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House needs to be out of the 9 man rotation. He has sucked the last 5-6 games. He is struggling with his shot, can't play defense, and can't set up the offense.

Let's see what Lester Hudson can do. So what is he is a rookie. Doc needs to play Hudson about 10-12 minutes a game. He is a better ball handler, defender, and best rebounder than House. We have lost 3 of the last 4 games and need little changes.

If House cannot hit his shots he is useless. He cannot dribble or play defense. I cannot believe I am saying that but Bring Lue in. At least he can dribble.

Eddies House is a specialist. He is a shooter and a shooter only. So, when his shot isn`t going in he is useless. I would love to see Hudson get some time but it will never happen...

The way Rondo and House have been playing Lester should be starting and getting 35+ minutes per game...

I disagree with you about Wallace in your other post - I think he just needs time...but I tend to agree with you about House. If he can't hit his shot, he's not really contributing. I wouldn't mind seeing what Lester could do for a few games but I doubt it would be a permanent move, just enough to remind House that he does have some competition for the 8/9th spot. At the same time, we're playing ORL next week so I'm not sure if moving Lester into the rotation is the best move right now.

Problem for Eddie is he's not getting any open shots so he's not getting a chance to get in rythym. The good side of that is defenses are paying attention to keeping him covered so he's spacing the floor, the bad side is when he gets shots they're not going in. As for benching him... c'mon. Shooters need to shoot their way out of slumps. It's early in the season, Eddie will get some looks and get hot. He's contributing by spacing the floor and while he's not a good defender he's not as bad as his rap would have you think, he's doing his job. At least he's not forcing things, the points will come.

This all boils down to the inconvenience of Eddie House.

We all know what he does well--he spreads the floor and shoot lights out when uncovered. But are those 2 things (which are really one thing with two components) worth the compromises we make with the rest of the lineup in order to put him on the floor? Just think, this is what playing Eddie House makes us give up:

1. Using Rondo as the bridge to the 2nd unit. The no-brainer move designed to keep Ray/Paul from being overplayed, while also keeping our best playmaker on the floor with the 2nd unit that has no point guard--unfortunately, we can't do it because House's presence on the court leaves us too short in the backcourt.
2. Any semblance of play-making on the 2nd unit, leading to contested jump shots and making us perimeter-orientated to the detriment of overall team offensive balance. Of course, House's jack-at-all-cost offensive game itself makes us over-reliant on three pointers, above and beyond what his presence at point does to the offense. Not only do we have an over-abundance of 3 point shooters, we have a bad point guard doing bad point guard things which leads to contested 3s as the clock winds down. It's a feedback loop of perimeter dependence.
3. Solution to House-at-point takes our best backup 2/3 and moves him to the 1. Now, Daniels is MUCH better at point than House, and Daniels does a good job at point relative to House, but in essence we're weakening our 2/3 position in order to find a way to get House on the court, while at the same time increasing the minutes of Ray/Paul. So, yes, we can substitute around House's deficiencies at point, but it makes Daniels/Ray/Paul become facilitators to the detriment of what they do best. Sure, they can play point from time to time, but we've made it the rule all so we can get House on the court.

So, that's what we give up to get House on the floor. Are his floor space-ability and occasional eruptions from deep (when left unguarded) worth the compromises we must make in other areas?

I say NO. I say, we have enough 3 point shooters that we don't need him to space the floor. I say that defense and point guard competence are much more important to the second team than what House brings. We're crippling ourselves in 3 areas all just so we can 'space the floor.' It's (Please Use More Appropriate Word).

Solution: I wouldn't bench House outright, but I'd surely curtail his minutes to specific situations. The way we have it now, he's easy to defend. Limit his minutes a bit, and maybe the other team doesn't game plan for him as much and then perhaps we can spring him on other teams unawares. The reason he's had 5 bad games in a row is simple--he's been given defensive attention. And when the other team scouts him and defends him, he'll be stopped almost every time. That's why he never performs well in the post-season.

In order to use Rondo as bridge to 2nd unit, we're going to need either Hudson, TA, Scal, or Walker step up and fill in at 2/3. So, while limiting House's minutes, I'd give them to that foursome. And, when Rondo needs a break in the mid-2nd quarter, I'd use Hudson for a 3-4 minute stretch, right about the same time the starters come back in.

The thing with Hudson v. House is simple--he can hit the three, and also defend his position, dribble against pressure, create his own shot, and get to the rim. He could probably even defend some twos, depending on the situation. Best of all, his youth would give us a nice jolt of energy, something this team could use right now. Of all the possible moves to get this team on track, Hudson to backup point makes the most sense. I don't expect it to happen with a coach like Doc, but I think it makes sense.

Eddie isn't bad when he is at the 2 and only has to think about running around picks and launching 3's. But when he's at the point it's a problem, he has a hard time just getting the ball over half court with pressure, By that time the team only has 16-18 seconds left on the shot clock and House isn't a good passer so that takes us away from team ball and makes us go 1on1. We need a real back up point guard or Rondo has to play 40-44 mpg. And what if Rondo gets hurt then we would be in big trouble.

Great post Ryan and beautifully written by the way - BTW, oriented is the correct word, not orientated,

I agree with all of your points. Best solutions are giving Lester a run at back-up point, or a trade for a real veteran back-up point, and using Eddie selectively as a 3 point bomber.

Ex

Eddie is only good when the opposing defense doubles someone off of him or someone loses track of him, which happens more often than one would think. But when a team puts someone on him and instructs him to never leave Eddie alone he's toast. We've seen it happen for entire playoff series against certain teams. He's just too short to shoot over anyone. Still, no worries, at some point over the next 2 games he'll get more free, re-gain confidence in is shot and expand a lead with the bench. It's how it's happened for over 2 years - in stretches - and there no reason it won't continue to happen.

Giddens/Scal/Tony for Dooling/Najera .. get it done DA.

Rondo/Dooling/House
Ray/Daniels/House
Pierce/Daniels/Najera
KG/BBD/Williams
Perk/Sheed/Williams

That is hella deeeeep.

Dooling/House/Daniels/Davis/Sheed is one of the best 2nd lineups, could handle most starting lineups.. (considering House's role on offense would be one he is comfortable with because Dooling could run the offense and on defense House could guard the PG while Dooling guards the SG, it's perfect).

House is the 4th best scorer on the team. I'm sick of people saying we need to bench or replaced one of the true elite 3 point shooters in the league.

The problem is that we relied on the 3 for the first few games, and teams have adjusted and are closing out better. We just need to adjust and take advantage of these closeouts and slash/cut inside. When we start doing that, the 3s will open back up again and House will be more useful.

But in the meantime, we can't bench one of our most important players. House has been ineffective because teams have been paying crazy attention to him and not letting him get open; I don't think replacing him with Hudson is going to change that.

Bring in Lester for a few games during House's normal minutes and lets see what he can do.

If we are going to put Eddie at the end of the bench I would rather simply cut Hudson and sign a known commodity, Lue will do. He can handle the ball initiate the offense and that's all that's expected of him. Hudson can sign with the redclaws if he desires.

I guess giving Hudson a shot for a few games cant hurt too much, but i have zero faith in him. He hasnt shown hes even a reliable 3rd string point guard and hes what 26?

chakdaddy wrote:House is the 4th best scorer on the team. I'm sick of people saying we need to bench or replaced one of the true elite 3 point shooters in the league.
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House is the 4th best scorer? House isn't a scorer, he is a shooter, there is a huge difference. House can't create his own shot or drive to the basket.

When the entire bench comes in, when healthy, the lineup needs to be Pierce/Daniels/House/Shelden/Sheed. When doc puts ray in there by himself, we get almost nothing done because no one knows what to do with the ball (except for sheed, who just chucks them up). They need Pierce to handle the ball first. No one is scared of Ray with the ball, but Paul, he can pull-up and hit those jumpers, or pass.

chakdaddy wrote:House is the 4th best scorer on the team. I'm sick of people saying we need to bench or replaced one of the true elite 3 point shooters in the league.

The problem is that we relied on the 3 for the first few games, and teams have adjusted and are closing out better. We just need to adjust and take advantage of these closeouts and slash/cut inside. When we start doing that, the 3s will open back up again and House will be more useful.

But in the meantime, we can't bench one of our most important players. House has been ineffective because teams have been paying crazy attention to him and not letting him get open; I don't think replacing him with Hudson is going to change that.

Um...how about no. 4th best scorer??? one of the most important players?

House has suck pure @ss the last 4/5 games. Sometimes you have to shoot your way out of a slump....and sometimes you need to sit on the pine for a while to realize what your doing wrong. House is struggling because he's not as open as he usually is.....and that's fine because the defense is showing more respect for him. BUT not only is he struggling because he's not getting clean looks but he's forcing shots up that he usually doesn't take. Maybe it's in his head that he needs to take more shots to shoot his way out and that's wrong because not in the top 7 of important people on this team. The staring 5 plus Sheed and Daniels are more important than House. If house were not taking forced shots i wouldn't say pine him for a game or two. But he is forcing up bad shots....maybe he needs to calm down a little and just watch a game....believe me it helps to watch sometimes. It burns a fire under your @ss to back in there in proove something. Remember when Doc took Pierce out in crucial minutes 3 or 4 years ago in the 4th quarter. Well how did Pierce respond......he got pissed and took over when he got back in. Same concept. Give him a little pine and he'll respond. Good shooters always do.

But man ur crazy if he's the 4th best scorer and one of the most important players on the team.

We don't need to tighten the rotation yet. Let him half a season to get out of the slump. At mid season we have to make a decision on if we need another guard. Lets wait till then to make it.

Eddie House is fine as a shooting specialist. The problem is that the Celtics need a backup PG. House and Marquis Daniels are both 3rd string PGs. Celtics should try to use their expiring contracts (ie. TA, Giddens, Walker and Scal) to get a legitimate backup PG. This would solve a lot of the issues.

Indiana used a two PG lineup of Watson & Ford that killed the Celtics. I'm sure teams took notice. House cannot guard PGs in the NBA. Go get Sessions from Minny or someone.

Eddie isn't going to be benched. The only guy we have that could possibly replace him is Hudson and Doc isn't doing that without an injury forcing Hudson into House's role.

Sure Eddie might be cold now - but when he is hot we can bury teams. Yes he is just a shooter but Doc loves shooters. We all should know that Eddie will come around and be hot again. Its just how he is - good streak shooter..

We all know that this team needs a legit backup point guard. Right now we have none and its painfully obvious. We just need someone who can dribble and pass. How difficult is that to find.

Hell, trade for AI (oh **** I said it).