Pierce's take on C's off season so far

[OhioGreen]

guava----throw 5 in there too---big baby is our bench right now--our only legit bench!  Not counting rooks and SL guys. 
Baby is right now the only one I could see filling in for an injured starter.  Paul is definitely worried!  It is gonna be sad who we end up with for our bench.  Only a handful of halfway decent players left and they're all going for the money! If they're going for rings, they're going to the Heat, or other legit title contenders who've done way more than we have building the rest of their teams! Sad!!!!

[bbd24]

Maybe its just me, but I don't see anything wrong with what Paul said. We have quite a few holes and no real answers as of yet. Right now, we're in direct competition with Miami for vet minimum players - and they're all clamoring to take their talents to South Beach.

And for everyone who keeps saying Avery Bradley can replace TA, he's about 15-20 lbs away from being able to take a stab at guarding the guys TA did this past postseason.

15-20 lbs away ?

How are you figuring ?  I've never seen him guard anyone from the NBA.

[sk7326]

Pierce is allowed his opinion.  I don't think this is too newsworthy.

That said, Danny will field a team that can win this - Kurt Thomas as a minimum guy would make sense.  A wing defender is a pretty fungible commodity ... we should be able to unearth that later in the offseason.

[EmilioBonilla]

Maybe its just me, but I don't see anything wrong with what Paul said. We have quite a few holes and no real answers as of yet. Right now, we're in direct competition with Miami for vet minimum players - and they're all clamoring to take their talents to South Beach.

And for everyone who keeps saying Avery Bradley can replace TA, he's about 15-20 lbs away from being able to take a stab at guarding the guys TA did this past postseason.

15-20 lbs away ?

How are you figuring ?  I've never seen him guard anyone from the NBA.

He was regarded as the best defender in the draft. I'd think he'd be able to defend in the NBA.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

He's probably [peeved] that Ainge let Tony get away.  He should have promised TA more playing time.  He should be able to get it with Pierce and Ray aging.  Oh well.

Am I the only one happy to see Tony Allen gone?

Sure, he was a sound defender who enjoyed rising to the challenge of defending the NBA's best (Wade, Lebron, Kobe), but the man was somewhat of a liability on offense, couldn't handle the ball, and has a slingshot shooting form.

[sk7326]

He's probably [peeved] that Ainge let Tony get away.  He should have promised TA more playing time.  He should be able to get it with Pierce and Ray aging.  Oh well.

Am I the only one happy to see Tony Allen gone?

Sure, he was a sound defender who enjoyed rising to the challenge of defending the NBA's best (Wade, Lebron, Kobe), but the man was somewhat of a liability on offense, couldn't handle the ball, and has a slingshot shooting form.

Tony started to "get it" by the end of last season - stop worrying about scoring and be a defensive beast.  I'll miss him - but I understand.  He wanted a third year, and that did not fit in with the organizations "2012 or bust" strategy.  Also, his role (wing defender) is one of the cheapest positions to replace - you can find guys to do that through NBDL, veteran minimum sources, just have to have the right evaluators.

[RJ87]

bbd24, at 180 lbs Bradley would struggle against guys like Dwade and Kobe, he wouldn't even stand a chance at LBJ. He needs to bulk up to be able to handle bigger 2 guards and SF. TA, for all his offensive struggles, could defend the 1, 2, and 3 positions. I just don't see Bradley being able to do that, nothing to do with his skillset or commitment as a defender, but he lacks some physical strength at this point.

[EmilioBonilla]

im sure tony wasnt 213 pounds when he came out of college. give ab some time to bulk up and just might even be a better defender than tony, who knows?

[RJ87]

Emilio, I agree with you. I think he can be a great defender - eventually. But people are expecting Avery to be able to replace TA right away. I just think immediate expectations should be curbed a bit.

[clover]

It's tough to add to this roster with lack of resources this team has.

Splitting the MLE between a couple players might have brought in more depth, but we would have still been really hurting at the Center spot.

I don't fault Danny for giving JO the full MLE.

If we can get Nate back, JO and Avery should be enough to neutralize the losses of TA and Sheed.

(But not increase our odds against what seems to be a growing stacked team in Miami).

I'm fine with JO at the full MLE, but I think Pierce has figured out that Wyc's all of a sudden acting like the owner of a small-market team.  There's definitely more that could have been done with S&T's, a little cash, how about even a little cash back during the draft?

[clover]

There is no way the C's beat Miami without a legit backup 2 and 3 whom can defend DWade and LeBron and take some of the load off Pierce and Allen so they can be productive offensively, especially in the 4th quarters. If DA doesn't solve this problem, these next two years are just be competitive bridge years until 2012 when we can sign a big-time Free Agent. The Heat could sign Brian Scalabrine, have him play all 48 minutes, all 82 games plus the playoffs at Center (even though he's a Power Forward) and still beat us with the rosters as currently constituted.

Who wants just-competitive years?  We all want winning years, but if/when that's not possible, I'd prefer some developmental/rebuilding fun rather than over-the-hill also-rans.

[bbd24]

Emilio, I agree with you. I think he can be a great defender - eventually. But people are expecting Avery to be able to replace TA right away. I just think immediate expectations should be curbed a bit.

I see what your saying with his stature, etc.  What about his length  ?  It seems his wingspan and athleticism make up for what he lacks in bulk.  Who knows though.  Again, all of us haven't seen him play in the league yet, so who knows what he has.

Shoot, I doubted Ainge when he nabbed Tony and Delonte in the same whereabouts as Bradley was picked.  I refuse to doubt him anymore.  Ainge knows what he's doing and then some.  I think their is more to Bradley than meets the eye.  Again, haven't seen him play so its tough to count on him as a Tony replacement.  It wouldn't suprise me though if he locks down the #2 role at the guard position behind Rondo or Ray.  

I wouldn't put it past Danny to nab the steal of the draft.

[EmilioBonilla]

Emilio, I agree with you. I think he can be a great defender - eventually. But people are expecting Avery to be able to replace TA right away. I just think immediate expectations should be curbed a bit.

I see what your saying with his stature, etc.  What about his length  ?  It seems his wingspan and athleticism make up for what he lacks in bulk.  Who knows though.  Again, all of us haven't seen him play in the league yet, so who knows what he has.

Shoot, I doubted Ainge when he nabbed Tony and Delonte in the same whereabouts as Bradley was picked.  I refuse to doubt him anymore.  Ainge knows what he's doing and then some.  I think their is more to Bradley than meets the eye.  Again, haven't seen him play so its tough to count on him as a Tony replacement.  It wouldn't suprise me though if he locks down the #2 role at the guard position behind Rondo or Ray.  

I wouldn't put it past Danny to nab the steal of the draft.

6'7 and 1/4 wingspan in case you were wondering

[xmuscularghandix]

If TA’s deal ends up being a S/T it’ll be huge. We need rotation players that are under 30. I like the Vet Minimum guys that are former All-Stars, but you need to  mix in youth.

[Mr October]

guava----throw 5 in there too---big baby is our bench right now--our only legit bench!  Not counting rooks and SL guys. 
Baby is right now the only one I could see filling in for an injured starter.  Paul is definitely worried!  It is gonna be sad who we end up with for our bench.  Only a handful of halfway decent players left and they're all going for the money! If they're going for rings, they're going to the Heat, or other legit title contenders who've done way more than we have building the rest of their teams! Sad!!!!

Other legit title contenders?

The real contenders have only signed the following role players:
Lakers - Steve Blake
Celtics - Jermaine O'Neal
Heat - Miller, Haslem and the corpse of Ilgauskas
Magic - Chris Duhon and Q Richardson

Free agency signing period is only 1 1/2 weeks old. There is plenty of time.