Big Baby should be benched and TA should start in his place

[GonzoLays]

Now stop cursing and listen to me. Paul Pierce CANNOT stay in front of Hedo which is causing the team all kinds of problems on the defensive end. Hedo gets to the basket at will and either he scores or creates an easy shot for a teammate. That has to end.

Big Baby cannot stay with Rashard Lewis. Why not move Paul to PF to guard Rashard? That seems like a better matchup for him. Rashard is not as crafty off the dribble as Hedo is. Paul can stay with him.

TA can hound Hedo all day making him a back to the basket player which is not his strong suit. Sure, Hedo can get his shot off over the smaller TA, but with TA on him, that will end his dribble penetration.

Also, by bring Big Baby and Scal off the bench, we now have more scoring punch. Big Baby can relieve Perkins at Center, and Scal can be the first forward off the bench.

Sounds crazy, I know. With Rondo, Allen, and Pierce in the starting lineup, we have more than enough offense to carry the first unit. TA is great defender and if we can't stop Hedo from dominating the game with his drives, we are going to get blown out again. And remember, TA usually does quite well when he starts.

[bballcool34]

My concern with this is with our offense and rebounding mainly- Baby spreads the floor adequatley (TA does not) and gives us a big down low to pass to off the cuts- he missed his share of layups yesterday, but at least they were there.

I just don't like it because I don't trust TA- but I guess its something to consider.

[BillessuR6]

Rondo, House, Ray, PP, Perk is our best lineup in this series, IMO.

[klemen4]

Haha...What a joke

[chakdaddy]

we should start Posey

[Rocky5000]

I think thebirdman got it right. The magic can't go small. Turkoglu can't chase Ray Allen though screens and on the other end Ray can do a decent job on him. Whoever they play at the 2, Lee or Redick, isn't enough of an offensive threat to counteract Eddie's dead eye shooting. Pierce on Lewis should be ok, Lewis is technically a SF. He'll could kill Paul on that baseline post-up, but usually he's content to just chuck 3s.

[BlameTheRefs]

Rondo, House, Ray, PP, Perk is our best lineup in this series, IMO.

I think that's a good lineup to start off with. Whomever is cold (hopefully neither) out of House and Allen, sub in Big Baby.

[return2glory]

Defensively, this works. The OP makes some good points. Offensively, TA much like Marbury has lost all confidence. We will also be much smaller. I don't want to make drastic changes because of game 3. Orlando shot 61% from the field and 50% form 3's. I don't expect that to happen. The first 18 minutes of the game, we were playing 5 on 8. The refs should have been the players of the game.

TA's time in Boston has expired, but his contract hasn't. Poset would have helped a lot in this series. We need to get a wing player in a big way this off season. Matt Barnes, Anthony Parker, Trevor Ariza come to mind. We win on defense and right now its unfair to ask BBD to guard Lewis. I somewhat agree with the OP, but TA is done, this time mentally. Just ask Doc.

[threrf23]

People keep saying Posey would help a lot in this series, as if DA should have signed him, but they blissfully ignore the fact that if that happened, Eddie House wouldn't be playing for our team (and better yet, a team looking for a back-up PG with good three point range, i.e. the Magic, may have found a way to sign him).

I just wanted to say that.

Anyways, I'm not opposed to this suggestion. TA tends to play well when he starts. I am reluctant to see PP expending so much energy on the defensive end having to guard Rashard Lewis (who is key to the Magic's game), but Rashard Lewis is fairly soft even if he's a good scorer.

Plus, PP is probably a better rebounder than anyone else on our team capable of playing PF, he is most likely able to get Rashard in foul trouble, and he tends to step up on both ends of the court when the heat is on. Of course, he does look tired out there, and if not tired, maybe injured.

[s1ickd]

No.

Pierce can stay in front of Turkoglu. It's just a matter of him deciding to do it. Don't you remember him staying in front of Kobe and Lebron last season? He did a good job staying in front of Salmons a couple weeks ago too. He just needs to get fired up and move his feet.

TA turns the ball over too much to be trusted in the starting 5. Hes fine against the other team's bench.

[celticfan42487]

The magic have great perimeter defense and a washing board in Dwight.

logically it doesn't make sense to add another player into the starting lineup that can't shoot with Rondo [whose lack of any shot hurts so much] and Perkins.

This is a chance lineup that may go any way. But I think we need more TA. He's the only guy that can defend.

But against Hedo he's just as likely to foul that guys drives and bit on his pump fakes. Hedo is like a poor man's Pierce.

Too risky to start a game with, not enough chemistry and not enough natural counter to the Magic's starting lineup. But I agree we need more TA. I think this would come at Scalabrine's expense and putting Pierce at PF. Hell maybe Ray could spend some time with Rashard.

[MyInsatiableOne]

we should start Posey

Posey playing for another team would be better than TA...

[Tricky Ricky]

I actually want to move PP to PF for this series but TA scares me too much

[cloverleaf]

Ha ha ha!

[LarryBrdismyDad]

After the last 2 games is this the dumbest thread in realGM history?

Baby has been awesome last 2 games and led us to victory!

[perfectblack999]

the problem isnt pierce staying in front of hedo, it's our bigmen not being able to get there in time on the pick and roll

[Fencer reregistered]

I got the impression assignments were switched in the second half today, with Pierce playing Shard a lot. I further got the impression that Shard slowed down quite a bit when this happened. Is this my imagination?

[NormanDale]

Big Baby is good. Tony Allen sucks. Sometimes these things are fairly simple.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Big Baby is good. Tony Allen sucks. Sometimes these things are fairly simple.