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How has Pruitt been playing the last few games?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:16 am
by Ed Pinkney
As I reside down here in the sunny land of Oz, I rely on downloading games and the occasional ESPN game of the week to catch any C's games. But since Pruitt is finally getting a bit of game time recently I was wondering how people who watch each game think he is going?

The boxscore from today's game looks pretty good.

Re: How has Pruitt been playing the last few games?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:52 pm
by sully00
Since his role has started to expand, about 13-14 games ago he has had 3 TOs. He isn't getting a lot of assists but so goes it on the second unit and he bounces between the 1 and the 2. The 3 point shot is starting to fall, 43% over the last 5 games, and he is taking good shots in the flow of the offense without hesitation, some of our starters don't even do that. He is also starting to penetrate and while he isn't always getting calls it is opening things up for House, Baby and Powe.

Hopefully Doc settles on him for about 15 mpg.

Re: How has Pruitt been playing the last few games?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:03 pm
by humblebum
And sully, you didn't even mention that he's been very steady and consistent on the defensive end, pressuring the ball fullcourt often. To me, that is the are of his game that truly stands out. He has Great potential on the defensive end.

Also, I'd say that the ball moves quite a bit better with Gabe out there, just like it did during the preseason. The question is what happens to Gabe when Tony Allen comes back. I think a Gabe-Tony backcourt with Pierce/Ray plus Powe-Davis is an interesting group, as long as Tony doesn't become ball dominant.

For the meantime, Gabe-Eddie has been a respectable pairing off the bench but Gabe is going to have to win some of Eddie's minutes in the long run if the team is to get back to playing championship ball.

Re: How has Pruitt been playing the last few games?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:15 pm
by GreenGrizz
Pruitt hustled and harassed opponents a lot. He didn't give them a chance to set plays. It's something you don't see on the stats sheet. He may look a little inexperienced but very smart. Better than being experienced and dumb. I think he is worth keeping.

Re: How has Pruitt been playing the last few games?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:45 pm
by Ed Pinkney
Experienced and dumb, sounds like Tony Allen. Should he get Tony Allens minutes since he is about the same size and seems to bring everything Tony does minus the bonehead factor?

Re: How has Pruitt been playing the last few games?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:00 pm
by Dave_From_NB
To me, Pruitt is playing controlled, and within his capabilities. And as his playing time increases, we're seeing more out of him, like some drives to the basket. He really strikes me as someone who is well coached - he's been told what is expected from him, and he is focused on executing that with a minimum of errors.

I like his ball handling, he seems to move with ball at ease, poor Eddie seems like it's an all out effort every possession not to have the ball stolen.

Solid defense, he's really doing well here. And as others have said, he's doing good positional defense, not the risky steal attempt stuff that sometimes I dislike seeing Rondo do.

I've noticed that the "garbage time" play for the Celtics is far more controlled than it has been previously, and I believe that is due to Pruitt largely running the show. Last 10 minutes of the game the guys looked pretty good - with kudos to Walker's contribution.

Young man is becoming an NBA player.

Re: How has Pruitt been playing the last few games?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:10 pm
by sully00
From listening to his interviews, I think that Doc is looking to go with Gabe, Eddie, and Tony on the second unit so that he can reduce Paul and Ray's mins, during the second half of the season. Now that isn't likely what will happen in the playoffs, but if Gabe can continue to move the ball around for that unit then he might get away with this especially on the nights when teams roll over like a dog and quit like the NJ Winces did last night.

Re: How has Pruitt been playing the last few games?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:27 pm
by MVP16
I've been impressed with Pruitt lately. I wasn't that high on him coming into the season, but he has shown something, especially on the defensive end. He is certainly a big upgrade over House defensively, and sometimes better then Rondo because I think Rondo sometimes gets overconfident about his quickness and stands up straight defensively which allows opposing pgs to blow past him; Pruitt has better length and gives 100% effort defensively when he's in. Offensively, Pruitt hasn't been as good. He is starting to knock down 3s and his shooting is probably going to keep getting better if he's is going to get constant rotation minutes.

Pruitt's biggest obstacle is not being scared to take the shot/drive to the basket if the defensive isn't honoring him. There have been a few times where Pruitt had a wide open shot or a lane for a drive, but was scared to divert from the play that was called and resulted in a turnover or Big Baby/Powe with the ball at the 3 point line with the shot clock winding down. Pruitt is a mix of House and Rondo. He has good range (not quite as good as House), good defense(makes less gambles then Rondo, but doesn't have the disruptive ability of Rondo) and better pg skills then House (but not as good as Rondo). Last year, Danny forced Doc to develop Rondo by not bringing in a veteran early in the season. Hopefully, Doc isn't afraid to develop Pruitt this year when the roster gets healthy.