Who Should Guard Rip? Ray or Rhondo?

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think Ray guards Rip but his minutes will get cut. Look for TA to get some run this series and guard RIP.  I am not a TA fan at all, but he has six fouls and can play wing defense. All we need to do is not let him touch the ball on offense!

Rondo is much too small to guard rip. He's giving 35 pounds and 6 inches.

TA's not too much bigger than Rondo... 6'3".  If we see TA, I think it should be on Billups - he's not going to bite on that upfake all the time (I hope) and he's not dealing with as much of a size mismatch.  That said, I hope Rondo gets 35-45 minutes a night - he's not the offensive liability that TA has turned into this season.

He has been a huge liability this postseason in my opinion. Rondo should only play that much if he's actually performing well, not because of the "we have no one else" school of thought.

[2Xplosive]

Billups is known for Pump fakes I thought?

TA can defend but please when he starts make stupid mistakes get him out!

I still love how doc was smart enought to put house in in the last few seconds of the gaem 7 to get the free throws because who would have been fouled if eddie was not in.... Rondo.

[2Xplosive]

I think Ray guards Rip but his minutes will get cut. Look for TA to get some run this series and guard RIP.  I am not a TA fan at all, but he has six fouls and can play wing defense. All we need to do is not let him touch the ball on offense!

Rondo is much too small to guard rip. He's giving 35 pounds and 6 inches.

TA's not too much bigger than Rondo... 6'3".  If we see TA, I think it should be on Billups - he's not going to bite on that upfake all the time (I hope) and he's not dealing with as much of a size mismatch.  That said, I hope Rondo gets 35-45 minutes a night - he's not the offensive liability that TA has turned into this season.

He has been a huge liability this postseason in my opinion. Rondo should only play that much if he's actually performing well, not because of the "we have no one else" school of thought.

Same thing with Joe Johnson. Hes 6"7 at guard which is much bigger then any of our guards. Rip is a jump shooter and is very tall which makes it easy for him to get shoots off. He is also very fast which makes a tall defender difficualt to defend rip. Ray should be defending rip but I would put someone else on him so when rip is on bench resting ray can start shooting.

[Chief]

The only thing I'd be weary about with Pierce on Rip would be that Rip runs a lot and through many screens. Pierce will have a tough time staying with him, while expending a ton of energy simply trying to stay with him.

On the flip side, Rip would rack up the fouls quickly guarding Pierce in the low post.

[crownsy]

why would rip gaurd pierce?

[CT34]

You guys kill me with all this Ray getting killed by Wally talk.  Ray Allen is going to guard Rip.  For all the talk about Wally going off on Ray Allen.  In the last three games of the series Wally had 10,9,0 points.  If Ray Allen can keep Rip to 10,9,0 points in the next 3 games we all will be happy.  Ray might not be shooting the ball well and he may have gotten burn on a couple of screen set for Wally early in the series.  But looking at the last three game Ray has played very well on the defensive end. 

[MMacOH]

You guys kill me with all this Ray getting killed by Wally talk.  Ray Allen is going to guard Rip.  For all the talk about Wally going off on Ray Allen.  In the last three games of the series Wally had 10,9,0 points.  If Ray Allen can keep Rip to 10,9,0 points in the next 3 games we all will be happy.  Ray might not be shooting the ball well and he may have gotten burn on a couple of screen set for Wally early in the series.  But looking at the last three game Ray has played very well on the defensive end. 

Umm....Wally should never be mentioned in the same breath as Rip.

[Who]

You guys kill me with all this Ray getting killed by Wally talk.  Ray Allen is going to guard Rip.  For all the talk about Wally going off on Ray Allen.  In the last three games of the series Wally had 10,9,0 points.  If Ray Allen can keep Rip to 10,9,0 points in the next 3 games we all will be happy.  Ray might not be shooting the ball well and he may have gotten burn on a couple of screen set for Wally early in the series.  But looking at the last three game Ray has played very well on the defensive end. 

Not only that, for the series Wally scored 10.7ppg in 31.6 minutes, shooting only 35% from the floor and only 30% from three.

Wally scored 13.5ppg in 23 minutes back in Seattle this season. 8ppg in 22mpg in Cleveland. Has career shooting averages of 49% from the floor and 41% from three.

Wally was below his numbers for the season and his career. He was grossly inefficient. It's not like our whole team defense was loading up on LeBron off their own man or anything forcing Bron's mates to shoot the ball, so Wally getting the odd open look is hardly surprising.

The whole thing is a joke about Ray's D on Wally.

[The MadLad]

I don't know who would be best guarding Rip, but I totally disagree with the notion that Rip would abuse Rondo. Rip relies on his quickness - Rondo is quicker. Rip is a jump shooter - Rondo has long arms to get a hand in Rip's face. I think Rondo would do well defending Rip. That said, it's not a game of one-on-one and I don't know that that is the best way to match up for 5-on-5.

Rip Hamilton spends more time in the post than Billups does. Why take Rondo off Billups because of Chauncey's post advantages to put him on the bigger player who spends more time in the post and is a better post player? That makes no sense.

Rondo is 6-1 and long, Rip is 6-7 and long with high release, quick release. He'll shoot the turnaround J out of the post that he loves all night every night. Rip's only one of the best shooters in the league so that lightly contested shot from about 10 feet probably won't matter ....

It's a recipe for disaster

well, i had to double check that stat (and according to nba.com, its true). there is no way that rip hamilton is really 6-7. no way. if hes an inch over 6-5 i would be surprised.

and thats besides the fact. even if he is 6-7, heck, lets make him 6-8! he plays like a 6-2 shooting guard. billups on the other hand is a very physical player who will post up opposing guards all day. billups plays like say, magic.
some small guys play like their much bigger. some big guys play like their much smaller (ugh! A walker is the best example).
If the celts best 5 this series is PP, KG, Posey, Perk, House/RR. then i would put PP on Rip, but not till the 4th qrt. and then Posey could guard Prince. but Prince is the "X" factor. hes a real match-up problem against  any team.
With the exception of Rip, the rest of the detroit team is very physical. i think that celts like RR and Ray, who play soft,  are going to have a very difficult time on both sides of the ball.

[The MadLad]

You guys kill me with all this Ray getting killed by Wally talk.  Ray Allen is going to guard Rip.  For all the talk about Wally going off on Ray Allen.  In the last three games of the series Wally had 10,9,0 points.  If Ray Allen can keep Rip to 10,9,0 points in the next 3 games we all will be happy.  Ray might not be shooting the ball well and he may have gotten burn on a couple of screen set for Wally early in the series.  But looking at the last three game Ray has played very well on the defensive end. 

Umm....Wally should never be mentioned in the same breath as Rip.

exactly. ones an All-Star whos know for running over 3 miles during a game (or something like that), and the other just got over another season with bad knees. wally is a spot shooter, Rip is more like a runner who plays basketball. There is no way Ray can keep up with that over a whole game.

[Chris]

You guys kill me with all this Ray getting killed by Wally talk.  Ray Allen is going to guard Rip.  For all the talk about Wally going off on Ray Allen.  In the last three games of the series Wally had 10,9,0 points.  If Ray Allen can keep Rip to 10,9,0 points in the next 3 games we all will be happy.  Ray might not be shooting the ball well and he may have gotten burn on a couple of screen set for Wally early in the series.  But looking at the last three game Ray has played very well on the defensive end. 

Umm....Wally should never be mentioned in the same breath as Rip.

exactly. ones an All-Star whos know for running over 3 miles during a game (or something like that), and the other just got over another season with bad knees. wally is a spot shooter, Rip is more like a runner who plays basketball. There is no way Ray can keep up with that over a whole game.

Ray has kept up with that for 3 games already this season.

I actually think the best defense Ray has played all season has been against Rip, and his wanna be clone in Milwaukee, Michael Redd.  Ray has done a great job against these guys, because he is so good at fighting around screens himself, and he understands where they are trying to go. 

Rondo on the other hand is a horrible matchup for Rip.  Rip has no problem with posting up a smaller man, and unlike Ray, Rondo's biggest problem on defense (although he has gotten much better throughout the year) is that he gets caught up on screens way too easily.

Ray should be on Rip (and they can put either Tony or Posey on him for a few minutes here and there to mix it up), and Rondo should be on Billups, making him work hard on both sides of the ball.

[Mr October]

I think the C's should stick to the usual matchups, but keep bringing guys in fresh to pressure Billups (he can get fatigued) and Chase Hamilton. Tony should get some burn.

[35Reggie]

Why not a combination of Posey and Tony Allen?

[The MadLad]

i really cant see how we can put Ray on Hamilton after how badly Ray looked on defense vs. Wally. I was joking to friends on how Ray was making Wally look like Rip because of how poorly he was guarding him. Ray was always 2 steps behind. If he couldn't stay with Wally, Rip is going to run him into the ground. Detroit will set screens more often, harder,  and they will be even lower on the block than clevelands were. Ray will be chasing around a faster, quicker shooter, and someone who curls into the lane better. How can he keep up with that after he struggled with Wally?
Also, Ray needs his legs for offense. His shooting % isnt going to get any better by running around so much more chasing Rip.
Rhondo seems to be a better fit chasing Rip around. And Ray (and Sam) would be much more effective in guarding Billups.
i thought that they tried this out in the Reg season, but i havent seen any mention of this in pre-game discussions.

ok, so i was completely wrong...and i couldnt be happier. ray looked much lighter on his feet tonight than ever vs. cleveland. He played great defense all night on Rip. I thought that ray's entire game looked quicker and more intense than in the past. I hope he can keep this up for the entire series.
I also would expect Billups to work the low-post vs Rhondo more in future games. I dont think he even went into the paint the entire night.
great game defensively for the celts. especially Ray and Rhondo.