Look at the current situation with a clear mind

[The Rondo Show]

When KG retires, our team defense is screwed.

Yeah, I agree.  Rondo, Bradley, and Green all have defensive skills, but it's not going to matter a whole lot if we're abused on the inside.

Who can be our new defensive anchor? Could a guard be it? Or must it be a big man...

Great individual defense doesn't always mean great team defense.

You need a defensive big man to play great D. Period.

[CelticConcourse]

When KG retires, our team defense is screwed.

Yeah, I agree.  Rondo, Bradley, and Green all have defensive skills, but it's not going to matter a whole lot if we're abused on the inside.

Who can be our new defensive anchor? Could a guard be it? Or must it be a big man...

Great individual defense doesn't always mean great team defense.

You need a defensive big man to play great D. Period.

How good could Sully be at defense, without the rookie fouls?

A pipe dream would be Melo, but...

[nickagneta]

Given what I saw out of Sully at Ohio State, I think its near miraculous that he was playing defense as well as he was this year. He will be a okay to good defender in the future but really would never be a defensive anchor type.

I also agree about needing size to be a defensive anchor. Its easier to do it with a true big man(KG, Duncan, Chandler, Bynum, Howard, etc.) but its possible, as Lebron/MJ has shown, to do it with a hugely talented wing that can also play unstoppable offense.

[PhoSita]

Whatever, it's irrelevant.  Sullinger was one of the top 5 players on the team, and was without question more productive and better on both ends than Bass.  So losing him means a lot.

It's so entertaining when one player's underachievement and another player's overachievement results in categorical statements such as Sullinger being "without question more productive and better than Bass".

Because there is certainly a question, and Sullinger was definitely nothing to write home about offensively.

Well, we must be seeing different things on the court, because I know for certain that in terms of the box score, Sullinger was significantly more productive.  More points on better shooting, and a whole bunch more rebounds.  His advanced defensive statistics commend him very well, too.

But if you found him underwhelming for some intangible reason, I can't argue with you, because we must be seeing very differently.

[CelticD]

interesting way to look at it. it helps put things in perspective. the only thing the celtics wanna do is make progress. the only way to top wat they did last year is to go to the finals.

i dont think the celtics are doin that.

[LarBrd33]

The regular season ended for us in mid-March.  We're just going through the motions.  I'm sorry that some fans don't understand that.  We have nothing to play for.  We're in the playoffs.  WE'd probably prefer playing Miami in the 1st round. 

The team already proved to themselves that they can hang with any team in the league, win without Rondo and put up a big fight.  This regular season effectively ended on March 18th.  Now our only objective is to be as healthy as possible Game 1 of the playoffs. 

[BballTim]

A little clarity

Boston has played 74 games.

Green, Terry, and Bass have played in all 74.

Rondo has missed 36. 
Barbosa has missed 33.
Bradley has missed 31.
Sullinger has missed 29.
Wilcox has missed 20.
Garnett has missed 9. 
Lee has missed 3. 
Pierce has missed 2. 


Now about the New York Knicks.

New York has played 72 games.

JR Smith is the only player to have played in all 72.  Steve Novak played in 71.

Amare Stoudemire has missed 43 games.
Iman Shumpert has missed 37 games.
Kurt Thomas has missed 33 games.
James White has missed 22 games.
Carmelo Anthony has missed 13 games.
Raymond Felton has missed 12 games.
Tyson Chandler has missed 10 games.
Jason Kidd has missed 5 games.
Pablo Prioni has missed 4 games.

Rasheed only played in 20 games all year and Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby were late in the year signees to replace injured players. 


The Knicks haven't been affected by the rash of injuries like the Celtics have.  Frankly because they have a better constructed and deeper roster and have been willing to make the moves necessary to improve the team (like trading Ronnie Brewer for a 2nd rounder to open up a roster spot for a late in the year signing).

  The Knicks started out the season 18-5. What would you say was the reason for the drop off in their play if you don't think injuries affected them?

My point was lots of other teams have injuries just as severe and still have a good season.  Boston has less injuries than the Knicks yet is 9 games behind them in the standings.  Boston is quite simply an average team.  They would be a few games better without the injuries and would be a much more dangerous team come the playoffs, but they wouldn't be challenging Miami for the 1 seed.  That was the point I was making, which fits with what this thread is about.

  They'd be much more dangerous in the playoffs because they're a better than average team. But aside from that the Knicks are 9 games up on us but they were 7 games up on us on new years day. Again, if the Knicks have only gained 2 games on an "average team" that's been decimated by injuries over a 3 month period then it's likely that their injuries are affecting them more than our injuries are affecting us.