Should Jermaine come off the bench?

[StartOrien]

Been doing some thinking on this after reading through Celticshub "Jermaine is our starting center" post today....

Does anyone else think it's probably for the best if Jermaine started on the bench, and Baby starts (moving KG to the center)? The logic for my thought process is simple; it's all aboung length.

As of today, our 'bigs' are limited to J.O, KG, Baby, Harangoody and Erden. I haven't seen much of the Celtics Vegas action, but early reports aren't particularily favorable for Semih Erden.

That means that unless we bring in another big, or if KG/J.O find the fountain of youth, there are going to be stretches on the court where you have Davis and Harangoody as your 4-5 combination.

From a length stand point only, and while JO could FINISH games, wouldn't we be better off starting Baby Davis to avoid/minimalize the risk of being severely undersized?

[Fafnir]

No, its better to keep playing KG at the 4 and have Davis play the 5 until Perkins comes back.

[Who]

Wherever Jermaine does the least amount of damage to the Celtics offense is where he should play.

That means wherever he'll be asked to create the least amount of his own offense (post ups). Likely with the starters.

Limit the damage as much as possible.

[Surferdad]

IMO, no.  Baby is not tall enough to match up well agaisnt most starting centers.  Bring him in as an energy guy/6th man, backing up KG at PF.  That's what Doc like to do.

[Jon]

I'm thinking Harangody isn't going to be the 4th big.  Even if Shaq doesn't end up here, I think they nab some vet like Kwame Brown, Joe Smith, or the like. 

[StartOrien]

IMO, no.  Baby is not tall enough to match up well agaisnt most starting centers.  Bring him in as an energy guy/6th man, backing up KG at PF.  That's what Doc like to do.

But at some point Baby is probably going to have to play center. I'd prefer to have it alongside someone with some length.

[Jon]

IMO, no.  Baby is not tall enough to match up well agaisnt most starting centers.  Bring him in as an energy guy/6th man, backing up KG at PF.  That's what Doc like to do.

But at some point Baby is probably going to have to play center. I'd prefer to have it alongside someone with some length.

Not if we sign or trade for another player 6-10 or above, which I think we will. 

[hpantazo]

Wherever Jermaine does the least amount of damage to the Celtics offense is where he should play.

That means wherever he'll be asked to create the least amount of his own offense (post ups). Likely with the starters.

Limit the damage as much as possible.

I disagree. Defense comes first, and having Jermaine start at center with KG at PF gives us our best defense as long as Perkins is out. We can't have Davis going up against 6'9 starters night in and night out and expect to win.

[BballTim]

Wherever Jermaine does the least amount of damage to the Celtics offense is where he should play.

That means wherever he'll be asked to create the least amount of his own offense (post ups). Likely with the starters.

Limit the damage as much as possible.

  Remember, he's replacing Perk. Are you expecting the switch from Perk to JO to damage our offense?

[Birdbrain]

Wherever Jermaine does the least amount of damage to the Celtics offense is where he should play.

That means wherever he'll be asked to create the least amount of his own offense (post ups). Likely with the starters.

Limit the damage as much as possible.

  Remember, he's replacing Perk. Are you expecting the switch from Perk to JO to damage our offense?

Yeah I can't fathom someone actually thinking the offense will be worse but, homerism is a badge of honor.  And something I partake in from time to time.  But the fact that he's replacing Kendrick 'I have moves like Mchale' Perkins is so far past homerism that it's got it's own zip code.

[StartOrien]

Wherever Jermaine does the least amount of damage to the Celtics offense is where he should play.

That means wherever he'll be asked to create the least amount of his own offense (post ups). Likely with the starters.

Limit the damage as much as possible.

I disagree. Defense comes first, and having Jermaine start at center with KG at PF gives us our best defense as long as Perkins is out. We can't have Davis going up against 6'9 starters night in and night out and expect to win.

I agree with your overall statement, and I don't believe that Baby is an upgrade of Jermaine O'Neal, or at the very least I don't want to make that the point of my original post.

My thoughts are that if we go into the season with the same bigs we have now, we'd be better off splitting up the bigs to maximize our length (or lack there of). If you start Jermaine and KG it means that there's going to be times where our tallest player will be Baby. My thoughts are that I'd feel better splitting the two up so this doesn't happen.

[hpantazo]

Wherever Jermaine does the least amount of damage to the Celtics offense is where he should play.

That means wherever he'll be asked to create the least amount of his own offense (post ups). Likely with the starters.

Limit the damage as much as possible.

I disagree. Defense comes first, and having Jermaine start at center with KG at PF gives us our best defense as long as Perkins is out. We can't have Davis going up against 6'9 starters night in and night out and expect to win.

I agree with your overall statement, and I don't believe that Baby is an upgrade of Jermaine O'Neal, or at the very least I don't want to make that the point of my original post.

My thoughts are that if we go into the season with the same bigs we have now, we'd be better off splitting up the bigs to maximize our length (or lack there of). If you start Jermaine and KG it means that there's going to be times where our tallest player will be Baby. My thoughts are that I'd feel better splitting the two up so this doesn't happen.

ok, I understand your point now. I agree with that, I would try to spread the length if that is all we have, but I would much prefer to add length and not have to deal with that problem. I think we either get a decent big man for the vet min (not likely), trade Sheed for a solid big man like Shaq (quite possible), or have Sheed play one more year (IMO, the most likely scenario).

[Jon]

I don't think Baby and Harangody are both going to be in the rotation.  If Harangody really impresses, I think the C's may end up trading BBD midseason and using Harangody as KG's backup.  In fact, I'd go as far as to say that Danny may have drafted Harangody hoping that will happen. 

I love Baby, but he's a free agent next summer.  It's quite possible that the C's don't re-sign him.  While he's a great contributor on a championship team, I don't believe Ainge sees him as the power forward of the future here.  And if he's not the power forward of the future, then there isn't a point in giving him a contract that could hinder our ability to acquire big time free agents down the road. 

And Baby might be our most valuable asset we're willing to trade.  He wouldn't hurt anyone's bank account this year, he comes off the books next year, and trading for him could allow teams over the cap to re-sign him with Bird rights. 

[pearljammer10]

Awful idea. KG would get manhandled at the Center position.

[Fafnir]

Wherever Jermaine does the least amount of damage to the Celtics offense is where he should play.

That means wherever he'll be asked to create the least amount of his own offense (post ups). Likely with the starters.

Limit the damage as much as possible.

  Remember, he's replacing Perk. Are you expecting the switch from Perk to JO to damage our offense?

Yeah I can't fathom someone actually thinking the offense will be worse but, homerism is a badge of honor.  And something I partake in from time to time.  But the fact that he's replacing Kendrick 'I have moves like Mchale' Perkins is so far past homerism that it's got it's own zip code.

The only thing worse for your offense than a player with limited offensive game, is a player with limited offensive game who thinks he's a go to scorer.