Delonte West, where are you?

[Chris]

Sorry Edgar, but I have to call your boy out.  While none of the bench players played great in the first round, to me, no one was more disappointing than Delonte.  He is the one guy with the skills and mindset to be a true 6th man, and really control the game for stretches with the starters on the bench, and he was basically a complete no-show.

Now, personally, I think he is still really hurting, and that is the biggest reason he played so poorly.  However, he has an entire week off right now, and if he doesn't pick up his game big time next series, the C's are going to have a lot of trouble.  He is going to be the key to keeping the peddle down when Rondo is on the bench, and the C's are really going to need to do work against the Heat's bench. 

So here it is Delonte.  We all know your history with Lebron.  It's your time to shine.  You have shown you can be a bigtime performer on the small stage of Cleveland, now lets see what you can do on the big stage.  There is a pedestal waiting for you as a fan favorite/cult hero in this town.  Since you returned, I think a lot of us have been just waiting for you to jump up there, and this is your opportunity.  Don't waste it, because you may not get another one. 

[celticslove]

i have complete faith that delonte will get his mojos back in the upcoming series. also hope that shaq's will finally join the party!

[BudweiserCeltic]

Just keep posting him up and good things will happen.

[Bankshot]

I think Delonte is one of the reasons the bench isn't performing.  He's not a good floor general and it shows in the bench's play.  He's doing what Rondo was doing when he wasn't playing well (and thus when the offense was suffering), dribbling the shot clock out and passing to Baby for a desperation shot.  All the dribbling causes him to lose the ball, as he's not a great ballhandler in the first place. 

I hope he's just hurting and the rest will help him, but who knows.  Maybe Doc can play him with Rondo and/or Pierce and let Pierce or Rondo handle the ball.

[Chris]

I think Delonte is one of the reasons the bench isn't performing.  He's not a good floor general and it shows in the bench's play.  He's doing what Rondo was doing when he wasn't playing well (and thus when the offense was suffering), dribbling the shot clock out and passing to Baby for a desperation shot.  All the dribbling causes him to lose the ball, as he's not a great ballhandler in the first place. 

I hope he's just hurting and the rest will help him, but who knows.  Maybe Doc can play him with Rondo and/or Pierce and let Pierce or Rondo handle the ball.

Well, he is doing what Rondo was doing in that he is refusing to shoot the ball, even when its a good shot, and that is where the problems are coming.  For whatever reason, he has lost all confidence in his shot (or confidence in getting it off cleanly), and that has left him pretty impotent out there.

West is at his best when he is shooting it whenever he has a good look, and then making plays when the defense starts reacting to that.  But, when he is not shooting it, it closes any opportunities to make plays, and he just becomes a pretty useless body out there.

[Marcus13]

I think he showed glimpses in Game 4 of what he should be doing - he was actually forcing the double team at one point.

The entire bench was useless through the first three games of the series, let's all hope Game 4 was a sign of things to come

[LB3533]

I think Delonte has been fine, only issue I have with him is he seems a little hesitant with his shot.

If he was more assertive with his jump shooting, it will really help the 2nd unit.

I still think he is worried about some of his injuries too though.

[Brendan]

When Rondo is at the SG spot, he has to take catch and shoot opps where he's wide open. When he's at the PG, he has to understand that he's allowed to look for his own offense.


Slightly off topic:

There was a play yesterday, where KG passed on a contested post shot, to kick to Green, who was wide open for a corner J, who instead kicked to Baby for an 18 footer. That's the problem with the C's offense. Paul Pierce passing up a 3pter to get Ray an even wider open 3pter = good. Green passing up a wide open jumper (not sure if it was a 3) to get Baby a long J = bad. West and Green have been especially bad about this. (KG is bad about this too, but covering that would be old hat.)

[Brendan]

Second thought: the two plays where they posted DWest up were great.

[throwedoff]

I think he was injured during this series a week off will help him IMO

[Who]

Slightly off topic:

There was a play yesterday, where KG passed on a contested post shot, to kick to Green, who was wide open for a corner J, who instead kicked to Baby for an 18 footer. That's the problem with the C's offense. Paul Pierce passing up a 3pter to get Ray an even wider open 3pter = good. Green passing up a wide open jumper (not sure if it was a 3) to get Baby a long J = bad. West and Green have been especially bad about this. (KG is bad about this too, but covering that would be old hat.)

I doubt Jeff Green shoots any better than BBD on long two point jump shots.

[Stu]

Well, he is doing what Rondo was doing in that he is refusing to shoot the ball, even when its a good shot, and that is where the problems are coming.  For whatever reason, he has lost all confidence in his shot (or confidence in getting it off cleanly), and that has left him pretty impotent out there.

West is at his best when he is shooting it whenever he has a good look, and then making plays when the defense starts reacting to that.  But, when he is not shooting it, it closes any opportunities to make plays, and he just becomes a pretty useless body out there.

TP. It's been driving me crazy watching him get the ball wide open at the 3-point line or at 18 feet, and instead of shooting, he ball fakes, dribbles, and takes a contested shot as the clock expires. Maddening. Just shoot the ball, Delonte!

[Edgar]

Sorry Edgar, but I have to call your boy out.  While none of the bench players played great in the first round, to me, no one was more disappointing than Delonte.  He is the one guy with the skills and mindset to be a true 6th man, and really control the game for stretches with the starters on the bench, and he was basically a complete no-show.

Now, personally, I think he is still really hurting, and that is the biggest reason he played so poorly.  However, he has an entire week off right now, and if he doesn't pick up his game big time next series, the C's are going to have a lot of trouble.  He is going to be the key to keeping the peddle down when Rondo is on the bench, and the C's are really going to need to do work against the Heat's bench. 

So here it is Delonte.  We all know your history with Lebron.  It's your time to shine.  You have shown you can be a bigtime performer on the small stage of Cleveland, now lets see what you can do on the big stage.  There is a pedestal waiting for you as a fan favorite/cult hero in this town.  Since you returned, I think a lot of us have been just waiting for you to jump up there, and this is your opportunity.  Don't waste it, because you may not get another one. 

Now in all seriousness

I agree nobody on the bench is stepping up and Delonte has been giving good passes, playing defense and not getting his share of shots for the cause
Not to mention BBD takes all.

But i hear you and I know as all he can give more much than that

[bello_man09]

West will be alright....he needs to be more aggressive I loved his block on fields.....you need a player like West on your team for the playoffs for sure....

[Jon]

Give it time.  If we want to get Jeff Green significant minutes, that involves swinging Pierce to the 2 at times, which means that West is stuck with only the backup 1 minutes.  And it's tough to work your way out of a slump in 5-10 mpg.  

But he's still playing tough defense out there.  His offense will come around.  

And with Wade in the next round, Ray will likely get in some foul trouble some games.  While Pierce may swing down to help at the 2 (with Green at the 3), we'll also likely see more West, who is a nice combo of size, strength, and speed for covering Wade.