| Put The Pieces Around Poor Paul Pierce Authored by A. Robin McKenna - February 13, 2006 - 11:27 pm
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This guy wants to win and seems to take the concept of team seriously. I guess his glitches of vanity force me correct myself here: this guy wants to be the central piece on a team with a will to win.
While we’ll soon find out whether Pierce is even still in Boston come the February 23rd trading deadline, if he is, the pieces need to fall into place around him, and quickly. As the All Star game comes and goes, the Celtics are hard-pressed to gain some continuity on their team, some identity, and maybe in the process a prayer of winning on the road.
Ryan Gomes’ value as a rebounder has surfaced during these last two Celtics games without Perkins and Jefferson. He had nine rebounds in wins against Portland and Orlando.
In an unwarranted leap of fate, let us hypothetically call Gomes the final piece to the Celtics puzzle. After all, someone needs to bounce Pierce out of his fourth, team-leading statistical category, right?
If there are 240 minutes of playing time available in an NBA basketball game, here is a potential breakdown for the Celtics current roster in anticipation of their two-headed monster’s swift and full-blooded return. I do not assume any participation from Gerald Green as of yet.
Delonte West: 38 minutes – He’s fit; let him run the show.
Paul Pierce: 36 minutes – Needs to be in, breathers only.
Wally Sczcerbiak: 34 minutes – Some of his minutes need to go to rebounders, but only when he’s not hot.
Kendrick Perkins: 34 minutes – Here is your leader on defense. This needs to be respected.
Al Jefferson: 32 minutes – Needs rest to recover his defensive poise. Should be left in down the stretch and given the ball.
Ryan Gomes: 20 minutes – Barkley, Rodman, Pierce, and many others have proven you don’t need to be 6-10 to rebound. He can sub for Pierce, Sczcerbiak, or Jefferson.
Orien Greene: 12 minutes – Here’s your gutsy back up point guard; has to refrain from turning the ball over while staying aggressive on offense.
Raef Lafrentz: 10 minutes – His PT needs diminishing. See if he gets hot, then leave him in. The rest of his game doesn’t make up for his streaky shooting.
Michael Olowokandi: 10 minutes – Get the man to continue playing defense. He could show an upside yet.
Tony Allen: 10 minutes – Until his full athleticism returns, he’s got to see himself as a lock-down type.
Brian Scalabrine: 4 minutes – Send him in, tell him not to shoot, to foul at least twice, and hope he gets under the other team’s skin.
This breakdown’s main purposes would be: (1) to establish a core unit that wins or goes down fighting together (2) to rebound better (3) to allow for the emergence of definitive role players and (4) to disallow for offensively impotent second lineups
The Celtics cannot continue to have stretches where they look lackluster and confused any longer if outside hopes of a playoff berth can remain. Pierce needs to be reckless on both ends of the floor and vocalize his centrality to his teammates, not merely allude to it by his fraternizations with the opposing team’s best player. West needs to run the offense with authority. Perkins needs to realize his Ben Wallace-like role as the player who prides himself and come up big on the defensive end.
These are the Celtics scattered pieces. Only if and when Doc Rivers finds their steady arrangement will we even truly know what type of team the 2005-2006 Celtics can be. |
