Today was a great game. The only worry it makes for me is wondering how you bring ray back into the fold and still keep the momentum and chemistry that this starting 5 has started to develop?
We shouldn't overlook RA's contributions through the years, but all season to me he has seemed a step slow on D. When people started posting that when Ray comes back he should come off the bench I thought it was crazy, but now I am not so sure.
AB's learning curve has been just about exponential lately. I just love his hustle and determination on both ends of the court. I think Avery has that extra gear that Ray nor anyone else on our team has. Today I saw about 3 times where he closed on his man on D from at least 30 feet away when I though they were going to be free for a layup or easy shot. Ray just can't do that.
Doc has a tough decision on his plate about how to handle this, and still keep the momentum the team has built this last couple of weeks. Good problem to have I guess huh?
I'm really interested in what our SG rotation will be when everyone is healthy. Avery, Ray and Pietrus all can make arguments for the starting lineup, and Dooling can certainly make a claim for 10-15 minutes a game with his smart offensive play and fairly ferocious defense of late - he was great tonight. Pietrus can grab 10 playoff minutes a game backing up Pierce at the 3, either Avery or Dooling can take 8 playoff minutes a game from Rondo at the 1. Let's say Dooling takes those. That means you have 48 minutes to split between Ray and Avery, and you'd probably want to give Pietrus another 5-10 minutes there as well.
Absolutely our most interesting position moving forward, and it's a [dang] good problem to have. I'd love to see what a Rondo-Bradley-Pietrus-KG-Steamer/Bass lineup can do defensively.