FanPost

How Next Year's Rotation Might Work

This is obviously my point of view and Doc Rivers is a bazillion times smarter than me so he will use the roster the right way. However, I’d just like to share my thoughts on how the roster might work next season.

First of all, we must take a look at the players currently on the roster:

PG: Rondo/Terry/Dooling/Smith

SG: Bradley/Lee/Christmas

SF: Pierce/Green/Joseph

PF: Bass/Sullinger/Collins

C: Garnett/Wilcox/Melo

Out of these player, neither Christmas, Joseph, or Smith are a lock to make the opening day roster. They could be cut and another free agent (like Pietrus) might be added instead.

I’m going to try to work with a 10-man rotation assuming everyone is healthy. Doc rarely uses more than 10 guys. So our starting lineup will be the same as last year. I don’t agree with people saying Lee might challenge Avery for the starting spot, our defensive numbers with Avery were completely off the charts. Defensively, that lineup was more than excellent.

I believe the 5-5-5 plan for KG will still be in effect, so the first guy off the bench would be Wilcox. Wilcox excels with Rondo on the court, so they must try to be together most of the time to make things work. Next guy off the bench would be Terry replacing Avery and probably Green replacing Pierce (though I think Paul may stay a little longer on the court). At this moment, say the 5 minute mark of the 1Q, our lineup is Rondo, Terry, Green, Bass, Wilcox. We don’t really have a true center, but centers are scarce in the league, more so in second units. At the 3 minute mark, Lee replaces Rondo and Sullinger comes in to replace Bass. Finally, KG comes back to replace Wilcox at about the 1 minute mark. Lineup ending the quarter would be Terry, Lee, Green, Sullinger, Garnett.

This unit might start the second quarter, only change I would make would probably be Pierce for Green, but Pierce really needs to lower his minutes next season. Progressively through the quarter our starting lineup would return to the court. I would also like to see an athletic unit sometime in the quarter made by Rondo, Avery, Lee, Green, Sullinger. The unit might be small but would be beast in transition. It would all depend on how Green’s and Sullinger’s defense progress through the season.

Finally, our ending games lineup could be Rondo, Terry, Pierce, Sullinger, Garnett. I put Sully instead of Bass because of his rebounding. What really killed us last year was giving up key late game offensive rebounds. However this also depends on how Sullinger develops defensively, he won’t see 4th quarter minutes if he is lost on D. Another variation could be Bradley/Terry. I believe that if we are down Terry is the guy, while if we are trying to hold to the lead Avery is the guy. The big three of Rondo, Pierce and Garnett are obviously locks in the end game lineup.

Some other scattered thoughts:

5-5-5 plan for KG must remain

Pierce’s minutes must come down, splitting minutes with Green

Avery should play tons of minutes as he develops

Sullinger may or may not play depending on his defense

Collins may play some because of his defense

Lee and Avery would form a terrific defensive backcourt but they must be joined with Pierce or Rondo to run the offense

Thanks for reading and please share your thoughts on the comments.

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