Why are we still undersized and unathletic?

[Bosstown]

First off, i LOVE our starting 5. But our bench is just full of tweeners, undersized players and guys who are not that athletic. One of the reasons we won in 08 is because we had length, Posey and PJ Brown provided that. It was extremely apparent during game 7 that we got KILLED on the boards, due to our lack of length and only lost by 4 points. If we had a long 4/5 or even a good 6'8" small forward, we might just of blown the Lakers out.

Danny's obsession of undersized guys like Baby, Gomes, and now Harongody is one that i truly dont understand. I got love for Baby, but he hurt us that night on the boards. We need to get longer at the 4 spot and its a few months til we start the season and we still have NO help in that position. Not to mention our huge gaping HOLE at the wing spot.

If Marquis is our main backup going into next year, we're pretty screwed. We watched guys like Raja Bell, Matt Barnes, and Dorell Wright (yea hes young, but he still has potential) all go to other teams. I don't know what Ainge is going to do, but us starting the season with Marquise and Jarvis Hayes makes me feel pretty [dang] uneasy. I want Battier, can we get him? I doubt it.

The bottom line is this is IT, we need to pull out all the stops this year and not be cheap. As it stands KG, PP, and Ray are going to be ran into the ground like 09. We all know how that turned out. Right now, i dont feel good about our bench at all.

[hwangjini_1]

 Topic: Why are we still undersized and unathletic?

Well, I don't know about you, but I rack it up to being middle aged, short, and over weight. 

[wdleehi]

Because Ainge picks guys in the 2nd round that are NBA players is a problem? 




The bench is how it is because of the trades and contracts that put together this starting 5. 


And size was not the problem last year (Wallace).  It was rebounding. 

Size will not be an issue this year if Perk returns to play. 

[scaryjerry]

Why are Posey and PJ Brown still being overrated? (neither is very athletic mind u)
That year everyone said we had a terrible bench, would either of these players been the difference last season? ehm, no.
Sheed was 10x better than PJ Brown, and hate to break it to anyone but Posey(espcially considering his current state) wasnt missed LAST season in the playoffs.
Big problem to me is the epic decline in KGs rebounding (and rebounding in general), didnt break double digit rebounds in games 6 and 7 combined and was bad  all year. he rebounds like he did in 2 years ago, we win that series in 5

[Jon]

I'd also say that this is what happens when you decide to build your team around 3 guys (who at the time we acquired them) were making around 20 million dollars each.  We got stuck with unideal bench players.  While Ray and Paul have taken paycuts, with Rondo's new deal, it doesn't really matter. 

Consequently, Ainge has found value in talented, but undersized players who slipped in the draft (see Davis and Powe, as well as Tony Allen, and now potentially Avery Bradley).  If these guys were taller, we wouldn't have been able to draft them, and even if we had, they would've gotten much bigger contracts from other teams much earlier.

Similarly, Danny has also found value in older (and consequently less athletic) players looking for a ring.  The simple fact is that no young player wants to sacrifice earning potential to win a ring when they have lots of time to do it later. 

[Reyquila]

Jon, you hit the nail on the head. Amazing how many fans cannot accept reality. TP for you, buddy.

[guava_wrench]

Compared to what? Compared to our starters? Daniels and JO aren't undersized. Posey was undersized when he played the 4 late in games. Posey, Brown, House, and Cassell were not athletic.

If we get West as a backup 2, then I would agree we are undersized if we play Nate, West and Daniels together. But we need to compare our bench to other benches, not to the size, skill, and athletic ability we expect from starters.

Complaining about "Baby, Gomes, and now Harongody" and Pow being undersized is bizarre considering they were all excellent picks at their draft position. Players do not just appear out of a vacuum. You can only get what is available to you when opportunities arrive.

[Celtics Fan]

Guys I know this is off the subject, I'm looking at espn classic and they are showing the Celtics 2009 team Game one against the Bulls. Man I wish we had Leon Powe back. His low post game was sick. You know they said he is lost goods, I dont think so. Cleveland didnt use him right. I think he still has something left man. I'm think hine sight Danny should of signed him back the year after we blew it to the Magic....And guess who else I see on the bench Bill Walker....we never gave him the chance I think he would of been perfect for us today. Yeah we got Nate but still. By Garnett being hurt we blew our chance in 2009 and 2010 it was a different story, we just blew it all together. I wonder what 2011 will bring? I hope KG can return to his double doubles, and JO can bring back his dubs too. I admit I'm concern about the SG and SF spot we cannot have scoring droughts which killed us this year against the Lakers. Theres no way we should losed a 13 point lead like we did. Manufactering points is what we need, instant points ...Eddie where were you when we needed you?  Oh I forgot we had Nate. Watching these old games on the NBA channel and ESPN are making me go back and re-think where did it go wrong the last 2 freakin years.  

[17wasEZ]

First off, i LOVE our starting 5. But our bench is just full of tweeners, undersized players and guys who are not that athletic. One of the reasons we won in 08 is because we had length, Posey and PJ Brown provided that. It was extremely apparent during game 7 that we got KILLED on the boards, due to our lack of length and only lost by 4 points. If we had a long 4/5 or even a good 6'8" small forward, we might just of blown the Lakers out.

Perkins was hurt.  The Celtics had outrebounded the Lakers in 3 of the last 4 games until Bynum landed on him.

Otherwise, as many of my Laker fan friends have begrudgingly admitted, the Celtics probably win.

[guava_wrench]

First off, i LOVE our starting 5. But our bench is just full of tweeners, undersized players and guys who are not that athletic. One of the reasons we won in 08 is because we had length, Posey and PJ Brown provided that. It was extremely apparent during game 7 that we got KILLED on the boards, due to our lack of length and only lost by 4 points. If we had a long 4/5 or even a good 6'8" small forward, we might just of blown the Lakers out.

Our problem in game 7 was we need Sheed for too many minutes and he ran our of gas. His effective first half post game was nonexistent because he didn't have the strength left to go to the post.

If we had Perk, probably a different story because we could have rationed Sheed's minutes. Length would not have been an issue.

How much length do opposing teams have anyway? The Lakers are a big team, but beyond Gasol, Bynum, and Odom, what other length  gets minutes and legitimately contributes?

People expect too much from the bench at times. Every team has guys with major flaws in the bench rotation. With JO and assuming Perk is back, we at least have the flexibility to still play two big guys when one is in foul trouble. Baby is fine. He rebounding improves every season.

We do need another big while Perk is out, but I will wait to see what happens. I would also like to see another player with legit wing height since Daniels is almost guaranteed an injury.

[Jevi]

I hear you,but Danny's great at getting 2nd round gems, they just happen to be undersized. Luke deserves to get his chance. I do feel KG will be fine next season,even if he isn't 100%, give me his heart he showed in these playoffs. I admit Sheed didn't even have the heart, but yeah, his size was effective to finish that game. Hey maybe it will teach DA to sign emergency bigs like Earl Barron, Courtney Sims, or Kurt Looby to 10 days before playoff rosters are set.

[Fan from VT]

I think we should grab amundson. he's undersized, but he's tenacious and athletic at least. I'd also like the C's to pick up Boone as another big rebounder/athlete.


Basically, I agree with what most others have said: Did we have an option to NOT be undersized and unathletic on the bench?

Once you are over the cap with just your starters, it's hard to find great players, so they must have flaws of some type.

THere are some right-sized athletic players available...but they then aren't good at basketball (sean williams?).

[kozlodoev]

We're undersized, unathletic, and came within 1 quarter from a second NBA championship in the last 3 years. Size and athleticism must be overrated.

[snively]

KG/Perk/JO is not an undersized frontline and it's not really underathletic either.

We're more understaffed than undersized at this point.  Marquis has prototypical wing size but he's the only back-up wing on the roster unless you want to be generous in designating Bradley and Gody as wings.

If a Rudy/Joel P. trade goes down we'll be oversized upfront, athletic in the backcourt and solid at the quick forward. Healthy, I'd even favor us for the championship with that roster.

[LooseCannon]

If you want height, length, and athleticism, you end up drafting guys like Semih Erden (who still might turn out to be useful) instead of Glen Davis and Luke Harangody.