Hopefully, however, Brad is giving everyone a long leash because he's trying to keep people happy but when it comes to the stretch run/playoffs, his rotation tightens. He can't play 9 guys for 20+ minutes in the playoffs, can he?
I've been beating this drum in the game threads for a long time now. No, he absolutely cannot play a 9 man, 20 minute rotation come the playoffs. Frankly, he needs to stop doing it right NOW, IMO. Terry Rozier should not have been on the court in a game that wasn't decided last night, for 17 minutes. And Kyrie Irving and Tatum and Morris need to be playing more than 31-33 minutes a night in games that aren't blowouts.
Early in the year, everyone shouted me down about how Brad is trying to figure out his rotations, and he's trying to keep guys rested, and he'd rather lose a game in the regular season than have guys wear down in the playoffs, etc.
Well, Kyrie, who leads the team in minutes, is averaging 32.1 minutes per game, which has him tied for 46th in the league. He's tied with Harrison Barnes, and is behind guys like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kyle Kuzma. Tatum is #2 on the C's at 31.0 per game, tied with DeAndre Ayton for 64th in the NBA. Horford is #3 at 28.1, tied for 98th with Ibaka and Rodney McGruder. Morris is #4 at 27.4, tied for 108th with Kent Bazemore.
Meanwhile, a team like Golden State has Durant in 7th in overall minutes in the NBA, Curry and Klay are tied for 17th, Draymond is tied for 58th. Houston has Harden at #1, Tucker at #13, Capela at #27, Gordon at #38. Toronto has Kawhi at #15, Lowry at #32, Siakam at #68 (and they have arguably the deepest bench in basketball).
I think this all goes back to the concept of the Celtics lacking defined roles. Every night, they don't have any idea how many minutes they are going to play, and the guys who deserve the most minutes are being "rested." It's time to start playing the guys who deserve to play 35 minutes a night, and the rest of the guys are just traditional bench players, who come in for matchups, foul trouble, breathers, etc. and they get their 10-15 minutes and call it day.
Oh, and get Rozier the fuck out of town.