Ever since the Celtics signed Sam Cassell and PJ Brown there have been questions about the rotation, about who is going to play and how big of a role are they going to get. Those questions only got louder down the stretch of the regular season when Doc regularly went 10-12 players deep while he got rest for his starters. Those questions got louder again when key bench player Eddie House found himself on the pine during the first three games of the playoffs against Atlanta.
Here’s part of an article from Jeff Horrigan over at the Herald:
Two games into the playoffs Tony Allen and Eddie House have found themselves nudged to the end of the Celtics’ bench, and they are far from pleased with being non-factors in the blowout wins over the Atlanta Hawks.
Veteran guard House played only 4:49 in Sunday’s 104-81 Game 1 pounding and scored three points, then saw his playing time fall to just 3:03 in Wednesday’s 96-77 win. Allen, meanwhile, played 9:14 and scored five points in Game 1 but went scoreless in only 2:25 in Game 2.
Both players have been left scratching their heads about the diminished playing time and said coach Doc Rivers hasn’t told them anything about why they haven’t figured into the mix.
Some quotes from the Eddie
“I really haven’t had a role in this series,” he said. “I’ve pretty much been used for end-of-quarter situations and that’s pretty much it, other than spelling the guys at the end of the game, when we’re up by 20.”
Both players said they don’t believe their added time on the bench has anything to do with how the C’s match up with the Hawks.
And on his role/minutes
“That’s a question you’ll have to ask Doc,” he said. “I try not to think about it too much. As a competitor you want to play and you want to get in the game. If you think about (matchups), it takes away from what you need to be doing and that’s focusing on the games and trying to stay ready and stay mentally into the game, even if you’re not physically into the game.”
It’s not just the guys that aren’t playing, the one’s that are playing are recieving inconsistent minutes. Especially Leon Powe who went from 24 minutes, to 14 minutes to 6 minutes in the first three games. He averaged 15mpg during the regular season and 15 a night during March when their rotation was the closest to normal.
All across the Celtics’ boards and fan sites right now are perplexed fans praying, asking, preaching for a set rotation. So what’s the hold up? Why no set rotation Doc?
Well it’s because this bench, while talented and deep, is extremely difficult. There’s no pecking order on that bench beyond James Posey. All the others are of comparable ability but offer very different skill sets, that’s the problem.
For example,
Do you want the playmaking shot creative ball happy point guard? Or the sweet shooting, better defender, better for ball movement point guard? Do you want the guy with great experience or the guy that’s been great all season long for the team?
Do you want Leon’s rebounding and scoring? Or do you want PJ’s poise, experience, defense and rebounding? Or how about Glen Davis’ hustle and energy? Do want PJ’s length or the quickness afoot of BBD or Powe?
How about at shooting guard, do you want Eddie House’s lethal catch and shoot game? or do you need more defensive pressure? can you get away with a small two guard or do you need Tony’s physical defense? Do you need Tony’s slashing game or Eddie’s shooting?
The Celtics bench is deep and very talented but after James Posey they are full of players who are comparable talent/impact wise but offer very different skill sets. They all have something useful to offer but mainly in different situations or to create different situations. Solidifying a set rotation of consistent roles and consistent minutes for each player is going to be extremely difficult for Doc. It’s going to be very interesting to see what Doc Rivers does with his bench over the course of the playoffs.
