Has injuries to Perkins and Rondo been a positive?

blzrfan · Post #1 » by **blzrfan** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:47 am

Hey Celtic fans. Congrats on the comeback.

I wonder if the injuries to Perkins and Rondo has been beneficial to the Celtics. It forced Doc Rivers to play House and Posey, going small was the key to that 3rd quarter run. Perkins was a foul machine and Rondo has been ineffective on the offensive end during the finals.

So is Doc a genius or did the injuries force his hand to make a better adjustment?

SonicYouth34 · Post #2 » by **SonicYouth34** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:52 am

Doc did what he had to do, plain and simple.

JediSkyWalker · Post #3 » by **JediSkyWalker** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:56 am

A win is a win. Doesn't matter how we got it, but we got it.

campybatman · Post #4 » by **campybatman** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:31 am

No. Perkins allows Garnett to focus on guarding Odom with him on Gasol. Plus, Perkins stays down low for rebounds, offensively and defensively. Not to mention, he's a good passer and a wild card on offense. As for Rondo, he's still the team's best point guard. His mindset is always to find his teammates and run the offense. Whereas, House is a shooter and more offensively minded player that you take away from him doing so when he's given extra responsibilities. I mean he'll make timely passes at times but that isn't House's forte when he's on the court--he's a scorer. Boston appreciates his instant offense off the bench. But, you lose that when he must start for you at point guard. However, given the personnel, I'll start him or Tony Allen instead of Cassell.

P2 · Post #5 » by P2 » Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:31 am

I'm actually amazed that Doc realized that he just HAD to go with House.

eloper · Post #6 » by **eloper** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:51 am

Well, until Phil Jackson makes an adjustment (and he's shown no signs of even attempting to), House is a much better fit in there than Rondo right now. I love Rajon, he's my favorite player on the team, but if he's not going to take/make that wide open mid range shot, then he simply can't be out there because it kills the rest of the offense.

The thing with Rajon is that when the defense is playing well, he can push the ball and make things happen in transition. Unfortunately, when the defense plays poorly, the offense is forced into more half court sets, where Rondo can at times become a liability. When things are going well, they tend to be going really well, but when things are going bad, the team can find itself in a big hole because of Rondo's ineffectiveness in the half court.

GuyClinch · Post #7 » by **GuyClinch** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:54 am

Eddie HOUSE. I told people we could win with this guy. Rondo is a very nice player but he needs to undergo some maturation such that he gets some more chutzpah

P2 · Post #8 » by P2 » Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:16 am

Well, we can go with "Ready Eddie" again in Game 5, and if that doesn't work, go back to Rondo.

dingodile · Post #9 » by **dingodile** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:21 am

What you're basically saying is that because of the injuries Doc is not forced to coach/adujust the team and simply plug in guys (Posey and House) as substitutes.

It's a fair point because we would all agree that Doc's in-game coaching skills often seem deficient.

Regardless, this win was more about heart/attitude/desire than it was strategic matchups.

GuyClinch · Post #10 » by **GuyClinch** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:22 am

That's not fair to Doc. He could have gone with Rondo but he picked House. He talked about this in the press conference.

Pete

dingodile · Post #11 » by **dingodile** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:25 am

GuyClinch wrote:That's not fair to Doc. He could have gone with Rondo but he picked House. He talked about this in the press conference.

Pete

I think the more salient argument is Doc could have gone with either Cassell or House and choose (correctly) House.

blzrfan · Post #12 » by **blzrfan** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:40 am

GuyClinch wrote:That's not fair to Doc. He could have gone with Rondo but he picked House. He talked about this in the press conference.

Pete

I thought the big difference in the game was the last half of the 3rd Qtr when the Celtics went on a 21-3 run. After Perkins left with the injury, Doc actually substituted PJ Brown. Then after a mini Lakers run, subbed Posey in for PJ. After a timeout at the 6:00 mark subbed House for Rondo with the Lakers up 20.

To me, and the announcers pointed it out, it was a good move to go small, perhaps a desperate one since you got nothing to lose being down 20. But Perkins going out and Rondo still looking hobbled and ineffective reduced Doc's options.

It's weird, JVG has been asking for a small lineup of with Posey for a while now. I will definitely give credit to Doc for encouraging and motivating his players while the deficit grew. Doc made the right moves and said the right things.