What's your ideal starting lineup for the green?I know it's not going to start off like this (I'm predicting telfair/pierce/wally/gomes/ratliff), but I would love Perkins/Jefferson/Szczerbiak/Pierce/Telfair. I'm not sure why Gomes is a power forward this season, as Doc said today, when he slimmed down in the offseason and looked like he would be the backup small forward. I guess you never know with Rivers.
Welcome to BBW man, I told BALLAHOLIC to recruit you. I'm also CelticBalla32 over at Celtics Blog. Well, I am one that thinks Gomes is a PF. I think he is a natural PF that has capability of dropping back to the SF spot. He is a banger, he has great hands, he can play in the post, he pulls his weight around in the paint, and despite the fact that he's about 2 inches shorter than most PF's he can keep up on both ends. But on topic, this is the starting lineup that I would put out right now: C: Perk PF: Gomes SF: Wally SG: Pierce PG: Telfair Now, I am hearing that Ratliff is starting for now, which I don't mind either. He will give us a veteran presence right off the bat and control the paint. I also feel Telfair should start over Delonte for these reasons: - Telfair is a born leader and a playmaker, let him feed the ball to our best scorers. - If Delonte starts, we have no shooting whatsoever off the bench. All we would have off the bench, offensively, is up-tempo athletes then Big Al. Not a bad thing, but we need balance off the bench and we need a reliable shooter. - Delonte is a guy that can come in and lead the bench. Telfair can too, but the shooting aspect is what I am stressing. But Delonte can control the 2nd unit as well as get some more touches if he comes off the bench. Now, by the All-Star break, I really want Al Jefferson to lock up the starting job by then. This is Big Al's time. He got his ankle fixed this summer and he's put in the work. He needs to produce on the court. We are all done with the potential part of Big Al, it's time to grind. He knows this, so that's a plus. But Al really needs to step it up and earn that starting job. By midseason, I hope the lineup looks like this: C: Perk/Ratliff (either one, I don't care) PF: Big Al SF: Wally SG: Pierce PG: Telfair
That makes sense. I just think Gomes is the perfect bench player (along with West and Ratliff).Gomes can come in for Wally or Jefferson, score some points, grab some rebounds, and just be an effective player. West can also play two positions, and is versatile like Gomes, and Ratliff can play the 4 or 5, come in and block shots. Hopefully the lineup is what you said by playoff time. We'll be there.Thanks for the welcome!
my ideal is Delonte, Wally, Pierce, Jefferson, Perk. solid half-court team. the second unit can run, run, run. Telfair, TA, Rondo, Green, Gomes, Ratliff.oh, and welcome to bbw bf23, I really hope you stay active. I used to be Cs dogmatist at celtics blog but now I'm rondoholic.
Opening Day LineupG Delonte WestSG Paul PierceSF Wally SzcerbiakPF Ryan GomesC Theo RatliffAfter All-Star Break LineupPG Sebastian TelfairSG Paul PierceSF Wally SzcerbiakPF Al JeffersonC Kendrick Perkins
I actually think because Delonte is missing about half of this year's training camp, Telfair might take his spot early on. I guess only time will really tell.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nba dogmatist @ Oct 9 2006, 10:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I actually think because Delonte is missing about half of this year's training camp, Telfair might take his spot early on. I guess only time will really tell.</div> To me, that all depends on how well Sebastian does in preseason. I mean Sebastian is going to start tomorrow night, and he will play more minutes in preseason due to Delonte's back. But if Telfair doesn't play all that well in preseason, believe me, Doc will be more than happy to give Delonte the throne again. As a matter of fact, if Delonte hadn't been hurt, he would be the starter early on. This is really a break for Telfair, IMO. He has a chance to prove himself, it's time to do it.
good point. this is telfair's chance to show what he can do, and rondo's also for that matter. I think both will utililze this opportunity.
I don't understand why people want to put Jefferson in the starting lineup, he does fine off the bench and Gomes absolutely thrives as a starter. He averaged nearly a double-double at the end of last year. I'll never forget that 29 and 11 night he had against Philly. Yeah he's undersized but he makes it work, he gets great position, and can also spread the floor and hit the mid-range jump shot. I love Gomes's versatility at the PF position. I'm in no way hating on AL J but I don't think he will ever be a starting PF. His body gets way to banged up to be playing a ton of minutes. I think he will be a great PF coming off the bench. I think he may be a victim of a high school player coming into the NBA and having his body just not be up for the bruising the NBA player takes on a nightly basis. I hope the starting lineup looks like PG-BassySG-Paul PierceSF-WallyPF-GomesC-Perkins
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (WELCOMEtotheJUNGLE @ Oct 10 2006, 12:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm in no way hating on AL J but I don't think he will ever be a starting PF. His body gets way to banged up to be playing a ton of minutes. I think he will be a great PF coming off the bench. I think he may be a victim of a high school player coming into the NBA and having his body just not be up for the bruising the NBA player takes on a nightly basis.</div> You don't think Al Jefferson will ever be a starting PF? lol why not? He has all the raw skills and potential. And his body is not always banged up, he had a problem with his ankle. He got that ankle fixed, and he also lost 30 lbs. this summer. If Al Jefferson is never going to be a starter, trust me Ainge would have a good idea of that, he wouldn't be a Celtic still. Al Jefferson will turn out to be a better player than Al Jefferson. He's such a gifted low post scorer, he can block shots, he's 6'9'', he's been working very hard, he's a good rebounder. Offensively, Big Al had post moves in high school that Gomes will never have. Al Jefferson is going to be a good player, and definitely a starter.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (WELCOMEtotheJUNGLE @ Oct 10 2006, 11:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't understand why people want to put Jefferson in the starting lineup, he does fine off the bench and Gomes absolutely thrives as a starter. He averaged nearly a double-double at the end of last year. I'll never forget that 29 and 11 night he had against Philly. Yeah he's undersized but he makes it work, he gets great position, and can also spread the floor and hit the mid-range jump shot. I love Gomes's versatility at the PF position. I'm in no way hating on AL J but I don't think he will ever be a starting PF. His body gets way to banged up to be playing a ton of minutes. I think he will be a great PF coming off the bench. I think he may be a victim of a high school player coming into the NBA and having his body just not be up for the bruising the NBA player takes on a nightly basis. I hope the starting lineup looks like PG-BassySG-Paul PierceSF-WallyPF-GomesC-Perkins</div>The reason I like Gomes in the second unit is because he's more suited for a running game than jefferson. Rondo, Telfair, TA, and Green will likely be playing with him, whereas if Al was playing the 4 the game would have to be slowed down. I like Gomes anywhere, but Al is a better fit for a half-court team.
I understand your points but honestly who has played better so far in the starting role? Gomes has played multiple games of playing almost the whole game. After a few trips down the court Al J seems like he's completely out of wind, he did lose 30 lbs and I hope we see a huge improvement. RIGHT NOW, I still think Gomes is a better fit for the starting lineup.I mean look at Gomes's progression last season, coming off the bench he didn't really do anything at all, he played the 3 a few games and looked confused at best. He comes in as a starting PF when AL J got injured and he looked great.
