A first
Well, maybe not a first, but close to it. I actively disagree with what Doc Rivers is doing. How many people have to be hurt for him to play Bill Walker, JR Giddens and Lester Hudson? Maybe he’s seeing stuff in practice that makes him not want to play them- but if that’s the case, then why are they still around? Especially Bill Walker and JR Giddens. Doc said he didn’t like the way KG had been moving for the past two games, and after looking at the schedule, he decided to sit him and bring him back along with Paul. That’s fine with me. There’s no point in pushing guys and risking further injury, especially so early in the season. But at the same time, Ray Allen leads the team in minutes and Rondo is playing on a hurt hamstring- what’s the point in pushing them at this juncture? I’m not saying don’t play them- but for example, did anyone really think the Celtics were going to come out of Phoenix last night with a win? I mean there was a chance, but everyone knew going in to it that it was a long shot. They kind of hung around through the half, but midway through the third it was clear the Celtics were not going to be making a run. Rondo brought the ball hard to the rim, got a layup- and came back down the floor grimacing. What’s the point of keeping him in the game? He sat down for like a minute and complained about getting taken out… But who cares? Sorry. He needed to ride the bench for the second half. Similarly, Ray Allen and Rasheed Wallace couldn’t get it going, not for a lack of effort, but the ball just wasn’t going to fall for them. So instead of watching Sheed heave up three after three, why not bring in Walker, Giddens and Hudson and sit Rondo, Ray and Rasheed? These guys have been dying to play and it’s instant energy, athleticism, decent defense and you can eliminate the risk of a (another) core player getting injured (thankfully that didn’t happen. But I’m just saying). Just put them in. The Celtics still would have probably lost- but they woulf have finally had the chance to get some real minutes and in what basically amounted to a trash game, Rondo, Ray and Rasheed all could have used the rest. Hmph.
