It's pretty simple.
It starts with defense.
And defense starts with PG defense and stopping the ball.
That makes the rotations down low much easier for Powe and Davis.
No one on the second unit (except perhaps TA) can stop the ball.
Either play Pruitt, or if he can't get it done, the C's need to make a trade by April. It's that simple. This was the biggest liability last year. It's the biggest liability this year.
The opposing PG initiates the plays and breaks down our second unit. Stop that, and the second unit's D will improve immediately.
I agree with Sean Grande (sp?).
House is a 2. TA is a 3. Limit their roles and they will thrive.
House's FG percentage is way down. I'll bet he improves 5-10% if he has a better defined role. Knock down open 3s. When he's creating off the dribble for himself or playing a 2 man game, his percentages go way down.
TA should be slashing from 16-18 feet. Period. He's very effective going to the basket. Four to five dribbles max. He should not be dribbling around the perimeter or bringing the ball up the floor. More dribbles for TA means more turnovers. Also don't want him taking long range jump shots. That's not his strength.
Powe is good at the 4. He needs to work on his FT shooting. Right now, the smart play is to foul him every time he gets the ball in the post. 36% chance of making 2 FTs versus 50%+ from the field. He can add a point or two to the Celtics every game by simply getting his FT % up to the low 70's. He takes the second most FTs on the Celtics, so this is a priority.
Powe also needs to work on throwing out of the low post. In 2 years, I'm not sure I've ever seen him throw a pass back out of the low post. If it's single coverage, he drives to the hoop. If it's double coverage, he throws it out, and around the horn to Eddie or Tony for a drive or open 3. Doc needs to work on this with him. Into the post and back out. Over and over. Teams have begun doubling him, and fouling him, and it will limit his effectiveness going forward.
Scal needs to be off the court. He played 3-4 good games beginning with the Knicks game. Since then, he's had about 5 bad games in a row. He's played 4-16 minutes/game, and his stat line usually reads 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 1 turnover and 2 PFs. He's a good perimeter defender. But teams are iso-ing on him and taking him down low. Around the basket, he's not so good. It allows other teams to get on a run. He needs to be taken out of the regular rotation.
BBD has played some good games and some bad games, but right now he looks lost. He's not making the hustle plays, he's not rebounding, he's not getting charges. I'm not sure what his role is on offense, or even where he is supposed to be playing. I agree that it would be better to have a bigger backup C, but I think he's serviceable if the rest of the 2nd unit is solid. (The terrible thing last night was that he was letting rebounds fall to the floor in the middle of the key right in front of him and he wasn't even moving to get them. I was practically screaming at the TV: get the ball Davis.)
I don't have an opinion on POB. He has more offensive skill and coordination than many big men, and can knock down shots. He has a hook shot, and is good on the alley-oop. He does look soft on defense, and a bit lost. But he has the potential to block shots and rebound. He's a 12th man project. I have no problem with that. He's not the reason our bench has not played well. He hasn't played many minutes.
Yes, we're all spoiled and we're nitpicking at this point. We already know we have one of the top 3 teams. We're looking toward the playoffs and Cleveland and LA. We have the best starting lineup. We're looking to improve the bench, so we can win on the road and beat Cleveland and LA.
The first thing to do is get a backup PG defender. Someone who can fill the Rondo role. Someone who can stop the ball, get some steals, and bring the ball up the court. Someone who can blow by the other team's backup PG. Someone who can help space the floor. This gets EH wide open for 3s and his shooting % goes way up. This gets TA open for drives to the basket and FTs. This makes it tough to double Leon, and gives Leon a target for passes out of the post.
If Gabe can do it, give him a chance. If not, we need to make a trade. No one else currently on the team can fill this role.
After that, the team can decide on BBD and whether we need another big. With a proper backup PG, I think that becomes much less crucial. Fix one thing first, and then see how BBD and POB do. There are very few backup 7 footers who are going to come in with the 2nd unit and dominate us and have a huge game. There are, on the other hand, a lot of backup PGs and SGs who are going to blow by our second unit and get lots of easy looks. This is the first thing to fix.