No fear of Scal

[mark at 10thumbs.org]

This is something that's driven me crazy in the past and will again this
season possibly:

For the first 2 months of the season, I think Doc should have a 9+2 rotation:

Rondo
Allen
Pierce
Garnett
Perkins

House
Pollard
Powe
Scalabrine

+1 or +2  -- with that +1 or +2 being the top 2 rooks (my guess would be
Davis, Wallace, Pruitt, Manuel in that order).  Give them 5-7 mins a game
sink or swim.  If one doesn't cut it move to the next guy ... but give
them the damn chance.  We wasted 1/2 season of Gomes (and IMO Hunter) b/c
we didn't do this.

Games are different than practice -- and if nothing else this will help
acclimate them to game situations.

(the other) mark

---------------------
That's a good point, Mark.  I just hate the idea of
good rookies/youngsters wasting on the bench, while
the likes of Scot Pollard and Scalabrine bring the
'intangibles' that nobody can see.  I think all GREAT
teams have a mix of youngsters and veterans and that
while it's the veterans that usually pull the load,
it's also the rookies that sometimes surprise and push
the veterans to greater success.  There is a
comfort-level and a certain amount lethargy when Scal
or Pollard are on the court because everyone knows
what they can and cannot do, and that combined with
our increasingly veteranized team might spell trouble.
 Players like Rondo, Perkins, Tony A, Powe, and Davis
will be integral in lighting a few fires under some
asses this season, and of the bigs, I think Davis has
the best skill set to succeed with Allen/Pierce/KG
because of his passing, rebounding, BBIQ, and verve
for the game.  He's could fit in real nice; if he's
allowed to.  But I doubt he plays at all during the
first half of the season.

My nightmare scenario is Doc, being the wuss he is,
playing it safe in the beginning of the season and
fitting his role players--Scal, Pollard, and
House--around the Allen/Pierce/KG triumvirate.  A
quarter of the way into the season, with
Allen/Pierce/KG averaging 38-40 minutes each, we peak,
and then with little injuries and lacking the correct
rotational adjustments, we struggle the rest of the
season to get back where we were in those first 20
games.  Doc needs to realize that it's a long season
and that playing Rondo, (TA if healthy), Perkins, Powe
and Davis in the beginning of the season will have a
huge impact as the season and playoffs wear on.  But
one thing Doc is not, nor ever will be, is a man with
the ability to plan for the future.  He's not smart
enough, or confident enough to see past the next game.
 Who on this list thinks Doc has enough balls to limit
Allen/Pierce/KG's minutes until the end of the season
in an attempt to peak during the playoffs?   He has no
balls and he cracks under even the slightest pressure.
He won't be able to take the criticism or even
articulate a reason why he should (that is, because
he's limiting minutes so we're fresh and ready to peak
when the playoffs begin).  Doc is going to do his
best--whatever that amounts to--to get this team off
in the early season and I think it will be that
misplaced energy which will mark the failure of next
season.  We need a leader--somebody with enough vision
and balls--to plan everything--every substitution and
rotation, every practice and every scheme--towards
peaking and making our run towards the end of the
season.

Detroit may have been the best team in the East, but
they peaked too soon.  Cleveland was probably the 4th
best team in the East but they peaked at the right
time (or just happened to be left standing after
everyone else had already peaked) and made the Finals.
 This season we'll be completing against not only the
East but against ourselves, trying to time our peak
with the  end of the season.  And I'd feel a lot
better if anyone but Doc Rivers was leading that
charge.

Ryan


--- Mark Piotrowski <mark at 10thumbs.org> wrote:
>
> I think we're lookign for signs where none exist.
>
> IMO, Ainge is waiting to sign Davis and Pruitt --
> who's rights we and
> we alone hold -- until all the FA signings are done.
>  Likely he'd
> want to use some fo the MLE to sign them to 3-yr
> deals (like
> Gomes/Powe) rather than 2 year deals if we don't use
> the MLE.
>
> But he also wants to see if anyone else is out there
> that we'd rather
> use the 3.8 MIL we have left of the MLE on. Maybe a
> guy like Posey
> (as much as I don't really want him) gets stuck w/o
> a team and has to
> "settle" for a 1-year, $3.8M deal -- a la Bonzi
> Wells a few years
> back.
>
> Pollard was signed -- by all accounts -- at the vet.
> minimum and if
> i'm understanding teh CBA correctly you can sign as
> many of those
> vet. min contracts as you want. Reggie Miller -- if
> he should sign --
> would almost definitely come back for that.
>
> That all said, Pruitt remains an enigma to me...
> though people keep
> saying good things about him.
>
> (the other) mark
> _______________________________________________
> The Boston Celtics Mailing List
> celtics at igtc.com
> http://www.igtc.com/mailman/listinfo/celtics