Better Bench Play

by Jeff Clark on Jan 26, 2009 12:42 PM EST in Boston Celtics News & Links

The bench has stepped up along with the starters in this latest win streak. From the Globe:

Another key for the Celtics of late is better bench play. Eddie House scored 23 of the bench's 49 points yesterday and 25 points in the recent win over Miami. Glen Davis scored a season-high 16 points off the bench against Orlando last Thursday. And all this has come with reserve guard Tony Allen, considered the best bench player, out with a sprained right ankle for 11 straight games.

"Our bench, over this streak, has played the best they've been playing all year," Rivers said. "It's because there is no ball stoppage. The ball is moving on offense. They're sharing the ball. They're cheering for each other. Everyone is falling back into the role [we] needed them to play. I thought early in the year, it was a fight to get guys in a role.

"They wanted to do more. They wanted to do extra. They see we are a better team when we do [get guys in a role]."

An interesting subtext to this is the absence of Tony Allen due to injury. Doc addressed his eventual return:

Coach Doc Rivers said Allen's style of play might have to change to fit into the team's recent emphasis on ball movement.

"The bench has been playing well the last two or three weeks," Rivers said. "They have a great rhythm, great trust, the ball moves. When Tony gets back he is going to have to get into that rhythm."

A lot of fans have been frustrated with Tony this season and see this latest good streak as evidence that he was hurting the team while on the court. Reading between the lines, you have to wonder if Doc is saying that Tony was stifling ball movement.

Personally I think Tony can find a role (like Doc is talking about) but we will always have to live with his maddening inconsistency. We'll see how much Doc alters the rotation when Tony gets back to full speed.

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Scal, BBD and House

are playing well. The rest of the bench could do a lot better.

by Bankshot on Jan 26, 2009 1:03 PM EST reply actions

I don’t think there’ll be any problems with Tony moving the ball. I’m willing to bet that Doc wanted Tony attacking the rim constantly earlier in the season. There was a problem with spacing and shot creation from the bench, and responsibility fell to Tony. Better spacing should make good use of Tony’s skills with better kickout options. We’ll see. If he disrupts the rhythm, then bench him, but also put him in a competent unit.

by BudweiserCeltic on Jan 26, 2009 1:08 PM EST reply actions

Bench Play

Notice how our bench seems to play well when they get to come into the game with a double-digit cushion. That’s one of the reasons last year’s second unit was so successful throughout the regular season. That’s why Eddie House only seems to shoot well when we are winning handily.

I still worry about the bench in a slowed down, grind-it-out series.

Go Celtics! Go Hoyas!

by CelticBalla32 on Jan 26, 2009 1:18 PM EST reply actions

I’m interested in this too. Our first unit has been playing some great basketball and the bench if feeding off it. And House simply has been unbelievably hot. He’s taking his fair share of bad shots, but man he’s making them.

by BudweiserCeltic on Jan 26, 2009 1:27 PM EST up reply actions

they were coming in and losing leads all season until this stretch, so I’ll take expading or keeping the lead the same myself…And Eddie does seem to shoot better in garbage time, but I wouldnt put much if any stock into that, its just coincedence, considering he shot very well in the 2 most important games in the last 20 years of celtics history, and hit the go-ahead shot in game 4 of the finals

by TheAncientRivalry on Jan 26, 2009 2:33 PM EST up reply actions

TA will never fit in

TA does not belong on this team. Reason: he is too stupid. The guy cannot speak a coherent sentence and cannot follow instructions on the court. He makes stupid mistakes in every game he’s in. “Team defense”, “getting into the flow of the offense”… these concepts are beyond him. Get rid of TA if you want to win. We obviously don’t need him.

by DRJ1 on Jan 26, 2009 1:57 PM EST reply actions

Thoughts on the bench

1. Gabe’s improved play has allowed him regular minutes next to House, which works well. While neither of them is the ballhandler that Rondo is, they can effectively break a press together, and having two shooters creates better spacing.

2. BBD gets all the defensive minutes, while Powe seems to get minutes when they need scoring. Leon is a bit of a black hole in the post, so with the recent string of blowouts, his absence has probably contributed to ball movement. Also, he seems to be a little less effective in his decreased minutes, probably due to a lack of rhythm.

3. Is Tony actually any good at kickouts?

4. We need someone like Joe Smith more than we need another guard like Marbury.

by CaptFamous on Jan 26, 2009 3:29 PM EST reply actions

TA down the road

Tony’s needed for his man defense on the tough players, much as Scals is needed for the big, slow ones and a missing player is needed for big, athletic ones (PoZ)

Tony’s learned to dish on his slashes, that’s ball movement. I’ve never seen him kick it out though. (seems like an easy enough thing to tell him to do, though.)

I don’t think he’s in G$’s ballpark as far as being too simple to play good team ball on both sides of the court.

I don't miss any of the kids (except Big Al), I chose this cause I wanted more Perk and Al when they were still kids.

by kids are ok on Jan 26, 2009 5:08 PM EST reply actions

Tony’s useful as a defensive specialist for brief stretches.

Just keep the basketball out of his hands and keep him out of situations where he has to think.

by CoachBo on Jan 26, 2009 8:27 PM EST up reply actions

tony has a bad injury proneness. he looks more like a trade throw in but who’d want him?

by nazzbo on Jan 26, 2009 6:17 PM EST reply actions

Tony has his place; Leon's lost his

Unfortunately it doesn’t look like Tony can handle Posey’s role. DRJ1 was a little too blunt but the fact is he doesn’t play a heady game at all. However he can be an above average slasher and a quality defender. But 6th man he hasn’t been.

Scal and Big Baby have taken Leon’s minutes and, I-love-Leon but , fair is fair. They are playing better. Leon will get it back but I admire Doc for rewarding the contributor.

Also, I was keen on seeing more of O’Bryant but against Dallas he looked coordinated but slow. He is right where he belongs – nailed to the bench but given a long look to bring it on.

by Wildblu1 on Jan 26, 2009 7:06 PM EST reply actions