Benched...nobody?

[Michael Joseph Byrnes <mbyrnes@leland.Stanford.EDU>]

Pitino apparently chose not to make good on his threat of benchings,
starting the usual starting lineup against Minnesota, and giving them all
a lot of minutes, too.

Good thing he did.  "The Little Three" (it would be blasphemy to call them
The Big Three) combined to shoot 10 for 43 from the field, for 25 points.
(At least they were a perfect 5-5 from the line, and had 26 rebounds, but
that is small consolation).  

The Celtics as a whole turned the ball over 18 times (to Minnesota's 6)
and managed exactly 1 steal (Bruce Bowen).

How the Celtics could have self destructed so completely is beyond me.  I
do think it is time for some changes, but for now even changes will have
to be relatively minor.  

This is what I would do:

1) Use Pierce off the bench.  There simply aren't enough shots to go
   around with Mercer, Walker, and Pierce in the lineup together.  Keep
   2 of the 3 in the game at all times, but rarely all three of them.  In
   cruch time (assuming we ever see crunch time again), go with the 2
   hottest hands.  Much as Walker frustrates me, he's got to stay in the
   starting lineup.

2) Start Battie at power forward.  One of the few bright spots for the
   C's during their hideous month of March.  Reward him with more minutes.

3) Give Garnett some minutes at backup point guard.  If this guy can
   defend, that is.  While Chauncey Billups is not a point guard, we 
   really miss his defensive ability.

4) Try to get Potapenko and Battie more involved offensively.  Tonight,
   they took only 6 shots between them (hitting 4) while Walker, Mercer, 
   and Pierce were missing 33 shots.

5) Pitino should take a leave of absence and let M.L. Carr coach the team
   for the remainder of the season.  That would at least guarantee us a
   top three pick in the draft next year.

I never thought I'd say this, but the Golden State Warriors are a better
team that the Boston Celtics.  They lack a "go to" guy, but at least they
actually try to win games.

Michael Byrnes
mbyrnes@stanford.edu