Who should start at shooting guard now?

[lightspeed5]

Avery just proved he can be dominant at the 2. Pietrus isnt bad. Ray Ray is ray

[thestackshow]

Bradley and its not even close.

Elite defender.
Young. Athletic. Can shoot. Can score. Can cut. Can run the floor with Rondo. (Hes almost always ahead of the pack when we get out on the break)

Nothing more needs to be said, Celtics fans have been complaining about "old and slow ball" for years. We finally have an answer.

Our starting lineup right now is faster and more athletic but is also better defensively.

No thanks to going back to old and slow ball, I like the new lineup.

[kn 99]

Bradley and its not even close.

Elite defender.
Young. Athletic. Can shoot. Can score. Can cut. Can run the floor with Rondo. (Hes almost always ahead of the pack when we get out on the break)

Nothing more needs to be said, Celtics fans have been complaining about "old and slow ball" for years. We finally have an answer.

Our starting lineup right now is faster and more athletic but is also better defensively.

No thanks to going back to old and slow ball, I like the new lineup.

THIS

[fairweatherfan]

Bradley should start, help set the tone defensively and harass the other team a bit, maybe get us out on transition. 

Ray should come off the bench in a Ginobili-type role and help boost our bench scoring.

Ray should definitely play during crunch time, with occasional offense-defense switches with Bradley.

If Ray's ok with it I think it's a genuine improvement to the team.  Bradley's proven he's an asset to the team when he gets the minutes, and he seems to do even better with the starters.  Gotta make room for him if we want to win.

[Eja117]

Bradley and its not even close.

Elite defender.
Young. Athletic. Can shoot. Can score. Can cut. Can run the floor with Rondo. (Hes almost always ahead of the pack when we get out on the break)

Nothing more needs to be said, Celtics fans have been complaining about "old and slow ball" for years. We finally have an answer.

Our starting lineup right now is faster and more athletic but is also better defensively.

No thanks to going back to old and slow ball, I like the new lineup.

this...i can't go back now. I can never go back

[SHAQATTACK]

Ab gives Rondo more fastbreak options..... AB "WANTS" to play defense, he likes to play defense , and he can guard people in his size range pretty well, something Ray at 37 is trouble doing 30 minutes a game.

Ray will always be a better shooter, and thus should help us score at critical times, when the bench is playing and we need offense and at the end of a game (final 4 minutes.

AB defense is messing up the other teams play -sets by hindering the amount of time they can take to to get the best shot off. This cause ALOT of low percentage jump shots to be taken by the other team.  He is driving the other teams crazy...they are not used to consisiant ballpressure the way he brings it.

His scrappy play , maybe thats a good nickname ...scrappy...is turning this team into a real load to handle and giving it too much energy to go back to the old slow walk the ball upcourt starts with JO and Ray.

[manl_lui]

Bradley and Bass alone in the starting lineup makes us younger and more athletic, Bradley is fast and can defend at a very high level as we see today with Wade

Bass coming to Boston was so good for him, he still shoots a lot of jumpers but I see him passing more often and actually defending slightly better now

Ray Ray coming off the bench would be so much better. People say that its hard enough for him to get open in the starting lineup. The way I see it, there isn't much people in the 2nd unit that can guard Ray and Ray could help with the bench scoring.

Stiesma is improving so much, he's a 7 footer that we can throw in to block shots, grab rebounds and foul. His presence today helped

[Celtics18]

I'm finally leaning towards Avery, but I trust Doc with this team.

[Ogaju]

Celtics have been blessed into forced adjustment which is what the team always needed but Doc would never do. The team is now playing young players - we have three young starters Rondo, AB and Bass with two vets. We have young kids coming off the bench in the Steamer and the more we get Moore in there the better.

There is no limit for this team.

[wiley]

Agree with majority.  Start Bradley to set a defensive tone.

I'd like to see Ray come in and not have to pace himself.  Just go nuts and start taking the ball to the hoop more....dunk it, etc...

[Tai]

The "out with the old, in with the new" argument seems to be consistent with people's constant complaining that Doc doesn't play rookies and so forth. (Calling Ray 37 when he's 36, etc.)

Bradley's done great in place of Ray, but that doesn't mean that Ray's suddenly not better. Doc will probably give Ray fewer minutes to get him back in the flow, but that doesn't mean he'll come off the bench, or should.

Teams are willing to double Ray because of his shooting ability. Are they gonna do that to Bradley? Like I said in the previous topic, people get caught up in saying that they're tired of seeing Rondo wait for Ray to get open, when the thing is, defenses practically go outta their way to make sure he isn't, and everything else opens up based off that. A lotta people wanna pretend it's not a big deal to hype up the new kid on the block. That's not due diligence for Ray.

[Senninsage]

Rondo finally has someone who can run with him. Heck, he's even faster than Rondo. Avery Bradley should definitely be the starter with Ray coming off the bench. This doesn't mean Ray won't get serious playing time or won't continue to be an important part of the team, of course, but there's just no question as to how valuable Avery Bradley is to this Celtics team right now.

The kinds of starts that the Celtics are getting off to with Bradley is in there defensively is just way too important to just toss away. Also, his offensive game is finally coming around as well. Ray's a great defender. Anybody he says he isn't just isn't paying attention. However, he's quite a bit behind a player such as Bradley because he just doesn't have the speed and the footwork necessary right now to get the kinds of stops that Avery does, and his ball denial of superstars is just amazing. No way Ray would have stood a chance at blocking Wade's shot the way Bradley did today.

Also, I sorta very much love the thought of a bench unit that includes the likes of Pietrus and Ray Allen. And then there are always those opportunities when the bench is mixed in with the starters. And Ray would still be an important player down the stretch. He definitely needs to adopt the Jason Terry role, and I say this with Ray being my favorite player in NBA history after Michael Jordan himself.

[jdz101]

Ray is averaging 15 points this year.

Avery is averaging 15 in his starts aswell plus his defense, speed, and ability to run the floor is just plain better.

This shouldn't be a discussion..

[Eddie20]

The question alone speaks volumes about Bradley and bodes well for our future. What would have been the odds on this thread during the pre-season? Suddenly with Rondo & Bradley, our 2 1st rd draft picks, a solid FA signing this summer, and hopefully a re-signed KG (2 year deal) & Green, the next couple of years don't seem so bleak.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

The "out with the old, in with the new" argument seems to be consistent with people's constant complaining that Doc doesn't play rookies and so forth. (Calling Ray 37 when he's 36, etc.)

Bradley's done great in place of Ray, but that doesn't mean that Ray's suddenly not better. Doc will probably give Ray fewer minutes to get him back in the flow, but that doesn't mean he'll come off the bench, or should.

Teams are willing to double Ray because of his shooting ability. Are they gonna do that to Bradley? Like I said in the previous topic, people get caught up in saying that they're tired of seeing Rondo wait for Ray to get open, when the thing is, defenses practically go outta their way to make sure he isn't, and everything else opens up based off that. A lotta people wanna pretend it's not a big deal to hype up the new kid on the block. That's not due diligence for Ray.

Find me ONE poster who said AB is better than Ray, I'll wait...


They are saying he is better defensively at this point (true) and he should start to help get the defense clicking early... then let Ray play his usual minutes just not at the start of quarters (1st and 3rd really)!