Re: 8-man rotation...

["Lance Jacobson" <lancejacob@xxxxxxxxx>]

Will Brown get his chance to play this year, or be buried on the bench
behind one of the others?>>Michael Byrnes

It's a good question, Michael, but since I'm of the conspiracy theory sect,
I'll report that it's probably not true.

First, the short rotation was Obie's downfall last year.  One can expect
that Baker's going to log 20 mpg which is more than Rodney did after Vitaly
was hurt.  So, that comes from someone, likely Walker, to pare off 3-4 per
game.

That doesn't solve the PP minutes dilemma, though.  He was averaging over
40, and that's too many as well, especially for a guy who drives creates
contact.  He'll lose some minutes to Kedrick, because the team NEEDS to find
out what Kedrick's worth, and they can't afford to dump him as they did JJ
last season.  Yeah, when you do the math, they got nothing for Johnson.

Bremer is likely to be the last PG called, and Walter's not a guy they need
to really look at, but Sundov, at 7'2" could be valuable if he starts
putting on muscle and can play at all.  Not enough guys at that size out
there with desire, good hands and any kind of shot.  Would be a waste not to
use him early and see what's there against real players.

In the end, the Celts would be well served by running, and resting the
captains more.  A 9-10 man rotation makes sense if they run at all, because
the basic sets can be learned in practice.  However, with the gentle
approach that Obie's had to working with the captains (CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT
THERE WAS NO OFFENSIVE PLAN FOR THE ENTIRE LAST SEASON?) one can expect that
he won't cut their minutes (read: stat potential) right away, nor would he
let on that he is going to do that until players "earn" the right by
contributing.

If all goes well, I predict that Twan and PP's minutes drop to under 40,
and, barring injury 9 guys are playing double-digit minutes and a 10th guy
is close.  But it makes sense that Obie wouldn't say that at this point.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Joseph Byrnes" <mbyrnes@Stanford.EDU>
To: <Celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2002 6:30 PM
Subject: 8-man rotation...


> I read where O'Brien says he wants to go with an 8-man rotation this year.
> Also, that Walker, Williams, and Pierce will all start, and that Battie
> and Baker are the centers.
>
> So, these are the players we KNOW will be in the rotation...
>
>  C: Baker, Battie
> PF: Walker
> SF: EWilliams
> SG: Pierce
> PG:
>
> The rest of the team?
>
> Sundov, F-C
> Wolkowyski, F
> McCarty, F
> Brown, G-F
> Bremer, G
> SWilliams, G
> Delk, G
>
> Two of Bremer, SWilliams, and Delk will be the PGs, bringing the number of
> players in the rotation up to seven.
>
> That leaves one more slot up for grabs between Sundov, Wolkowyski,
> McCarty, Brown, and whoever loses out at PG (likely Bremer).
>
> That's basically one veteran (McCarty) and a bunch of guys without a
> lot of NBA experience (Sundov, Wolkowyski, Brown, Bremer).
>
> Will Brown get his chance to play this year, or be buried on the bench
> behind one of the others?
>
> Michael