I'm watching the Celtics-Raptors pregame report, and Tommy Heinsohn just made the claim that the Celtics bench could be as good as the Toronto bench by season's end.
Considering that the Celtics have one of the thinnest, and Toronto one of the deepest benches in the league, I'd say that is a pretty far-fetched statement.
Let's take a look (in order of PPG):
Celtics Bench:
Brian Scalabrine
Tony Allen
Eddie House
Glen Davis
Scot Pollard
Leon Powe
James Posey
Raptors Bench:
Jose Calderon
Juan Dixon
Carlos Delfino
Rasho Nesterovic
Joey Graham
Kris Humphries
Jorge Garbajosa
The thing about Toronto's bench is that a lot of them would be starters on the team if there was a different system in place. In a more traditional set, Rasho would definitely be a starter. Calderon and Garbajosa (who doesn't even play) are no doubt just about as good than Jason Kapono and Anthony Parker. Juan Dixon and Carlos Delfino provide instant efficient scoring and Joey Graham exudes potential.
Consider this also, only one player on the Raptors is averaging more than 30 minutes per game. Is it Andrea Bargnani with his 20.5 ppg and insane for nayone not just a 7-footer 70% 3 point shooting? Nope, he's played 22 and 29 minutes in the team's first two games. Is it every day 20-10 threat and Team USA standout, Chris Bosh? Guess again: 27 and 25 minutes respectively. Is it lightning quick pure point (Hey, that's the name of this blog!) TJ Ford? Not with Calderon playing behind him (22, 30).
Would anyone have guessed Carlos Delfino averaging a whopping 32 minutes per game? I didn't think so.
So there you have it. 9 players averaging 16 minutes per game, 1 averaging 30. That is a deep bench.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Tip of the Hat to Awful Announcing
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4 comments:
Just because players average alot of MPG does not make them good. Juan Dixon and Rasho both suck. Calderon and Garbajosa are good but thats it. I ve never seen anything good out of KJoey Graham. It is entirely possible for the celtics bench to be as good if not better than the Raptores bench by seasons end (depending on how TA recovers). Jason Kapono is nothing more than a 9th man on a championship team.
Delfino is ok.
The Celtics bench is not one of the thinnest. Just because u heard that on espn does not make it true.
1. Juan Dixon and Rasho are not going to be 6th man of the year candidates, but as the 9th and 10th guys they are much more than servicable. I would argue that almost the only team with a better 9/10 is Houston.
2. I concede that James Posey looked great today and Tony Allen, if he develops a brain, will be a good option.
Basically this is what I'm arguing:
Jose Calderon > Eddie House
Carlos Delfino > James Posey
Jorge Garbajosa > Tony Allen
Juan Dixon > Brian Scalabrine
Rasho > Glen Davis
Joey Graham > Scot Pollard
etc.
I also don't know why you're attacking me because I'm a Celtics fan, I'm still picking them to win the East, I just don't think they are very deep is all. Also, if you'd read my blog at all you'd know that I don't watch ESPN anyway.
umm....way to have two typos in your post. I'm not sure I can go out with you anymore.
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