What's That Uniform Say? Part II

It says "Truth." Bow down and suck his knees!!!



Yes, that's the Baby Celts, 3.5 games out of the #8 spot, and just one game away from leapfrogging Chicago for the #9. They're the new sheriff in town... and sheriff gone getcha.

Many in Boston are backing off the "fire Doc" call. Not me. (Surprise!) But this little run begs the question... was Ryan Gomes buried because Mark Blount's presence filled up the depth chart, or was it because Doc is retarded?

The presence of Blount complicated things. Doc likely put a lot of effort into the futile task of "getting through" to him, and part of that task was to give Blount consistent PT, enough to demonstrate that Doc wasn't giving up on him. Blount and Kendrick Perkins taking up all the 5 minutes forced LaFrentz to the 4, which meant that between LaFrentz and Jefferson, there wasn't anything left for Gomes. And it's not like Gomes was the only victim: Veal Scalabrine couldn't get any PT either. So in a way, the trade didn't necessitate Gomes' ascent as much as it allowed it. It makes for a compelling "not my fault" argument.

But there's one problem with that: the exact same thing happened with Delonte West mere months ago, and for worse reasons. West, you may recall, established himself as a solid NBA player during Gary Payton's brief absence last season. At the time, it was obvious to almost everyone that Delonte deserved playing time, but it wasn't so obvious to Doc. Coming out of training camp, Delonte found himself behind Dan Dickau, Marcus Banks, and even Orien Greene. When Banks and Dickau got hurt, Doc turned to Greene, a second-round draft pick, instead of Delonte. Once Greene proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was outmatched, the de facto reins were given to Delonte. The rest is history. Delonte is now firmly entrenched as the starter, to the point that his recent absence has been cause for concern.

So what does it all mean? Say what you want about the roster situation, but it's the coach's responsibility to put his best players on the floor, and Doc didn't. Two guys who, in all fairness, belong at the very top of the depth chart at their positions were instead buried at the bottom. He didn't even rectify the mistakes until injuries left him with no choice. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the man.

In short, Doc Rivers evaluates talent like Isiah Thomas evaluates trades.

But enough about Doc. I really like how this roster looks. I love that we got the better of the Davis trade, and that Szczerbiak is fitting in so well. The purging of so much bad blood (Banks, Davis, Blount) in one shot has done wonders for this team. When Jefferson and Perkins are fully healthy, the eight-man rotation looks fascinating:

PG: West
SG: Szczerbiak, Allen
SF: Pierce
PF: Gomes, Jefferson
C: Perkins, LaFrentz

The other spots are filled out by Greene, high schooler Gerald Green, and Veal Scalabrine, who should really only be used to absorb fouls or to spell anyone at the 4 or 5 who gets into foul trouble themselves. I don't think this is a bad roster. Given how Pierce is playing, this roster is no worse than Philly's, and not too far removed from New Jersey's. Next season the division title will return to the Celtics, barring a major upgrade by New Jersey or Philly, which I don't see happening.