Brad Stevens Shed Some Light On A Pretty Important Roster Decision Today
After the first preseason game it became pretty clear that Brad Stevens had a big time decision to make when it comes to his starting center. I think we were all a little surprised when we learned that Brad was throwing out a Kemba/Jaylen/Hayward/Tatum/Williams starting five the other night against the Hornets, and it became pretty clear that while Timelord is fun as hell and has all the potential in the world, he’s not quite ready defensively. Maybe part of his mistakes were due to his excitement, but for every highlight block we saw, we also got numerous occasions of poor positioning and an overall lack of defensive awareness. As of today post defense continues to be the #1 problem with this team and it was fair to question if Brad would make an adjustment and maybe put someone with more experience into that starting lineup like Kanter.
Well I have to say, if I’m to believe Brad with this statement today, I sneaky love it for a couple reasons. First and foremost, I think for Kanter to be happy in this new system, he has to get his touches. Playing him with the starters does more harm than good because we already have four other guys who are going to need their shots. I am in favor of doing whatever we can to keep Kanter’s mentality positive after the bad chemistry we had last year. So what’s the solution? Play through him on the second unit. This is also important because it gives the Celts another option offensively for a unit that will most likely be run by Marcus Smart. Kanter is proven when it comes to low post scoring, so finding him matchups against reserve bigs is key to avoiding any potential scoring drought once the second unit comes in. We just saw what that can look like
The defensively, everyone knows this is the one area where Kanter can be a liability. So how do you limit the damage? You have him on the floor against second unit competition. Did you know when Kanter was on the floor the other night the Celts had a Drtg of 88.1? Not bad! if Brad can find stretches where he can maximize Kanter’s offense while also hiding his defensive deficiencies by having him guard lesser players, that’s a win for everyone involved.
So that brings up the question if Kanter isn’t going to start, who’s the starting center? In my opinion the leader in the clubhouse is probably Vincent Poirier. I just don’t think barring an awesome preseason that Brad is going to rush Robert Williams. Poirier showed the most promise on the defensive end on Sunday and I feel like he came over from Europe to start not come off the bench. He’s a guy who they won’t have to worry about usage or shots or anything like that, the man himself pretty much said it
If he can rebound, defend, and protect the rim he can absolutely fill that Baynes role where maybe he starts but plays like 15-20 minutes total. Depending on the matchup it wouldn’t shock me if Poirier starts and Timelord/Kanter closed games. Hell maybe even Theis at the five depending on what the situation warrants.
It’ll be interesting to see where Brad leans on Friday when they face Orlando who is loaded with tall athletic bigs. I think we’re going to see a starting lineup that is going to be fluid all season long and be more matchup dependent given this roster’s flexibility. Against bigger teams maybe we see a Theis/Poirier fontcourt, against more smaller lineups we see the 4 guards/wings and a rim rolling center. Rotations and Brad haven’t always been perfect, but his plan for Kanter to start the year is probably what’s best.