Playoffs rotation: Hollins or Williams?

[csfansince60s]

Sean Williams.....kid definitely improves our rebounding, not just by grabbing boards himself, but by finding his man, feeling back for him and putting himself between his man and the basket and pushing him backward with his butt until the ball goes up, and then he goes for the 'bound....

 so if Wms doesn't grab the board himself, he at least keeps his guy completely away from the boards and increases our chances to get the bound..

....watched both games over a couple of times, and saw Williams doing this as a matter of course

[greenpride32]

The correct answer is probably "Doc goes smallball", so long as Pietrus is healthy.

Agree with this; Hollins and Williams got nothing but garbage time minutes in the regular season.  For games that really count they won't be in there if the game is close.

[Fafnir]

The correct answer is probably "Doc goes smallball", so long as Pietrus is healthy.

Agree with this; Hollins and Williams got nothing but garbage time minutes in the regular season.  For games that really count they won't be in there if the game is close.

Hollins played against Chicago.

I bet Doc would go with him again against them if necessary, but if Taj Gibson is in the game I bet he'd have Pierce check him and go small to close the game.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Y get so many different things from each...williams..well i havent seen him yet...hollis, he can cover the bigs...heavies...body up, no problem.....he has power.....JJJ, he can cover melo....no one tried it, but i can see it..PP canot cover meloe, and then he drives past pp, steamer or kg come over to help, melo dishes to the now open chandler..the celts begin to get mad and disorganized.....JJJ CAN cover melo, melo cannot shoot over him, he cannot drive into or around him, and the kid can jump....it is one to think about because when melo gets going, the whole NY team gets fired up, shut melo down, no action...a good trade for pp to be elsewhere....i know we aren't yet playing the knicks...but gotta be ready..!

[nickagneta]

I could care less because if either are making any contributions to this team in the playoffs then the team's chances of going deep are over.

Rondo/Dooling
Bradley/Allen
Pierce/Pietrus
Bass
KG/Stiemsma

There's your 9 man rotation for the playoffs with it possibly being whittled down to 8 man if Dooling is omitted.

We won't be playing back to backs or 4 games in five days so there is going to be more rest in the playoffs than the regular season. So don't expect to see Wiiliams, Hollins or Johnson unless one of the three rotational bigs get hurt or foul out early or there's a blowout of epic proportions happening.

[LooseCannon]

I could care less because if either are making any contributions to this team in the playoffs then the team's chances of going deep are over.

I disagree.  This team's chances of getting beyond the second round requires that someone step it up when the three-man big rotation of KG/Stiemsma/Bass runs into foul trouble. 

The Celtics absolutely need a couple of games where someone outside of the main eight rotation makes a contribution in order to have a deep run.  That may be Sasha Pavlovic hitting a couple of threes when pressed into service in the early fourth quarter because Paul Pierce got cut and had to back to the locker room to get stitched up before coming back in the game.  It may be Hollins giving a good fifteen minutes because Stiemsma picked up three fouls in his first five minutes and fouls out early.

[indeedproceed]

Agree with Mister Agneta. Probably neither

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I could care less because if either are making any contributions to this team in the playoffs then the team's chances of going deep are over.

Rondo/Dooling
Bradley/Allen
Pierce/Pietrus
Bass
KG/Stiemsma

There's your 9 man rotation for the playoffs with it possibly being whittled down to 8 man if Dooling is omitted.

We won't be playing back to backs or 4 games in five days so there is going to be more rest in the playoffs than the regular season. So don't expect to see Wiiliams, Hollins or Johnson unless one of the three rotational bigs get hurt or foul out early or there's a blowout of epic proportions happening.

You mean UNTIL the second round...

[nickagneta]

I could care less because if either are making any contributions to this team in the playoffs then the team's chances of going deep are over.

Rondo/Dooling
Bradley/Allen
Pierce/Pietrus
Bass
KG/Stiemsma

There's your 9 man rotation for the playoffs with it possibly being whittled down to 8 man if Dooling is omitted.

We won't be playing back to backs or 4 games in five days so there is going to be more rest in the playoffs than the regular season. So don't expect to see Wiiliams, Hollins or Johnson unless one of the three rotational bigs get hurt or foul out early or there's a blowout of epic proportions happening.

You mean UNTIL the second round...

That's only a possibility and not a strong one at that. It would require a few of the first round series winners that have to play against each other in the second round going to seven games and happening in venues that already have commitments.

For instance, with the Bruins eliminated the Celtics don't have to work around the NHL playoff schedule in the TD Garden.

[Celtics18]

I could care less because if either are making any contributions to this team in the playoffs then the team's chances of going deep are over.

Rondo/Dooling
Bradley/Allen
Pierce/Pietrus
Bass
KG/Stiemsma

There's your 9 man rotation for the playoffs with it possibly being whittled down to 8 man if Dooling is omitted.

We won't be playing back to backs or 4 games in five days so there is going to be more rest in the playoffs than the regular season. So don't expect to see Wiiliams, Hollins or Johnson unless one of the three rotational bigs get hurt or foul out early or there's a blowout of epic proportions happening.

I think that one of Hollins or Williams will be getting minutes in the playoffs.  I don't think they'll be big minutes, but they'll see the floor, and I'll expect whoever steps out there to contribute.

I'm leaning towards thinking that Hollins is ahead of Williams in the rotation right now due to having a little more experience with the team, but I'm sure it's subject to change.

[feckless]

Neither will play absent injuries or blow outs!  They are warm bodies for practice and emergencies.  This also counts for JJJ.

[LooseCannon]

Neither will play absent injuries or blow outs!

What about severe foul trouble?  Do you think Stiemsma is going to avoid foul trouble for the entire playoffs?

[nickagneta]

Neither will play absent injuries or blow outs!

What about severe foul trouble?  Do you think Stiemsma is going to avoid foul trouble for the entire playoffs?

Then they go small.

When the Celtics went through their best stretch and toughest stretch of the season, from mid March to mid April before they clinched the division, Doc was using primarily an 8 and 9 man rotation with 3 bigs, KG, Bass and Stiemsma. Pierce and Pietrus played a bunch of PF and Ray Allen played a bunch of SF.

Hollins and Williams only started getting time when the division was clinched and KG and Stiemsma needed to rest and heal up injuries.

[fairweatherfan06]

Is Brandon Bass playing 48 minutes? I'm saying if for some reason Doc leaves small ball alone for matchup reasons he might play Williams as the backup PF? Not out of the realm of possibility methinks... I say that to say Hollins is the 3rd string center and Williams is a backup PF utility big man person, but I think he could get 5-10 minutes a game situationally depending on the matchups. I do think he's a better overall player than Hollins though.

[LooseCannon]

I think Doc is the sort of coach who sometimes plays hunches and he's going to stick Hollins out there at some point when we expect him to go small.  He might even do it after a smallball lineup was successful in the previous game against the same team.