Full time small-ball, adjust the starting lineup

chakdaddy · Post #1 » by **chakdaddy** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:42 am

Perk and Davis are our only decent bigs. Any foul trouble and we are completely screwed...

I think going to small ball full time may be the answer.
Starting 5:
Perk / Pierce / TA / Ray / Rondo.

Davis backs up 5, gets a few minutes at 4; Moore is there if necessary.

With Pierce at the 4, T. Thomas has to get drawn outside more and is less able to block everything;
TA can guard Gordon instead of Ray.

Dogen · Post #2 » by **Dogen** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:45 am

I doubt this will happen. Baby should stay in the starting lineup. he is the Ticket Stub, after all.

sdeezy · Post #3 » by **sdeezy** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:53 am

I dont think the Celts want to get into small ball, run and gun with the Bulls. especially not in the United Center. The Bulls absolutely thrive in that sort of game and you can guaratee at least 110 points on 48+ % shooting from the Bulls if this game goes up and down the court.
As awesome as Pierce is, sticking him on Tyrus Thomas for majority of the game is asking for trouble, especially in transition. I would stick to the regular lineup and hope Big Baby keeps knocking down mid range shots.

chakdaddy · Post #4 » by **chakdaddy** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:56 am

It just seems so dangerous to have our only 2 capable bigs both playing big minutes at the same time. Can you imagine the disaster if we get in foul trouble?? I guess if there is foul trouble, we could just go to small ball at that time.

MVP16 · Post #5 » by **MVP16** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:03 am

I agree and disagree. Having your only 2 legit bigs in the starting line-up is dangerous (Moore is not a legit big). So having Baby come off the bench so that at least one of Baby and Perk are on the floor mitigates the risk. But Baby has been playing very well with the starting line-up and his production will probably fall drastically if he has to come off the bench and doesn't have the benefit of playing with Rondo/Allen/Pierce.

Hopefully Perk and Baby stay out of foul trouble and Scal comes back and gives us something off the bench - anything is better then what Moore is giving us.

Post #6 » by **Bleeding Green** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:29 am

The only thing that's going to work is gimmick to win this championship. They can beat Chicago playing real basketball, but once Orlando and Cleveland come around they have to try some whacky ****. Rondo-House-Allen-Pierce-Walker for 40 minutes a game. Just run up and down the court all game long.

floyd · Post #7 » by **floyd** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:46 am

Bleeding Green wrote:The only thing that's going to work is gimmick to win this championship. They can beat Chicago playing real basketball, but once Orlando and Cleveland come around they have to try some whacky ****. Rondo-House-Allen-Pierce-Walker for 40 minutes a game. Just run up and down the court all game long.

You need the ball to run. Howard would have 30 boards against that lineup.

Post #8 » by **Bleeding Green** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:54 am

So don't miss shots. Easy.

threrf23 · Post #9 » by **threrf23** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:51 am

I am not opposeed to this. Of course, this invites Chicago to play Kirk Hinrich with Gordon and Rose, and that could play to Chicago's advantage.

If Doc does not opt to go small, I think we need to start Mikki. Other members of the starting lineup will help to compensate for his weaknesses, and, well, games are unpredictable. The bench is needed so that Doc cab react to anything unpredictable. Relying on Mikki as our only "big" off the bench is, IMO, too risky.

SuigintouEV · Post #10 » by **SuigintouEV** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:42 am

pierce matches up well with rashard and tyrus if you ask me. They're both tweener forwards anyways.

MyInsatiableOne · Post #11 » by **MyInsatiableOne** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:05 am

Do we really want to get into a track meet against Chicago when we have to start Stubby and Perk and play them simultaenously? We'd be playing 3 1/2 on 5!

humblebum · Post #12 » by **humblebum** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:09 pm

I would attempt to avoid small-ball at all costs if I were Doc. The Bulls love to leak players out in transition, leaving less players to work the defensive boards. In game 2 the Celtics were able to take advantage of this by really attacking the offensive glass. Perk and Davis have one supreme advantage against the Bulls, they can get physical on the offensive glass and get the Celtics second chances. So I'd try to squeeze as many minutes possible out of that combination.

Sure, you want to try to avoid playing Moore any considerable amount of minutes and hopefully Scal is ready to go so we can avoid using Moore for prolonged stretches. However, as much as Moore has outright sucked I'm willing to bet he'll make a decent contribution in at least one game in this series. He certainly can't get ANY worse.

What I will say is that I do prefer to see Tony Allen out there vs. Mikki Moore. So hopefully Doc will utilize Tony in certain lineups, small ball or not the guy needs to be on the floor. I'd also seriously consider sitting Eddie down on the bench but that's me. But ya, basically I think the team should do everything it can to avoid small ball as it takes away a big potential advantage vs. the Bulls, mainly the physical advantage in the paint leading to second chance opportunities for the Celtics.