The point was that having the only two players of your rotation giving you quality minutes in the starting unit, rather than balancing out and having one off the bench, is telling that the main reason Amir and Sullinger are on the floor is because they've simply have been the two best bigs for Stevens.
Yeah, sorry, that doesn't make any sense. If you don't see or understand that Sullinger starts pretty much because he's the only guy on the team that can effectively box out centers, I can't help you.
And again you fail to understand that Amir and Sullinger are the only two bigs that can actually do that, and by playing them alonside in your starting unit, you're limiting the time on the floor in which at least one of them is on the floor. If don't see that or understand that by playing Amir and Sullinger together you're essentially maximizing our worst defending unit on the floor (Lee/Olynyk pair) then I can't help you.
Olynyk is a better defender than you give him credit for. That still doesn't make him a center (plaus, that's a different discussion altogether).
Also, you do understand that matchups do not exist in a vacuum, and that having your best pairing against the opponents best pairing is potentially more valuable than having an even spread over 48 minutes, right?
Where exactly haven't I given Olynyk his proper credit defensively? Even in this thread I mentioned he's defending much better and have made numerous mentions of that throughout the season. But by your own admission he's incapable of boxing out those center types (when he decides to actually try and box out) and if you're pairing those aspects alongside David Lee, then you're creating our weakest defensive pairing. I'm not sure how that observation, based also on statements you've already laid in your argument, has anything to do with whether Olynyk is being given enough credit defensively or not.
By the way, Sullinger has been better than him defensively this year, just thought it was worth mentioning.
If anyone is not being given enough credit here is Amir Johnson and his ability to step in the center role if the situation warranted (for example, a situation in which Olynyk was seen as a better alternative to Sullinger, playing better). Your dismissiveness of Johnson's ability to step into that role, which is there for the taking if Olynyk steps up his game, is a bit telling I think.
The point in all of this is that the sole reason for Sullinger being a starter is not because he's viable to play the position, which indeed plays a role in it, but when everything is laid out it's simply because Sullinger has been better than Olynyk in almost all facets of the game this season. And regardless of position, if that weren't true, Olynyk would be for Stevens (if you know Stevens at all you should agree) a viable candidate to start for the Celtics whether it be playing alongside Amir or Sullinger.
All of this with Sullinger playing more minutes than Olynyk, while also seen seemingly as an outcast by Stevens and Ainge, while being seen as the odd man out and out of the rotation entering the season, while a popular knowledge that Olynyk has been by large Stevens binkie since he came to the league leads me to believe that Sullinger starting is not merely because he can play Center and Olynyk can't.
Of course, this discussion on a tangent of the original misguided and false statement that was discrediting Sullinger's play because he apparently couldn't start over Olynyk yet has been doing so all year. Not only has he been starting, but out playing him. You want to make it an issue about simple positions, be my guest. But we all know that's not the simple of it.
Topic: Trade Sully while his value is perceived to be decent (Read 20851 times)