Bench looking better now

[DERRENMATTS]

I'm more confident in our bench, and more relieved, now that we have 4 consistent players waiting to be subbed in. Pollard, Scalabrine, Posey, and House are guys who can come in for 10 - 15 minutes a game and keep the game under control as the starters sit and recover.

Pollard, as we remember him from his Sacramento and Indiana days, is a scrappy hustler, whose adequately big body helps him to grab boards, and sometimes contribute on offense (putback attempts). He'll average around 17 mpg, and be used just as much as Fabricio Oberto does for the Spurs (he backs up Francisco Elson).

Scalabrine is what he is--a big body energy player who can fill in at the SF/PF. Underneath the bowling league body is a hustler who crashes for boards well, who is active on defense (he may not be a good defensive player, but he certainly tries), and a guy who can knock down jumpers (including 3's) when his feet are set. Won't be used as much as Pollard (since Pierce and KG will be playing a lot of minutes), and eventually, his time could be cut as Doc makes time for Powe and Big Baby.

Posey--I really like this signing. I wasn't expecting Ainge to reel in an All-Star talent backup for Piece and Ray Allen, so when I read this morning that he had signed Posey, I was more than content. Posey gives us what we need off the bench--a veteran who has been in big games before, a defensive player who is big enough to stay with Lebron and Ron Artest, and a guy who can contribute some on offense (he can knock down 3's as well as clean up offensive boards). I wasn't sure if Tony will be ready by the start of the season, and I have no confidence in Jackie Manuel and Brandon Wallace helping us off the bench this season, making James Posey even more valuable in my eyes. We now have a stable wing player off the bench.

Eddie House will most likely be our backup for Rajon Rondo. If all goes well, Rajon will be playing a lot of minutes anyways, so what we'll need from out backup PG is just a guy who can take care of the ball as it is being brought up above midcourt, and a guy who can drain kick out passes. From what I've seen of Eddie House (especially last season with the Nets), he's like Dana Barros--a lights out shooter who fills in as a PG. Again, I'm expecting Rajon to be on the court a lot, so House will probably need to help out for about 11 mpg.

The rest of the guys are Leon Powe, Big Baby Davis, Tony Allen, Gabe Pruitt, and Brandon Wallace. I'm expecting Wallace and Pruitt to be in the D-League, getting some much needed developmental time. Powe will get spot minutes here and there, but by the midway point of the season, I think Powe will be a regular in the rotation, getting about 8 - 10 minutes per game. His value as an offensive rebounder and instigator (guy makes things happen in the paint) will be put to use. Once Big Baby starts increasing his vertical, he'll be able to have more impact against taller big men. In time, I also expect him to see consistent time on the court. But don't expect to see him much early on. The same for Tony Allen. TA is an important factor for our future, and his total recovery from his knee injury is majorly important. But he'll be given the time to recover at a slower pace now that Posey is here.

[Roadrunner]

The bench is adequate. How about Docs rotations?

[clem]

There is going to be at least 1/2 more roster moves.They have to bring in a pg.And Kandi just might get another chance,Don't be surprised.

[boston]

Once again the glove anyone?

[cfoo]

We still might need a backup pg, although a 10 man rotation could be too much. Maybe House will be that but one of our pgs goes down, who is the 3rd pg? Ray Allen? We've filled our bench with hustling scrappy vets. Pollard, Scal, Posey, House. Big Baby, Powe, TA are going to find it tough to get minutes. Like you said Derren I tend to think we've more gone the route of grooming these guys for another day. DA did a nice job of picking the best players for cheap off the scrap heap. Pollard, Posey, House were probably the best of the lot for their price range. We are a fairly deep team and should be ok now.

[cfoo]

What's scary is if Rondo gets hurt for a long stretch that could really put a damper on things. Same kind of goes for Perk. They are basically our only legit pg and Center on the roster. I can see Garnett sliding to center if Perk goes down and Pollard or Posey starting, but Rondo goes down we start with House or Allen at pg?

[DERRENMATTS]

Right, I think Ainge has done a good job of picking up players for cheap, who are serviceable off the bench.

It may just be my thinking, but I think we are OK at PG, meaning we don't need another guy. Doc's offensive system isn't made for ball dominating PG's. The ball is out of the PG's hands most of the times. Our big men touch the ball as many times as our PG's do (so it seems). I even question how well Doc will utilize Rajon's vast PG skills.

[cfoo]

Well that's the thing we have House, RAy Allen, Tony Allen who can all play that position. But still Rondo is the guy that's going to make things go and I dont think we will be as dangerous without him. I just hope he and Perk stay healthy this year. I also think we are pretty much done. We might add a pg but this could be it. The problem is whatever pg we sign is going to have to know they aren't going to play much unless of injury. GP might be willing to do that and ride this thing to a ring. He's probably the only one. I just dont think Payton has a whole lot of game left where he is really any better than Ray Allen or House or TA playing that position where he might not be worth it. plus we just used up the mle so he'd have to sign for the minimum. we still have a 1 million trade exception as well i believe.

[DERRENMATTS]

If we were to add another PG or big man, we'd have to make another roster cut (Manuel is liking gone, now that Posey is here). I think Ainge likes having Pruitt in the mix for our future team, so I think he's safe (Ainge likes shooters, and Gabe has a nice jumper). The jury is still out on Brandon Wallace. But if he can prove to be more than an end of the bench player (which is what he currently is--his niche is similar to Jackie Manuel's), Ainge may try to hold onto him.

Aside from those 2, I think everyone else safe. If Ainge is going to cut anymore players to make room for guys he may bring in, it'll have to be for young players who he can hold onto. Like a young PG or big man he can groom for our future.

[cfoo]

Well the roster breaks down pretty nice as it is

C-Perk(probably 25-30 mpg) - Pollard (probably 15 mpg)
PF-GArnett (a little under 40 mpg) - Scal will probably get around 10
SF-Pierce same as Garnett - Posey backing up allen and Pierce getting around 25-30
SG-Allen around 35 mpg
PG-Rondo - around 30 mpg - house backing up Allen and Rondo for around 10-15 mpg

Players are going to be moved around to get Posey his minutes, and if we plan to incorporate TA, Powe and Big Baby it's going to be tough. They will get minutes in stretches to rest guys during the season imo and we will work TA and either Powe or Davis in more as the season goes.

We could use another guard in there but maybe Pruitt is it. We basically have our 9 man rotation and then we have depth behind that rotation in Big Baby, Powe, Wallace, TA, and Pruitt so it kind of works out. They are kind of our C team. I think Allen is the guy that will end up making the biggest impact out of that bunch later in the season imo.

[DERRENMATTS]

I think we have a solid 9 man rotation, which is where it should be.

Powe and Big Baby will see spot minutes, but they are more likely pieces for our future. Tony will have a chance to make it into the rotation if he regains his form.

We could bring in better players and upgrade our roster talent--but that means we'd have to cut off some of our young pieces, and we are pretty sparce their already. If there has to be another cut, it'll most likely be Brandon Wallace. I think Pruitt has a shot in our future.

[cfoo]

I agree Big Baby and Powe are kind of the heir apparents to Pollard and Scal. I think they will be played just to rest guys for stretches during the year as injuries crop up and guys need a break. TA should make an impact this year since we need another guard.

The thing I like about BRandon Wallace is he reminds me of a Posey. He might be worth keeping around. Posey's contract is for 2 years and by then Wallace might be a nice player to take over for him. It's kind of a shot in the dark at this point, but he could be a player for us. Right now we dont need him to do anything anyways.

If we ship Wallace and Pruitt to the d-league does that mean we can't sign someone else?

[DERRENMATTS]

That's if Allen returns fully healthy this season. Torn cartlidges are not as career threatening as they once were, and many athletes get stronger after the surgery than they were prior to it. But it still may take him longer than opening night to get 100% healthy. Right now, I don't think we are in a big need to have him back on the court by October 1st. Posey, and even Eddie House, can fill in time at 2 guard.

Speaking about heir apparents, I think Powe, Big Baby, and Gabe Pruitt will be good bench players in a few years. If we can hold onto them and develop their games, we won't need to worry about depth in the future. With Rajon and Pruitt, we have our PG depth taken care of, and Powe, Big Baby, and Perkins will pretty much take care of our depth at PF and C. If we can acquire a star caliber PF and one at the wings, that will be sweet. Tony Allen has a chance to cement his role as the starting 2.

[cfoo]

I've always thought TA has big time potential where he could be the starter someday. We are going to need to replace RAy Allen first most likely and if TA makes it all the way back he could b e it. I agree with you pretty much that our roster is set up nice for now and in the future. Replacing GArnett and Pierce is going to be tricky but that's a ways away. DA will have to be busy drafting young studs again. As Pollard and Scal are moved out of here, and DAvis and Powe get more time, we will have room to add a young stud at PF to mix in there.

The thing that is nice about this team Derren is although we are playing for the here and now we can still be a dynasty where we can sustain this if things are done right.

[DERRENMATTS]

I think Ray Allen will be the 1st of our new Big 3 who will need to be replaced (just my hunch). Hopefully by that time, TAllen will be primed to take over. Yeah, I think he's got a lot of talent too. When we first drafted him, I was thinking to myself that we don't need him. He wasn't a big time collegiate and there wasn't much buzz surrounding him. But it didn't take long for me to like the guy, and from that point on, he was one of my favorite Celtics players. The only part of his game that I cringe at, is his focus. But last year, he began to quelch those concerns, and I'm optimistic that he can be a focused player. Yeah, he can improve his jumper so that its consistent, and he can tighten up his dribbling, and he can become a better finisher around the rim, but there's so much to drool over.

But getting back to replacing players, Ainge needs to do his magic again and start pulling out gems in the latter part of the draft. Getting a talent like Josh Howard (a very late 1st rounder) or Tony Parker (picked in the 20s), or even Gilbert Arenas or carlos Boozer (picked in the 2nd round) will be vital, since we won't be picking early in the draft anymore. We need to find replacement star caliber players again who we can start to groom right now, so that there won't be a gaping hole again when our Big 3 are gone.