Need 3rd string PG bad: Banish Bradley

[2short]

The last game and 1/2 he looked good, like NEXT year he could give us some minutes.  Another example of someone who should have stayed in school a bit longer.  His defensive footwork is honestly amazing, has shown the signs of a good jumper but will he have the handle?  If Delonte continues to have health issues bradley might be the combo guard off the bench next year.  Lets hope he works on his game!  Can you imagine a full court defense with bradley & rondo?
I hope dwest is healthy and come playoff time hand bradley a towel to ml it.  It is a nice thing to have bradley give us minutes now to see how he'll do (before it really matters)

[Evantime34]

Bradley does not look that great right now, his decision making hasn't been great. Sometimes he takes too long to make a decision about what to do with the ball and sometimes he makes bad decision.

In order to get better he needs playing time against top players in real games. He doesn't kill us in the short minutes he gets it helps him get better which will pay dividends in the future.

[droopdog7]

Rondo plays 40-42 minutes in the playoffs... West will do fine...

Rondo, as good as he is, can potentially be exposed if he has to play so many minutes.  In case you haven't noticed, it has happened every year.  Because he can't shoot, teams eventually can squeeze us into a corner in a 7 game series.  Not enough to always beat us but enough to make it uncomfortable.

Ideally, we need West to be able to play.  In fact, I envision him finshing a lot of games, especially if he gets hot.  But if West can't be counted on, having a third option (because Bradley ain't it) would be nice. 

[footey]

I thought Bradley looked good in first half, weak in 2nd. He just needs to be more consistently aggressive. Love his D.

[feckless]

You guys do remember that Telfair played more than Rondo when Rondo was a rookie.

With that being said and believing we should keep Avery, for this year we need a vet point more than we need Chris Johnson.

[snowball]

don't ask me, i thought SEMIH was a better
prospect than Bradley.

[droponov]

I missed his second half stint -- so I can't comment on that. But, he looked good in the first half tonight.  He's a rookie and will get better.

he actually looked decent in the 1st half.  in all honesty, the whole second unit stunk in the 2nd half--not just Bradley

Agreed.

Too much of a trainwreck for a rookie who doesn't know the PG position to handle.

I'd like to add another PG for the playoffs, but for the time being it's fine to give Bradley these minutes, regardless of how poorly he does. He's good enough to benefit something from it.

[csfansince60s]

I thought Bradley looked good in first half, weak in 2nd. He just needs to be more consistently aggressive. Love his D.

Aaron Brooks made Bradley look like a child on both ends. As a comparison, Rondo was a +26 for the night, Brooks a +13 and Bradley a team worst by far -15.

In the OP, I didn't say "cut" Bradley. Just banish him for the remainder of the season to the DLeague, the bench in street clothes and use him in practices as Rondo fodder. Wherever, just not playing pg minutes when they should be going to Arroyo, A. Daniels, Lue or whomever. If you insist on keeping him dressed, let him play the 2.

As the premise and title of the thread implies, we need a 3rd string pg and soon as DWest insurance. We need him soon so he can get acclimated to a system that is difficult enough to learn in a full year, so time is of the essence in this situation where only about 1/4 of the season is left.

Playing Bradley at the 1 only takes time away from whoever our DWest backup will be. This needs to be done yesterday.

[Lucky17]

Anyone know what Jamaal Tinsley is up to these days?

[pengaloo]

Rondo plays 40-42 minutes in the playoffs... West will do fine...

Rondo, as good as he is, can potentially be exposed if he has to play so many minutes.  In case you haven't noticed, it has happened every year.  Because he can't shoot, teams eventually can squeeze us into a corner in a 7 game series.  Not enough to always beat us but enough to make it uncomfortable.

Ideally, we need West to be able to play.  In fact, I envision him finshing a lot of games, especially if he gets hot.  But if West can't be counted on, having a third option (because Bradley ain't it) would be nice. 

I don't see Delonte finishing games. Maybe if the game was a sure win, but I can't remember the last game where Rondo was on the bench at the end of the 4th when the game was at stake. Despite his poor shooting, his decision-making is the best on the team, and that is invaluable. I agree with you about the general premise that Rondo shouldn't being playing over 40 mins a game though. We're not a very good team when Rondo is tired or banged up.

[FatjohnReturns]

With the final roster spots being filled by Murphy, Chris Johnson and the pending signing of Pavlovic to address the back-up to the back-up 3 spot, it's either sign a back-up PG for Rondo by cutting Avery Bradley or simply keeping him.

I think with the current Davis injury and the always constant uncertainty of health, especially with the big men, this Chris Johnson fellow will probably be on board for the rest of the year as front-court insurance. I'm not at all in support of picking up Leon Powe.  He is too much of a risk in terms of injury.  You can say, "Well, at least he is playoff tested, whereas Johnson is not."  You've got to get playoff tested sometime, though.

I'm unsure what other options might be available outside of Johnson. So, please tell me of any other possibilities, if available.  However, hopefully, Shaq can stay healthy for these last few months of basketball, JO can give at least something, even a few minutes/game if he truly does come back, & Baby returns just fine. If this happens to be the case, then we won't have to worry about using Chris Johnson in the playoff environment.

The team needs roster padding more-so in the front court than the back.  So, as I said prior, I think either Chris Johnson is here to stay for the rest of the season or there's someone available whom I just am not aware of.  I just think Powe is in the same boat at JO when it comes to the injuries...a body taking up a spot and contributing nothing.

In regards to this whole idea of picking up a back-up PG, Rondo is still very young and is fully capable of giving a good 40-42 mpg come playoff time...Obviously, not ideal. However, it isn't crazy.

I think Boston doesn't sign a back-up PG, even with Arroyo being available...They'll go with what they have...West, when he returns presumably on Friday, will back-up Rondo and spell Ray sometimes. We just have to hope he can avoid injury for the rest of the year.  It's a risk, yes, but I just think the bigger concern is keeping the more-so injury prone front court stocked than the PG position. Maybe everything will click at the right time.

This team is well stocked at the 2 and 3 slots...Green will back up Pierce and sometimes play the 4 in smaller lineups, hence Pavlovic picking up some minutes at the 3 spot when needed.


PG: Rondo/Bradley (West getting time here, too)
SG: Ray Allen/West/Wafer (Pierce can play the 2, as well in some lineups, if on the floor with Green at the same time in the 3 slot)
SF: Pierce/Green/Pavlovic
PF: Garnett/Davis/Murphy (Green can get time here, too, if they decide to go small)
C: Kristic, Shaq, JO, Chris Johnson (Davis getting time here, as well where Doc sees fit...and Sometimes KG can play the 5, too, though not typical)

I honestly like the Perk trade, and the new buy-out signings. I think it really made the team a lot more versatile in being able to create and adapt to other line-ups that other teams put out on the floor.  There's a lot of possibilities with this roster...it has a good amount of interchangeable parts.

There's probably possibilities I haven't even listed, so feel free to add, if you want.

The roster is currently structured like this

Current Starters:
Rondo
Allen
Pierce
Garnett
Kristic

Bench
(including injuries, marked with * & the pending signing of Pavlovic)
*West
*Shaq
*J. O'Neal
*Davis
Wafer
Green
Murphy
Pavlovic
Bradley
Chris Johnson

15 players, no current open roster spots.

The thread starter believes the Celts need a back-up point guard for Rondo...So the choice is to either cut a big man, clearly Johnson, which IMO, isn't the wisest choice because the bulk of our injuries have been in the front-court...Or option #2, cut Avery Bradley, which I believe the Celtics do not want to do to open a slot for Arroyo. I can't see any of the 2's or 3's getting cut, the team has shown good health all year long at these positions, as well as made the trade last week and the signing of Pavlovic this evening.

So, it's a double edged sword...You can weaken your front-court, which has been known to be injury prone, or keep your roster as is, and pray to God that D. West stays injury free, to avoid placing the primary back-up responsibility on Bradley.

I personally favor keeping the roster as is.  The bigs have not shown real consistency in staying healthy. We got Murphy to replace Perkins.  I'm just all for keeping the more injury prone position well stocked, just to play it safe.

I'm unsure if Johnson is on 10 day deal, but if so, I think they can only offer him one more 10 day and then after that it's either cut him loose or keep him for the rest of the year.

Keeping him keeps the front court stocked, or as I said, there might be someone available I am totally unaware of.

My overall point is, I am willing to risk the PG slot's overall depth, pray that West stays healthy for these last few months rather than weaken the front court which doesn't seem to stay healthy for more than a week or two.

Pros and cons to everything, fellow CB brethren. 

CelticsBlog...where posters dedicate 900 words to the 3rd string point guard situation.

I love this place!

TP

haha tp. good one

[droopdog7]

Rondo plays 40-42 minutes in the playoffs... West will do fine...

Rondo, as good as he is, can potentially be exposed if he has to play so many minutes.  In case you haven't noticed, it has happened every year.  Because he can't shoot, teams eventually can squeeze us into a corner in a 7 game series.  Not enough to always beat us but enough to make it uncomfortable.

Ideally, we need West to be able to play.  In fact, I envision him finshing a lot of games, especially if he gets hot.  But if West can't be counted on, having a third option (because Bradley ain't it) would be nice.  

I don't see Delonte finishing games. Maybe if the game was a sure win, but I can't remember the last game where Rondo was on the bench at the end of the 4th when the game was at stake. Despite his poor shooting, his decision-making is the best on the team, and that is invaluable. I agree with you about the general premise that Rondo shouldn't being playing over 40 mins a game though. We're not a very good team when Rondo is tired or banged up.

Finish or not finish, there have been plenty of times that Rondo has become a liability.  And I am not saying that West will be the disignated finisher.  But I could see it happening on some occasions due to Rondo's inability to shoot.  The only reason it has not happened more often is the fact that we have never had even a decent backup PG.  West represents one, but health is obviously a concern.

[fanofgreen]

What about a guy like Jason Hart.

Smart heady veteran, solid all-around pg.

I dont know if he is playing anywhere(overseas) or anything, I know he is not in the league right now, he was last year. he only played 5 games though.

As a 3rd string I think he would be serviceable and if a situation(injury to Bradley and Rondo) called for him to man the point for a few games, I think he could do it; with his experience.

but I cant find anything on his current status, if he is retired or just hanging out or what? But for some reason his name popped in to my head..........so did Jamaal Tinsley's  I dont know why.

[Jon]

While banishing Bradley is extreme, I think the case for another PG isn't a bad one. 

If West gets hurt in the playoffs, we're left with either giving Avery Bradley minutes or going without a backup point guard. 

Granted that's only likely for 5-8 mpg in the playoffs; however, in a game that could be decided by a bucket, that could be the difference. 

I like Carlos Arroyo in that role.  That's not to say that I like Carlos Arroyo in general.  However, he's certainly proven in his career (and even this year) that's capable of playing 5-8 minutes per game in the event Delonte West is unavailable. 

And the idea that some people think that we'd be better off with Avery Bradley or with no one boggles my mind.  It really seems that people are getting so spoiled by our depth that they'd turn their noses at the former starting point guard of the Heat becoming our backup backup PG and 14th man. 

[clover]

While banishing Bradley is extreme, I think the case for another PG isn't a bad one. 

If West gets hurt in the playoffs, we're left with either giving Avery Bradley minutes or going without a backup point guard. 

Granted that's only likely for 5-8 mpg in the playoffs; however, in a game that could be decided by a bucket, that could be the difference. 

I like Carlos Arroyo in that role.  That's not to say that I like Carlos Arroyo in general.  However, he's certainly proven in his career (and even this year) that's capable of playing 5-8 minutes per game in the event Delonte West is unavailable. 

And the idea that some people think that we'd be better off with Avery Bradley or with no one boggles my mind.  It really seems that people are getting so spoiled by our depth that they'd turn their noses at the former starting point guard of the Heat becoming our backup backup PG and 14th man. 

I'm okay with Bradley for  the future, but I don't want him active for a single playoff game this year.