Marquis Daniels...what if ...

[DinoRadjaLives]

While still pretty early I think C's fans can say that we like what see in Marquis thus far. Seems to be a reliable option to give PP a 15-17 breather a game. Having said that, and not trying to be pesamistic, what happens at the 3 if a fragile Daniels goes down ? Wafer, Delonte, and Nate are way to small to play the 3. Harangody is way to slow to play the 3. My opinion is hang on to Mario West or Lasme over Wafer. Your thoughts ?

[Chris]

While I wouldn't want to go into the playoffs that way, West and Wafer would be just fine filling in at the SF spot during the regular season if they needed to.  They are mostly going to be going against bench guys anyways, and the C's defensive system does a good job of minimizing size disadvantages for perimeter defenders.

I do think West has a great chance to make this team over Wafer, but I don't think it is going to come down to "he is better at covering SF's"...it is going to come down to which guy Doc feels more comfortable with putting on the floor in general, regardless of their primary position.

[jr_3421]

If Marquis does go down during the regular season, I don't think any of those three players will be able to fill the role for an extensive amount of playing time. Remember the main job of the player occupying the 15th spot is to play competitively in PRACTICE and be able to step in for SPOT minutes.

If we need someone to back up Pierce at the 3, I think Danny will try for a mid season trade and not rely on Lasme, Wafer or West.

[PosImpos]

If Marquis does go down during the regular season, I don't think any of those three players will be able to fill the role for an extensive amount of playing time. Remember the main job of the player occupying the 15th spot is to play competitively in PRACTICE and be able to step in for SPOT minutes.

If we need someone to back up Pierce at the 3, I think Danny will try for a mid season trade and not rely on Lasme, Wafer or West.

Agreed.  We aren't the Warriors.  We won't be relying on D-leaguers / undrafted free agents to play 20 minutes a night.

[Chris]

If Marquis does go down during the regular season, I don't think any of those three players will be able to fill the role for an extensive amount of playing time. Remember the main job of the player occupying the 15th spot is to play competitively in PRACTICE and be able to step in for SPOT minutes.

If we need someone to back up Pierce at the 3, I think Danny will try for a mid season trade and not rely on Lasme, Wafer or West.

Agreed.  But if it were 3-5 games, then I would feel much better about a player like West taking those minutes than some D-league guy who happens to be 3 inches taller.

[2short]

knock on wood
knock on wood
knock on wood

[Roy H.]

I think what Doc would do is increase Delonte's minutes, and then have Ray play a lot of backup SF, like he seemed to last season.

So, let's say you want to keep Ray and Pierce around 35 minutes each.  You have Pierce play his 35 at SF, and Ray plays 25 at SG and maybe 10 at SF, with some of the deeper bench playing the other 3 minutes.  The other 23 minutes at SG could be split between Delonte and Nate (primarily Delonte).

Obviously, details could be tweeked, but that's what I expect Doc's gameplan would be.

[Dolomite133]

If Daniels goes down expect non-traditional lineups. Make that more non-traditional, as the Celtics will probably trot out all sorts of odd lineups this year (due to injury, in the interest of limiting minutes, DNP-CDs for the older vets, foul trouble).

I can foresee the Celtics turning to small lineups all year long. If Daniels goes out that small lineup will probably get smaller.

Or we could go the other way, play a zone with a bigger lineup, and force great penetrating/interior teams like Miami to shoot from outside.

[arctic 3.0]

If Marquis does go down during the regular season, I don't think any of those three players will be able to fill the role for an extensive amount of playing time. Remember the main job of the player occupying the 15th spot is to play competitively in PRACTICE and be able to step in for SPOT minutes.

If we need someone to back up Pierce at the 3, I think Danny will try for a mid season trade and not rely on Lasme, Wafer or West.

Agreed.  We aren't the Warriors.  We won't be relying on D-leaguers / undrafted free agents to play 20 minutes a night.

Pierce's primary back up? Marquise Danials: former undrafted
player... carved himself a niche in the NBA.
give Lasme a chance. his primary tools (defensive intensity and anticipation, length and athleticism) make him the type of player who can carve himself a niche in the NBA.

[jr_3421]

If Marquis does go down during the regular season, I don't think any of those three players will be able to fill the role for an extensive amount of playing time. Remember the main job of the player occupying the 15th spot is to play competitively in PRACTICE and be able to step in for SPOT minutes.

If we need someone to back up Pierce at the 3, I think Danny will try for a mid season trade and not rely on Lasme, Wafer or West.

Agreed.  We aren't the Warriors.  We won't be relying on D-leaguers / undrafted free agents to play 20 minutes a night.

Pierce's primary back up? Marquise Danials: former undrafted
player... carved himself a niche in the NBA.
give Lasme a chance. his primary tools (defensive intensity and anticipation, length and athleticism) make him the type of player who can carve himself a niche in the NBA.

Different situations.

Marquis Daniels was a G in college and even played a little PG. He is not playing out of position.

Lasme is 27 (28 in Dec) with virtually no NBA experience. He is a C/PF and is playing out of position. That transition takes time.

[hpantazo]

the bigger question is, what happens if Pierce goes down?

[Roy H.]

the bigger question is, what happens if Pierce goes down?

We lose a lot of games.

[hpantazo]

the bigger question is, what happens if Pierce goes down?

We lose a lot of games.

LOL! Well said Roy

[jr_3421]

the bigger question is, what happens if Pierce goes down?

We lose a lot of games.

LOL! Well said Roy

Two words...Gerald Green

[pearljammer10]

Daniels goes down, West and Robinson's minutes go up while Ray plays back up SF when needed. If worse comes to worse we make a trade for a back up SF to play the 6th man role. JR Smith, Prince, etc.