How Do You Think Nate Should Be Utilized?

There has been much conjecture about how Doc will choose to utilize Nate Robinson, once he becomes reasonably acclimated to the team. Will he be a floor-spacer? Will he be, in effect, a second SG, paired with Tony and Marquis Daniels running the point from the forward position? Will he be partnered with some combination of Rondo, Tony and Quis to form a trapping press corps combined with a transition force? Will he be used primarily in a pick-and-roll capacity? Will he be a ball-distributor—maybe with a drive-and-dish specialty? Will he alter Doc's two-unit philosophy? Will he be allowed to free-lance and create his own shot rather than scoring out of the team flow? Will he take tickets? Will he do the laundry? Will he lead the team in prayer before games?

What's your opinion of how Nate should or will be used?

Sam

Gosh, Sam..........Laundry? Perhaps Landry should do the laundry?

All kidding aside I'm not even sure Doc himself knows quite what to do with him and how to best utilize him. Remember about a year ago we picked up Marbury and he was reluctant to do much. I don't see that as being an issue with Robinson at all. If open he will shoot. If there is a lane to drive he will drive it. Will he see the floor and hit an open man? Will his smallish size create problems on defense?

Sam, just so many questions that will be answered in time. Simply put he's here to do one thing. SHOOT the ball! If he does that as well as he is capable there should be a little jump in our second units scoring ability.

Perhaps he could even give Rondo a bit of a break in the 40+ minutes per game stat and play some time with the starters.

beat

Don't send him out for coffee, or a short stack from IHOP! He's the Slam Dunk King. He's got all the hops he needs. If he had anymore hops, he could be brewed!- (LOL)-MD!

To push the ball with the younger second unit and jump on teams. To run the pick and roll with sheed and the bigs. To penetrate and score or penetrate and kick. To shoot when open.

Most important to me...to get easy hoops and score in bunches.

Scoring in bunches could be particularly important. I've never known a championship Celtics team that didn't have at least a couple of runs per game in them. It would be nice if the bench could contribute one of those runs while resting the starters. It's the most demoralizing thing in the world for an opponent, especially if perpetrated by the bench.

Sam

Sam,
It's like asking who's going to be the champ in 2013.
The main question, IMHO, is will he keep his head straight and subscribe to the team philosophy of the current team?
Lets hope he will be what he was traded for, at least and maybe something extra.

AK

Doc has said he doesn't want Nate to think in terms of plays where the ball goes from AtoB. He wants him to "just let it flow". With Nate's speed, my expectations are that we'll see a lot of penetration. He'll be in the paint in a flash. After that, though, who knows? If you don't finish, you need to know where your outlet pass guys are and he doesn't know that yet.

Should be interesting, though.

Considering the importance of the point guard position and the headiness of their role, wouldn't it be nice if we had a legitimate, true backup point guard for more than a fraction of a season for a change?

bob

of all the ways you asked the questions, Sam, the most intriguiging to me is "Will he alter Doc's two-unit philosophy?"

i hope so. i hope that when Nate gets acclimated he spells Rondo some. also hope that he gets some time on the floor with Quis and a mix of starters, including Rondo. THAT'D add some speed to our team on the floor, and i think that he and Quis could operate together and be mindful of spacing even while they both have a slash/drive thing they like to (and can) do.

all that along with providing even more scoring punch for a 2nd unit that's been playing pretty well recently, that's even been out-hustling and out-playing the starting corps at times and getting us a lead. and he can score - the Globe today noted that Nate " comes to Boston with the reputation of scoring in bunches. In 30 games, Robinson scored 20 or more points seven times despite being primarily a reserve."

then Nate said, “As a basketball player, you raise your game to the level of competition, and right now I am at the highest. This is going to bring out the best in me, playing in Boston and going against the guys who are going to try to knock us down.’’

good news for us for sure ...

regards,
Michael