Did Doc Rivers Just Blink?

[ZoSo]

The mantra all-season long was the same: We play our game and the rest takes care of itself, a mantra we haven’t heard in these parts since the last time the Celtics hoisted a banner.

We lose a game, no biggie. Strategy stays the same. Game plan stays the same. We just play our game better. We’re getting our arses handed to us on a platter in the first two quarters? Same response.

Result?

29-3 start.

25-5 record against the West.

31-10 on the road.

66-16 overall.

Historically impressive margins of victory.

Starters getting more rest than they had enjoyed in years.

Who would want to mess with that?

I’m not sure, but I think that the playoff road woes may have softened Doc’s intransigence.

 I don’t want to overstate here, but moving Eddie House back into the rotation and Sam Cassell out of the rotation seems significant. I know Eddie is only a role player at best. But there is no denying that Eddie House played an integral role in the team’s regular-season success this season.

Then there is the little matter of PJ Brown. I don’t want to dis Kendrick. But the more I watch the NBA, the clearer it becomes that coaches, for better or worse, send signals via the media. Doc lavishing praise on PJ’s performance might be one of those signals—expect more PT for PJ and perhaps less for Kendrick.

Cassell 0 for his last 15 shots.

Eddie House = Vinny Johnson.

Kendrick Perkins not an offensive dynamo.

PJ Brown, good on defense and improving on offense.

Oddly enough, a shot in the arm on offense is exactly what we need.

I’ll be curious to how things shake out tonight.

If Doc makes the changes and they fail, I’m sure everyone will agree it would have been better to wait until a road game.

I favor making the changes now, because there is more room for error at home, these two guys are only role players, and if the changes make a difference, they can build on them in Cleveland.

[Who]

Then there is the little matter of PJ Brown. I don’t want to dis Kendrick. But the more I watch the NBA, the clearer it becomes that coaches, for better or worse, send signals via the media. Doc lavishing praise on PJ’s performance might be one of those signals—expect more PT for PJ and perhaps less for Kendrick.

Doc said PJ's role isn't going to change

“P.J.’s terrific, but he’s going to stay in the same rotation he’s been in,” Rivers said.

[Roy Hobbs]

29-3 start.

25-5 record against the West.

31-10 on the road.

66-16 overall.

Historically impressive margins of victory.

Starters getting more rest than they had enjoyed in years.

Who would want to mess with that?

Apparently, Doc, by taking Eddie out of the rotation in the first place.  Stupid decision, in my opinion.

Is it confirmed that Eddie is going to play?

Last I heard, Doc's answer was:

“We’ll see when the game starts,” he said.

That wouldn't worry me so much (which coach doesn't hide things from the media?), except that I get the idea that Doc doesn't have a clue -- and thus the players don't have a clue -- what the rotation is going to be tonight.  That, to me, is a problem.

[ZoSo]

I don’t know that it has been confirmed.

But I try to cut doc a little slack.

In theory, playoff rotations are supposed to be shortened up.

Did Doc have to do that? No, but it seemed to follow protocol.

Doc didn’t have to choose Sam over Eddie. He could have stuck with Eddie, but most of us thought Sam would be an upgrade over Eddie, and at home Sam has mostly delivered.

On the road, it hasn’t worked. Sam has played poorly, as have all the role players except for Posey.

So I am actually excited to see tonight’s game.

In addition to the Sam/Eddie/PJ/Perk drama, I am hoping we see some more focused efforts at getting Ray and KG going, and then hopefully building on those efforts going forward.

The Cs are off kilter, and hopefully a little fine tuning will get the job done.

If doc stands pat, I will be disappointed. We are not just playing tonight’s game to win, we are playing it to establish something we can build on.

[Scintan]

Apparently, Doc, by taking Eddie out of the rotation in the first place.  Stupid decision, in my opinion.

Is it confirmed that Eddie is going to play?

Last I heard, Doc's answer was:

“We’ll see when the game starts,” he said.

That wouldn't worry me so much (which coach doesn't hide things from the media?), except that I get the idea that Doc doesn't have a clue -- and thus the players don't have a clue -- what the rotation is going to be tonight.  That, to me, is a problem.

Boston has a problem at the point.  Rondo can't shoot, House can't dribble or defend and, right now, Cassell can't shoot or defend.  If Pierce was playing well, this wouldn't matter as much.  However, with Pierce struggling, he's not demanding as much attention as usual, and the Cavaliers are able to completely ignore Rondo on the offensive side and pressure Allen with Rondo's defender.  This is putting Garnett, Allen and Perkins/backup center under great pressure to convert on every possession.  House would probably change that, but at the cost of opening up the floor on the defensive end.

[Roy Hobbs]

Apparently, Doc, by taking Eddie out of the rotation in the first place.  Stupid decision, in my opinion.

Is it confirmed that Eddie is going to play?

Last I heard, Doc's answer was:

“We’ll see when the game starts,” he said.

That wouldn't worry me so much (which coach doesn't hide things from the media?), except that I get the idea that Doc doesn't have a clue -- and thus the players don't have a clue -- what the rotation is going to be tonight.  That, to me, is a problem.

Boston has a problem at the point.  Rondo can't shoot, House can't dribble or defend and, right now, Cassell can't shoot or defend.  If Pierce was playing well, this wouldn't matter as much.  However, with Pierce struggling, he's not demanding as much attention as usual, and the Cavaliers are able to completely ignore Rondo on the offensive side and pressure Allen with Rondo's defender.  This is putting Garnett, Allen and Perkins/backup center under great pressure to convert on every possession.  House would probably change that, but at the cost of opening up the floor on the defensive end.

I think House does a couple of things: he spaces the floor better, and he *definitely* moves the ball better than Sam. 

He's also a better defender.  House's defensive deficiencies are a bit exaggerated, I think; the defense only gave up 0.7 more points per 100 possessions with House in the game, as opposed to on the bench.  He held opposing PGs to a PER of 13.2, and opposing SGs to an 11.6 PER.  Those aren't the defensive numbers of somebody who was a defensive sieve. 

House's primary weakness is dribbling when pressure is applied by the opposing team.

I think House should see some minutes over Sam, and I don't have a huge problem playing Eddie in a Rondo/House back court.  I'm not ready to sit Rondo; he's always contributing in some way, even if his shot isn't falling.  Something needs to be done about Sam when he's ineffective, however.

[crownsy]

eddie's team defense all year has been stellar compared to sam's though. I'm not sure defense is something we can take issue with when it comes to discussing eddie vs sam, and if anything, the point goes to eddie.

[oldschoolceltic00]

Lets see, i've heard that we need to play with more energy and need more scoring off the bench. What does E. House bring energy and scoring. I was happy with the Cassell signing but Eddie deserves minutes especially when Cassell is struggling like he is. I think Sam can still help the team but he is not right now. If Doc continues do play Cassell then i would like to see Sam post up Gibson and Delonte to try to get some easy buckets instead of just jacking jump shots. If we play House then that makes it tougher for Delonte or Gibson to leave him to double team. The team won 66 games this season with everyone contributing at times and i know everyone says you have to shorten the bench come playoff time but the old saying if it ain't broke don't fix it applies because right now how Doc fixed it is not working.

[Scintan]

Apparently, Doc, by taking Eddie out of the rotation in the first place.  Stupid decision, in my opinion.

Is it confirmed that Eddie is going to play?

Last I heard, Doc's answer was:

“We’ll see when the game starts,” he said.

That wouldn't worry me so much (which coach doesn't hide things from the media?), except that I get the idea that Doc doesn't have a clue -- and thus the players don't have a clue -- what the rotation is going to be tonight.  That, to me, is a problem.

Boston has a problem at the point.  Rondo can't shoot, House can't dribble or defend and, right now, Cassell can't shoot or defend.  If Pierce was playing well, this wouldn't matter as much.  However, with Pierce struggling, he's not demanding as much attention as usual, and the Cavaliers are able to completely ignore Rondo on the offensive side and pressure Allen with Rondo's defender.  This is putting Garnett, Allen and Perkins/backup center under great pressure to convert on every possession.  House would probably change that, but at the cost of opening up the floor on the defensive end.

I think House does a couple of things: he spaces the floor better, and he *definitely* moves the ball better than Sam. 

He's also a better defender.  House's defensive deficiencies are a bit exaggerated, I think; the defense only gave up 0.7 more points per 100 possessions with House in the game, as opposed to on the bench.  He held opposing PGs to a PER of 13.2, and opposing SGs to an 11.6 PER.  Those aren't the defensive numbers of somebody who was a defensive sieve. 

House's primary weakness is dribbling when pressure is applied by the opposing team.

I think House should see some minutes over Sam, and I don't have a huge problem playing Eddie in a Rondo/House back court.  I'm not ready to sit Rondo; he's always contributing in some way, even if his shot isn't falling.  Something needs to be done about Sam when he's ineffective, however.

In this series, he's going to have to take minutes from the starter, Rondo, who's struggling, and defend against the Cavaliers' starters.  He's also going to have to be a team defender, to help keep James struggling. 

Also, if there's one thing we're seeing from Cleveland, it's aggressive on-the-ball defense against any Celtic not named Rondo.  House won't be getting all sorts of open shots, and he'll be a huge liability any time he tries to put the ball on the floor.

I understand your point, and I can see the idea of having him 'ready' in case either Rondo or Cassell isn't up to the task.  I just would be looking at him as a fall-back option rather than a planned substitution.

[nickagneta]

The mantra all-season long was the same: We play our game and the rest takes care of itself, a mantra we haven’t heard in these parts since the last time the Celtics hoisted a banner.

We lose a game, no biggie. Strategy stays the same. Game plan stays the same. We just play our game better. We’re getting our arses handed to us on a platter in the first two quarters? Same response.

Result?

29-3 start.

25-5 record against the West.

31-10 on the road.

66-16 overall.

Historically impressive margins of victory.

Starters getting more rest than they had enjoyed in years.

Who would want to mess with that?

I’m not sure, but I think that the playoff road woes may have softened Doc’s intransigence.

 I don’t want to overstate here, but moving Eddie House back into the rotation and Sam Cassell out of the rotation seems significant. I know Eddie is only a role player at best. But there is no denying that Eddie House played an integral role in the team’s regular-season success this season.

Then there is the little matter of PJ Brown. I don’t want to dis Kendrick. But the more I watch the NBA, the clearer it becomes that coaches, for better or worse, send signals via the media. Doc lavishing praise on PJ’s performance might be one of those signals—expect more PT for PJ and perhaps less for Kendrick.

Cassell 0 for his last 15 shots.

Eddie House = Vinny Johnson.

Kendrick Perkins not an offensive dynamo.

PJ Brown, good on defense and improving on offense.

Oddly enough, a shot in the arm on offense is exactly what we need.

I’ll be curious to how things shake out tonight.

If Doc makes the changes and they fail, I’m sure everyone will agree it would have been better to wait until a road game.

I favor making the changes now, because there is more room for error at home, these two guys are only role players, and if the changes make a difference, they can build on them in Cleveland.

Don't want to rain on your parade because you made a bunch of good points but this just was not one of them:

Eddie House = Vinny Johnson.

During Vinny's "Microwave" days between 1982 and 1989, Vinnie averaged 47% from the field, 13.5 points per game, and 3.6 assists per game in 26 minutes per game.

Eddie has never been deemed good enough to average over 19.8 minutes per game, only once averaged double digits in points and only once averaged more than 1.9 assists per game. Except for three years where Eddie shot 45% Eddie hasn't come anywhere near 47% shooting in a season.

Vinnie was considered a good defender, Eddie never has, although he's done well this year.

Eddie does shoot the 3 better than Vinnie did but putting up threes wasn't what he did.

Simply put, please compare Eddie to someone else because Eddie couldn't hold Vinnie's jock when it came down to coming off the bench and producing.

[ZoSo]

Don't want to rain on your parade [but] Eddie couldn't hold Vinnie's jock

A different point of view:

http://lexnihilnovi.blogspot.com/2008/03/eddie-house-better-than-vinnie-johnson.html

[crownsy]

it strikes me that a better title for this thread would be "did doc coach?"

[nickagneta]

Don't want to rain on your parade [but] Eddie couldn't hold Vinnie's jock

A different point of view:

http://lexnihilnovi.blogspot.com/2008/03/eddie-house-better-than-vinnie-johnson.html

I find it strange that the author of that article took the worst of Vinnie's Piston years to compare his stats to one of Eddie's better years.

I wonder how poignant the article would be if he compared Eddie's numbers this year to Vinnie's 1982-83 year, the year Kevin McHale gave Vinnie his "Microwave" nickname. His numbers were 51.3% from the field, 27.5% from three, 15.8 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, 3.8 assists per game, and 1.1 steals per game.

But to be fair Vinnie started 51 games that year.

But in 1986-87, Vinnie still averaged 15.7 PPG, shot 46.2% and 28.6% from three, 3.3RPG, 3.8APG, 1.2STPG while playing an average of just over 27MPG and starting only 8 games.

Eddie's numbers overall and his impact on the game and his team are so much greater than Eddie House's impact ever could be.

I understand your point in thinking that like Vinnie, Eddie could give the Celtics an instant jolt of offense. But Eddie just didn't do that that much this year, going through some really long stretches of bad shooting. Vinnie was ridiculously consistent night in and night out coming off the bench with instant offense. Eddie just is not nearly as consistent or even that high of an offensive option as Vinnie was.

Lastly, the blogger who wrote that article isn't anyone I have ever heard of before. That doesn't make their opinion any less valid, it just doesn't, in my mind, give it the credibility of something I might read at a known sports media outlet. Also as I stated, he really should have compared best year to best year or best five year average stretch to best five year average stretch or as a last resort, career averages. In any f those instances Vinnie clobbers Eddie. And he was a better defender to boot.

[Woodstock Libertarian]

I find it strange that the author of that article took the worst of Vinnie's Piston years to compare his stats to one of Eddie's better years.

I believe the idea was to compare Vinnie's contributions to a championship team to Eddie's contributions this year.

It might also be noted the Eddie was runner-up sixth man of the year a couple years back.

[jaketwice]

Apparently, Doc, by taking Eddie out of the rotation in the first place.  Stupid decision, in my opinion.

Is it confirmed that Eddie is going to play?

Last I heard, Doc's answer was:

“We’ll see when the game starts,” he said.

That wouldn't worry me so much (which coach doesn't hide things from the media?), except that I get the idea that Doc doesn't have a clue -- and thus the players don't have a clue -- what the rotation is going to be tonight.  That, to me, is a problem.

Boston has a problem at the point.  Rondo can't shoot, House can't dribble or defend and, right now, Cassell can't shoot or defend.  If Pierce was playing well, this wouldn't matter as much.  However, with Pierce struggling, he's not demanding as much attention as usual, and the Cavaliers are able to completely ignore Rondo on the offensive side and pressure Allen with Rondo's defender.  This is putting Garnett, Allen and Perkins/backup center under great pressure to convert on every possession.  House would probably change that, but at the cost of opening up the floor on the defensive end.

I think House does a couple of things: he spaces the floor better, and he *definitely* moves the ball better than Sam. 

He's also a better defender.  House's defensive deficiencies are a bit exaggerated, I think; the defense only gave up 0.7 more points per 100 possessions with House in the game, as opposed to on the bench.  He held opposing PGs to a PER of 13.2, and opposing SGs to an 11.6 PER.  Those aren't the defensive numbers of somebody who was a defensive sieve. 

House's primary weakness is dribbling when pressure is applied by the opposing team.

I think House should see some minutes over Sam, and I don't have a huge problem playing Eddie in a Rondo/House back court.  I'm not ready to sit Rondo; he's always contributing in some way, even if his shot isn't falling.  Something needs to be done about Sam when he's ineffective, however.

In this series, he's going to have to take minutes from the starter, Rondo, who's struggling, and defend against the Cavaliers' starters.  He's also going to have to be a team defender, to help keep James struggling. 

Also, if there's one thing we're seeing from Cleveland, it's aggressive on-the-ball defense against any Celtic not named Rondo.  House won't be getting all sorts of open shots, and he'll be a huge liability any time he tries to put the ball on the floor.

I understand your point, and I can see the idea of having him 'ready' in case either Rondo or Cassell isn't up to the task.  I just would be looking at him as a fall-back option rather than a planned substitution.

I prefer Eddie over Cassell simply because I prefer to know what I'm getting when a sub comes into the game.  House is admittedly one-dimensional.  But that one dimension is high quality. And he doesn't try espcially to have other dimensions. You know what you'll get: he'll lurk around the perimeter and shoot the open three.

Sam has a variety of skills in various stages of decline. It doesn't make sense to use a bench player who's so inconsistent. More's the point, Rondo can really take advantage of Gibson (and though I hate to admit it) West. He just needs to get some confidence going. Cassell doesn't help that confidence.

Moreover, Sam is choosy about who gets the ball because he knows who the money is: KG and PP, and he wants to come back next year. He has a personal agenda that screws everyone up.  Frankly, I think Doc has shown remarkable cowardice in not understanding how much better Eddie is as a back-up when compared to Sam. Sure, Same never shuts up - but he's not the coach.


Eddie House is just a 3-point shooting vigilante!