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[CelticConcourse]

Has anyone seen the article by Chris Frosberg that states: 

"Boston's most successful five-man unit during this four-game stretch has been Leandro Barbosa, Jason Terry, Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, and Jason Collins.

According to lineup data logged by NBA.com, that unit has the best overall plus/minus of any Boston unit over the last four games checking in at plus-16 in 12 minutes of floor time (which doesn't sound like a lot, but that's the fourth most used lineup in that span).

Sure, plus/minus isn't the only barometer for quality play, but it's hard to argue with the bottom line. That five-man unit shot 80 percent both overall (16 of 20) and beyond the 3-point arc (4 of 5) and generated 45 points in those 12 minutes. That output is crazy enough on its own, but even more so when you consider that unit turned the ball over eight times as well. The five-man unit owned a ridiculous 148.6 offensive rating during its floor time (only somewhat diminished by a 103.3 defensive rating, even as opponents shot a mere 37 percent). "

Here's the link:

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4701996/lineup-watch-whats-working


Still confused? He backs it up with statistics and small sample sizes...

  Sounds like proof that we don't need KG.

STATISTICS ARE OVERRATED.

[LarBrd33]

It's really not all that complicated when you think about it.  Let me break it down for you.

Rondo was having his best season ever... averaging 13.7 points, 11 assists in 37 minutes.  Pretty impressive.  He's arguably responsible for 35.7 points.   But his presence didn't leave a ton of minutes left for the other 4 guards on this team.

We can skip talking about Bradley, because Bradley's minutes aren't really effected.  He just slides over the PG where he belongs (he's too small to play SG).

Leading up to the injury, Barbosa was getting like 5 minutes a night when he played... and getting DNP after DNP.  In December, Barbosa averaged 1 point in 6 minutes per game... if he played at all.

Barbosa's last 4 games:  10.5 points 2.7 assists 23.25 minutes


Terry's last 4 games:  12.5 points, 4 assists in 28.25 minutes

Lee's last 4 games:  8.5 points, 3 assists in 30 minutes a night.  About 7 minutes more than he usually plays.

Pierce is averaging 6.2 assists in the last 4 games.

Jeff Green is averaging 13.5 points in the last 4 games now that he gets to hold the basketball.

So basically you have guys like Barbosa (who would be getting DNP's) getting quality minutes.  You got barbosa getting a couple assists, you got Terry getting a couple more assists, you got Lee getting a couple more assists and you got Pierce getting a couple more assists.  Barbosa is scoring more buckets, Lee is scoring more buckets and Terry is scoring more buckets.  At the end of the day, we have guys who are filling up the stats that Rondo usually gets.  It's spread around more.  The team is moving the ball more.  Our best defensive guards are starting in the back court.  We aren't starting a 6'2 180 pound player at SG.  JEff Green gets to have a bigger role.  The team doesn't have to worry about Rondo being a liability without the basketball.   Losing Rondo hurts the team, but what we're gaining by him being out kinda evens  it out.  We'll continue being .500.

Welcome to the Freedom Offense.

  Again, when we get into a playoff series against a top defensive team we can put your analysis to the test.

Why would the playoffs be any different?  Rondo's regular season production this year is pretty darn close to his playoff numbers.. he just was getting an extra 5 minutes a night.

[BballTim]

It's really not all that complicated when you think about it.  Let me break it down for you.

Rondo was having his best season ever... averaging 13.7 points, 11 assists in 37 minutes.  Pretty impressive.  He's arguably responsible for 35.7 points.   But his presence didn't leave a ton of minutes left for the other 4 guards on this team.

We can skip talking about Bradley, because Bradley's minutes aren't really effected.  He just slides over the PG where he belongs (he's too small to play SG).

Leading up to the injury, Barbosa was getting like 5 minutes a night when he played... and getting DNP after DNP.  In December, Barbosa averaged 1 point in 6 minutes per game... if he played at all.

Barbosa's last 4 games:  10.5 points 2.7 assists 23.25 minutes


Terry's last 4 games:  12.5 points, 4 assists in 28.25 minutes

Lee's last 4 games:  8.5 points, 3 assists in 30 minutes a night.  About 7 minutes more than he usually plays.

Pierce is averaging 6.2 assists in the last 4 games.

Jeff Green is averaging 13.5 points in the last 4 games now that he gets to hold the basketball.

So basically you have guys like Barbosa (who would be getting DNP's) getting quality minutes.  You got barbosa getting a couple assists, you got Terry getting a couple more assists, you got Lee getting a couple more assists and you got Pierce getting a couple more assists.  Barbosa is scoring more buckets, Lee is scoring more buckets and Terry is scoring more buckets.  At the end of the day, we have guys who are filling up the stats that Rondo usually gets.  It's spread around more.  The team is moving the ball more.  Our best defensive guards are starting in the back court.  We aren't starting a 6'2 180 pound player at SG.  JEff Green gets to have a bigger role.  The team doesn't have to worry about Rondo being a liability without the basketball.   Losing Rondo hurts the team, but what we're gaining by him being out kinda evens  it out.  We'll continue being .500.

Welcome to the Freedom Offense.

  Again, when we get into a playoff series against a top defensive team we can put your analysis to the test.

Why would the playoffs be any different?  Rondo's regular season production this year is pretty darn close to his playoff numbers.. he just was getting an extra 5 minutes a night.

  Why do teams that rely on balanced offense without players who can dominate games tend to wither in the playoffs against tougher opponents? I'll leave that to you to figure out when it happens. And for all your posts about how Rondo isn't much better in the playoffs than the regular season, the fact that he's better at all is fairly impressive.