Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“The Celtics are dealing with two big issues,” the scout said. “They’re waiting for Avery Bradley to come back [he’s expected to return later this month after undergoing surgery on both shoulders]. They need him because they don’t have a backup point guard. Instead of signing Leandro Barbosa, I was surprised they didn’t go for a guy like Jannero Pargo, who at least can handle the point. If [coach] Doc Rivers and [GM] Danny Ainge were being totally honest, I think they would admit they miscalculated on that one. There are nights when Rajon Rondo gives them 42 to 46 minutes, but there are other nights when they need to give him 10 minutes of rest — and that’s a lot of minutes to fill when you don’t have a true point guard to run your team. Teams have been taking advantage of that when Rondo has been on the bench.”
We’ve seen a couple of different Leandro Barbosas so far this season. There’s the Barbosa who stunned us by scoring 16 points in 16 minutes off the bench against Miami to start the season, making us think the Celtics got a steal with their last-minute offseason signing. And there’s the Barbosa who was swarmed by the Nets, who attacked him and the Celtics with a full court press and blew a game open (prior to Rondo’s ejection).
Rajon Rondo went to the bench in that game with the Celtics down 24-20 with :48 left in the first quarter. He returned at the 7:15 mark with the Nets up 41-26… which was a nice little 17-6 run for Brooklyn. I’m not sure Jannero Pargo is the answer for all (or part) of what ails the Celtics, but there is little doubt that the Celtics see a serious drop off when Rondo leaves the floor.
Is Avery Bradley going to fix that? I don’t think so. I can’t wait to see what the Celtics are going to do to use Bradley as the back up. The only thing I can think of is starting him, pulling him early, and then re-inserting him for Rondo later. I’ve said a million times… I don’t want to see him on the bench as THE backup for Rondo. That’s not where he’s been successful. He should be a starter along side Rondo. That’s what’s best for the team.
Since we’re here, let’s see what this scout’s second issue is for the Celtics:
“The other issue is Jeff Green. When he was playing great in the preseason, it was huge for them that he was carrying their second unit. The Celtics are trying to take pressure off Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, but to do that they need their bench to be great. Green was supposed to be great and he hasn’t been so far. But I do think he’ll get better over the course of the year, and the Celtics will be a stronger team in the postseason than they’ll show during the regular season”
Green is showing some improvement lately. He’s definitely a guy we need to be patient with. We’re not even at the quarter pole of this NBA season… it’ll take time.
Follow the link to read this guy’s take on KG and Bass. It’s interesting stuff.
The rest of the links:
Herald: C’s get bounce on boards | ESPN Boston: Mailbag: searching for consistency | Pierce likes direction C’s headed | Globe: Lee-Terry combo proves effective for Celtics | MWDN: Rivers performing juggling act with Celtics’ lineup
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
