Bos,Cle,Orl,Lal,Sas-all contenders have great benches!

[klemen4]

There is a lot of talk how strong bench we have this year, but we must take into account that also other top teams improved their bench. It looks that all teams are 10 man deep.

BOSTON

PG: Daniels
SG: House
SF: Scalabrine
PF: Davis-from starter to bench (Healthy KG)
C: Wallace

Starting 5 newcomers: /.
08/09: Marbury, House, Walker, Scalabrine, Moore.

CLEVELAND

PG: Gibson
SG: West-from starter to bench (Parker)
SF: Moon
PF: Hickson/Powe
C: Ilgauskas-from starter to bench (Oneil)

Starting 5 newcomers: Parker>West, Oneil>Ilgauskas.
08/09: Gibson, Pavlovic, Sczerbiak, Smith, Wallace.

ORLANDO

PG: Williams/A.Johnson
SG: Reddick
SF: Barnes
PF: Bass/R.Anderson
C: Gortat

Starting 5 newcomers: Pietrus>Lee, Carter>Turkoglu.
08/09: Alston, A.Johnson, Reddick, Pietrus, Battie, Gortat.

LA LAKERS

PG: Farmar/S.Brown
SG: Vujacic
SF: Walton
PF: Odom
C: Powell

Starting 5 newcomers: Artest>Ariza.
08/09: The same bench!

SAN ANTONIO

PG: Hill
SG: Ginobili-back healthy
SF: Bogans/Finley-from starter to bench (Jefferson)
PF: Bonner-from starter to bench (McDyes)/Blair
C: Ratliff

Starting 5 newcomers: Jefferson>Finley, McDyes>Bonner.
08/09: Hill, Udoka, Bowen, Gooden, Thomas, Oberto.

Cleveland and Orlando bench improved a lot, SAS bench also is better, but Im not impressed with LAL.
Which team has the best bench?

[King Of The 4th]

Cleveland and Orlando bench improved a lot, SAS bench also is better, but Im not impressed with LAL.
Which team has the best bench?

The only thing actually different with LA's bench is that they now have the liberty of bringing Odom off the bench.

I think overall, Cleveland and Boston have made the biggest upgrade to their benches with Orlando at a very close second. Having West, Moon, and Ilgauskas coming off the bench gives their team a lot of depth as two of the three were good enough to be starters last year, so you know what they can bring to the table even in a reduced role.

[Hydroponic3385]

Even Moon started a fair amount of Raptors/Heat games. The biggest questions for the Cavs are will Hickson be a solid 4th big (15, 5, and a block in 16 minutes is a good sign for his first preseason game), and will West be ready with his mental health issues?

[shortodom]

now thats not really our (Lakers) bench... We usually always have at least 2 starter quality players in at the sametime.. and Powell is our backup PF behind LO not center, either Pau or Bynum are playing center and if it's a blow out Mbenga will play center

[Hilltop]

I'd rank bench depth this way

1) Cleveland
2) Orlando
3) Boston
4) Los Angeles

[MyInsatiableOne]

[humblebum]

Well I think it's pretty clear that the Celtics have the best overall depth in terms of players 6-9 with Rasheed, Daniels, Davis and House. Odom represents the best player coming off the bench and I think most would say that Rasheed is probably the next best thing coming off the bench for any team.

The Celtics have the best backcourt tandem off the bench in Daniels/House with Cleveland being next in line with Gibson/West. And the Celtics have the best frontcourt tandem off the bench as well with Rasheed/Davis ahead of Gortat/Bass and Odom/Other dude with a decent jumpshot by a small but substantial margin.

In terms of deep bench the Celtics still have Scals, Shelden Williams, and Tony Allen.

I think it's pretty clear who's bench is the strongest.

[Benedict_Boozer]

Good thread. CLE has some concerns as noted above with Hickson's development, West's issues and of course Powe's health.

BOS I think has an underrated bench - Sheed, Baby, and Daniels are solid starters on most teams in the league. That's pretty nasty.

ORL looks solid on paper, the only major hole they have is backup PG.

I think you can make an argument for any of those 3 as the best bench.

LA has arguably the best individual player coming off their bench in Odom, but there is a dropoff after that. SA depends on who they start and the health of Ginobli. If he's healthy they are right up at the top.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Well I think it's pretty clear that the Celtics have the best overall depth in terms of players 6-9 with Rasheed, Daniels, Davis and House. Odom represents the best player coming off the bench and I think most would say that Rasheed is probably the next best thing coming off the bench for any team.

The Celtics have the best backcourt tandem off the bench in Daniels/House with Cleveland being next in line with Gibson/West. And the Celtics have the best frontcourt tandem off the bench as well with Rasheed/Davis ahead of Gortat/Bass and Odom/Other dude with a decent jumpshot by a small but substantial margin.

In terms of deep bench the Celtics still have Scals, Shelden Williams, and Tony Allen.

I think it's pretty clear who's bench is the strongest.

^That's unfortunate, and what keeps us from being deep 1-12...but 1-9 ain't bad!

[humblebum]

Oops... forgot Mr. Ginobli. He's the best or second best player off these teams benches when healthy. I'd also say that if Pietrus is coming off the bench with Barnes starting that would also change up this landscape a bit... but conversely Barnes would just be a below average starter so...

I think that in order to have the best bench you have to have a legit big-time player (quality vs. quantity) and only LA, SA, and Boston have those with Odom, Ginobli, and Rasheed respectively. And further you have to have a balanced bench with minimal holes. Which I believe rules out LA and SA. That leaves Boston as the best bench.

I really like Bass/Gortat but Barnes, Williams, and Redick is eh at best. And Cleveland is solid all around off the bench but they lack that top tier player. I'm somewhat inclined to go with Cleveland as the number two bench though because West is good when he's got it together and Big Z is real close to being a legit 6th man type.

And I should state that all of these benches are really pretty good.

[humblebum]

Well I think it's pretty clear that the Celtics have the best overall depth in terms of players 6-9 with Rasheed, Daniels, Davis and House. Odom represents the best player coming off the bench and I think most would say that Rasheed is probably the next best thing coming off the bench for any team.

The Celtics have the best backcourt tandem off the bench in Daniels/House with Cleveland being next in line with Gibson/West. And the Celtics have the best frontcourt tandem off the bench as well with Rasheed/Davis ahead of Gortat/Bass and Odom/Other dude with a decent jumpshot by a small but substantial margin.

In terms of deep bench the Celtics still have Scals, Shelden Williams, and Tony Allen.

I think it's pretty clear who's bench is the strongest.

^That's unfortunate, and what keeps us from being deep 1-12...but 1-9 ain't bad!

Haha. Well ya, but I think that all those guys are proven NBA athletes and players. So you can plug them in around your core players and they won't sink your team if you face injuries, foul trouble, etc.

[ParticleMan]

it's pretty amazing that all 5 contenders clearly improved themselves in the offseason.

i can't remember the last time the top 5 teams all got better in one offseason.

[shortodom]

i think you guys are underestimating our bench. it's not like Phil plays the whole bench together, like i said we usually have 2 starter quality players in with 3 bench players. Plus Shannon Brown and Farmar are pretty good. In the second quarter our "bench" comes in and it's usually Bynum,LO,Luke,Sasha,Brown or Farmar and if Sasha is still off, Phil might just play Brown at Sg and Farmar at pg... Luke is a good passer and can hit the 3 at times, Sasha is a wild card, he'll either have a off year or on at the 3 point line, Brown is a athlete and has been shooting good plus his d is good, Farmars a good passer/playmaker and an ok shooter. we all know what LO can do and Bynum looks active and moving great compared to last year, he looks healthy and ready..just to show you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opr_pSNs71k not the highlights cause it was just the warriors but how he's moving and running the floor. sorry for posting a big laker post on the Celtics board, just wanted to throw in my two cents

[DEEP3CL]

Well I'm not going to come in debate who's benches are better, because for me it's not like these guys are going to be on the floor 30-35 minutes anyway......unless fouls dictate it. The OP isn't impressed with our bench, I mean I could say the same for every bench if that's the case. Because as humblebum pointed out you have to have minimal holes, guess what every one of those benches has at least one or two weak points weather it's by position depth or an individual player itself.

For example I can't see how you guys rave about Eddie House ? Dude is nothing more than a streak shooter and a horrible defender......that's always been him. He was like that in college, and the fact he played in the Pac 10 I saw plenty of him to know. Yet when there is talk of benches guys here anoint Boston's as the best. I got no problem with that, but it's not objective thinking if you really want to analyze each bench. Bottom line is that each bench has a guy that will not play well on some nights and that will dictate the impact the bench will have as a whole.

Even my Lakers have problem positions or player issues regarding our bench. One thing is certain no team is going to play 5 bench guys at one time anyway. And to me that is what render these discussions moot to a certain point, to me it's how those bench players play with the few starters they'll run with.

BTW klemen 4............who the hell is O'neil ? lololo !

I know I know it was early.........get the coffee first !

[nasbahceltic]

DEEP3CL, if you had to list you guys' biggest weakness what would you say it is? (bench or anything else for that matter)

[SonicYouth34]

I noticed how shallow LA is and people are still picking them to win. When we had that crappy bench last year, people didn't give us a shot.

[sam_I_am]

I agree completely with last post. Lakers bench looks surprisingly weak compared to other teams which shows how much better the cream of the NBA got this offseason. Cleveland's bench is actually much stronger than I realized. However, I think best starting 5 is Boston and Boston probably has second best bench behind SAS.

[DEEP3CL]

DEEP3CL, if you had to list you guys' biggest weakness what would you say it is? (bench or anything else for that matter)

Honestly it'll be the 1 spot, Fish is no spring chicken but he isn't the garbage guys on RGM try to make him out to be. For one he's going to hit a big shot or two in a series that's a given.He's a trusted vet, he just doesn't have the youth of these young guns today.

On the other hand we have two youthful and athletic guards in Farmar and Brown but neither has shown if they can run the team for huge stretches. But we're going to find out this year because Phil is cutting Fish minutes to have him more effective for the playoff run and critical moments that come with them.

I'm not going to label guys homers, but if guys can't objectively see a flaw in their team they're just not seeing the reality of it I guess.

[shortodom]

it's not always how talented the players that come of the bench but how the team gels and plays together... Sure we don't have the most talent off the bench but our bench has played for years together and play pretty good

[GuyClinch]

I don't think Scalabrine is our 10th best bench player. He ranks lower IMHO..