Defense wins games it's what this team was built around and Rondo and Perk are two of the better defenders at their position in the league. This team needs stops and they need better offensive efficiency.

This part seems like more of a playoff strategy than a regular season one.  Doc's pretty well bought into a Franconian style of taking the long view of the regular season.  One game isn't as important as the lump sum of all the games.  Of course, the short view falling short night after night makes it tempting to change tactics.  Basically, I think it's pretty well established that Doc and Francona think about things a little differently than fans do.

[moiso]

The tired 2 of Ray and KG should be benched or rested to put it nicely, they look like geezers and cant hit the broad side of a barn, and boy was it funny watching KG try to actually back someone down half his size last night..now we know why he normally just goes into his predictable fade away

It was actually pretty sad watching KG fail to back down a smaller guy in the post.  I don't think he could back Rondo down in the paint.

I often wonder how dominant KG would have been throughout his career if he had bulked up another 30lbs or so.  He has incrdible moves down low but he's just so freaking weak!  He could have been a beast down there.

[Bankshot]

Yeah, don't listen to Bankshot's third suggestion. Defense wins games it's what this team was built around and Rondo and Perk are two of the better defenders at their position in the league. This team needs stops and they need better offensive efficiency.

They need to run more sets, complete offensive sets, late in games and desist with the isos, one pass or no pass dribble drives, and overall ball hogging and stagnation that has been this team's offense late in games.

- Do not allow Ray or Paul to take the ball up with less than 6 minutes left in the game. They then tend to do nothing more than look for their shot. Whenever they bring up the ball late, this offense resembles last year's second team offense with Sam I Am running the show. It's bad and ineffective.

- Stop with the one pass feed in to KG who then attempts a move. Ball movement and moving without the ball is the key and this team has stopped doing that late in games. KG has also all but stopped passing the ball out of the low post late in games.

- Try quickening the pace fast breaking more late in games as slowing down Rondo late takes him completely out of the game. Give him the green light to push it fast up the court and look for an opening. Make the other team have to sprint back on defense. If nothing else comes of it maybe you'll tire the other team out a bit by having them sprint back on defense.

My third suggestion wasn't to make that change permanently.  I was talking about last night's game and in games where such a thing is needed.  There are games where Rondo just sucks terribly and that's when you would do such a thing.  Not on a regular basis.

[moiso]

If Doc insists on giving House guaranteed minutes, then I would even substitute Gabe for Ray at times.  Ray looks very fatigued and his shot isn't going down lately.  40 minutes to grind out a loss is just too much for Ray this time of year.

[nickagneta]

Yeah, don't listen to Bankshot's third suggestion. Defense wins games it's what this team was built around and Rondo and Perk are two of the better defenders at their position in the league. This team needs stops and they need better offensive efficiency.

They need to run more sets, complete offensive sets, late in games and desist with the isos, one pass or no pass dribble drives, and overall ball hogging and stagnation that has been this team's offense late in games.

- Do not allow Ray or Paul to take the ball up with less than 6 minutes left in the game. They then tend to do nothing more than look for their shot. Whenever they bring up the ball late, this offense resembles last year's second team offense with Sam I Am running the show. It's bad and ineffective.

- Stop with the one pass feed in to KG who then attempts a move. Ball movement and moving without the ball is the key and this team has stopped doing that late in games. KG has also all but stopped passing the ball out of the low post late in games.

- Try quickening the pace fast breaking more late in games as slowing down Rondo late takes him completely out of the game. Give him the green light to push it fast up the court and look for an opening. Make the other team have to sprint back on defense. If nothing else comes of it maybe you'll tire the other team out a bit by having them sprint back on defense.

My third suggestion wasn't to make that change permanently.  I was talking about last night's game and in games where such a thing is needed.  There are games where Rondo just sucks terribly and that's when you would do such a thing.  Not on a regular basis.

Ah sorry. But still as Redz pointed out Doc and Francona are creatures of habit that like being consistent with their players all year so that if they have a bad stretch they can play their way out of it. This way players, especially important ones, aren't looking over their backs worrying about screwing up and being pulled. Any benching in a time where a player is usually in could lead to confidence issues and brooding. Best to leave it the way he does and lose the games rather than lose a player for a year.

besides, if he had a player the quality of a Posey to turn to late when a starter isn't getting it done, then that's one thing, do it. But to bench Rondo or Perk late to try Baby or Powe or Eddie or Gabe or Tony?? I mean look what Gabe did in one of his last plays late in the game. He made a mental error that was responsible for a four point swing. He had the layup after making the correct decision to drive and then threw the ball away rather than taking a layup. He had the layup. But he didn't have the confidence to take the shot and decided to dish while already pulling up his dribble and going airborne.

If that's what he can expect from Gabe with 5 minutes left what is he supposed to get out of him with 1 minute left?

[Celtic]

This really pains me to say, but for one game only against Cleveland, I might start Eddie at the two, and bring Ray in off the bench. Still keep Ray's minutes the same, but move them around a little, don't get me wrong, Ray is one of my all time favorite players, and his place on this team is as a starter. However, for one game I might try it to throw the Cavs off a little bit.

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

This really pains me to say, but for one game only against Cleveland, I might start Eddie at the two, and bring Ray in off the bench. Still keep Ray's minutes the same, but move them around a little, don't get me wrong, Ray is one of my all time favorite players, and his place on this team is as a starter. However, for one game I might try it to throw the Cavs off a little bit.

Whats that gonna do? enable them blow us out by 20 and not 30? i dont see it helping
4 in a row baby

[moiso]

I'd like to see Ray start but I really think his minutes should be drastically reduced for a couple weeks.  Let Gabe take like 10 of them.

[Michael Anthony]

The tired 2 of Ray and KG should be benched or rested to put it nicely, they look like geezers and cant hit the broad side of a barn, and boy was it funny watching KG try to actually back someone down half his size last night..now we know why he normally just goes into his predictable fade away

It was actually pretty sad watching KG fail to back down a smaller guy in the post.  I don't think he could back Rondo down in the paint.

I often wonder how dominant KG would have been throughout his career if he had bulked up another 30lbs or so.  He has incrdible moves down low but he's just so freaking weak!  He could have been a beast down there.

Hayes and Landry are beasts. KG might not be the stronget post player in the league, but lets not tear him down for failing to back those guys in - shorter post players (Big Baby, Craig Smith, Paul Millsap) make a living holding their ground in the post.

[moiso]

I'm not nitpicking over one game, I just wonder about over the duration of his career if he had some extra lbs, I bet he would have the BigAl/Hakeem stuff down low without losing much of what he can do now.