Doc : "Maybe we need to think about [making changes]"

[looseball]

Making changes in the starting lineup is not necessarily punishing anyone for poor performance.  Asking a player to come off the bench to change the momentum of the game at a certain time can be very productive.  (Odom in LA; Ginobili in San Antonio.)

[twinbree]

I do think change is needed and I hope they think long and hard about the changes they want to make and how useful it will be because all season long they haven't been able to successfully diagnose and fix anything wrong with the team.

It's a bit too late for major change but what they can do is utilize the players a little better, something I think they've not gone a great job with this season. I wonder if they have a statistician on staff who can go over boxscore, play-by-plays and tapes from this season to identify when and why certain players thrive or struggle. 

[Rtpas11]

Starters:
Nate
Ray
Marquis
Kevin
Perkins

Bench:
Rajon
Michael
Paul
Glen
Rasheed

3rd String:
Tony
Shelden
Scalabrine
Marcus

[CoachBo]

Depressing thread, with only one legitimate idea within: Wallace for the corpse of Perkins in the starting lineup.

WAY too much traction given to the idea that the coach is the problem, when he's trying to manage an old, unathletic group. Changing coaches changes absolutely nothing with the outcomes on the floor.

Face it, folks. The window's gone. Too old, way too unathletic to compete for 48 night in and night out. I don't care if you exhume the rotting, fetid corpse of Red Auerbach: The results won't be any different.

The roster is set. Can't make significant changes. And there won't be a title run. Period.

[KungPoweChicken]

What is the fascination with Daniels? I don't get it. The guy has sucked all year long.

No changes are happening to the starting lineup, unless Doc wants to start Sheed at the center position.

[snively]

Pierce and Perk are struggling the most. Pierce has had one of the worst stretches of his career in the last two months while Perk's FG% has come down to earth as his rebounding has fallen off the planet.

Resting Pierce for a few more weeks and benching Perk might be a good move.  

I don't love it, but a Rondo, Ray, Daniels, KG, Sheed line-up might be more effective offensively.  Sheed's a much better offensive outlet than Perk and Daniels is a good off-ball weapon to feed off of KG and Rondo's passing.  

Defensively, Daniels should bring more quickness than the current Pierce and Sheed, while lethargic, shouldn't be much of a downgrade from Perk.  They've been rebounding at similar rates for the last couple months.  Sheed's also been more effective as a starter than as a reserve (44% from the field and 34% from 3, with a slight uptick in rebound rate in 9 games as a starter, vs. 40%/28% in 51 games as a reserve).

As for the bench, Finley's shooting can stretch the floor in Sheed's absence, Perk can help Baby on the boards and Nate can lead the attack.

Bring Pierce back after a couple more weeks of rest/recovery and re-insert Perk whenever he gets his groove back.

[rav123]

I don't think Perk for Sheed is a good idea. Sheed is better right now, but I don't think Perk could take it. Instead of being motivated, he would come out worse off.

I think Perk's problem is that he feels threatened by Sheed. In order to increase his playing time, he is trying to be more of an offensive player (which he cannot and should not be), because that is the advantage Sheed has over him. If Perk shows he has enough offense, Doc has no reason to play Sheed.

I think Doc needs to talk to Perk and tell him that Sheed is not a threat to Perk, but another player on the team to help the whole TEAM win the championship.

[ManchesterCelticsFan]

This is the thing to do but would make more sense mid season to send a message to guys who aren't performing.  At this point I'd almost bench the starters.  Don't play them at all for a whole game, this way you aren't placing blame anywhere specific.
nate
tony
daniels
davis
sheldon
sub scal  & finley
thats it, play them the whole game, no starters, no sheed
when I coached soccer if i wasn't happy with my teams performace, I'd play with a short team which would roast players, parents & fans but the message got across
the fans at the garden had every right to boo last night!

TP! I like that idea except I'd play Rondo also since he's young and plays full of energy until Doc gasses him. I don't care if this loses us a game we'd otherwise win. It'd send a great message to the Old-Four and Perk.

Another alternative is Doc to stop being such a "Players-Coach" and not playing a guy for long stretches when he sees him dogging it to the point where it sends the message to the player. Then not playing him the rest of the game if he comes back in and still dogs it.

[mmbaby]

How about once in awhile....
Rhondo
Sheed
Davis
Finley
Ray

[Bossco]

doc coaches like he is on auto-pilot. Of course a head coach must make changes. That is a major part of his job. If everything is sailing smoothly it is perfectly fine to stand pat, but when the seas are rough the coach better make changes so he doesn't end up going down with the ship.

I think if I was coaching I would constantly evaluate the team's performance and look for things that I could change to try and improve the outcome. Why is change so bad?

I think it is simple: If it aint broke then don't fix it = doc does this well. But if things are not working out then doc has no clue.

Also - it's not only the decline of the players. We still have enough talent, experience and depth to beat the poor to average teams easily. When we are not takng care of business against those teams - something is wrong with the team mentally. Celtic Pride - where did it go?!

[PLamb]

Starters:
Nate
Ray
Marquis
Kevin
Perkins

Bench:
Rajon
Michael
Paul
Glen
Rasheed

3rd String:
Tony
Shelden
Scalabrine
Marcus

Yeah and with this lineup we'l lose 16 of the next 19 instead of 12 of the next 19

[pengaloo]

I think maybe the changes that Doc ought to make aren't about lineups, but policies...

1. We should have more practices. Who cares if we just came off a back-to-back or a road trip. They could be doing things at practice that don't involve running up and down the court, such as watching film, refining defensive schemes, and shooting free throws. Right now, it doesn't look like we're tired -- it looks like we're not executing and we're not focused. More practices can help.

2. Change their pregame routine at home. Whatever they're doing or saying right now before games isn't working - guys are starting off flat and uninspired. Mike Gorman keeps talking about wives and children being a distraction at home.. maybe they ought to kick them all out of the locker room XX minutes/hours before tipoff.

3. Give guys homework, like film to break down at home. I understand basketball is just a job, but it's crunch time. Right when he first got here, Nate used to tweet about being in the gym all the time, and at late hours of the night. But all I've been reading about lately on his twitter is his obsession with the tv show Lost. Nate somehow got through five seasons of Lost in less than a month. It's none of my business what the players do in their down time, but I also follow Kevin Durant on twitter, and that guy does nothing but basketball.. his work ethic is incredible, and it translates onto the court.

4. Don't just focus on defense. I know we are a defensive team first, but it sucks that we don't have a backup plan. When we are sucking at defense, perhaps due to no fault of our own (i.e., injury, flu, minutes played, playing against superstars who keeps getting calls to go to the line), we should be able to adjust. Putting all our eggs in one basket just isn't a smart game plan.

[boscel33]

In postgame last night, Doc said : "We’ve been reluctant to make changes with our rotations & stuff like that. Maybe we need to think about it."

Finally! With 19 games left, Doc finally realizes that there is a problem with his substitution patterns! There is still hope, my friends... except that Doc is well-known for claiming the need to do something but never doing it in reality. He also said in that postgame interview "I'm not a big believer in changes, I prefer consistency, I don't believe in change for change".

But this team clearly needs some changes in the rotation, especially when the starters are not getting it done. If you throw your 2nd unit in the game to come back from a 15 point deficit, it will be much harder for them to do their job and get the team back in the game ; if you throw some guys from the 2nd unit with the starters when the game momentum and lead is starting to dangerously lean for the other team, then you might be able to prevent them to getting a 15 point lead and you might get the lead back too.

I hope he finally starts to change his rotations. It's simple, really : instead of waiting for your usual time mark to make your substitutions, if you see that the starters are struggling or not playing with energy, then put some bench players in the game to give the team a boost and some offense! This is whas Nate was brought in for, not be replaced at a timemark without considering at all the way the game is going and the needs of the team ON the court.

Doc also needs to stop getting the guy with the hot hand off the court just because there is 5 minutes left in the quarter and that's the time where he makes his subsitutions for the sake of it.

Really, a lot of the blame (if not 95% of it) is on the starters, but Doc must change his rotations quickly.

I believe the changes that need to have been made were in a trade.  Well, that's too late now, so here's the cards that have been dealt, time to play or fold.

[looseball]

Depressing thread, with only one legitimate idea within: Wallace for the corpse of Perkins in the starting lineup.

WAY too much traction given to the idea that the coach is the problem, when he's trying to manage an old, unathletic group. Changing coaches changes absolutely nothing with the outcomes on the floor.

Face it, folks. The window's gone. Too old, way too unathletic to compete for 48 night in and night out. I don't care if you exhume the rotting, fetid corpse of Red Auerbach: The results won't be any different.

The roster is set. Can't make significant changes. And there won't be a title run. Period.

Depressing response.

[rickyfan3.0...]

I think we are going to find out that Rondo was the problem here.

I am thinking this team is falling apart at the seems, and Doc might have to go. I hate to say that bc I love Doc.

Rumor on 98.5 is that they think Sheed is going to start over Perk and that will be the shakeup. I hate that and think it'll be the straw that broke the camels back...