Pollard Practices

Because they are literally lost when anybody other than Rondo is playing the point, Kuberski.

An up-to-25MPG backup PG has to be a priority.

No PG available right now Iowa Plowboy. We have a huge need up front and might be able to sort that out somewhat right now with that spot. If a point becomes available we can move on it then and sacrifice someone (Wallace/Pow) to get it done.

House shouldn’t get any of Rondo’s minutes. Because of House’s failings Rondo will probably have to play 32-36 minutes a night this season and 40 in the playoffs. People just aren’t watching the game. It’s clear how valuable Rondo is in comparison to House and how House is not a PG.

‘’If we get into the offense quickly,’’ Rondo said, ‘’we will eventually get a good shot out of it regardless of whether we get a double team, or whatever happens. If I am executing the offense, I am sure we’ll get good looks.’’

The inability to get the team into the offense quickly was one of the reasons why Rivers wasn’t exactly raving about rookie Gabe Pruitt after his 16-point performance against the Knicks on Oct. 17 at the Garden, and why he said he feels comfortable with House as a backup point guard.

’’Eddie’s been off the charts,‘’ doc said. ’’His basketball IQ is so good it allows him to do that. We don’t have a heavy point guard-oriented offense anyway once we get it across halfcourt because of the guys we have now, and he is smart enough to know that and know what he has to do to get it going’’

……….. Eddie should be backup point, definitely. And i would bet anything that he will be (already is)

I agree with you 100% kuberski, on the first comment/response of this thread…. you are absolutely right (and no theyre not lost at all, he can play the damon jones/derek fisher pointguard role, which is bring the ball up, get the ball to the stars/playmakers, try on defense, make a few plays, and hit your open shots)

theyve been fine with that so far and looked great

Hilarious post, Oh Great One. It actually does make a difference…Especially at crunch time. It means we lose.

Are you kidding? When House is pressured the halfcourt offense starts with 12 secs on the shot clock. It should be telling that they turn to the other guy who can’t dribble to be the pg in House’s stead.

Jeff, to say that the Eddie House at pg experiment is over makes it seem like Doc is making this move because House has failed. I think House was fine at backup point. The problem was that no one else on the floor was scoring, whereas House is capable of scoring 10-12 points in as many minutes if allowed to just be a gunner.

In those few minutes each half when Doc will need to sit all of the Three at the same time (which will happen from time to time if we want these guys fresh for the whole season) he is going to need House to be that Vinny-the microwave-Johnson type scorer for us, instead of just a capable ball-handler. It would be bad coaching to keep a guy out of a role in which he could excel because you need him to fill a role in which he is simply mediocre.

This does not preclude Doc from using House in an end-of-game lineup with Allen, Pierce, and Garnett in games where it is clear that we need him to stretch defenses. I don’t think Doic is ruling that out as a situational possibility. I just think that as a matter of regular rotation-setting, Doc is searching for a scorer for that second unit for 10-12 minutes a game. The 2-3 turnovers that Tony or Pruitt commit while trying to bring the ball up may be worth it if it frees House to be our microwave and make that unit look like a real offensive team.

It’s not the most ideal situation, for sure. But, given the position that the GM has put Doc in, I don’t think that either decision would be ideal. Still, I wouldn’t panic. We’re talking about 10 minutes a game at the most anyway.

The more I think about this move, the more sense it makes. Look at the teams we’re chasing out West. The Spurs bring Manu off the bench, the Mavs bring Stackhouse off the bench, The Suns bring in Barbosa. The best teams bring in an offensive spark-plug off the bench. Eddie House is clearly not the caliber of those guys; but, he and Posey together might be. And just like those other clubs, either one of them could find themselves on the floor in crunch time to spread the floor depending on matchups.

Ideally, you’d like Tony Allen to be that guy. But it’s clear that he’s not ready yet. Thus, making House the scoring focal point off the bench is really not a statement about House’s point play as it is a statement about Tony’s erratic off-guard play.

Unfortunately, it may have to wait until next year to rememdy, because I just don’t see what options Danny had after the trade or will have in the weeks to come. Anyone who becomes available at this point will be as flawed as Tony and House. So, we have to hope that either TA finds the poise to settle back into the feature-guard role, or that he brings the ball up well enough to stay in that role and allow House the freedom to shoot. Either way, it seems like it’s up to Tony’s development. But, looking at the composition of the better teams, I can see why Doc would be concerned with the current setup and want to make a change. It seems you just have to have that reliable gunner off the bench.

The only time Rondo should come off for any time other than for a quick break, is at the end of a close game. If I am the other coach I foul him every time he touches the ball in a close one because he can’t hit a free throw. As much as he appeared to work on his jumper in the offseason, he neglected his free throws. He looks terrible on the stripe. He doesn’t just miss, he misses badly.

I prefer Eddie House at the 2 in the 2nd lineup for his scoring ability. He adds more value there than at the point.

Kuberski, If you are going to have Ray, PP, KG, and Perk out there, why wouldn’t you have Rondo out there? (unless it is for free throw shooting at the end) That made absolutely no sense.

Udrih anyone? ;D

quote from doc (NOT ME): The inability to get the team into the offense quickly was one of the reasons why Rivers wasn’t exactly raving about rookie Gabe Pruitt after his 16-point performance against the Knicks on Oct. 17 at the Garden, and why he said he feels comfortable with House as a backup point guard.

’’Eddie’s been off the charts,‘’ doc said. ’’His basketball IQ is so good it allows him to do that. We don’t have a heavy point guard-oriented offense anyway once we get it across halfcourt because of the guys we have now, and he is smart enough to know that and know what he has to do to get it going’’

And they didnt say they might turn it over to “the guy that cant dribble” because of houses skills bringing the ball up (which have been perfect, in case you havent watched the games thus far), he said he would rather have house for his scoring and it is negatively affecting his shot, so its more important to have his shot on point. Learn how to read.

House is perfect to play in the lineup alongside Pierce and KG and Allen, he can bring it up and get it to any of the 3 (KG bit more than the others) and then space the floor with his great shooting.

I agree with you migit on a lot of things from your posts….. and I agree Tony will eventually be that guy and hopefully he’s ready and back at 100% soon.

It would honestly be a viable option to have Rondo run the point with the 2nd unit a whole lot of the time and have House out there with the first unit a lot of the time.

I think people make a much bigger deal out of the bench than should be. The bench is solid. We have proven veteran roleplayers, we will have a very very good rotation. All they have to do is fill their roles and complement our explosive starting lineup, all they have to do is their job and be roleplayers. They are fully capable.

Finley, Horry, Udoka, Elson, Brent Barry, Jacque Vaughn, and Udrih
T Allen, Posey, Scal, Pollard, Powe, Eddie House, and Big Baby

Pollard’s taking “baby steps.” He needs to be taking “big baby steps.” ;)

Celtpride34pp&c., your point is a good one. People talk about how essential a good bench is, but no one admits that the best team in the league has a pretty awful bench. Finley’s good, but one-dimensional, Horry’s clutch but not all that consistent these days, and the rest are pretty bad. I’d put our guys up against their bench any day. If Scal and Powe and TA and House and Posey play their roles, it’s actually a pretty good bench….Actually, I’d put our starters up against San Antonio’s too. Except for that Duncan fella, who’s by a mile and a half the best player over the last decade.

I agree my man. Luckily for us though, we have the closest possible thing to him in KG. So KG can match up and keep it close as the only 7 footer on his level allaround (duncan a bit ahead of course)…… so when Kg keeps it close to Timmy, and Ray Allen and Pierce outdo Ginobili and Parker and our 4-12 matches up with theirs….. WE TAKE EM OUT!!!!