Can we have a real bench next year?

[hpantazo]

To me the big questions are

1) Will KG return?

2) Will Danny manage to upgrade at starting PF?

3) Will he do something more drastic trading players we think will be back?

Would make sense for the future, and ray and kg will be gone

As sad as it would be to see Paul go, I would like to see them move him.

absolutely no guarantee that Ray and KG will be gone. I see KG either re-signing to stay in Boston for 1-2 more years, or retiring. Ray is 50-50 to stay or sign somewhere else, depending on wether any contender is able and willing to offer him more than the MLE.

[Finkelskyhook]

C'mon, don't act like two of our best bench player didn't go down.  Remember Green and Wilcox?

Seriously. And to heart defects. What can Danny do about that?

With a training camp...It'd be fun to watch a 4 try to keep up with Green and Rondo on the break.

Yeah. On those increasingly rare occasions when it dawns on Rondo to push the basketball ...

Who's he going to push it with now?

[celticinorlando]

really...bench is about as good as it can get....esp. with jeff green going down and then wilcox

it was a dumb move by everyone to think O'Neal was going to contribute anything this year. JO is a bum

[nickagneta]

Two of our bench players are currently starting and because they are the Celtics starting team got much better defensively.

Does the OP understand this? Currently the 6th and 7th players in the rotation are starting!!!

To me that says that our bench is darn good.

[2short]

Two of our bench players are currently starting and because they are the Celtics starting team got much better defensively.

Does the OP understand this? Currently the 6th and 7th players in the rotation are starting!!!

To me that says that our bench is darn good.

Exactly great job by ainge to make us sooooo deep, nice job by doc integrating everyone into system, also great job by all the players to be ready when their number was called.
Hollins was JUST picked up off the scrap heap, Greg was a d league guy happy to just be on team, Bradley was still learning his way, Sasha was end of bench guy who might have been released if we needed a roster spot.   Bass has done an admirable job as a starter but he is a sub

[rondohondo]

sure we can have a real bench next year .

Sign Kaman or Humpheries on a one year 8 mil deal
resign Jeff Green for 2 yr deal at 5 mil
Hope Bass doesn't opt out
resign Ray for 1 year deal
sign or draft a backup PG

PG: Rondo           / Vet PG or Pick
SG: Bradley         / Ray
SF: PP              / Green
PF: Humpheris or KG / Bass / Green
 C: Kaman or KG    / 1st rnd pick

Thats a lot more fire power off the bench

[wdleehi]

The Celtics bench and depth have been a problem for the past few years.


Ainge put together what he could most years (the one exception being the season following the title)


The issue is that the best talent has been he most fragile talent and the only draft pick to really step up and be a contributor is Bradley this year. 

[Yoki_IsTheName]

We have a solid bench. The problem is Doc not playing them enough.

We sure lost Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox because of heart problems.

Pietrus and Pavlovic are able make shots. They both put effort on defense. Yet Mickael only plays for about 10-15 minutes, Sasha can't sniff the floor. They're being way misused.

Hollins has become a pretty solid backup option these days.

Ray Allen has been banged up. If you consider him as a guy off the bench. If not, then there's Bradley.

While the cap space could solidify the bench, i don't it'll matter because Doc will play the old big three the most minutes anyway, struggling or not. That's what we need to fix first.

[LooseCannon]

I think that one of the problems with the bench has been a lack of continuity and a need to integrate a bunch of new parts at the beginning of the season.  If KG come back and the team tries to make another legitimate title run again, I would be happy to bring back guys like Hollins, Pavlovic, and Dooling as minimum salary third-string guys if they are willing, so long as Doc wants them back.  Unless there is a significant upgrade in talent, I'd rather bring back guys like that for the journeymen veterans that are often used to fill out a bench.  For any rookies or other new members to the team, they provide a simple benchmark: you must show that you can play defense the way Doc wants you to play defense in order to sniff the floor.

[apc]

We have a solid bench. The problem is Doc not playing them enough.

We sure lost Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox because of heart problems.

Pietrus and Pavlovic are able make shots. They both put effort on defense. Yet Mickael only plays for about 10-15 minutes, Sasha can't sniff the floor. They're being way misused.

Hollins has become a pretty solid backup option these days.

Ray Allen has been banged up. If you consider him as a guy off the bench. If not, then there's Bradley.

While the cap space could solidify the bench, i don't it'll matter because Doc will play the old big three the most minutes anyway, struggling or not. That's what we need to fix first.

i agree to the most part, not on Hollins.
he is far from solid backup, but he is all we got.
we MUST upgrade on center backup position.
we should not settle down for player who hustle and play some defense. each player must contribute on both sides of the court

[Tradetime]

sure we can have a real bench next year .

Sign Kaman or Humpheries on a one year 8 mil deal
resign Jeff Green for 2 yr deal at 5 mil
Hope Bass doesn't opt out
resign Ray for 1 year deal
sign or draft a backup PG

PG: Rondo           / Vet PG or Pick
SG: Bradley         / Ray
SF: PP              / Green
PF: Humpheris or KG / Bass / Green
 C: Kaman or KG    / 1st rnd pick

Thats a lot more fire power off the bench

I'd sign Kaman to a deal like what David West got this year: 2yrs, 20 mil. For a big that can score like he does, it takes the pressure off of our guys to always be taking jumpshots, including KG, even though he loves them.

Package our two first rounders and Bradley if needed, and move up just outside the lottery at 15, and look to draft an interior presence with that pick like Sullinger, Meyers Leonard or Arnett Moultrie. And definitely add Zeller to the list, if he were still available.

Then, you can groom the new big into a player for the next couple of years while Kaman plays center, and switch Kaman and Garnett in and out alongside the rookie.

[mctyson]

We all thought they had a real bench this year, certainly better than last year.  

Remember, our bench was Jeff Green, Bass, Wilcox, Dooling, and eventually Pietrus.  The only thing we were concerned about was backup Center, but we thought everything else was solid.

Green goes down for the year before a game is played.  Dooling has a horrendous year (or at least part of the year) and clearly did not meet expectations.  J.O. plays poorly and then gets hurt, moving Bass into the starting lineup.  Then Wilcox goes down for the year, eliminating our backup PF/C.

So that original bench squad was nearly completely wiped out by injury.  The only good player to remain on the bench was Pietrus, and I think Pietrus has given us what we expected out of him (I think he should get more minutes.)  Dooling's game has picked up a bit, but he is not a reliable backup option to Rondo.

The final wrinkle was the emergence of Avery Bradley off the bench, but then Ray gets hurt and he is now moved into the starting lineup, making our bench even thinner than before.  Ray gets moved to the bench, but now because of Avery's shoulder injury, Ray is effectively getting starter minutes and Avery's offensive production has been hurt.

We had a real bench.  It was destroyed by injuries.  That could happen again next year.

[Chris]

Depends on whether they hire a new cardiologist.


...realistically though, I would be more concerned with what the starting lineup will look like.

[Moranis]

sure we can have a real bench next year .

Sign Kaman or Humpheries on a one year 8 mil deal
resign Jeff Green for 2 yr deal at 5 mil
Hope Bass doesn't opt out
resign Ray for 1 year deal
sign or draft a backup PG

PG: Rondo           / Vet PG or Pick
SG: Bradley         / Ray
SF: PP              / Green
PF: Humpheris or KG / Bass / Green
 C: Kaman or KG    / 1st rnd pick

Thats a lot more fire power off the bench

Do you think that team is a legit contender?

[Chris]

sure we can have a real bench next year .

Sign Kaman or Humpheries on a one year 8 mil deal
resign Jeff Green for 2 yr deal at 5 mil
Hope Bass doesn't opt out
resign Ray for 1 year deal
sign or draft a backup PG

PG: Rondo           / Vet PG or Pick
SG: Bradley         / Ray
SF: PP              / Green
PF: Humpheris or KG / Bass / Green
 C: Kaman or KG    / 1st rnd pick

Thats a lot more fire power off the bench

Do you think that team is a legit contender?

I think that team is (on paper), significantly better than the team that is a potential contender right now.

....I also think a rotation like this is wishful thinking at best.  They won't be able to afford to keep everyone, bring back Green, and bring in a big man like Kaman or Humphries.