How many men in the rotation?

When the Celtics are at full health, how many players will be used for meaningful minutes?

  • 8

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 9

    Votes: 13 33.3%
  • 10

    Votes: 21 53.8%
  • 11

    Votes: 1 2.6%
  • 12

    Votes: 4 10.3%

  • Total voters
    39
  • Poll closed .

lovegtm

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Apr 30, 2013
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Looks like Theis is the victim again tonight. Not only that, but they are increasing Semi's minutes, kinda. Rozier is playing a few minutes less too.

This team is really, really high on Semi. Crowder who?

edit: looks like Rozier was actually starting to lose minutes even before Morris came back.
You can see why. Everyone knows the defensive part, but George had to pay a lot of attention to him at the end of the OKC game, and it opened up some good driving lanes.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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You can see why. Everyone knows the defensive part, but George had to pay a lot of attention to him at the end of the OKC game, and it opened up some good driving lanes.
We should all know the offensive part too. The sample size from 3 in college was only 195, but he did hit 42% of them. He was also a decent FT shooter. I doubt he's ever anything more than a good defensive player who can hit the open 3, but as we all know, that has incredible value. He's signed for 4 years too.

edit: HIs full name is a mouthful. Jesusemilore Talodabijesu Ojeleye
 

Eddie Jurak

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We're learning a bit on the rotation.

4 guys who start every game:
  • Kyrie Irving
  • Al Horford
  • Jaylen Brown
  • Jayson Tatum
5th starter will be one of these 2:
  • Aron Baynes
  • Marcus Morris
Regular bench guys:
  • Marcus Smart
  • Terry Rozier
Bench guys who may fill a game-to-game need:
  • Semi Ojeleye
  • Daniel Theis
  • Shane Larkin
Deep bench/garbage time guys:
  • Guerschon Yabusele
  • Abdel Nader
Going forward, I could see Tatum sliding into a regular bench role behind Morris.

The top 8 will be the guys who have a key role in every game.

The next 3 will have more situational usage - at least 1 and often 2 of them will get key minutes in every game, but there will also be DNP-CDs. Ojeleye is probably close to being a 9th rotation regular, but he's may not quite be there yet.
 

Sam Ray Not

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On Ojeleye v. Jordan Bell, way too soon to even guess at who will have the better NBA career, but my initial sense is that Ojeleye is a much better shooter off the catch, in the mold of say Shane Battier or Jared Dudley, whereas Bell has a bit more Draymond in him in terms of seeing the floor, playmaking, making heady decisions, etc. Defensively both already look like beastly combos of strength, effort and quick feet.
 
Aug 24, 2017
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On Ojeleye v. Jordan Bell, way too soon to even guess at who will have the better NBA career, but my initial sense is that Ojeleye is a much better shooter off the catch, in the mold of say Shane Battier or Jared Dudley, whereas Bell has a bit more Draymond in him in terms of seeing the floor, playmaking, making heady decisions, etc. Defensively both already look like beastly combos of strength, effort and quick feet.
I'm not sure I see it with Bell in terms of effort. Perhaps in small situations, which is probably the most that will be asked of either. But when the stakes are high Bell's effort is the biggest problem. It's like he curls into himself and wants to be anywhere but a basketball court.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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So the rotation looks to be 8 deep with Semi, Theis and Larkin getting run depending on the situation. The 3 of them have combined for 32 minutes a game this year, so I wouldn't argue with someone saying it's an 11 man rotation either.

I'm not a fan of Larkin and while I like Theis and Semi, I wouldn't cry if they lost some minutes in favor of a more offensively inclined player to pair with Smart and Rozier off the bench. I also wouldn't be against that player replacing some of Smart and Rozier's minutes either.
 

JakeRae

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So the rotation looks to be 8 deep with Semi, Theis and Larkin getting run depending on the situation. The 3 of them have combined for 32 minutes a game this year, so I wouldn't argue with someone saying it's an 11 man rotation either.

I'm not a fan of Larkin and while I like Theis and Semi, I wouldn't cry if they lost some minutes in favor of a more offensively inclined player to pair with Smart and Rozier off the bench. I also wouldn't be against that player replacing some of Smart and Rozier's minutes either.
Replacing Smart's minutes would be foolish. For all his flaws, he makes this team better when he plays.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Replacing Smart's minutes would be foolish. For all his flaws, he makes this team better when he plays.
I kind of wonder at this point if Smart (or even Rozier) should be starting, with Morris in a 6th man role. Rozier is a guy who might benefit from the open looks he'd get playing with the starters.
 

benhogan

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I kind of wonder at this point if Smart (or even Rozier) should be starting, with Morris in a 6th man role. Rozier is a guy who might benefit from the open looks he'd get playing with the starters.
If you go with Morris as your 6th man, which I agree with, then Baynes should be your starter.
Baynes matches up defensively with other Eastern Conf Centers: Embid, Drummond, Thompson, Whiteside, Kanter, Valanciunas, etc.
Horford matches up with the skilled big players like Giannis, Simmons, Love, Porzingas, Ibaka etc. This is a better use of Al Horford

It feels like Morris is the 4th or 5th scoring option with the starting 5, he can be the primary scoring option with the 2nd unit. Offensively with the starters, Baynes can set physical picks, PNR, hit the jumper at the FT line or add offensive rebounding.

I'd expect Morris to get more minutes than Baynes with this rotation.

In conclusion:
1. Morris would add a nice scoring punch to our bench and a nasty physical presence with Rozier/Smart.
2. Baynes would be a solid defensive Center and any offense he would provide would be an added positive.
3. Al Horford wouldn't take the physical abuse of playing a vast majority of his minutes versus the opponents 5.
 
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JakeRae

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If you go with Morris as your 6th man, which I agree with, then Baynes should be your starter.
Baynes matches up defensively with other Eastern Conf Centers: Embid, Drummond, Thompson, Whiteside, Kanter, Valanciunas, etc.
Horford matches up with the skilled big players like Giannis, Simmons, Love, Porzingas, Ibaka etc. This is a better use of Al Horford

It feels like Morris is the 4th or 5th scoring option with the starting 5, he can be the primary scoring option with the 2nd unit. Offensively with the starters, Baynes can set physical picks, PNR, hit the jumper at the FT line or add offensive rebounding.

I'd expect Morris to get more minutes than Baynes with this rotation.

In conclusion:
1. Morris would add a nice scoring punch to our bench and a nasty physical presence with Rozier/Smart.
2. Baynes would be a solid defensive Center and any offense he would provide would be an added positive.
3. Al Horford wouldn't take the physical abuse of playing a vast majority of his minutes versus the opponents 5.
As was discussed over the preseseaon, this either means playing Morris at the 5 or playing Theis a lot of minutes.

In any event, the starting 5 is less important than the closing 5, and the latter group is firmly established at this point.
 

Saints Rest

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As was discussed over the preseseaon, this either means playing Morris at the 5 or playing Theis a lot of minutes.

In any event, the starting 5 is less important than the closing 5, and the latter group is firmly established at this point.
To your former point, this may be a feature, not a bug. Others smarter than I have noted that Baynes and Theis do not fit well on the floor at the same time. So starting Baynes with Horford while running Morris and Theis together seems like added value to the other good points, noted two posts upthread.
 

benhogan

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As was discussed over the preseseaon, this either means playing Morris at the 5 or playing Theis a lot of minutes.
No it doesn't, the substitutions get staggered. The Center position would be shared between Baynes, Horford, Theis, Yabusele and when they go small and the match-up makes sense Morris.

Anyways this is more about adding scoring punch with the 2nd unit (end of Q1/beg Q2 and end of Q3/beg Q4), and believe MaMo can provide that.

Agreed, the closing 5 is more important and once again Morris would play more minutes then Baynes.
 
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wade boggs chicken dinner

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I feel like Semi could end up replacing Smart if Smart signs elsewhere next year. He seems to have the potential to be the same kind of guard-3-positions with a physical edge that Marcus brings.
Semi has 0 play-making ability right now so he's not going to replace that part of Smart's game.
 

JakeRae

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No it doesn't, the substitutions get staggered. The Center position would be shared between Baynes, Horford, Theis, Yabusele and when they go small and the match-up makes sense Morris.

Anyways this is more about adding scoring punch with the 2nd unit (end of Q1/beg Q2 and end of Q3/beg Q4), and believe MaMo can provide that.

Agreed, the closing 5 is more important and once again Morris would play more minutes then Baynes.
I was responding to a suggestion that Baynes start to minimize Horford's minutes at the 5. If that is happening, someone needs to play the 5 when they are not playing. Between the two of them, they are currently playing 51 MPG. So, ever minute beyond 3 that they play on the court together is one where someone else needs to be playing the 5. If they are starting together, that means either making Theis an every game player or believing Morris can play the 5. I don't think we really want to do either. (Yabusele is mainly a garbage time player at this point so I don't include him in this analysis.)
 

benhogan

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I was responding to a suggestion that Baynes start to minimize Horford's minutes at the 5. If that is happening, someone needs to play the 5 when they are not playing. Between the two of them, they are currently playing 51 MPG. So, ever minute beyond 3 that they play on the court together is one where someone else needs to be playing the 5. If they are starting together, that means either making Theis an every game player or believing Morris can play the 5. I don't think we really want to do either. (Yabusele is mainly a garbage time player at this point so I don't include him in this analysis.)
You don't need to adjust Al, Theis or Baynes minutes.

Rough math:
Baynes 15-18 mins mostly with starters.
Theis 10-12 mins with the 2nd unit
Al playing Center for 15-20 mins (half his 33 minutes), mostly against the smaller lineups or back up 5s.

Same minutes they are playing now.

The point is you want Morris playing with the 2nd unit more (then Baynes) to take advantage of being the primary scorer instead of being a secondary scorer with the starters.

Anyways Brad needs to figure out how to get more scoring in the 2nd unit, adding MaMo may help.
 
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Cesar Crespo

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Do people still think this teams biggest need is a Lou Williams type? Smart and Rozier have been much better of late and so has Shane Larkin. I think their biggest need now is a big body that can defend Drummond types.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Do people still think this teams biggest need is a Lou Williams type? Smart and Rozier have been much better of late and so has Shane Larkin. I think their biggest need now is a big body that can defend Drummond types.
I think this question needs to be answred based on matchups with likely playoff opponents. Toronto, Cleveland, Golden State, Houston, San Antonio. Mostly Cleveland, I guess. There aren't many Drummond types, so I'm not sure that's a significant need.