Who's the 6th Man this year?

[hairybyrd]

Much has been said about the C's depth this year. Boston is hands down one of the most talented and formidable squads in the league but minutes are going to be a real issue (especially for guys like Perk and Baby who could really benefit from expansive roles). I have a few ideas as to who should be the 6th man.

Conventional wisdom says that Rasheed Wallace or Marquis Daniels will be the 6th man but, Ainge resists convention so let's think outside the box. Though unlikely, how about bringing-in KG off the bench? There has been talk about working-in KG slowly and even resting him for games at a time. If that's the case, the C's would be better served with a consistent starting 5 of Perk, Rasheed, Pierce, Allen and Rondo. KG would easily be the greatest 6th man of all time (and reminiscent of the roles Bill Walton and Dave Cowens played for the Celts years back). He would probably end up playing about 25 incredibly intense minutes in this role and would scare the bejesus out of second stringers. Using KG in this role might be the best way to preserve him until the playoffs roll around.

What does everyone think? Is this a good or bad idea? Why or why not is it good or bad? Please don't insult your own intelligence by just saying yes or no. I would be very interested to hear some thoughtful basketball analysis.

[sunshinekids99]

KG is not at the point where he needs to play 25 minutes a game. He's too valuable to this team to have a reserve role. He needs to be playing around 32 minutes a game IMO. The 6th man of this team is Sheed.

[Hemingway]

I had also had the idea of bringing KG off the bench. I think maybe for the first month or 2 it wouldn't be a bad idea. If we had a better 2guard bringing Ray off the bench could be an option to explore as well. At the end of the day, or in the case season, our 6th man is Sheed.

[BakersDozen]

KG works so well with Rondo and Perk I wouldnt want to limit KG's minutes with those two.

[SonicYouth34]

Quisy is the 6th. We have 4 starting caliber big men in Baby, KG, Sheed, Perk. On the other hand, Marquis is the best wing we have on the bench and is clearly better than everyone else we have behind Truth and Ray. He'll get 25+ mins a night.

[bc legends]

KG will probably be playing around 30mpg. In regards to the 6th man it'll be Sheed.

[Rocky5000]

Sheed, he'll get starters minutes, around 30 mpg. Perk and KG will each play around 30 as well, leaving only 6-10 minutes for Big Baby.

[theman]

Much has been said about the C's depth this year. Boston is hands down one of the most talented and formidable squads in the league but minutes are going to be a real issue (especially for guys like Perk and Baby who could really benefit from expansive roles). I have a few ideas as to who should be the 6th man.

He would probably end up playing about 25 incredibly intense minutes in this role and would scare the bejesus out of second stringers.

Doc with want KG's intensity at the start of games to set the tone. Sometimes, conventional wisdom is just that.

[chas0x01]

Quisy is the 6th. We have 4 starting caliber big men in Baby, KG, Sheed, Perk. On the other hand, Marquis is the best wing we have on the bench and is clearly better than everyone else we have behind Truth and Ray. He'll get 25+ mins a night.

Amazing isn't it. This is indeed a formidable frontcourt. Baby and Perks basically held down the frontcourt by themselves against Chicago and Orlando.

[jackwindham]

It's definitely a tremendous interior rotation. Any combination of those four should allow the Celtics to remain competitive at all points of the game. Also would like to see the Celtics take advantage of their size advantage sometimes by pairing Garnett and Wallace at the forward spots (for short periods of time, that is).

[PP 4 Three]

There's no way in hell KG coming off the bench will benefit us, in any way.

[greenmachine_2849]

Sheed, he'll get starters minutes, around 30 mpg. Perk and KG will each play around 30 as well, leaving only 6-10 minutes for Big Baby.

I would all but guarantee a minimum of 15 mpg for Davis. The days of Garnett and Wallace being physically able to play 30+ mpg for 82 games are over, imo. Neither of them have been able to accomplish that feat in any of the past three seasons. Perkins, although he came close to doing so last year (29.6 mpg in 76 games), has had several injury-plagued seasons and playing him that many minutes is a gamble as well.

I mean, I understand that Perkins, Garnett, and Wallace are probably our top three big men, but the drop off going to the fourth (Davis) isn't THAT drastic. We came within a game of the ECFs with Davis as our starting power forward, after all. Why overplay the former three 30 mpg and run a high risk of one of them going down for a 20 game stretch, when you could give them a few less minutes per game (say 26 mpg), give the remaining minutes (18) to Davis, and dramatically reduce the probability of one or more of Perkins, Garnett, or Wallace suffering a serious injury. On a game-to-game basis, going from 30 minutes to 26 minutes isn't that big a deal (one less minute per quarter). The coaching staff should be able to work around it. But over the course of an 82 game season, that is about the equivalent of 11 less (30 minute) games played. And when your 35 years old like Wallace, or coming off major surgery like Garnett, I think that is huge.

[greenmachine_2849]

There's no way in hell KG coming off the bench will benefit us, in any way.

Not saying I necessarily support the idea, but if it keeps Garnett healthy and in uniform for 82 games instead of 65 games, I think that would be beneficial to the Celtics. Though I think we can accomplish the same goal by keeping him as a starter but only giving him sixth-man minutes.