Published: September 18, 2009
The Boston Celtics roster looks pretty much set. After a relatively eventful off season that saw a big splash followed by several duly noted kerplunks, the Celtics brass can, for the most part, go to sleep every night until Oct. 27 with hardly a stir knowing they’ve done everything in their power to put one of the top rosters in professional basketball together. They managed to escape the period with only one significant loss to the team and he might never play another game due to an unfortunate chronic knee problem.
Key bench players who have their roles defined and perfected to an art are back for at least another season (Eddie House, Glen Davis), flies on inexpensive, low-risk decent-reward players who should at the very least improve a glaring weakness of the 2008-09 season (Shelden Williams) and beneficial insurance to back up the aging veterans and help with the point guard duties (Marquis Daniels) are all reasons to assure yourself that Danny Ainge has a good idea of what he’s doing.
The 2009-10 Boston Celtics are obviously fit to win a championship, but it goes without saying that they’re an aging group and with at least 82 games in a season, an aging group needs their rest. This is where the Celtics find their most glaring hole.
Who will serve as a serviceable backup to Paul Pierce?
In the 2007-08 playoffs, at the not so young age of 30, Pierce logged in a league leading 990 extra minutes after starting 80 regular season contests. Much like a major league pitcher who exhausts himself more-so in a hard fought 80 pitch six-inning performance than a 110-pitch no hitter, the playoff series against the Bulls was very hard on the former Jayhawk. By the end of the Magic series, Pierce looked worn out and part of that was the teams inability of replacing him with a suitable substitute.
Rookie Bill Walker and longtime bench warmer Tony Allen were both incapable of getting any playing time. The latter being a stretch given he’d be undersized as a small forward.
This year Boston still does not have somebody to relieve Pierce when he needs his necessary rest during the lengthy season. It looks like nit-picking when the team is looked at from top to bottom as a viable championship winner, but that’s before a possible (and likely) injury is contracted by one of the aged future hall of fame inductees.
One possibility to come in and give useful minutes off of the bench is Sacramento King’s small forward Andres Nocioni. A hard nosed, tenacious veteran who will certainly make the most of every second he’s on the court, the Argentinean can also shoot and would fit in perfect with Boston’s professional, championship driven attitude.
This isn’t an issue of finding Pierce’s replacement because that task is next to impossible right now. The man simply needs a shadow.
2 Comments on "Pierce Needs A Shadow"
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Vittorio De Zen on Mon, 21st Sep 2009 10:52 am
Huh? Marquis Daniels will back-up Pierce. Nocioni has been awful for the past couple of seasons and has a big contract that doesn’t expire till 2012.