There is no better time to give Gabe Pruitt minutes.

[darrendaye]

Glad to read that in today's article. QUICK OT COMMENT: It disgusts me that Peter May is the one allowed to "break" that little tidbit. Curious to see what Pruitt does if given the opportunity. In SL, we witnessed a few strong finishes from Gabe as he obviously is rather athletic. I hope that he will turn into a two way scorer, both perimeter shooting and driving strong to the tin. It would offer several possible looks for the second unit, including the ability to use TA at the SF position at times with either House or Ray Allen at the 2.

But, that's a long way away from being determined and we're taking baby steps here. Then there's Big Baby.....

[JJHondo17]

Not only should Pruitt get minutes, he should start. Eddie House is absolutely horrible with extended minutes at the point. He slows the offense down to a crawl by pounding the ball into the floor, makes careless passes and his shooting seems to suffer with the added responsibility. The worst that can happen is Pruitt sucks and we're back where we started. With Pruitt starting, both TA and House go back to roles they're more accustomed to.

[darrendaye]

Looking at another standpoint, longer term, the value in opening some time for Pruitt this season is better understanding what you may have in him insofaras contributing significant minutes next season. Yes, the urgency is more evident this season because of the lack of other avenues to fill this gap. But, with House signed only for this season and Chris Duhon, in my estimation, a rather good fit as an unrestricted free agent, the front office is well served to have all of the information that they will need to make a determination where to best allocate their resources.

[jfs1000d]

We need to play Pruitt 10 minutes per game right now (but only if Rondo is out), because he needs that experience. We can't do any worse with him, and he would really find himself in the midst of a team that is desperately trying to win.

His main attribute coming into the league was his defense, but he is also an incredible athlete and has a smooth shot. And handling the ball and passing, he is a thousand times better than Tony Allen.

I am for the all hands on deck. But, if the guy can't play he can't play. Pruitt looks like a scorer to me. His NBDL stint showed a high number of shots. The last thing this team needs is a gunner at the point.

If Pruitt can't play right now, that is a bad draft pick by Ainge. You got to get a guy who can help you right there. I am for giving him a shot, but I am skeptical.

[Datruth345]

If Pruitt can't play right now, that is a bad draft pick by Ainge. You got to get a guy who can help you right there. I am for giving him a shot, but I am skeptical.

what do you think the percentage of players "ready to play" taken with the 32 overall pick (2nd pick of the second round) in the draft is

my guess, not very high...

i don't see how you can equate pruitt struggling (if he does) with Ainge making a bad pick by taking him 32nd overall

[DelMonte West]

I think he'll get a fair chance to play tonight. Don't have a clue how others can already pass judgement on how ready he is from what minutes he's received...

Doc tends to be stubborn with rookies and their minutes, which makes Davis' contributions even more surprising. It would be in our best interests to see what we have on our roster before April/May rolls around. Worst case scenario, we lose tonight and the hacks at ESPN start flapping their gums. Best case scenario, we have a viable rotation player we can plug in at the end of games to set up plays and nail free throws if he's fouled in close games during the playoffs.

Or we can just declare him not ready and bring aboard stop-gap veteran PG #12,495 before realizing what we have. It's January, guys.

[sully00]

The thing with Pruitt is that unlike Big Baby his isn't NBA ready. He came out a year early off of a big finish to the season and NCAA tournament. He is an NBA prospect as a pg not a shooting guard he would have moved back to the 2 this season at USC, with Mayo there. If Mayo wasn't in the equation I really think he would have had a season similiar to what Foye or Devon Harris had before they came to the league.

He is very athletic, he is a good shooter and able to use his size effectively as a defender against pgs. He is caught between the two guard positions, which is likely why he was putting up a lot of shots in the D-League. To fill what this team needs he has to put shots up off the dribble and I don't remember a lot of that in his game. He is a smooth ball handler and passer and doesn't turn the ball over.

[sully00]

Another thing is this is a great spot for a coach to put a kid in. The team is struggling a bit anyway so it isn't going to be on him. To put him in as a starter he just has to play ball, coming off the bench in a game can be tough, it is like everyone else got a headstart.

[jfs1000d]

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what do you think the percentage of players "ready to play" taken with the 32 overall pick (2nd pick of the second round) in the draft is

my guess, not very high...

i don't see how you can equate pruitt struggling (if he does) with Ainge making a bad pick by taking him 32nd overall

Uless you are taking a developmental big man, the 32nd pick should be a rotation player. Especially in the last draft. Pruitt either can play or he can't. Considering the dearth of options at the point, he should have been an option long ago but I reckon he has disappointed.

Nice shot,good size, and is athletic. He probably should be playing. With such a high secon round pick.I would expect more out of pruitt. Big Baby has delivered and he was 2 picks after.

[Datruth345]

The 32nd Pick...Since 2000

AJ Guyton 6-1 175 PG/SG Indiana Sr.
Omar Cook 6-1 190 PG St. John's Fr.
Robert Archibald 6-11 250 PF/C Illinois Sr.
Luke Walton 6-9 245 SF Arizona Sr.
Jackson Vroman 6-10 226 PF Iowa St. Sr.
Daniel Ewing 6-3 180 PG Duke Sr.
Steve Novak 6-9 216 SF Marquette Sr.
Gabe Pruitt 6-4 170 PG USC Jr.

i don't know where these expectation of a rotation player are coming from

the only notable player is 10 years ago and that was Rashard Lewis straight from high school

[darrendaye]

Pruitt looked aggressive, which was my primary concern about his makeup. If he stays that way, I'm comfortable stating that he'll fit in nicely in the rotation going forward. Got lost a few times defensively. But also seemed to pull it together and clamp down at times as well. As we all are aware, the challenge with young players tends to be consistency. If the confident and willing mindset is there, and he obviously has a good number of tools in his shed, he will be a weapon.

Stay physical and focused on defense and attack on offense. Eventually the shots will fall.

[darrendaye]

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Uless you are taking a developmental big man, the 32nd pick should be a rotation player. Especially in the last draft. Pruitt either can play or he can't. Considering the dearth of options at the point, he should have been an option long ago but I reckon he has disappointed.

Nice shot,good size, and is athletic. He probably should be playing. With such a high secon round pick.I would expect more out of pruitt. Big Baby has delivered and he was 2 picks after.

Consider the fact that the role that they needed was floor general. There's a difference between being ready to play and ready to perform a specific task. Running an NBA offense isn't something you can do falling out of bed. Just because Rivers was hesitant to entrust a rookie with this difficult and critical chore, doesn't mean Pruitt was perceived to be incapable of contributing much earlier. But, they already had a proven producer in the gunner SG role in House. There is little need for an inexperienced guy to fill that role.

EDIT: As for Baby, again to drive home my point above, the role the team needed was bull in a china shop on the box. Fairly straight forward job description. Stay active, stay physical, look for the ball, and score. Had KG gotten injured and they needed a Big who would play a large role in orchestrating ball movement in the offense, I'll wager that Scalabrine would have gotten the call for that situation. And for good reason.

[LenBiasBaller]

I'm so pissed I had the game recording on DVR but something went wrong and it didnt record. I only caught the last 3 minutes.

How did Gabe look? I saw he was 1-6 from the field but his teammates all said he played solid and helped out

[darrendaye]

I'm so pissed I had the game recording on DVR but something went wrong and it didnt record. I only caught the last 3 minutes.

How did Gabe look? I saw he was 1-6 from the field but his teammates all said he played solid and helped out

See my post above. Took three 3 pointers, but also took it to the rim on at least one occasion. Didn't look tentative.

[bru87tr]

I think pruitt handles the ball better than the others and knows how to setup a play. give the guy a break, he hasnt even played.

I would rather see him play than see TA & EH bring the ball up. he looked ok, he just needs min. like the thread says, no better time than now to give the kid min. I liked him.

[cisco]

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Consider the fact that the role that they needed was floor general. There's a difference between being ready to play and ready to perform a specific task. Running an NBA offense isn't something you can do falling out of bed. Just because Rivers was hesitant to entrust a rookie with this difficult and critical chore, doesn't mean Pruitt was perceived to be incapable of contributing much earlier. But, they already had a proven producer in the gunner SG role in House. There is little need for an inexperienced guy to fill that role.

EDIT: As for Baby, again to drive home my point above, the role the team needed was bull in a china shop on the box. Fairly straight forward job description. Stay active, stay physical, look for the ball, and score. Had KG gotten injured and they needed a Big who would play a large role in orchestrating ball movement in the offense, I'll wager that Scalabrine would have gotten the call for that situation. And for good reason.

The word "score" automatically disqualified Scal. He can't rebound or score. I'd rather go with the rookie Big Baby or even Pollard. Scal is a huge negative when he's on the floor.

[darrendaye]

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The word "score" automatically disqualified Scal. He can't rebound or score. I'd rather go with the rookie Big Baby or even Pollard. Scal is a huge negative when he's on the floor.

Cisco, you're attributing the quote to the wrong circumstance. I referenced using Scal in the event KG went down. My point was if you need scoring, Big Baby clearly is the choice. If you need better ball movement, Scalabrine is more reasonable due to experience performing that task. Baby is an excellent passer, but he's still learning all of the sets, how to play in the league overall, and his teammates' tendancies. He wouldn't be an ideal choice to perform that task.

[Dogen]

If he can get 8-9 minutes a game, that would be awesome. It's unlikely that this would have happened with Rondo in the lineup. This is Gabe's chance to show Doc he can do it.

[amaj10]

I missed last nights game, it was my girl's birthday, I saw Gabe got some run, how did he look? The stats didn't tell much.

[Celts17Pride]

I thought Gabe played very well. He is definitely a better PG than House or TA. He still has a long way to go and I'm not sure he could be ready for the playoffs. I would also like to see him get 8-10 minutes a game.