Rotation: Why Not Go 10 Deep?

[Fred Roberts]

Simple question to the blog: Wouldn't it make a lot of sense to extend our rotation and go 10 deep every game? San Antonio seems to be doing this and it seems to be helping them mix in fresh legs with their older set.

I can't see how playing PP and Ray for 38+ minutes each against an athletic team does anything but hurt us. Pietrus, Sasha and Marquis have the ability to play well and bring in some fresh intensity and live legs for about 10+ minutes each. Shortening the minutes up for PP and Ray in a tough series like this should help them both be more effective on both ends.

Bass also seems to be more effective playing say 25 minutes versus 35 minutes. It seems like his flaws get exposed the longer he's in. Getting Hollins and Steamer in there 10 minutes each to exploit the height advantage seems like a must to me.

Giving the Heat different looks should help our cause, and frankly, what have we got to lose? Spreading the workload deeper into the bench could provide a spark for the older vets. 

Thoughts?

[Celtic Fan Forever]

I agree to an extent. I think Dooling could also solidly defend Wade and would be nice to hit the occasional three. Of the people you mentioned, Hollins scares me a bit. I hated the way he preformed against Philly, but hopefully he could bring something defensively even if it's just a hard foul on LeBron.

[ScoobyDoo]

I agree with you. I'd be starting Sasha, bringing Ray, Pietrus and Daniels off the bench for more minutes. I'd also use Hollins and Steamer more to pound the ball underneath.

I'd tell them I'd like to see 2-3 good hard fouls from both of them on Wade and LeBron when they come into to the lane.

[guava_wrench]

"Pietrus, Sasha and Marquis have the ability to play well"

Sasha and Marquis also have the ability to play horribly, which they do more often.

[Who]

I want a 9 man rotation

Starters

PG - Rondo
SG - Ray
SF - Pavlovic
PF - Pierce (LeBron)
C  - Garnett

Bench

PG/OG - Dooling
SG/SF - Pietrus
PF - Bass (Haslem)
C - Stiemsma

[Fafnir]

Yeah I don't see the value of running 10 players out there. Our top 7 is pretty clear and after that its just a matter of how small you want to go who the remaining player (or two players are)

[pearljammer10]

The only reason San Antonio is doing this is because they have the depth to make it work. We dont.

[slamtheking]

oops wrong thread.  thought this was a **** thread

[Fred Roberts]

Agreed guava_wrench ... those two can look terrible ... but I've seen enough good play from both to have hope they can amp up their play when it's most needed.

We just need some reinforcements to keep fresh defenders on the wing guys. Quis can drop a couple mid range jumpers and cut for some Bradley type lay ins, and Sasha showed good rebounding and 3 point shooting at times.

[eugen]

Is important to match 5 starters according to tactics VS Heat
I would put Hollins in Center, KG against Lebron and Pietrus against Wade, plus PP and Rondo

[wiley]

Agree with the OP.  

Not enough hustle plays with Ray and Paul playing together so much.  Not blaming them,
they need to conserve to play so many minutes.
The Celtics are forgetting that in the playoffs you have frustrate the other team and not just think about how each defender is doing his job or whether the team defense
is well organized.  

Someone needs to try and play the role of Bradley was, to his best ability (Sasha or Pietrus or both).  They won't equal AB's level of pestering but they need to try.
If the Celtics don't make a bigger effort to frustrate the Heat, I fear they're cooked.....

I can't wait to be proven wrong.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

It's not like Miami's bigs are fleet-footed, so I'd like to see more of KG-Steamah. I also think we should be using Pavlovic and Daniels, in addition to Pietrus and Ray—not only to keeps legs fresh and throw some different defensive looks at Wade and LeBron, but to possibly stimulate the offense a bit (Daniels with his cutting ability, and Sasha with his 3pt shooting). I feel like we need to do whatever we can to get the Heat Wade and James out of rhythm; maybe these ideas would help.

[ManUp]

SA can do it because they're bench is composed of really good players. However, our bench is composed almost entirely of hot garbage. There's a big difference, maybe next year.

[eugen]

SA can do it because they're bench is composed of really good players. However, our bench is composed almost entirely of hot garbage. There's a big difference, maybe next year.

Agree with you. But not only our bench is poor. Some our starters are not doing good job not only Vs Heat but in general during playoff( Vs Atlanta, 76rs)

[blink]

I am not sure about going 10 deep.  I guess if Doc thought there is no other way to keep up with Miami than to keep fresh bodies on Lebron and Wade he would already be doing it.  Unfortunately we haven't been going 10 deep most of the year so I don't know if we are capable of it.  I think someone from the bench needs to step up and be a contributor on offense though.

I really wish Doc would have played E Moore more frequently during the regular season.  He seems like a guy that can get his own shot, can score.  Scoring seems to be the biggest thing missing from the bench.  We have bench players who are playing good D / giving great effort in the playoffs: KD / MP / Hollins.  But no one is stepping it up to give us production on offense.

I do agree with the underlying idea behind this thread though, is that we need something, anything from our bench.  We need someone on the bench to step up and be a difference maker.  Maybe going 10 deep gives us a better chance of finding a contributor?