Brad's finally calmed down the substitutions and it's paying off

[mgent]

Yesterday's rotation was this:

IT 35 / Smart 13

AB 36 / Smart 12

Crowder 32 / Brown 13 / Smart 3

Amir 28 / Jerebko 13 / KO 4 / Crowder 3

Horford 31 / KO 17

I personally love it.  Not too much Smart at SF.  No stupid 3 guard lineups.  Smart and Brown give us way more size and physicality than Smart and Rozier (who would get us killed when paired with 2 of Smart, IT, or AB).

No offense to Zeller and Rozier, but they are bad defenders and rebounders who are soft as hell.  Good players, but bad fits for this team/system because those are our biggest weaknesses.

Smart and Brown on the other hand are extremely confident, extremely physical players (our only physical players outside of Crowder) which we need because it's our grit and our swag that allow us to beat teams with more talent like GS/CLE.  We're not going to beat them with finesse scoring from Zeller and Rozier.

Brad thought Rozier would replace what Turner gave us, but really it was the combined length and confidence of Smart and Turner in the backcourt that made our bench so good last year.  Couple that with the fact that Smart has proven to be a bonafide PG, who actually does the same if not more facilitating than Turner, and I have no clue why Brad pushed the Rozier experiment so hard and for so long (other than to showcase).

Between Smart, Kelly, and Jerebko we have 3 of the most willing passers in the game, plus Brown is a rookie so he's passive and just keeps the ball moving around the perimeter unless he has room to make a move.  I have no clue why you want a 5th guy out there in your second who's looking to get other people shots.  Same thing goes with Zeller who is even less aggressive than Rozier and is perfectly content just being on the court and passing the ball back and forth around the perimeter until he gets a chance to put up a hook shot.

If I'd make one change to last night's rotation, it'd probably be to play Crowder at PF over Jerebko for those 13 minutes, and then give the missing 13 minutes of Crowder's at SF to either Brown or Green.  If we're gonna go small either way, Jerebko doesn't bring anything to the game that Crowder doesn't, he actually brings way less (especially offensively).

Our 2nd unit needs more scoring (due to the inconsistent scoring of Brown, Smart, and Kelly) and having at least ONE aggressive slasher/scorer like Green (or Brown when he's got it going) will do a heck of a lot more for us than Jerebko and his selfless offense.

[danglertx]

I'd agree with most of that, but Rozier is soft and a bad rebounder?  For his position, I think Rozier is an outstanding rebounder and anything but soft. 

I do like tightening up the rotation though.  This seems to be Brad's philosophy, try a lot of lineups early, see which ones have the most success, and then go to those more and more throughout the season.

I also like that he is bringing IT back in with the second unit because they need someone to score and create pressure for others to get open looks.

[Androslav]

Seems like every year we experiment for the 1st 30 games. Its not like the seeding would suffer and the season is so long.
I also believe that Brown looks more comfortable out there and can produce in 15 bench minutes. He is definitely our of-the-bench winger when we battle the best teams.

[Diggles]

I agree with most...   But Rozier Soft and a Bad rebounder for a PG.   I see something 100% different.   

[jpotter33]

Agree with most, too.

I like that he's shortening up the rotation, and it does seem to be a pattern that the first 20-25 games seem to be an experimental phase for him with rotations.

However, they're still a little wonky at times, like him utilizing the three point guard lineup for awhile against Miami. I also like the fact that he's basically cut Rozier's playing time and let Smart be the primary ball handler off the bench. Would like him to be a bit more consistent with playing Green, though. That Smart/Green pairing, along with Brown, is super athletic and has a ton of potential off the bench. Green functions as a good opposite of Smart with his instant offense and shooting.

[mgent]

For his position, Rozier is a solid rebounder in the sense that he looks to rebound while many guards don't.

Avery Bradley is also a good rebounder for his position.  Arguably the best in the league, and arguably the best in Celtic history.

That doesn't stop the Celtics from being a horrible rebounding team.

Being a good rebounder for your position is nice and all, but when you're only 6'1" and 6'2", it doesn't translate into your TEAM controlling the boards (especially when you've already got a dude who's 5'8" playing 35 minutes).

Sorry to break it to you, but part of the reason Rozier and Bradley get those rebounds is because we have the absolute worst rebounding bigs in the league and we need all 5 players to go rebound when the shot goes up, as opposed to other teams who can look to get down the court before the defense is set instead.

In addition to being longer, yes I think Smart and Brown are much tougher and more physical than Rozier (who's only soft compared to those guys), and I have infinitely more faith in their ability to fight a big for a rebound.  Heck, throw Green in the same category.

[mgent]

Agree with most, too.

I like that he's shortening up the rotation, and it does seem to be a pattern that the first 20-25 games seem to be an experimental phase for him with rotations.

However, they're still a little wonky at times, like him utilizing the three point guard lineup for awhile against Miami. I also like the fact that he's basically cut Rozier's playing time and let Smart be the primary ball handler off the bench. Would like him to be a bit more consistent with playing Green, though. That Smart/Green pairing, along with Brown, is super athletic and has a ton of potential off the bench. Green functions as a good opposite of Smart with his instant offense and shooting.

Thank you.  I've been saying exactly this since the day we signed Green.

All the talk about Rozier replacing Turner as our 2nd unit's ball-handler before he ever earned a single NBA minute really made me want to puke.

Especially considering he was stealing the role from Smart (who grows offensively every time we get him the ball) and especially considering he was stealing the minutes from Green, who excited me at SG with his defense, length, aggression, jump shot, and ability to ignite/challenge this team with energetic plays/dunks (Brown on the perimeter with those 2 made my mouth water).

Really makes me wonder how bad that hip injury was.  Has it been bothering him way more than what's been let on? (randomly missed another game for it recently)  Or has Danny been telling Brad to showcase Rozier for a trade?

[Chris22]

I don't like Smart at SF at all. We have Brown and Green to backup Crowder.

[jambr380]

I guess, but would still like to see more Brown and Rozier. It must suck for Terry - he had two failed alley-oop attempts (which he probably could have finished himself) and now he is banished to the bench forever. I guess that's what you get for trying to be unselfish.

This season is definitely about making the leap, but unless we acquire another top player this season, we are not winning the championship. It is still about development.