If Not Now, When?
by Jeff Clark on Dec 24, 2009 11:22 AM EST
in Boston Celtics Articles
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PrintDan Duggan of the Herald brought up a good point on twitter today. (Granted, many of you made the same point, but somehow seeing it on twitter brought clarity to it)
Now would seem like a decent time for Doc to give some real minutes to youngsters Giddens and Walker. If not now, when?
Either find out if they will be able to help you or showcase them for a trade. You're gaining nothing by keeping them bolted to bench.
I have to agree. I know Doc will want to win games and he'll trust his vets more. But at this point, we've also got to keep people rested and see what we've got with these younger guys. It is more of a gamble, but gambles sometimes pay off big. And at the very least you'll know if you can count on them later in the year.
I'm all for letting a guy earn his minutes. But based on how Walker and Lester dominated the D-League competition, you have to imagine that they can be players in this league.
So who do you think has the best shot at stepping up?
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I'd like to see more of Walker
I think of him as a bigger version of good-Tony
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V
I see Walker as having a PF's game in an SF's body.
I think he’s tremendously explosive going forward and up. I don’t think he has anywhere near the lateral quickness that Tony does.
I love his dunks as much as the next guy, but other than that, I guess I haven’t seen the all-around game that would merit minutes, though I think either he or J.R. will probably get thrown an extra 10 minutes or so while PP is out. I think the bulk of the PP minutes will go to Scal and TA though.
If, during the little extra time they will likely get while PP is out, they show they deserve more minutes, then Doc will give them to them. Seems the opportunity will be there over the next couple of weeks. They either seize the opportunity, ala Ryan Gomes years ago did, or they don’t.
I agree.......
100% with your particular comment Mencius that Walker is :
" A power forward in a shooting forwards body"
Thats why I think he is such a dangerous player, he is so strong yet so fast and athletic.
He is physically gifted as a player and if he can develop his NBA on court skills I think he will be a hell of a player and contributor for the Celtics this year and for years to come.
Nice observation Jeff...
Thats what Walker is come to think of it a bigger, stronger version of the “GOOD” Tony Allen.
Well said.
Not Doc's Way
Doc has done a great job with this team, there is no doubt about it. but if Doc has a weakness, it is his ability (or inability) to develop and play young players. We have seen this over and over. It took him a long time to play Al Jefferson. He kept Delonte West and Ryan Gomes glued to the bench until he had absolutely no other choice. Even in the midst of a terrible 2007, Doc took an awfully long time to give Rondo a chance.
But in my mind, it is a no brainer – the Celtics are making the playoffs, and it will only benefit them to see how these young guys handle important minutes now. Lost due to the injuries to KG and Leon last postseason, was that Doc could not take Ray and Pierce off the court because he had no one else. Daniels will help obviously, but why not see if any of these guys can play. Possibly sacrificing a win or two now could prove beneficial come April May and June.
His inability to develop young players
is why DA was able to package a bunch of them to get KG. This is an old, tired, and largely disproved argument.
on the contrary
it’s a well documented and supported argument. Doc does not play youth unless he has no other option. There is not one young player that Doc has given minutes too when he’s had a vet he can use instead.
Al, Gomes, Powe, Rondo, West, TA (good TA) and BBD only saw the court either because the players ahead them on the depth chart were injured or there was no one else on the roster for Doc to use (that BBD’s situation—-once Doc had an alternative in PJ, BBD sat)
I’m not saying every young player deserved court time, GG and Pruitt as the examples, but there’s far more examples of good players not seeing the court.
by slamtheking on Dec 24, 2009 11:02 PM EST up reply actions
Unleash Walker!
In the best case scenario he will turn out to be a Leon Powe at the small forward position…
In the worst case, he won’t contribute and you can sit him on the bench or trade him.
It’s worth the try anyway, and you’re right, if the youngsters don’t get an opportunity now, they will never have one.
The guy was just in D League
so I will have to assume he’ll more than likely get a few bench minutes.
Doc played the good young players ( see rondo ) so I’ll leave it to him to decide.
"Do you know that nonbelievers create the most positive energy?" Davis said
I hope it's BWalker but.....
Nowing Doc it will probably be EHouse with the extended minutes.
Doc would disagree, but...
Unleash all the young greyhounds!
Doctor knows best
We said the same sh!t last year about Gabe. We lobbied for JR for a full year, now we know he’s not NBA material. I hope Bill and Lester can prove Doc wrong, but I doubt it.
Bill Walker just turned 22 and has lost time to injuries, and I believe Doc when he says Lester will have a good NBA career.
But I never saw any evidence that Doc was sold on Gabe at all.
Let`s be realistic here. None of the young guy will get any serious minutes. Prepare yourself for 40+ minutes of Ray and big minutes for TA and Scal…
Have to agree
I voted “None of Them” not because I don’t want them to get minutes but because I think we know better from Doc by this point. Ideally if it were up to me I’d give either Giddens or Walker the start, since TA is too small to be starting at SF and Scal is well…he’s still Scal.
We’re sacrificing much at all starting one of them, since TA will still get minutes off the bench and giving Scal extra minutes certainly isn’t going to win us more games. Whether they have great potential or not seems irrelevant when you’re talking about taking minutes away from Scalabrine…
And since you'd start Giddens...
I’m glad it’s NOT up to you.
by Tai on Dec 24, 2009 2:49 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
He has one
He is a very good rebounder for a SG. It’s not enough to overcome his other faults but it is an NBA level skill.
I enjoy the Jimmy Eat World reference
If that’s what you were going for in the title of this article. Clarity: one of the best albums of the 90’s!
It’ll definitely be interesting to see how Walker responds to any minutes that may be coming his way. Here’s hoping that he actually gets those minutes. I agree with Nazzbo and others..now’s the time!
According to ESPN's Daily Dime
Bill didn’t even travel to Orlando for tomorrow’s game so i don’t know what the hell they’re thinking. Why call him up? I’m just so confused
I voted none of them too
and agree with those that expect TA and Scal to pick up major minutes at the 3. I think it would be blind hope to think JR or Bill Walker will be able to produce anything resembling positive minutes.
by bucknersrevenge on Dec 24, 2009 4:33 PM EST reply actions
Doc has no more excuses not to play Walker !
Celtics are in need of a strong, athletic back up small forwards who can come off the bench and guard strong, athletic small forwards on opposing teams (which Pierce and Daniels have trouble guarding at times) .
Walker is built for the job, since he is tenacious on defense, built like a tank and very quick and athletic to boot.
Yes he is raw, but that’s expected since he has not had real playing time yet and can be remedied if Doc plays him.
I think Walker would be very hand having on the bench (especially in the playoffs) for spot duty to throw his muscle around and use his 6 fouls against strong athletic small forwards like Cleveland’s Lebron and Orlando’s Lewis
He has payed his dues over the last year and half and its only fair for Doc to give him minutes now, especially with Daniels and Pierce out hurt.
Their are no more excuses for Doc not to play him.
Its time to throw him on the floor for extended minutes to finally see what the kid has.
I think he will show us all he can contribute alot for this club.
in maine
walker has shown the ability to hit the open 3, get to the rim, and been a decent rebounder but hasnt been very tenacious on defense
from what ive seen in his nba time he can do all the high flying stuff when its wide open but seems like his game isnt nba speed
i do think he has payed his dues and deserves minutes to show he can help the team win
forcing it with young guys isnt gonna help the cause and i dont see anything wrong with young players developing from the bench once they show something elite in practice they will get floor time
the nba is supposed to be the best of the best which sometimes i wonder because there is alot of players who could actually play in this league playing somewhere else and an awful lot of potential (garbage) sitting on almost every teams bench
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