We need to play Sebastian Telfair 20-25 minutes per game for the rest of the season, in my opinion. Is he our best guard? No. Is he a good defender? No, but outside of Rondo, who is? But I'm telling you, this kid is going to be a player. He will not be a star and he will never live up to his New York City hype (heck, nobody lives up to NYC hype), but this kid WILL be a solid player in this league. He's only 21, he still has a lot of potential. He can penetrate, he has excellent court vision and he is an excellent playmaker, he's got a lot of heart and passion, he pushes the ball, and he takes care of the basketball. I DEFINITELY feel that most Celtic fans have been too hard on Telfair. Remember Tony Allen? Remember how 4 months ago, you'd all trade him for a bag of Doritos and a 24 oz. Gatorade (I'm a bit guilty)? Same thing with Bassy, it's happening all over again. Does this mean that Bassy will end up absolutely taking over at some point like Tony did? Probably not, and he may not even excel in Boston, but somewhere, this kid will improve. He will become a very solid player in this league. But I think it is absolutely ridiculous that Telfair went from starting and played VERY solid basketball in October/November to being completely benched. His confidence was not just lowered, it was shattered. The kid needs some playing time out there, way more than this 6 minute garbage time routine. I think that there is no reason Allan Ray should be above him on the depth chart. And WTJ, we've duked it out about Telfair 2-3 times. We know how each other feels about him.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>And WTJ, we've duked it out about Telfair 2-3 times. We know how each other feels about him.</div>Exactly. You know my response. I really don't think we've been too hard on Telfair. I mean Ainge brings the kid in and he gets to start immediately after riding the pine for the Trail Blazers. It just didn't make much sense to any fans. Also the reason why we were all pissed at Tony Allen is because we knew how good he could play and he was just out of it completely when he was on the court at the beginning of the year. It was like he forgot how to play basketball but he clearly snapped out of it when Pierce went down. We don't really know how good Telfair can play and from what we've seen he's really not that great of a point guard.
The problem is, we DO have Rondo, and we DO have Delonte, and we got all these other guys who need minutes too. I just don't see Telfair playing much.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GeraldGreen5 @ Mar 25 2007, 01:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The problem is, we DO have Rondo, and we DO have Delonte, and we got all these other guys who need minutes too. I just don't see Telfair playing much.</div> Delonte is NOT A POINT GUARD, though, and Doc is even starting him at the 2 now (thank god). But playing Allan Ray over him is just completely absurd. Completely ridiculous. And people will say "oh, he didn't even do that good in October/November" because they don't like him period. I am NOT a stat-hound, but here are his combined numbers from October/November, in case anyone was wondering: 12.4 ppg 4.3 apg 50% shooting (yes, 50%) 47& from 3 (yes, 47%) 82% from the line 27.8 mpg Oh yeah, did I also mention that he is currently <u>28th in the league in assist to turnover ratio</u>? The kid can play. Doc benched him and did his usual point guard shredding, and Bassy's confidence hit rock bottom. I think it's completely ridiculous, I'm pissed about it. Absolutely pissed off. He was running the offense pretty smoothly, he was taking care of the ball at a respectable rate, and he was very confident/aggressive. He did a very solid job. Does he has his defensive struggles? Yes, but every player on this team does, except 3 really (and 2 are out for season). I will not give up on Sebastian Telfair. Again, he'll never be a superstar and he'll never live up to his New York City hype (and again, NOBODY can live up to NYC hype lol), but he will be a player. He is 21 years old, and he's a point guard... out of high school! It takes a lot of time. He will be a very solid player in this league, mark my words WTJ. And again, even if you all hate him to death and you don't care if he's in Boston at all anymore... play him these last 13 games and maybe up his value a bit! Playing him 5-6 minutes a game, behind Allan Ray, lowers his trade value by the day. Play him, say one friggen positive thing about him in the papers, and then maybe try and package him this summer to a team that will actually use him. If he was put in an up-tempo system, he'd be a fan favorite. Ainge has been selling this "up-tempo basketball in Boston" bullsh** to us for 2 years, and I thought it was going to happen this year. Hell, it should happen when you have Tony Allen, Sebastian Telfair, Rajon Rondo, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, and company. But no, we play a half-court, iso-set game... just like Portland. If we were a running team, like we should have been, I'm willing to bet that he'd still be playing 25 mpg.
Never said Delonte was a PG, but he's still going to get minutes over Telfair. As long as Doc is coaching the team I think Telfair will be picking the splinters outta his ass.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GeraldGreen5 @ Mar 25 2007, 02:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Never said Delonte was a PG, but he's still going to get minutes over Telfair.</div> Ok... but isn't it common sense that Telfair should be the backup point guard to Rondo, if you agree that Delonte isn't a point guard? Between Rondo, Delonte, Bassy, Gerald, and Ray... the minutes, IMO, should be as follows (96 mins total): Rondo - 30 West - 30 Telfair - 22 Green - 8 (gets the majority of his mins at SF) Ray - 6 I'm sick of Delonte playing 41-42 minutes, I'm sick of Ray playing 15-20, and I'm sick of Telfair playing 5-6. Doc even said himself "I want to experiment with our bench and our lineups. Everything we do in games and in practice is evaluation." Well, dickhead, "evaluate" Telfair again. Allan Ray really isn't going to be anything more than an Eddie House kind of player. He is an undersized sharpshooter, not much else. Also, guys, note that Doc even said this in the papers a couple weeks ago: "I think Sebastian can be one of the top 10 playmakers in the league." Again... then play him dumbass, let him play through one damn mistake. Doc keep Ray in the game when he dribbles around and hauls up a terrible shot, gets destroyed on defense, or loses the ball. Why can't he play Bassy if he gets lost on a screen?
He played well in October, sweet. His defense was awful and Rondo, West, and Allan Ray could all put up those numbers you just mentioned CB32 if they got the minutes that Telfair did.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (WELCOMEtotheJUNGLE @ Mar 25 2007, 04:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>He played well in October, sweet. His defense was awful and Rondo, West, and Allan Ray could all put up those numbers you just mentioned CB32 if they got the minutes that Telfair did.</div> Rondo, yes. West, yes. Ray, no. Allan Ray is not a better player than Sebastian Telfair, give me a break.
they should play him a lot right now, to see if he has a future with the team and to keep tanking games to secure a top two pick.
My opinion is that Telfair is the perfect backup for Rondo. I just don't think there is enough minutes to go around all the time. Right now it is easy and clear because of injury though. Rondo should start and get 20-30 mins and Telfair should spell him and even play along side him at times. I think Ainge needs to make some fine tuning trades to help establish a clear rotation and I think Telfair should be part of the rotation and not a trade.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DRob-50-Forever @ Mar 25 2007, 10:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>My opinion is that Telfair is the perfect backup for Rondo. I just don't think there is enough minutes to go around all the time. Right now it is easy and clear because of injury though. Rondo should start and get 20-30 mins and Telfair should spell him and even play along side him at times. I think Ainge needs to make some fine tuning trades to help establish a clear rotation and I think Telfair should be part of the rotation and not a trade.</div> Well, I don't necessarily like Bassy next to Rondo. I don't think either one should be playing an off-ball position. Bassy is a playmaker, and so is Rondo. But to me, there is no reason why he shouldn't be getting all the backup point guard minutes... ESPECIALLY right now, when there are 13 games left and we are a 20 win team. With injuries. And you bring up a point about a trade. If we package him in a trade now, it'll be like packaging Allan Ray with a slightly bigger contract. Why do I say that? His value is at an all-time low, we wouldn't get clear-cut value. We'd make that deal, and he'd be the steal of the trade. Why not play him these last 13 games and either up his value or actually find out "hey, we may have something here as long as he's confident." I'm all for a veteran point guard, which would mean bye-bye Bassy, but play him so his trade value isn't equivalent to mine going into the summer. He was doing just fine in October and November, then he was completely shafted.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ Mar 26 2007, 06:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>And you bring up a point about a trade.</div>Read what I said about trading him again.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DRob-50-Forever @ Mar 27 2007, 09:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Read what I said about trading him again.</div> Yeah, I know that, but what I was saying had to do with trading him in general. Even if we WANTED to deal him, his value is so low right now that we'd get absolutely nothing in return.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ Mar 27 2007, 05:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah, I know that, but what I was saying had to do with trading him in general. Even if we WANTED to deal him, his value is so low right now that we'd get absolutely nothing in return.</div>Ya, there is no way there would a trade out there worth making for him right now.
