Start a real BIG

[Fafnir]

New coach same old celtics. Too many jump shots, no post play, no legit big man getting minutes.

Its almost as if the roster issues that plagued the C's last year haven't been fixed by trading away two of our best players!

[kozlodoev]

Sullinger showed enough potential last year that the C's are going to let him play himself into shape. He clearly is out of shape after his back surgery, nothing to do but continue to develop him and get him back to where he needs to be.

As opposed to what, trading him away? They surely will, the problem is what spot in the rotation he's going to occupy in the process. I still feel he belongs to the bench at this point.

[Fafnir]

Sullinger showed enough potential last year that the C's are going to let him play himself into shape. He clearly is out of shape after his back surgery, nothing to do but continue to develop him and get him back to where he needs to be.

As opposed to what, trading him away? They surely will, the problem is what spot in the rotation he's going to occupy in the process. I still feel he belongs to the bench at this point.

How would bringing him off the bench help:

1. The team

2. Him develop

Being mad at poor performance from the C's and demanding benching is going to leave you wanting to just forfeit a lot of games I fear.

[BballTim]

New coach same old celtics. Too many jump shots, no post play, no legit big man getting minutes.

  That's more of a personnel issue than a coaching issue.

[kozlodoev]

Sullinger showed enough potential last year that the C's are going to let him play himself into shape. He clearly is out of shape after his back surgery, nothing to do but continue to develop him and get him back to where he needs to be.

As opposed to what, trading him away? They surely will, the problem is what spot in the rotation he's going to occupy in the process. I still feel he belongs to the bench at this point.

How would bringing him off the bench help:

1. The team

2. Him develop

Being mad at poor performance from the C's and demanding benching is going to leave you wanting to just forfeit a lot of games I fear.

I'm not beling mad, I simply feel that sticking with Olynyk and Faverani may be the better option, both immediately and in the long run. Sullinger may end up being a decent player, but I don't think making him the default starter so that he can chuck uncontested threes and get his layups swatted away is doing him or the team a favor. Also, I'm skeptical about how far he can "develop", given his physical tools.

[Fafnir]

Oh okay, you don't think Sullinger can become much. Fair enough.

[BballTim]

Sullinger showed enough potential last year that the C's are going to let him play himself into shape. He clearly is out of shape after his back surgery, nothing to do but continue to develop him and get him back to where he needs to be.

As opposed to what, trading him away? They surely will, the problem is what spot in the rotation he's going to occupy in the process. I still feel he belongs to the bench at this point.

How would bringing him off the bench help:

1. The team

2. Him develop

Being mad at poor performance from the C's and demanding benching is going to leave you wanting to just forfeit a lot of games I fear.

I'm not beling mad, I simply feel that sticking with Olynyk and Faverani may be the better option, both immediately and in the long run. Sullinger may end up being a decent player, but I don't think making him the default starter so that he can chuck uncontested threes and get his layups swatted away is doing him or the team a favor. Also, I'm skeptical about how far he can "develop", given his physical tools.

  Unless you're of the opinion that it's better to miss shots than to have them blocked his layups getting swatted isn't really a concern. He still converts his inside shots at a good clip.

[Chris]

Sullinger showed enough potential last year that the C's are going to let him play himself into shape. He clearly is out of shape after his back surgery, nothing to do but continue to develop him and get him back to where he needs to be.

As opposed to what, trading him away? They surely will, the problem is what spot in the rotation he's going to occupy in the process. I still feel he belongs to the bench at this point.

How would bringing him off the bench help:

1. The team

2. Him develop

Being mad at poor performance from the C's and demanding benching is going to leave you wanting to just forfeit a lot of games I fear.

I'm not beling mad, I simply feel that sticking with Olynyk and Faverani may be the better option, both immediately and in the long run. Sullinger may end up being a decent player, but I don't think making him the default starter so that he can chuck uncontested threes and get his layups swatted away is doing him or the team a favor. Also, I'm skeptical about how far he can "develop", given his physical tools.

I disagree with this, but its a fair point.  We don't have enough evidence of Sully in the NBA to really have a good argument about this, so it comes down to personal evaluations. 

[kozlodoev]

Oh okay, you don't think Sullinger can become much. Fair enough.

Don't know what you consider "much". I consider his absolute ceiling a Paul Millsap type of player -- conditional on a pile of ifs, such as staying in shape, and no further back issues (both considerable ifs, given past history).

So yes, if you come into this conversation from the standpoint that turning Sullinger into a Carlos Boozer is but a forgone conclusion, I'm afraid we have fundamental differences. I put much more hopes into the bigger, more skilled, and healthier player, even if he's a rookie.

[kozlodoev]

I disagree with this, but its a fair point.  We don't have enough evidence of Sully in the NBA to really have a good argument about this, so it comes down to personal evaluations.

Yes, that's fair enough. Sullinger has some skills, and turned some heads last season, but I just can't consider him the type of safe-bet prospect that will command a 8-10 year career as a starter.

[Fafnir]

Oh okay, you don't think Sullinger can become much. Fair enough.

Don't know what you consider "much". I consider his absolute ceiling a Paul Millsap type of player -- conditional on a pile of ifs, such as staying in shape, and no further back issues (both considerable ifs, given past history).

So yes, if you come into this conversation from the standpoint that turning Sullinger into a Carlos Boozer is but a forgone conclusion, I'm afraid we have fundamental differences. I put much more hopes into the bigger, more skilled, and healthier player, even if he's a rookie.

It really is a time saver when you can just post my PoV for me in advance! It prevents me from making the foolish choice to continue to engage with you since you've made up your mind, and my mind for me!

[kozlodoev]

Oh okay, you don't think Sullinger can become much. Fair enough.

Don't know what you consider "much". I consider his absolute ceiling a Paul Millsap type of player -- conditional on a pile of ifs, such as staying in shape, and no further back issues (both considerable ifs, given past history).

So yes, if you come into this conversation from the standpoint that turning Sullinger into a Carlos Boozer is but a forgone conclusion, I'm afraid we have fundamental differences. I put much more hopes into the bigger, more skilled, and healthier player, even if he's a rookie.

It really is a time saver when you can just post my PoV for me in advance! It prevents me from making the foolish choice to continue to engage with you since you've made up your mind, and my mind for me!

Since your only PoV so far has been "so you don't think Sullinger has become much", I don't have much choice but to speculate with the examples.

[clover]

New coach same old celtics. Too many jump shots, no post play, no legit big man getting minutes.

  That's more of a personnel issue than a coaching issue.

What the OP is suggesting is that it isn't, that it is a matter of not playing the bigs they have and thus having a small team playing (poorly) out on the perimeter.

I think the early game planning was built around the assumption that they had inferior interior play on offense and defense, but the glimpses we've had of Olynyk and Fav suggest that may not be the case.

[Fafnir]

New coach same old celtics. Too many jump shots, no post play, no legit big man getting minutes.

  That's more of a personnel issue than a coaching issue.

What the OP is suggesting is that it isn't, that it is a matter of not playing the bigs they have and thus having a small team playing (poorly) out on the perimeter.

I think the early game planning was built around the assumption that they had inferior interior play on offense and defense, but the glimpses we've had of Olynyk and Fav suggest that may not be the case.

We only have Fav who is what I'd consider a center playing in the rotation. Unless we decided to play him high 30s minutes wise, which I don't think he's ready for, we're going to have a small team.

[Who]

I think Olynyk should start off on the bench. Avoid the more troublesome matchups. I don't think he is ready in terms of defense + rebounding to be a starting PF or C yet.

I would like to ease him into things rather than throw him right into the deep end.