How are we suppose to incorporate the Bigs?

[mr. dee]

If Doc was just letting them rot off the bench? I don't know the issue about Darko but as much as Collins sucks as most of people say, he should at least see some minutes even if it's less than 5 for defensive purpose.

[Celtics4ever]

Throw the ball inside and score down low.   Bigs rebound and get you the ball.  This team ever since McHale left has been a jump shooting team with the exception of Big Al.

[mr. dee]

Perk doesn't really crash the board or score down low. I'm content with the bigs being an enforcer on the paint. Doc should play Darko and Collins in the role of Perk.

[pearljammer10]

Gotta find minutes for darko and Collins somehow. Also need to start getting the ball in the paint. All we do is stand around and take jump shots.

[xmuscularghandix]

Darko should be playing.

I like Sullinger starting over Bass because he provides shots in the paint (which the starting 5 sometimes seems to forget the importance of). I like Bass coming in and then playing 25 minutes at the power forward. But I CAN NOT STAND the front court duo of Bass and Sullinger, they are too small and neither are rim protectors. This is especially bad because Bass has a tendency to switch onto smaller players on pick and rolls... you can't do that when the only big behind you is only 6'9".

Also: Jeff Green needs to be playing around 25 minutes, he also needs most of those minutes at the Small Forward spot. Why go small with Green at the 4 when you can go big with Pierce and Green out there as the wingmen? I hate using Jeff Green as just a "stretch 4" who sits on the perimeter and only gets shots when the clock is expiring. Put him as a huge SF and actually give him a chance to make some plays.

[Smutzy#9]

Doc just needs to watch the tape from the denver miami game today. forget the actual stats, But there was an ABSURD!!! amount of points scored in the paint against miami. seriously switch to a zone, go big with a kg darko/Collins line up for 5-6 mins... Lets see them drive then.

[Celtics4ever]

you can't do that when the only big behind you is only 6'9".

tell that to Bill Russell.

[bfrombleacher]

Doc just needs to watch the tape from the denver miami game today. forget the actual stats, But there was an ABSURD!!! amount of points scored in the paint against miami. seriously switch to a zone, go big with a kg darko/Collins line up for 5-6 mins... Lets see them drive then.

I haven't liked the small ball so far either.

In my humble opinion:

The bench was a bright spot in the preseason. Darko was also a bright spot in the preseason. Doc went away from both and went right back to leaning on KG, Rondo and Pierce for playmaking.

While Doc did have a bunch of very raw players and benchwarmers before, a bunch of them (E'twaun, Hollins, even Pavlovic) are now contributing. I feel like there's some stubbornness on Doc's part.

Hopefully with more proven players (even Darko is a huge upgrade) he'll figure out rotations that'll take the load away from Pierce and KG.

Of course, it's definitely not Doc's fault entirely. We look like we're in vacation mode rather than season mode. The Jet not asserting himself also doesn't help. But quite a few agree that Doc's rotations have been sub-optimal.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I have been saying this, Doc is trying to make us Mia but he doesn't realize, as good as we are we have NO players that are a Lebron, Wade, and Bosh (I don't mean that we don't have great players)... Lebron by himself is almost as good as KG and PP put together (I hate him but he is amazing). They can afford to go small b/c they are lightning quick, strong, and great players. They do have a huge weakness and I can't for the life of me understand why Doc wants to conform to them instead of exploiting their weakness!

I'm not saying Darko is great by any stretch but he can certainly produce like Perk and is better than Stiems! If we knew we weren't going to use Darko, Collins, and somewhat Wilcox then why not just get Collins as an emergency backup and get smaller, quicker, scorers? Doc is wasting those guys when they could eat Mia's and small teams lunch (you don't need great bigs to kill Mia)! Mia was being abused inside so bad last night that they HAD to put in Joel... now tell me, how often do they put him in? Desperate for big help if you gotta call on Anthony.

[QuickT]

Darko should be playing.

I like Sullinger starting over Bass because he provides shots in the paint (which the starting 5 sometimes seems to forget the importance of). I like Bass coming in and then playing 25 minutes at the power forward. But I CAN NOT STAND the front court duo of Bass and Sullinger, they are too small and neither are rim protectors. This is especially bad because Bass has a tendency to switch onto smaller players on pick and rolls... you can't do that when the only big behind you is only 6'9".

Also: Jeff Green needs to be playing around 25 minutes, he also needs most of those minutes at the Small Forward spot. Why go small with Green at the 4 when you can go big with Pierce and Green out there as the wingmen? I hate using Jeff Green as just a "stretch 4" who sits on the perimeter and only gets shots when the clock is expiring. Put him as a huge SF and actually give him a chance to make some plays.

AMEN, BROTHER..AMEN!!  Play Green lots of minutes at the 3 and please never, never, never again play the Sully/Bass frontcourt together.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Darko should be playing.

I like Sullinger starting over Bass because he provides shots in the paint (which the starting 5 sometimes seems to forget the importance of). I like Bass coming in and then playing 25 minutes at the power forward. But I CAN NOT STAND the front court duo of Bass and Sullinger, they are too small and neither are rim protectors. This is especially bad because Bass has a tendency to switch onto smaller players on pick and rolls... you can't do that when the only big behind you is only 6'9".

Also: Jeff Green needs to be playing around 25 minutes, he also needs most of those minutes at the Small Forward spot. Why go small with Green at the 4 when you can go big with Pierce and Green out there as the wingmen? I hate using Jeff Green as just a "stretch 4" who sits on the perimeter and only gets shots when the clock is expiring. Put him as a huge SF and actually give him a chance to make some plays.

AMEN, BROTHER..AMEN!!  Play Green lots of minutes at the 3 and please never, never, never again play the Sully/Bass frontcourt together.

Lord have mercy, I was saying that all chat last night! They are not good enough defensively to even think about sniffing the court together!!! Just another thing that shows me Doc can't handle too much depth (at least so far), he seems to need injuries to force his hand. Had Ray not been hurt, we would still be hearing Doc say AB is fighting Moore to get ANY playing time (as much as I love Moore, even when AB was horrid on offense his defense was always top notch and that alone should have given him the nod b/c we had offense for days we just couldn't get enough shots lol)!

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I second the motion that Darko should be playing.

If anything he's a shot blocker. Let's not have Bass and Sully playing the bigs.

Jeff Green should play 3, if not always. KG, Green and Darko on your front court is a lot of length and defense, offensive rebounds by opponents would be a hard thing to get.

[snively]

Let's hope Darko plays well enough/gets in good enough shape to earn a spot in the rotation, a la Stiemsma.   So many offensive role players/weak defenders in the rotation that we need a strong defensive big man to spell KG.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I agree that Darko should be getting a lot more playing time. I'm not sold on small ball, or on trying to be like Miami. We should be who we are and force other teams to adjust to us.

Getting Bradley back will help neutralize Wade, but there's no one in the league who can neutralize LeBron on the perimeter. The best course of action against the Heat (and in general) is to have solid rim protection behind a solid perimeter defense. When KG goes off the court, Darko should come on, and it would also be nice to see them on the court together.

I also think "Green at the 4" should be rarely seen. If there's a clear matchup advantage, go for it, but he's much better as a 3. Play Pierce at the 2 if you have to, to get Green enough minutes where he's effective.

I never thought we'd be too deep, and I realize that injuries could still thin things out, but it's like Doc feels compelled to get so many guys a certain number of minutes that it's throwing off rotations.

[Ogaju]

I have been saying this, Doc is trying to make us Mia but he doesn't realize, as good as we are we have NO players that are a Lebron, Wade, and Bosh (I don't mean that we don't have great players)... Lebron by himself is almost as good as KG and PP put together (I hate him but he is amazing). They can afford to go small b/c they are lightning quick, strong, and great players. They do have a huge weakness and I can't for the life of me understand why Doc wants to conform to them instead of exploiting their weakness!

I'm not saying Darko is great by any stretch but he can certainly produce like Perk and is better than Stiems! If we knew we weren't going to use Darko, Collins, and somewhat Wilcox then why not just get Collins as an emergency backup and get smaller, quicker, scorers? Doc is wasting those guys when they could eat Mia's and small teams lunch (you don't need great bigs to kill Mia)! Mia was being abused inside so bad last night that they HAD to put in Joel... now tell me, how often do they put him in? Desperate for big help if you gotta call on Anthony.

Dont you get me started on Doc. I have another thread 'it may be early, but I have seen enough....' but folks jumped all over me. Truth is Doc rides his stars too too much. In 08 we won the chip because injuries and fouls forced Doc into playing Powe and others when he ordinarily would not have. He is killing this team by not playing Darko. Team does not have an identity, with this team Rondo should evolve he does not ALWAYS have to run the break we have other players that can create a change up by running the ball and have Rondo finish at the rim. This pick and pop offense to KG is old.