Nice to see Gomes getting some serious minutes, with 14 and 9 last night in 43 minutes, I was more than a little impressed. And also more than a little surprised that Doc was willing to play him that much. Did he just think he was riding a hot hand? Or is Doc considering offering these minutes to Gomes on a regular basis? Or is the rotation simply shot because of Perks' shoulder? Who can say? But in his first major minutes of the year, I liked what I saw, and I'd love to see more of it.
Hard to say What Doc is thinking about Gomes. It can't really hurt to play him, can it? In two games he gets big minutes and they win them both. Am I saying he's the reason why? No. But there's a relation. He seems to be getting the time because both Al and Perk are hurt. He read the memo about not playing Olowokandi that much. I also think there are matchup problems with that small lineup because Wally can defend the four if he has to and everyone on the floor can shoot mid-range. When teams have to respect that, the spacing improves and Pierce is going to the line even more than usual. They can get away with this because Gomes gets O-boards and plays active. I know that I should resign myself to the Celts playing for a pick and losing a lot, but I can't. We're still only 4.5 out of the eighth spot, and playoff time is good experience for young players. With the eighth seed, the Celts have to play Detroit, I know. We also gave Detroit a lot of trouble early in the year, so it might be a fun series to watch? I just wish that it was five games instead of seven. Oh well, too much hypothesizing. I know I'm crazy, but I still wanna see at least a little bit of a push.
Perk and Al getting hurt was the best thing that has happened for Gomes in his NBA career so far. It became evident that Doc Rivers wasn't going to give him a fair chance at proving himself, even after his great preason, great summer league, and great four years at PC. I think most of us knew that Ryan had it in him, he just hasn't been given a chance. The only other times he's played has been as a backup to Pierce, which kinda takes away from his game since he's a complimentry player. I don't think he's gonna be putting up 14 and 9 every night, but he should be playing a lot more now that Doc knows he can help the team win games. His rebounding ability is really going to make a difference.
It's not a defense for Doc, but keep in mind that Gomes was a 2nd rounder. Unless he blew everyone up in practice, making PT a no-brainer, most coaches are going to try to develop the more valuable draft picks as a first priority. The injuries worked well towards moving Gomes up the depth ladder on the bench, but I firmly believe he'll go right back to the bench once the boys are healthy again. We know we've got a solid banger on the 2nd unit now, which means we need to find someone to score because not a damn guy on the second unit seems to want to shoot.
The media is Gomes-crazy. 2 articles on Ryan today: http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2...ts/sports02.txt http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/ce...time/?page=full
