I think Wilcox is the better player, but I think Collins may have been more what our team needed, especially without Rondo (who makes Wilcox much more effective).
Rondo doesn't make Wilcox much more effective. Don't know what Collins brought that was so much needed than Wilcox.
Everyone mentioned, "duh, defense"... well, Collins sucked defensively, and was incredibly hurtful on offense.
Coillins is better on defense than Wilcox is, even if you want to knock Collins which I am more than willing to do. And he has size to match up with centers. He is better man to man and better on rotations.
And how does Rondo not make Wilcox better? All Wilcox is offensively is catch and finish and Rondo is the best passer in the league... Confusing why you would say that.
Because Wilcox's production hasn't changed with or without Rondo. He feeds off well off Pierce as well, from the improved ball movement we have been seeing since Rondo is out, and from running the floor.
The believe that Wilcox is only an asset offensively because of Rondo is a completely flawed premise.
The numbers are pretty similar I'll give you that. Losing your best passer hurts him though, to me. You should just say the production though, because how would losing your best passer hurting a guy who basically only scores open dunks be a "flawed premise"? I would say the premise is quite sound.
And his defense is worse than Collins' and he doesn't have the size. So that hurts you. We need inside scoring but we need size VERY badly.
I really feel the defense is worse the Collins to be an overstatement. For every "hey look, Collins rotated well", there were a plethora of other miscues, and slow to get to his spots moments, and simply abused by more athletic players in the post and from penetration.
We do need size, but using it as an excuse to play Collins over Wilcox is just a bad decision. Ideally Wilcox should have been spending more time as a PF, preferably alongside KG. They've barely played together this season, despite being one of the best big man duos this team could've put on the floor all year, from both a defensive and offensive perspective.
Wilcox is being used too much as a center, as an anchor to a defense, and he's really not suited to play that role.
If it were me, I'd do my best to add another center, and just start Wilcox with KG and have Bass come off the bench. That will be a better balance for this team, I've felt it to be true since last season, and it remains true today for me.
Yeah don't get me wrong, I am not a Collins fan in the slightest. I couldn't believe when we signed him.
That being said, I do agree with your idea of playing Wilcox with KG ideally... however you are failing here to look at any reality of a rotation, before or after our injusties (and especially after, in our current situation).
If you start KG at C and Wilcox at PF... who comes in for KG? You are saying you want o play Bass at C? Someone has to play C and you're basically disregarding this with all of your reasoning.
Wilcox's defensive numbers vs PFs are much better than they are vs C's but the issue is we don't have a choice. He must play center, especially now without Collins. And Collin's defensive numbers were better vs C's than Wilcox's are.
This is just the reality. I understand why Danny went undersized, he didn't want to pay the premium for Centers, but this is the cost of that.
Another point, in addition, is that there is a reason Wilcox can't be played too much in that he is injury prone.
We will see what the Celtics can add, but I doubt whatever it is, especially with true center size, is better than Collins. Maybe it's someone who can produce more but he will be undersized and we haven't truly solved the problem.