Rotation with MinutesAverage Minutes Per Game
Rasheed Wallace 14 Kevin Garnett 18 Baby 16
Kendrick Perkins 28 Rasheed Wallace 14 Baby/Shelden 6
Paul Pierce 32 Marquis Daniels 10 Baby/Sheed/KG/BW/Scal 6
Ray Allen 30 Eddie House 14 Marquis Daniels 4
Rajon Rondo 36 Marquis Daniels 12
KG 18
Perk 28
Pierce 32
R.Allen 30
Rondo 36
Sheed 28
Baby 24
Marquis 26
E.House 14
Whodda thunk that I would have ever gotten this much mileage out of a simple chart? Today we dust it off and pull it down from the cupboard to examine the increasingly realistic possibility that Marquis "S'quisy" Daniels is slated to become Rajon Rondo's back-up point guard.
(I'm going to take a moment to pause and hit the deck, as various blunt objects are hurled my way).
The first thing you will notice is that I'm starting Rasheed Wallace over KG, and playing it conservative with every starter's minutes except for Rondo. I'm also playing it conservative with KG's minutes. Basically, this is a proposed rotation from Game 1 until Christmas.
Next thing you'll notice, if you read some of my prior, related pieces, is that Eddie House and Marquis Daniels are averaging about the same number of minutes as they always do on my rotational boards. True. That's because it doesn't matter if you call E.House a 1 or a 2, if he's on the court with S'quisy, he's on the court with S'quisy, regardless of who's playing the point.
One interesting question about S'quisy would seem to be how much time will he spend playing the 3? I'm gonna say not much if the opposing 3 is either big or tall. Minutes matching-up against bigger, taller 3s will go to Baby, Sheed, KG, Sky Walker, or Brian Scalabrine. The next interesting question is whether S'quisy will be paired with Rondo, thereby cutting into Eddie's minutes at the back-up 2? Playing E.House 12 minutes per game seems ridiculously low. But if Doc falls in love with MD, and MD plays well, Eddie's minutes could suffer.
Another point of interest would be Glen Davis. When he originally resigned, most Celtics' fans thought, great, but then figured, well, when the hell will Doc find time to play him? He looks like a 14-18 MPG kind of guy, we thought. This doesn't seem like enough time for old BBD, especially if he picks up next season where he left off last season. So I see Baby playing all three front court positions, and if he does well, perhaps averaging as many as 24 MPG.
The final point of interest would seem to be how much time will P-squared see at the 2-spot? If we like what we see when Sheed, KG, Baby, Daniels, or Sky are playing the 3, but we want the Truth in the game, Doc might send him in as a 2. In certain situations, I wouldn't rule out Paul Pierce being teamed in the back court with Ray Allen. That would be something to see.
Bottom line is that Doc will have almost countless combinations to work with. This excites me. I was watching the 1970s Celtics the other night, and when Tommy Heinsohn slid Hondo into the back-court to replace Charlie Scott, who was in foul trouble, I got excited. Damn, I thought, a 6-7 off-guard in the 1970s. You don't think that created match-up problems, do you?
In any event, I'm not quite as hyperbolic as some about the perils of Danny starting the season with no traditional point guard on the roster behind Rondo. We've done it before, and won championships. So have other teams.
2 comments:
One positive with Pierce at the 2 is his post up game. Back when we had Eric Williams and Paul played the 2, his post up game was a big part of his offense.
I'll be curious to see if they use it and how often. . .
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