I don't object to their interest in Diogu (he's a solid back-up,) but why are they targeting a PF? Shouldn't they be working on 2G/SF and PG?
I disagree. With only three bigs (Perk, KG, and Sheed), plus Scal (health concerns with concussions) on the roster; and BBD a question mark. God knows what Mikki's situation is. The Cs still need more depth at the 4-5.
And while I agree with everyone that the Cs can look at several players at once, given that currently we have Gabe, TA, JR, Walker, Eddie, and possibly Lester on the roster as possible back-ups around the arc, I think we need to be careful not to have a team full of undersized players.
On a different note, and forgive me if this has been covered, but why the name, 'Prof. Clutch'? Why the association with a Hall of Fame logo of the Lakers, Mr. Clutch on a Celtics Blog?
Why Amenhotep,
do I sense a hint of accusation in the tone of your question?
Okay, you got me. I'm a rogue spy from the Lakers blog. I've just been reading this blog for five years, a member for 2 1/2 years, and spent one year of my life working unpaid on an independent celtics documentary for no other reason than my love of the celtics, ALL as a ploy to get everyone here to trust me. I thought I had gotten away with it, but alas you were too smart and figured me out. You my friend...YOU!
Seriously though, if you really want to know the history of my name just send me a PM and I'd be happy to recount the story, although its not incredibly interesting. I've never been asked before so it hasn't been "covered" yet. Suffice it to say, It has nothing to do with Jerry West.
As to your reply of my post, I tried to legitimize my concerns in my response to Chris. But if your fear of Scal maybe getting injured, and the subsequent young guys who we could turn to for back-up at the wings, well...I just don't think any of that has any base. Scal recovered, he played the entire end of the season, and he played well. If you are going to base our moves on the possibility of our fourth option big man maybe getting injured, than how about the chance that our starting SF and most important player on our team maybe getting injured due to having no sufficient back-up. It seems a more likely scenario that Pierce will get hurt trying to cover for the minutes that are lacking coverage due to no sufficient back up on the team. Gabe, TA, JR, Walker, and Lester are not gonna cut it, and Doc has shown a career long unwillingness to play young guys when he has veterans.
The way I look at it, you have two guys who can play either the PF or Center and Perk who only plays C. There are 96 available minutes total at the big man positions. Remember that KG is used to playing near 35 mpg, Perk is 24 yrs old and used to playing 30, and Sheed is used to playing 33 mpg. We want these guys on the court to increase our effectiveness and can lean on all three during stretches. Add those minutes that their normal career numbers show they are used to up and you get about 98 minutes. Obviously we can reduce the stress on them by adding another big, but how thin are we there really? Rather than trying to solidify a big that might need to contribute 10 minutes per game, how about focusing on a competent back-up for Pierce who will need to play about 15 or more minutes per game.
Its as simple as this, if one of our big men goes down this season, just like on any team, we would have to find a way to adapt. But we are FAR better suited to deal with that than the majority of teams out there with the talent we have at the front court. If Garnett or Perk goes down, we have Sheed to take his place. If Sheed goes down we can turn to Scal and so on.
If Pierce goes down, what do the C's do? Walker or TA as your starting wing? Yikes! It's as simple as that. The most pressing need is a back up wing to relieve Pierce and a 34 year old Ray Allen of the stress of playing so many minutes. Yeah, Scal had injuries last year, but so did both Pierce and Allen who sustained injuries in the playoffs (Pierce bone spurs in his ankle, Allen hamstring issues.) That's all I'm saying.
Fair enough. I am surprised that no one called you on the name, but then again probably most of these guys didn't know that Jerry West's nickname was Mr. Clutch.
I hear you on the reasoning for help behind Paul. It does make sense, though I'm unsure we can get a decent back-up for him noticeably better than what we have. That does not mean TA. I do believe that Giddens or Walker, if given the chance, could do well enough. Pipe dream? Maybe.
Anyway, regarding the 4-5 spot. I am counting on Perk missing games due to the shoulder. KG hasn't played a full season his two seasons with the Cs, so I expect him to to miss a few games as well. I don't have the faith in Scal's head as you do. But let's say he's okay, then I'm alright with the Cs doing nothing, or having a sign and trade of BBD, adding in TA and either Giddens or Walker for a back-up for Paul. I could see signing on the cheap someone like Fazekas to be a fifth big just in case all hell breaks loose, or maybe even include Mikki. At that point I probably wouldn't care. One thing I'm almost certain of, is that we have to thin the 6'6" and under crowd.
