What's your ideal starting lineup?

[Parliament10]

I will put what I like best, and then what I think it'll actually be.

I like (assuming everyone's healthy):

Schroder
Brown
Tatum
Al
Rob

I think it'll actually be:

Smart
Brown
Tatum
Al
Rob

I think they'll at least try the double big lineup to start the season. If it works, great. If not, then decide among Romeo, Nesmith, and Richardson. I presently like Romeo better than both Nesmith and Richardson, but I suspect Ime would give Richardson the first crack at it.

I think that this is still the Best Starting lineup.:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Schröder
Brown
Tatum
Horford
Rob Williams

[Zeroforwinger]

Smart
Schroder
Brown
Tatum
Horford

[ndn-celtic]

Schroder
Smart
Brown
Tatum
Rob Williams

Rotation:
Pritchard
Horford
Richardson
Nesmith
Parker

[SilverQuick]

Schroder
Brown
Tatum
Horford
R.Williams

Smart
Langford
Nesmith
Parker
G.Williams

Pritchard
Richardson
Hernangomez
Kanter
Fernando

[zoyathedestroya]

Just fun to look back at these threads. No one had the current starting lineup as the starting unit they like. Few weeks into the season, most of us were over the double big lineups. Glad Ime stuck with what he thought was best. He believed in the HorfLord pairing from the start and just needed the team to be healthy, get some reps together, and gel a bit.

Here are the net rating leaders among East starters:



The regular starting five are outscoring opponents by almost 24 points per 100 possessions. They're 26-7 (78.79%) when available and have won 17 of their last 18 games together.

[Garbanzo]

Just fun to look back at these threads. No one had the current starting lineup as the starting unit they like. Few weeks into the season, most of us were over the double big lineups. Glad Ime stuck with what he thought was best. He believed in the HorfLord pairing from the start and just needed the team to be healthy, get some reps together, and gel a bit.

Here are the net rating leaders among East starters:



The regular starting five are outscoring opponents by almost 24 points per 100 possessions. They're 26-7 (78.79%) when available and have won 17 of their last 18 games together.

I still believe playing Horfie from the bench is the way to go.
Our defense is the best in the NBA. Celtics need both to be top 10 both on defense and offense to win a championship.
Let's not forget offense is rewarded more than defense in this league (and believe me, I rather see hard nosed defense).
Playing Smart, White, Brown, Tatum, Rob/AL will fix that, plus it will help us in two different ways:
a. Insurance if Horford or Rob are injured (one is 35, the other injury prone..)
b. Sets the Celtics better for the future (again, Al is 35)
Thinking about the future, I don't see the benefit of playing Grant at the 4 in the starting lineup. Tatum is bigger and better at everything. I can see the benefit of bringing Grant from the bench, and moving Tatum to the 3, So he can rest a bit in some match ups.

[zoyathedestroya]

Just fun to look back at these threads. No one had the current starting lineup as the starting unit they like. Few weeks into the season, most of us were over the double big lineups. Glad Ime stuck with what he thought was best. He believed in the HorfLord pairing from the start and just needed the team to be healthy, get some reps together, and gel a bit.

Here are the net rating leaders among East starters:



The regular starting five are outscoring opponents by almost 24 points per 100 possessions. They're 26-7 (78.79%) when available and have won 17 of their last 18 games together.

I still believe playing Horfie from the bench is the way to go.
Our defense is the best in the NBA. Celtics need both to be top 10 both on defense and offense to win a championship.
Let's not forget offense is rewarded more than defense in this league (and believe me, I rather see hard nosed defense).
Playing Smart, White, Brown, Tatum, Rob/AL will fix that, plus it will help us in two different ways:
a. Insurance if Horford or Rob are injured (one is 35, the other injury prone..)
b. Sets the Celtics better for the future (again, Al is 35)
Thinking about the future, I don't see the benefit of playing Grant at the 4 in the starting lineup. Tatum is bigger and better at everything. I can see the benefit of bringing Grant from the bench, and moving Tatum to the 3, So he can rest a bit in some match ups.

Offensive rating of that group is 117.7, higher than the #1 offense in the league. It's 2nd in the East among 5-man groups who have played at least 200 minutes. They've gotten even better (119.6) since New Year's Eve. That's with erratic 3-pt shooting from both Jays and Horford.

In any case, I don't think they change it this late in the season esp when they have by far the best 5-man group in the league. If they want to go small against certain teams, they can always pull Horford early in games.

[Fencer reregistered]

Reminder: In many ways playoff basketball is tougher than the regular season. But you do get more rest between games. (No back-to-backs, etc.)

[Garbanzo]

Just fun to look back at these threads. No one had the current starting lineup as the starting unit they like. Few weeks into the season, most of us were over the double big lineups. Glad Ime stuck with what he thought was best. He believed in the HorfLord pairing from the start and just needed the team to be healthy, get some reps together, and gel a bit.

Here are the net rating leaders among East starters:



The regular starting five are outscoring opponents by almost 24 points per 100 possessions. They're 26-7 (78.79%) when available and have won 17 of their last 18 games together.

I still believe playing Horfie from the bench is the way to go.
Our defense is the best in the NBA. Celtics need both to be top 10 both on defense and offense to win a championship.
Let's not forget offense is rewarded more than defense in this league (and believe me, I rather see hard nosed defense).
Playing Smart, White, Brown, Tatum, Rob/AL will fix that, plus it will help us in two different ways:
a. Insurance if Horford or Rob are injured (one is 35, the other injury prone..)
b. Sets the Celtics better for the future (again, Al is 35)
Thinking about the future, I don't see the benefit of playing Grant at the 4 in the starting lineup. Tatum is bigger and better at everything. I can see the benefit of bringing Grant from the bench, and moving Tatum to the 3, So he can rest a bit in some match ups.

Offensive rating of that group is 117.7, higher than the #1 offense in the league. It's 2nd in the East among 5-man groups who have played at least 200 minutes. They've gotten even better (119.6) since New Year's Eve. That's with erratic 3-pt shooting from both Jays and Horford.

In any case, I don't think they change it this late in the season esp when they have by far the best 5-man group in the league. If they want to go small against certain teams, they can always pull Horford early in games.

Thanks for the info!
What is the Celtics general offensive rating?
It is effected by the bench..
Would like to see the ratings of other lineups, where can I find advanced stats?

Now it's too late off course to change lineups, I was talking as a general idea

[zoyathedestroya]

I still believe playing Horfie from the bench is the way to go.
Our defense is the best in the NBA. Celtics need both to be top 10 both on defense and offense to win a championship.
Let's not forget offense is rewarded more than defense in this league (and believe me, I rather see hard nosed defense).
Playing Smart, White, Brown, Tatum, Rob/AL will fix that, plus it will help us in two different ways:
a. Insurance if Horford or Rob are injured (one is 35, the other injury prone..)
b. Sets the Celtics better for the future (again, Al is 35)
Thinking about the future, I don't see the benefit of playing Grant at the 4 in the starting lineup. Tatum is bigger and better at everything. I can see the benefit of bringing Grant from the bench, and moving Tatum to the 3, So he can rest a bit in some match ups.

Offensive rating of that group is 117.7, higher than the #1 offense in the league. It's 2nd in the East among 5-man groups who have played at least 200 minutes. They've gotten even better (119.6) since New Year's Eve. That's with erratic 3-pt shooting from both Jays and Horford.

In any case, I don't think they change it this late in the season esp when they have by far the best 5-man group in the league. If they want to go small against certain teams, they can always pull Horford early in games.

Thanks for the info!
What is the Celtics general offensive rating?
It is effected by the bench..
Would like to see the ratings of other lineups, where can I find advanced stats?

Now it's too late off course to change lineups, I was talking as a general idea

For 5-man lineups w/ greater than 200 mins: https://on.nba.com/3irujOQ
For team offensive rating in general: https://bit.ly/3trSYZM

We're currently 15th on offense for the season. 8th since Ime's designated "turnaround point" (12/31/2021). In general, lineups without Tatum struggle on offense. We go from 115.7 w/ Tatum ON the floor to 104.7 w/ Tatum OFF the floor.

[zoyathedestroya]

The regular starting lineup is now the most used 5-man lineup in the East. They're outscoring opponents by 24.3 pts per 100 possessions and are shooting 50/40/75. They're 27-7 for the season and have won 18 of their last 19 games.

Since JB came back from his hamstring injury in December (when we started getting our starting five relatively healthy), the Celtics have the best record in the East, a TOP FIVE OFFENSE, #1 DEFENSE, and #1 net rating. Sixth best shooting team in that 3-month-plus span.

[zoyathedestroya]

Reminder: In many ways playoff basketball is tougher than the regular season. But you do get more rest between games. (No back-to-backs, etc.)

This applies to all the teams. In a way, this Celtics team has a headstart since Ime has been using the tight 8- or 9-man rotation from the beginning. We've also had health luck on our side so far (*crosses fingers and toes*) so apart from new guys Theis and White, our playoff rotation has been getting reps together more than any East contender.

Heat -- injuries to main guys throughout season; I don't expect them to use the Vincents and Yurtsevens in the playoffs.
Bucks -- Lopez has just begun his season; Connaughton has been injured for quite a while too.
Sixers -- Harden midseason trade; they lost Curry and Drummond who were part of their main rotation earlier on
Nets -- no need to expound on this one

As of this moment, the Cs starting five have played the most minutes together out of any 5-man group in the East. Since Jaylen came back from his hamstring injury, that starting lineup has won 23 of their 27 games (18 of last 19). With less reliance on depth in the postseason, that lineup being phenomenal is a serious advantage.

[Fencer reregistered]

Reminder: In many ways playoff basketball is tougher than the regular season. But you do get more rest between games. (No back-to-backs, etc.)

This applies to all the teams. In a way, this Celtics team has a headstart since Ime has been using the tight 8- or 9-man rotation from the beginning. We've also had health luck on our side so far (*crosses fingers and toes*) so apart from new guys Theis and White, our playoff rotation has been getting reps together more than any East contender.

Heat -- injuries to main guys throughout season; I don't expect them to use the Vincents and Yurtsevens in the playoffs.
Bucks -- Lopez has just begun his season; Connaughton has been injured for quite a while too.
Sixers -- Harden midseason trade; they lost Curry and Drummond who were part of their main rotation earlier on
Nets -- no need to expound on this one

As of this moment, the Cs starting five have played the most minutes together out of any 5-man group in the East. Since Jaylen came back from his hamstring injury, that starting lineup has won 23 of their 27 games (18 of last 19). With less reliance on depth in the postseason, that lineup being phenomenal is a serious advantage.

But of course the flipside is that out best rotation has been winning against other team's not-best rotations.

And the first counterargument to that is that they've not only been winning but dominating. So doing less well in the playoffs than in the regular season could still involve winning a nice majority of the games.

[Larry_Russell]

Smart/Pritchard/Yam
Beal/White/Stauskis
Tatum/J. Richardson/Begarin
JJJr/Grant/Hauser
Timelord/Theis/

(Horford and Nesmith and Lakers pick from Memphis and Utah pick from Memphis and a Boston pick to Washington)
(Brown to Memphis)
JJJr, Beal, Lakers pick to Boston)
J. Richardson back into TPE
Sign a 3rd string center

[zoyathedestroya]

Watch on YouTube

W-L records:
Suns: 27-6
Celtics 27-7
Bucks w/ Lopez at center: 0-0
Dubs w/ Klay-Curry-Dray: 0-0

Cs starting lineup have won 18 of their last 19.

[zoyathedestroya]

Read on Twitter

25-7 in 2022. Please Rib Williams, heal, hold up, and dominate on defense again.

[playa-hater]

Just fun to look back at these threads. No one had the current starting lineup as the starting unit they like. Few weeks into the season, most of us were over the double big lineups. Glad Ime stuck with what he thought was best. He believed in the HorfLord pairing from the start and just needed the team to be healthy, get some reps together, and gel a bit.

Here are the net rating leaders among East starters:



The regular starting five are outscoring opponents by almost 24 points per 100 possessions. They're 26-7 (78.79%) when available and have won 17 of their last 18 games together.

Actually Parl and I had it right ..