If you had to move a guy to the bench.

[ssspence]

Move Isaiah Thomas to the bench? Start Zeller? Start Gerald Green?

This thread is not exactly a strong reflection of Csblogger basketball knowledge....

[nickagneta]

There is no reason to bench anyone from the starting unit. The starters are playing good basketball. The whole team simply has to play better defense. The bench is too young to be relied upon but they do outscore the opposition's bench most of the time. Until a trade is made for a star to enter the starters, there is zero reason to change anything except maybe to replace Brown with Gerald Green.

Exactly.  If there are issues with scoring off the bench, then adjust the rotations so that either IT or AB is on the floor at all times.  Benching someone will only cause issues, when they could be avoided by just changing rotations.

Subs are not done wholesale.  You can very easily keep a starter or two on the floor at all times without demoting them to the bench

I have noticed a recent change to the rotation that Horford is spending more time with the bench. That bench is too young not to have at least one starter among IT, Bradley or Horford out there with them to steady the young players.

[Rosco917]

Move IT to the bench, start Smart, let him be a facilitator, look to get Bradley, Horford, and Crowder more and better shots. Run more plays for certain players and RUN. (Obviously they'll need to defend aggressively)

Bring IT off the bench, let him do his thing, until the opposing teams starts to react to his game. He'll end up playing almost as many minutes as he does now, and still get his 20+.

Many be worth a try.

[Tr1boy]

Move IT to the bench, start Smart, let him be a facilitator, look to get Bradley, Horford, and Crowder more and better shots. Run more plays for certain players and RUN. (Obviously they'll need to defend aggressively)

Bring IT off the bench, let him do his thing, until the opposing teams starts to react to his game. He'll end up playing almost as many minutes as he does now, and still get his 20+.

Many be worth a try.

Yes. And i dont care if IT was an All Star or is going to acting grumpy

Whatever is best for the team.

[TheSundanceKid]

Out of those 3 it has to be Bradley. IT isn't moving to the bench and the only person who can replace Crowder at starting SF is Brown and he's not ready. If you put Smart in for Crowder we give up way to much size. So it has to be Smart for Bradley, which I don't like.

If you're looking for a reasonable change then KO for Amir would work but it depends on what you want to see from the 2nd unit

[tankcity!]

I'm going to beg god tonight they start Smart. Would love to see what he's made of. If they start winning, the Smart fanatics have a point.

We've gotten to the point where Smart fanatics think starting him over Bradley would make a difference even though Smart himself plays 33 minutes a game. I love this stuff. Can't make it up. I mean at this point why have talent? Let's trade for some grinders.

[TheSundanceKid]

Move IT to the bench, start Smart, let him be a facilitator, look to get Bradley, Horford, and Crowder more and better shots. Run more plays for certain players and RUN. (Obviously they'll need to defend aggressively)

Bring IT off the bench, let him do his thing, until the opposing teams starts to react to his game. He'll end up playing almost as many minutes as he does now, and still get his 20+.

Many be worth a try.

In theory starting Smart could have some advantages. However you are then asking one of Bradley, Crowder or Horford to be the first choice on offense and to date I haven't seen anything that shows me they can do that. Until we get an upgrade to one of the other positions on the court (notably Center) I don't think you can move IT to the bench. Heck even then I wouldn't move him to the bench, but certainly not before

[tankcity!]

Move IT to the bench, start Smart, let him be a facilitator, look to get Bradley, Horford, and Crowder more and better shots. Run more plays for certain players and RUN. (Obviously they'll need to defend aggressively)

Bring IT off the bench, let him do his thing, until the opposing teams starts to react to his game. He'll end up playing almost as many minutes as he does now, and still get his 20+.

Many be worth a try.

In theory starting Smart could have some advantages. However you are then asking one of Bradley, Crowder or Horford to be the first choice on offense and to date I haven't seen anything that shows me they can do that. Until we get an upgrade to one of the other positions on the court (notably Center) I don't think you can move IT to the bench. Heck even then I wouldn't move him to the bench, but certainly not before

How do you know the win loss record has anything to do with the core 4? I mean they need better bigs, not sure what that has to do with Bradley, IT, and Crowder.

[TheSundanceKid]

Move IT to the bench, start Smart, let him be a facilitator, look to get Bradley, Horford, and Crowder more and better shots. Run more plays for certain players and RUN. (Obviously they'll need to defend aggressively)

Bring IT off the bench, let him do his thing, until the opposing teams starts to react to his game. He'll end up playing almost as many minutes as he does now, and still get his 20+.

Many be worth a try.

In theory starting Smart could have some advantages. However you are then asking one of Bradley, Crowder or Horford to be the first choice on offense and to date I haven't seen anything that shows me they can do that. Until we get an upgrade to one of the other positions on the court (notably Center) I don't think you can move IT to the bench. Heck even then I wouldn't move him to the bench, but certainly not before

How do you know the win loss record has anything to do with the core 4? I mean they need better bigs, not sure what that has to do with Bradley, IT, and Crowder.

I mean you'll always accept an upgrade at any position right? You're correct though, the problem is with the bigs at the moment, particularly who plays alongside Al?

[tankcity!]

Move IT to the bench, start Smart, let him be a facilitator, look to get Bradley, Horford, and Crowder more and better shots. Run more plays for certain players and RUN. (Obviously they'll need to defend aggressively)

Bring IT off the bench, let him do his thing, until the opposing teams starts to react to his game. He'll end up playing almost as many minutes as he does now, and still get his 20+.

Many be worth a try.

In theory starting Smart could have some advantages. However you are then asking one of Bradley, Crowder or Horford to be the first choice on offense and to date I haven't seen anything that shows me they can do that. Until we get an upgrade to one of the other positions on the court (notably Center) I don't think you can move IT to the bench. Heck even then I wouldn't move him to the bench, but certainly not before

How do you know the win loss record has anything to do with the core 4? I mean they need better bigs, not sure what that has to do with Bradley, IT, and Crowder.

I mean you'll always accept an upgrade at any position right? You're correct though, the problem is with the bigs at the moment, particularly who plays alongside Al?

That's the problem, they all aren't great. It's strange this wasn't an issue last year. So clearly effort is a problem as well. I think the other part is that teams have figured the Celtics out. They know how to play us.

Honestly it is time for a trade. It's clearly obvious Ainge needs to cash in and trade for talent. We can offer Rozier or Smart, and picks. The problem is our other former first round picks don't have much value in the trade market so you have to offer up good picks like the future Memphis pick, or the Brooklyn picks.

I wish we had drafted better. Can't fault Ainge for it because it's hard.

[tstorey_97]

The issue with benching a starter is for who? (I voted for Crowder)

I'd love to see Crowder tearing up opposing benches and helping our second unit improve, but, who's going to start for him? I just don't see anyone.

[Csfan1984]

The issue with benching a starter is for who? (I voted for Crowder)

I'd love to see Crowder tearing up opposing benches and helping our second unit improve, but, who's going to start for him? I just don't see anyone.

I'd try Green and if Green fails to play good enough defense go with Brown. Brown did flash. And we know Green can go off every few games. I know people are down on Green right now but he had a injury to start the year he will be better once he gets in more practice and games.

[Celtics4ever]

For me it would be Amir, and he is not on the list but he should be....

[csfansince60s]

ZELLER...let's move him to some other team's bench.

[green_bballers13]

I'm going to beg god tonight they start Smart. Would love to see what he's made of. If they start winning, the Smart fanatics have a point.

We've gotten to the point where Smart fanatics think starting him over Bradley would make a difference even though Smart himself plays 33 minutes a game. I love this stuff. Can't make it up. I mean at this point why have talent? Let's trade for some grinders.

The Celtics have a grinder persona right now, which makes sense for a team lacking top notch talent. Once we acquire two top 20 players, no one will be talking about grinding. They'll be talking about Player X going 30/12 and Player Y hitting 6 3's while scoring 25 pts. Every player on our team becomes more valuable as role players, including IT and Horford. Avery, Crowder, and Smart are tough players that a team like GSW would love to mix in with Durant and Curry.