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We all know that the east is going to come down to Detroit, Boston and the Cavs. After watching the Cavs today it made me wonder who of the three has the best bench to help the starters get over the hump in the east?

Detroit- Stuckey, Maxiell, Amir, Hayes, Afflalo, Ratliff, Dixon

Boston- Cassell (once he is signed), House, Posey, Allen, Brown, Powe, Big baby

Cavs- Gibson, Wally, D Jones, Joe Smith, and Anderson Varejao

Just curious to what everyone thinks?

Come playoff time the benches are going to shorten up. So it'll look more like this

Detroit - Stuckey 10-15 (first couple rounds he'll see more minutes), Maxx 15-20, Hayes 10-15, Amir 5-10 and the rest will be used situationally for stretches.

Boston - Cassell 20-25, Posey 25-30, Brown 10-15, Big Baby 5-10 situation minutes for the rest.

Cavs - West 15-20, Wally 20-25, Joe Smith 10-15, Verejao 25-30. I think Gibson will start once he comes back.

All three have great benches, but I'll say Detroit has the worst of the three, simply due to a lack of experience. We can only hope certain players can come in for stretches and give us an energy boost (Amir, Maxx, and Lindsey). I'm going to have to go with Boston on this one. Talent, hunger and championship experience. They look dangerous.

Yep. Its Boston beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The biggest criticism was that, outside of the big 3, they were lacking in depth and even more lacking in experience. Cassel and Brown address both issues. Their bench is the best of the 3.

The Cavs bench is drastically improved. Wally isnt great, but he's as reliable a shooter as any of them have on their benches. Varejao is overated, but still solid. Smith brings a scoring punch and a little rebounding to the table. Im not a West fan, but he should be okay to the capacity he'll be used.

Our bench has a ton of unknown quantities come playoff time. Stuckey, Maxiell and Amir all have talent, but what they can provide come playoff time is completely up in the air and subject to question, especially Stuckey and Amir (the former of whom may not see to many minutes). Theo's a wildcard too, and Afflalo will be used situationally, as said above. And god only knows what kind of shooting nights Dixon and Hayes will get. There isnt a sure thing on this bench, which unfortunately is less than can be said for anybody else.

We have a very balanced starting 5 and a lot of stability and experience working in our favor, and that will have to be exploited effectively if we are to make it out of the East. Our bench should hopefully be able to provide more than it has in the last couple of postseasons, but its still going to be a disadvantage compared to our two main eastern rivals due to lack of experience.

Between Memphis and Minnesota. The ones in Memphis are made of Pine the ones in minny are made of cedar.

Doest matter, bench doesn't play in the playoffs.

srt4b wrote:Doest matter, bench doesn't play in the playoffs.

I don't know if you were saying its our bench that doesnt play or what but if you were talking about benches in general thats a foolish thing to say considering it was the Cavs bench or an "un proven" bench player that knocked us out of the playoffs in game 6 last year. Benches are important in the playoffs and do make a difference. 5 starters dont play all 48 minutes and you have to have capeable guys coming into the game and not blowing it but rather extending leads or closing deficits. I believe the bench or a 7 or a maybe 8 man rotations in the playoffs are extremely important.

^^^He was talking about ours.

No doubt it is Boston.

You can't forget that Boston has Scal, last time he faced the Pistons in the playoffs he hit like 6 trey's in that double overtime game

:-/
I'd say we have the best bench in the league and wouldn't even feel homerific about it.

we have a deep bench, but we just lack that REAL 6th man like Barbosa, Terry, Gino.

Boston has a decent bench, but it's not that great either. They still have some Q marks to answer.

Rasheeed!!! wrote:we have a deep bench, but we just lack that REAL 6th man like Barbosa, Terry, Gino.

Boston has a decent bench, but it's not that great either. They still have some Q marks to answer.

I think that the Celtics have answered the majority of the question marks surrounding the bench. Glen Davis and Leon Powe are around the level of Maxiell/Amir (I really, really like Maxiell's game but Davis-Powe are very close to Max in terms of skills/production) and they have PJ Brown's corpse along with Pollard to throw at good post scorers.

The C's also have experience in Cassell/Posey/Brown and a wildcard a la Stuckey (another player whose future looks really bright) in Tony Allen. I even think that the C's can actually play their bench sans starters for stretches in tight games... Cassell/TA/Posey/and two of Powe,Davis,Brown..

GJense4181 wrote::-/
I'd say we have the best bench in the league and wouldn't even feel homerific about it.

Not even a little? You have a legit argument in terms of talent and potential, but thats an irrelevant gauge for these playoffs. I would say that L.A., Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, Golden State, Portland and Utah all have more productive benches this year.

We simply have to many inexperienced players that have yet to prove themselves consistent from game to game, let alone an entire playoff run.

pistons have the best bench in the league. spurs are a close 2nd.

the pistons big time spurs being a close seccond and boston 3rd

ab40 wrote:the pistons big time spurs being a close seccond and boston 3rd

Correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't Boston's bench outperform the Piston's bench the last two head to head meetings? Also Sam Cassell, who is a better point guard than Tony Allen or Eddie House hasn't played yet.

correct me if i'm wrong, but don't the Spurs have the leagues 2nd best SG on their bench?

^Despite Ginobili's production, I refuse to believe he's the second best shooting guard in the league.
While I'd prefer him over Rip at this point, I would much rather have, say, a healthy Tracy McGrady and Dwyane Wade.
Point being, I wonder how his game would translate to ANY other NBA team. Would he start and play more minutes? Would he come off the bench and play fewer? Would some team take a gamble and make him a full-time PG or SF? Would he be the first option (like he is coming off the bench) or second/third (like he is in the starting lineup)? Would he get respect calls, like San Antonio is accustomed to?

Our bench is BRUTAL. Not one proven player in the rotation. If we get 15/8 total from our bench in the playoffs it will be amazing.

1. I dont like Ginobli, but he is really, really good. Saying you would rather have TMac is crazy, especially for the playoffs

2. Our bench is best in the league? come on now...