Why isn't ET playing over Dooling

[mgent]

Surely he's hoping for a big, defensive-minded center.  Kaman might be the sort he has in mind.

Why?

[Chris]

the only rookie Doc has given regular minutes for us is Davis.(not counting the 24 win season where half the team was out for the season) it doesnt matter if they only were in collage 1 year(Bradly last year) or went 4 years(Moore) or went 4 years with another overseas and 1 in the D league(Greg). and no Greg getting minutes when hes the only healthy player(other then JJJ) over 6-7 on the bench doesn't count

Marcus Banks 17 minutes per game as a rookie
Al Jefferson 15 minutes per game as a rookie (right out of highschool)
Ryan Gomes 23 minutes per game as a rookie
Rajon Rondo 24 minutes per game as a rookie
Tony Allen 16 minutes per game as a rookie
Delonte West 13 minutes per game as a rookie
Semih Erden 14 minutes per game as a rookie
Glen Davis 14 minutes per game as a rookie

That is 7 guys (and I am sure there are more) who were given rotation minutes as rookies.  Doc has no issue with playing young guys when they are able to play.

[clover]

Surely he's hoping for a big, defensive-minded center.  Kaman might be the sort he has in mind.

Why?

Why a big, defensive-minded center or why Kaman?

[MBunge]

bradley was playing from the outset and getting regular minutes.

Yes, let's look.

Here are the minutes Bradley played in games before both Rondo and Dooling went down.

9
4
6
3
10
10
23
9
11
8
7
12

So, Bradley was probably playing as few minutes as any regular rotation player in the league.  And what was he doing during that time?  He went 12-31 from the field and racked up a total of 6 assists, 12 rebounds and 3 steals. That's shooting less than 39% from the field and averaging 1 rebound, half an assist and 1/4th of a steal per game.  Take out that "breakout" 23 minute game where he went 4-8 from the field and got 2 assists and 2 steals and we're talking about truly horrific play.

The fact is that Doc wasn't playing Bradley much at the start of the year and when he did, Bradley looked like a draft bust who didn't belong in the NBA.  Then Rondo and Dooling went down, he was forced to play Bradley major minutes and THAT'S when Bradley started to look like a legitimate NBA player for the first time.

All the evidence is that Bradley's improvement this year is entirely due to that stretch where Doc had to play him and Bradley knew Doc had to play him, allowing him to relax for probably the first time in his pro career.  All the evidence also says that if Rondo and Dooling don't both go down at the same time, Bradley never gets that chance and probably never makes the improvements he has, at least not this year.

As for Dooling and E'Twaun, Dooling on paper should be the better player this year.  But on the court, he really hasn't been.  At least not to the extent that Doc should automatically hand him minutes over either Moore or Bradley.  Heck, both Dooling and Bradley have negative PER ratings at the point guard spot.  Know who has a positive one?  E'Twaun Moore.

Now, it's a bit complicated because neither Dooling, Bradley or Moore are really suited to be back up 2 guards, which is what the bench needs.  But the bottom line is this.  Thanks to Rondo and Dooling both going down, we got a chance to see E'Twaun play and he's not so terrible that Doc has no choice but to play Dooling over him.  Trying to argue otherwise is ridiculous.

Mike

[clover]

the only rookie Doc has given regular minutes for us is Davis.(not counting the 24 win season where half the team was out for the season) it doesnt matter if they only were in collage 1 year(Bradly last year) or went 4 years(Moore) or went 4 years with another overseas and 1 in the D league(Greg). and no Greg getting minutes when hes the only healthy player(other then JJJ) over 6-7 on the bench doesn't count

Marcus Banks 17 minutes per game as a rookie
Al Jefferson 15 minutes per game as a rookie (right out of highschool)
Ryan Gomes 23 minutes per game as a rookie
Rajon Rondo 24 minutes per game as a rookie
Tony Allen 16 minutes per game as a rookie
Delonte West 13 minutes per game as a rookie
Semih Erden 14 minutes per game as a rookie
Glen Davis 14 minutes per game as a rookie

That is 7 guys (and I am sure there are more) who were given rotation minutes as rookies.  Doc has no issue with playing young guys when they are able to play.

You guys are clearly talking about two different things: Doc's record during the crappy team era and during the Big Three era. The truth is somewhere in between. 

Davis was didn't break out as a rookie until after he'd been called to fill in for an injured Perk, but he was a three-year college player with skills--and a good example of Doc using a rookie who can play.  Erden was a non-rookie rookie who had been a pro for years before actually playing for the C's.  They ended up having to put him out there when he was injured because their front court was so depleted.  (Remember, this is the front half of a season when they were forced to play Gody as well--before Danny dumped them both.)

I'd say Doc plays young guys when they're smart enough to pick things up quickly and he doesn't have reasonable veteran options ahead of them.  One could argue that by using Baby before Doc had drummed certain principles into his head, as he likes to do with rookies as a rule, he was never able to get Baby to discipline his game.  The Baby experience probably reinforced Doc's belief that it is better to make rookies work for minutes by learning and applying what they need to learn and apply, rather than just throw them out there.

However much AB's time helped his game this year, he had plenty of DNPs last year as a rookie himself.  We've also seen him never stray from the defensive intensity that Doc craves in role players especially.

[greenpride32]

Forget about all the stats and just look at the way ET plays.  He's very passive/lacking confidence/afraid to make mistakes.  He basically brings the ball up, passes it to the wing, and floats over to sideline and watches the rest of the play; this is just about every possesion.

Compare him to a Brandon Knight, Iman Shumpert, Norris Cole, Marshon Brooks; even Steamer and JJJ.  All these rookies play with confidence and attack without hesitation.  The last thing we need on our offense is guy who just stand around and does nothing.

ET can shoot the lights out, but until he becomes more active/comfortable/agressive he brings nothing to the table.  Keyon is basically a career reserve, and a 7-9th man on the team, so not sure what type of expections people have for him.  But he's prepared to play, has confidence, and gives it a full effort.     

[nickagneta]

bradley was playing from the outset and getting regular minutes.

Yes, let's look.

Here are the minutes Bradley played in games before both Rondo and Dooling went down.

9
4
6
3
10
10
23
9
11
8
7
12

So, Bradley was probably playing as few minutes as any regular rotation player in the league. 

He was playing back up to a 25 year old, 3 time All-Star who was averaging 37 minutes per game. So guess what. He got 10-11 minutes per game backing up Rondo. Was he supposed to get more?

Even in the 10-12 MPG he is getting now you can see he is shooting better and still developing, making his passes crisper, in a better area for the player to get a shot off, and is running the offense instead of handing it over to Pierce and getting out of the way.

Players can develop in limited minutes. Bradley appears to be doing it right in front of our eyes. But of course, that somehow doesn't count, as usual, for the Doc never plays young guys and only does it when he is forced to crowd.

[jdpapa3]

Forget about all the stats and just look at the way ET plays.  He's very passive/lacking confidence/afraid to make mistakes. 

I disagree. I think he's been pretty assertive in his garbage time minutes.

Dooling's play has been horribly unproductive on both sides of the court. The issue is that Doc refuses to play Bradley at the 2, even though I think he is capable of it.

[MBunge]

bradley was playing from the outset and getting regular minutes.

Yes, let's look.

Here are the minutes Bradley played in games before both Rondo and Dooling went down.

9
4
6
3
10
10
23
9
11
8
7
12

So, Bradley was probably playing as few minutes as any regular rotation player in the league. 

He was playing back up to a 25 year old, 3 time All-Star who was averaging 37 minutes per game. So guess what. He got 10-11 minutes per game backing up Rondo. Was he supposed to get more?

Even in the 10-12 MPG he is getting now you can see he is shooting better and still developing, making his passes crisper, in a better area for the player to get a shot off, and is running the offense instead of handing it over to Pierce and getting out of the way.

Players can develop in limited minutes. Bradley appears to be doing it right in front of our eyes. But of course, that somehow doesn't count, as usual, for the Doc never plays young guys and only does it when he is forced to crowd.

If you're going to willfully ignore the point, why bother to respond?  Bradley was playing like crap at the start of the season.  He was worse than ANYTHING we've seen from Moore.  He was NOT getting better playing limited minutes and only improved during a stretch where Doc had to play him as a starter, a stretch where we also got to see that Moore isn't all that terrible.

Dooling is a point guard.  He's not a very good one, but that's what he's been his whole NBA career.  Doc is playing him out of position at the 2 with mixed results at best.  Why not try Bradley or Moore out at that spot?  Yes, they're undersized but so are a lot of back up 2s in the NBA.  If we tried it and it failed, that would be one thing.  Doc, however, refuses to even try and runs Dooling out there every time if he's available, no matter what the result.

Considering that Doc's coaching record outside the Big 3 era is nothing to get excited about, I don't really understand how he became "The Coach Whose Decisions Shall Not Be Questioned".

Mike