Whither Adrian?

[peter delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com>]

According to Peter May today, Pitino says Pierce is "the only starter [who]
can fit with the second unit." I am trying to fit this bit of information into
my current favorite Celtics obsession: What happens to the rotation when
Fortson comes back?

Most seem to feel Walker will slide to three. That would surely seem to put
Griffin on the bench, which I think is good because that second unit needs his
ball handling; the fact that AG's minutes have dropped from 40/game to around
23/game indicates to me Pitino's thinking in this direction. 

At the 4, Battie seems to be taking to this idea of being a sixth man, but I
don't know that it doesn't make more sense to start him alongside Walker &
Vitaly; gives you a combination of bulk and shotblocking at the power spots,
and if Fortson starts the bench will still be very light. Then again, if
Pitino is set on keeping the second unit a "pressing team" (which he may or
may not be set on), Battie is definitely a better fit than Fortson.

I think I would structure the team like this:

PG: Kenny, Dana
SG: Pierce, Griffin
SF: Walker, Williams
PF: Battie, Fortson
C: Vitaly

Battie or Fortson spell Vitaly at center, which I don't think is ideal but is
necessary to give all 3 of them enough minutes. Pervis, Cheaney and Waltuh are
relegated to the bench and play situationally, eg in a pressing unit with
Pierce and Battie. Cheaney is probably a better defender at 2 than Griffin,
but until he regains his game (last night was a start) I think Griffin has
shown he deserves the minutes. Rebounding should be well-balanced between the
two units, with Fortson and Griffin helping the bench (and maybe, by
extension, creating more scoring opportunities). In this scenario, you
probably have less of a 'platoon' situation and more of a melding between
starters and reserves.

One thing that stumps me is minutes. Assuming Fortson and Battie each play
around 30 mpg, I see few minutes at the 4 for Walker. And with Pitino needing
to find minutes for Griffin, there will probably still be times Adrian will
play the 3. So when does Williams play? I believe he needs about 20 mpg to be
really effective as a bench scorer, but I don't know how to find them.

What do other people think?