Doc hinting at starting Sullinger over Bass?

[BudweiserCeltic]

Well if you want to hide Sully's lack of defensive abilities and still maximize his abilities as a productive offensive player, there's no better way of doing it than making him play with the starters most of his minutes.

Except that making him play against taller, starting-caliber PFs is probably not maximizing his abilities as a productive offensive player.

Might actually be for his benefit to be playing alongside Kevin Garnett, a good passer and taller than him, than playing alongside Bass off the bench when he'd probably get the taller/stronger defensive player assigned to him, plus playing alongside a big man who doesn't pass.

So, I think starting, even with a starting-caliber PF as his opponent, might be to his benefit.

[arambone]

high school player of the year, national spotlight and sky high expectations, and he's met every expectation and dominated at every level, always handling the pressure with grace.

Not even one minute of rookie jitters in his first preseason game.

Consumate baller, who doc didnt even dare dream about getting on his team.

He just has a potential back issue, but that doesnt mean he wasnt always considered a likely first team all rookie selection and immediate above average nba player.

He's like a shorter tim duncan, which is a borderline all star player for 10 years.

[nickagneta]

Well if you want to hide Sully's lack of defensive abilities and still maximize his abilities as a productive offensive player, there's no better way of doing it than making him play with the starters most of his minutes.

Except that making him play against taller, starting-caliber PFs is probably not maximizing his abilities as a productive offensive player.

I have never equated size with defensive or offensive ability. talent yes, size, no.

[TripleOT]

Why assume that Sully won't be able to defend taller, more athletic PFs? He's going to body them, at least, something that Bass isn't great at doing. And even if Bass is better at defender taller PFs,  I'd rather have the weaker defender playing with KG. 

To me, Sullinger is one of those rare guys who just gets it. Throw him in the deep water, and he will figure out how to swim.   

[Chris]

Well if you want to hide Sully's lack of defensive abilities and still maximize his abilities as a productive offensive player, there's no better way of doing it than making him play with the starters most of his minutes.

Except that making him play against taller, starting-caliber PFs is probably not maximizing his abilities as a productive offensive player.

I have never equated size with defensive or offensive ability. talent yes, size, no.

Well, I think their point (and its a good one) is that Sully's biggest knock in college was that he struggled to score in the post against longer defenders.  He would kill guys his size and smaller, but bigger guys would often swallow him up.

The problem is, I don't think the C's have much interest in feeding him in the post like they did at OSU, when he was the focal point of the offense.  They will take advantage of those skills when he has a mismatch, but otherwise, he will be more of a garbageman on offense.  Which will allow him to really use his soft hands and footwork, playing off the other starters.

[Chris]

Why assume that Sully won't be able to defend taller, more athletic PFs? He's going to body them, at least, something that Bass isn't great at doing. And even if Bass is better at defender taller PFs,  I'd rather have the weaker defender playing with KG. 

To me, Sullinger is one of those rare guys who just gets it. Throw him in the deep water, and he will figure out how to swim.   

Yeah, and the defense so far has been impressive.  He still has some work to do, but I think he is already more versed in the team defense than Bass was 2+ months into last season, and is probably more advanced than Powe was 1 and a half years into his career.

And when it comes to young guys getting on the floor, it is all about the defensive system.  Once Sully gets that, there is going to be nothing keeping him from playing, and yes, perhaps even starting.

[fairweatherfan]

Doc's been hinting about starting Sully for awhile now.  I think he prefers Bass with the second unit, and Sully learning to play off KG.

I'd be cool with this, but still pretty surprised if it is how it went down. I still think KG/Darko, Bass/KG are both more likely starting frontcourts.

Well, I also thought we'd be moving KG to the 4 and starting Darko in the regular season, but it looks like that won't happen.

I think the important thing is that Doc doesn't necessarily care about starting his best 5 players.  He likes to have strong lineups together throughout the game.  If he thinks the veteran starters can stabilize Sully, and Bass can stabilize the bench units moreso than the reverse, I think he'll go with it.  Remember that the game plan when we got Bass was to bring him off the bench as the #3 big, too.

Doesn't mean the team thinks Sully is the better player, just the better fit.

[TripleOT]

It's abundantly clear that Sully fits better with KG, and Bass with Darko.  Doc's just paving the way for what they have known for a while now - that Sullinger is going to start and play a big role right away. 

To me, Sulliger's play will be the key to this team winning a title.  They desperately need inside play and physicality.  If Sully can be an impact guy in the paint and take the occasional hard foul, the Cs will be way better off. 

[Moranis]

More of a confirmation what we all already knew but didn't want to believe i.e. Brandon Bass is not a starting level PF and has only been playing there because Boston has no one better.

[Chris]

More of a confirmation what we all already knew but didn't want to believe i.e. Brandon Bass is not a starting level PF and has only been playing there because Boston has no one better.

Exactly.  Although I would say (more positively), that Bass is an ideal PF off the bench for this team.  His energy, and shooting gives them a real spark off the bench, and can do a lot of damage against other teams second units.

Although, this year, they are lucky enough to have (at least) 2 other sparks off the bench in Terry and Green.

If Sully and Lee play well enough to stay in the starting lineup, this team is going to be able to throw so much at other teams from their bench.  It will be so different from what we have seen the last few years.

[blastoidesroidsnoids]

Sully definitely needs to be in the starting line up, imagine with our shooters how many more 2-4 point posessions we'd get with sully pulling down offensive rebounds and either finishing at the rim or dishing them out to our snipers.

With bass on the bench we dont lose anything because it makes us look even better if he's our second guy at the 4 because our rookie is that good, and we will still retain line-ups with him and garnett spacing the floor as jumper bigs. I expect with some of greens added strength we will see that same effectiveness with him and bass on the court.

[Kane3387]

Well if you want to hide Sully's lack of defensive abilities and still maximize his abilities as a productive offensive player, there's no better way of doing it than making him play with the starters most of his minutes.

Hit the nail on the head. Sullinger's defense will be up and down this season. Put him next to KG where he can capitalize off his passing and defensive prowess.

Bass also has familiarity with Jet from their days in Dallas. Don't forget that. In the first two games it seems that Doc wants Green attacking the basket. Especially off of screens. Bass as a pick and pop big would be better at complimenting Green and Jet.

[Who]

With Garnett's 5-5-5 minute distribution, I think Doc can get Sully just as much minutes alongside KG off the bench as he can with Sully in the starting lineup.

However, in the bench role, Sully will be matched up mostly against backup big men who are mostly inferior offensive threats relative to starting PFs and inferior defensive players who are less capable of stopping him.

I think Sully will take the starting spot from Bass at some point but I believe he'll need to play passable (albeit below average) defense before that happens. Not sure when that will be. Maybe at some point this season and almost definitely by next season. I am taking a more cautious view and am expecting it to be next season. It would be great if he could win that starting spot this year though. I love his offense/rebounding as a complement to that starting unit.

[kozlodoev]

Well if you want to hide Sully's lack of defensive abilities and still maximize his abilities as a productive offensive player, there's no better way of doing it than making him play with the starters most of his minutes.

Except that making him play against taller, starting-caliber PFs is probably not maximizing his abilities as a productive offensive player.

I have never equated size with defensive or offensive ability. talent yes, size, no.

I've said nothing about size. I've just said he's known to have problems finishing against taller opposition, so I'm not sure making him go against the Josh Smiths and Chris Boshes of the world will maximize his ability.

That doesn't mean he won't start, whether it's right away or later on, but there's no guarantee that he is, at this point, ready and able to deal with this level of competition. I'm refusing to take two games agains European opponents as conslusive indicator of anything.

[wahz]

The 2nd lineup isn't much of a drop from the starters anyway after the center position:

KG/Darko
Bass/Sully
PP/Green
Lee/Bradley
Rondo/Jet

I know it would never happen but KG would be a good energy guy off the bench(falls off chair laughing.)Can come in at either center or pf.

He could win 6th man of the year! He's a heckuva cheerleader too

Wilcox or Darko
Bass
PP
Bradley
Rondo