Playoff fate rests in bench's hands

[Jammer]

Despite adding Steph Marbury and Mikki Moore,
the Celtics seem to have the same questions now
that they had at the start of the season.

Once the health issues resolve,
the starting lineup is set,
and the bench becomes the big question,
in terms of ability to perform during the playoffs.

Only Eddie House has demonstrated an ability to perform reliably
against top competition since arriving in Boston;
yet prior to House's arrival in Boston his "numbers" had always plummeted against
playoff quality defenses.

Leon Powe has been, like House, a steady regular season contributor,
but his lack of size will limit his contributions come the playoffs,
both on offense and defense.

Beyond House and Powe,
not much can be counted on,
although Bill Walker and JR Giddens may become contributors in future seasons.

Tony Allen actually played well, most of the time,
when available, but Tony's lack of a shot
has haunted him against playoff teams sagging defenses.

Steph and Gabe have not been able to make shots,
or score,
although Steph seems to run the team more like a PG.

The Celtics face a choice between Eddie and Steph
as to who will be first off the bench.
I'm in Eddie's camp.

Glen Davis has started to play better of late,
but whether he will be able to contribute against
the playoff quality timber will be a function of whether Davis can make that 18 foot jumper.
Even so, Davis' defensive limitations become more exposed since playoff quality
opponents will simply shoot over him, and block his shot with ease around the basket.

Mikki Moore is not able to establish or maintain a low post position on offense;
can't keep an opponent off his favorite spots on defense
(Mikki doesn't have the mass/lower or upper body strength to push anyone around),
and gets called for tons of fouls.
Defensively, Mikki Moore doesn't seem to establish position to best take advantage
of his 6' 11" height.

It seems that the playoff results will come down to the starters being in tip top form;
and Doc Rivers being able to squeeze the best he can out of his
overachieving bench
by selecting players for the situation,
and hoping that on any given night two (preferably 3) of the bench players
have a good game.

Nothing is certain this season.
A lot will rest on players like Eddie House hitting their shots,
and Steph not turning the ball over,
although if Steph could make some shots that would dramatically alter
the Celtics fortunes.

Ditto for Mikki Moore and Glen Davis' ability to make shots in the playoffs.

Although I'm stating the obvious (to me),

beyond the starting lineup,

nothing seems dependable come the playoffs,
except perhaps Eddie House's jump shot.

[ryaningf]

Eddie's on a truly remarkable run right now (54% from 3 for the last 27 games or something), but who really thinks that's going to continue into the playoffs? You said it yourself...historically speaking House struggles in the playoffs. If we have to count on his shot going down, I'm not too confident in our chances.

I expect Marbury to be our most consistent bench performer in the playoffs, followed by Baby and Powe (depending on Powe's health of course), with House and TA coming after that...if Doc's smart, he platoons House/TA depending on matchups. There is no point in playing House if he's not hitting or even getting shots in the playoffs...and I feel like the good teams can prevent him from even getting shots.

Moore is a lost cause at this point--strictly an insurance policy. Against certain players he could see time, but he just doesn't defend at a high enough level...

[humblebum]

Solid post Jammer. I think that ultimately bench play still comes down to how the starters perform. Oftentimes the starters CREATE OPPORTUNITIES for our bench to succeed. The Pierce to Davis connection in San Antonio is a perfect example of this. The staters ALL are tasked with carrying the load and creating situations and advantages that our role players can exploit.

Doc WILL mix and match the bench come playoff time. I believe that Powe and Davis will be mixed in, each pairing with KG or Perkins in term. Around the quarters 2-3 and 3-4 Powe and Davis might play together as a pairing for 3-4 minutes max. Outside of that you'll see a lot of Marbury, House, Ray, Davis, Perkins or Marbury, House, Pierce, Powe, KG... or more simply Rondo, Ray, Pierce, Davis, Perk... etc. You get the idea. In almost every case House, Davis, Powe, TA, Scal, Moore etc. will be dependant on the star players to create offense for them.

My hope is that Marbury really puts his game together and becomes a scoring and playmaking force with the second teamers. I believe he can do that and if so then I think Doc will be resourceful and flexible enough to get what the team needs out of the variety of options on the bench, provided their all healthy.

[Kefa461]

The team has get to get and stay healthy and they will go far.......

[TheOGJabroni]

As long as everyone is healthy going into the playoffs, I hope this is our rotation:

Rondo 36 / Steph 12
Ray 24 / Eddie+Steph 24
PP 36 / Ray 12
KG 36 / Baby (Scal depending on matchups) 12
Perk 32 / Powe 16 / Mikki

TA, Bill, JR filling out the inactive.

I don't remember too much about it but I know during the trade deadling, there were sources saying we were close to acquiring Nocioni. I think that was DA's biggest mistake so far. I can live with him not signing Posey because of his age and the contract he desired, but Nocioni is probably the closest thing to James who worked out so well with us. He's younger and he has a contract that gets cheaper as time goes on as well. He would've been perfect for us IMO.