Interesting Question: Doc having a crutch?

[canman1971]

Vincent (Chicago): PJ Brown and Sam Cassell. Enough to make the Celtics the favorite to come out of the East?

SportsNation John Hollinger: A minor factor. I worry a little that they'll be a crutch for Doc -- Leon Powe has been huge, and if Doc plays PJ ahead of him that will be a mistake. Same goes for Rondo vs. Cassell. But if he uses them judiciously they can solidify that second unit, absolutely.

I thought this warranted its own thread. I know many have brought this point up about Doc. I'm not sure this will happen though. One thing about Doc is you "earn" your minutes. He seems to be a big "team" guy and Rondo and Powe have gotten the Celtics this far, why would he screw it up. I'd be like the moron USA women's soccer coach going with the vet goalie during the world cup semis although she hadn't played in goal in 9 months. Then getting smoked in the game, followed by getting fired. I just don't see it happening. Everyone always complained about our depth, now we have it and they still use it as a flaw. Doesn't make sense.

[Datruth345]

throughout his celtics tenure, doc has always played veterans over young players...you can go right down the list

i hope this is different because we have already shown the ability to win and be successful with the young players in their defined roles

so it is something to keep and eye out for

[tombattor]

Vincent (Chicago): PJ Brown and Sam Cassell. Enough to make the Celtics the favorite to come out of the East?

SportsNation John Hollinger: A minor factor. I worry a little that they'll be a crutch for Doc -- Leon Powe has been huge, and if Doc plays PJ ahead of him that will be a mistake. Same goes for Rondo vs. Cassell. But if he uses them judiciously they can solidify that second unit, absolutely.

I thought this warranted its own thread. I know many have brought this point up about Doc. I'm not sure this will happen though. One thing about Doc is you "earn" your minutes. He seems to be a big "team" guy and Rondo and Powe have gotten the Celtics this far, why would he screw it up. I'd be like the moron USA women's soccer coach going with the vet goalie during the world cup semis although she hadn't played in goal in 9 months. Then getting smoked in the game, followed by getting fired. I just don't see it happening. Everyone always complained about our depth, now we have it and they still use it as a flaw. Doesn't make sense.

I don't know. I hope not, but a lot of posters around here thinks Doc should at least play Cassell a big chunk of minutes. So we'll see how Doc does it.

[MVP16]

99% of coaches play veterans over young players. I think that this argument may pertain more to Powe (and Big Baby) then Rondo though. Rondo will still be a starter and play 25-30 minutes. He might not finish some games, but he doesn't finish some games right now anyway. Powe/Big Baby might lose a lot of minutes though to Brown/Scalabrine/Posey and KG upping his minutes from 34 right now to around 40 in the playoffs. I think we need either Powe or Big Baby to play because they provide us with energy, toughness and especially offensive rebounding that we need but I see Doc choosing Brown/Scal/Posey because of spacing.

[UGA Hayes]

We've talked about RR v. Sam I Am, but I think he brings up a good point on Brown v. Powe. Powe has been pretty darn good since starting to play. Doc already pulls him out of the rotation for no reason once every 3-4 games. What will he do now?

[sully00]

It isn't Brown vs Powe. Leon doesn't play with KG. Since KG's return Leon has cracked 15 mins twice. Once was KG's first night back in DEN when he only went for 20 mins and the other was the Clipper beat down. If you look at the game flows I would guess that KG and Powe don't play more than a minute or two together.

Whether it is Doc or KG himself they want someone who essentially can protect Garnett down low either Perk or Davis until the 4th quarter when they look to go small with Posey at the PF spot. That is why PJ is here, so Doc doesn't have to rely on Davis as his only back up big man in the playoffs.