JT is getting pretty vocal. I hope this isn’t a sign of some rift.
Beantown00
There’s really no reason to not start him. He’s probably our 3rd-4th best player
si4ci7
Yeah I love Al but he has been a non factor in the paint. We either need to go double bigs or bring Al off the bench for spacing against slower bench bigs.
ChallengeAfter
He will eventually I think. There’s no way joe just totally ignores the lineup that had the #1 defense and got us to the finals last year
iDomino
I LOVE this. Coach will hear this and at the very least reconsider his previous statements. Plenty of time left in the season, need them to be on the court together in May/June more than December/January.
Zucchini_Chan
JT fit kinda 🔥
fearofaflatplanet
Rob is **the** guy that takes this team from being quite good and competitive with all the other top teams and takes us to a whole other level. That’s been the truth for some time.
acat20
idg why people get so hung up on starting vs. not. In fact we started the game on a 13-2 run last night. It’s about total minutes, matchups and who’s out there to close the game. The “starter” title gets way too much clout these days. It’d be one thing if we were starting games poorly, but we really haven’t been for the most part.
To me, this is a needless imposition by Tatum (and in general regardless of who’s making starter comments) that puts the coaching staff in a unnecessary spot. It’d be one thing if we didn’t have the best record in the league and were floundering…it’s just not the time for this stuff. It’s a me vs team mentality that isn’t conducive to a great team environment.
msnthrop
Al needs more than two days rest to be effective. Let Rob start.
guitarpatch
I’d rather they begin to start Rob in the second half and then also close the game. His presence tends to keep them on track offensively as you need to attack the paint to find him. He can help their 2nd half woes
Dondon1927
I’d hope so. Maybe Joe just wants him healthy going into the offs. I’d assume Rob is starting after ASB
CarBallAlex
I don’t really care who starts as long as he’s finishing games. He’s such a deterrent at the rim that in late game situations where teams tend to iso more, guys unable to go to the basket and forced to take mid range or 3pt shots while our guys can stay home is a lot better than being in constant rotation because we can’t defend the rim. It also saves energy.
So I’m fine if they want to not start him to conserve his minutes before the playoffs but he absolutely should be starting by then.
As far as the double big lineup, I just think it’s hard to do with our current personnel and wanting consistency. Keep in mind we basically swapped Theis with Brogdon. They don’t play the same position. You can sub Rob or Horford out for Theis, but you can’t sub them for Brogdon in the same way. At the point you’re going small. If we trade for an actual rotational big, I imagine that’s when we’ll start seeing the double big lineup again.
These are literally the only 2 reasons why Rob isn’t starting right now. I don’t believe Mazzulla is that stubborn that he refuses to do it out of his own personal approach. He very much seems like an analytics guy and the numbers about that lineup don’t lie.
DoomdUser
I 100% want him to start, but Mathematics Mazzulla probably doesn’t like something about some obscure points per possession advanced metric that says he’s better off the bench. At the very least, I’d like to see the double big lineup for a bit more run during the games, they can work it in even if he’s not “starting”
RekLeagueMvp
JT thinking about getting those free lob assist
cabose12
Is anybody actually watching the clip? Lol
He’s not prioritizing starting or saying grind him to the ground, he even says starting vs not is nbd and that robs health is important
Jt just wants to play woth Rob more, and because JT starts, hes saying Rob starting with him would lead to that
Kid_Crayola
Rob is so fucking good man, obviously he’s a super athletic and monster defender but it’s really the IQ, energy, and playmaking that make him stand out imo
A lot of the impact he has is just small shit you’ll never see on the box score, setting hard screens, boxing out, deterring shot attempts, making quick decisions on offense
I forget how good he really is because we don’t get to see him play enough
tonylouis1337
I concur
TheJaylenBrownNote
The problem is I think Al is too proud to come off the bench. However, White has been better than him and that basically solves our backup big issues where we don’t really have to play Kornet (double bigs not as much).
IdeaAdministrative72
We need to start a Tatum “you know” tally in interviews
Champion-of-the-Sun5
Rob is our third best player and it isn’t close
daft_dunkwwwolfey
So he’s not on minutes restriction 🤔
I guess Mazzulla is still chasing that historic offense that’s improbable to come back. Let’s see how stubborn he is
23 Comments
JT is getting pretty vocal. I hope this isn’t a sign of some rift.
There’s really no reason to not start him. He’s probably our 3rd-4th best player
Yeah I love Al but he has been a non factor in the paint. We either need to go double bigs or bring Al off the bench for spacing against slower bench bigs.
He will eventually I think. There’s no way joe just totally ignores the lineup that had the #1 defense and got us to the finals last year
I LOVE this. Coach will hear this and at the very least reconsider his previous statements. Plenty of time left in the season, need them to be on the court together in May/June more than December/January.
JT fit kinda 🔥
Rob is **the** guy that takes this team from being quite good and competitive with all the other top teams and takes us to a whole other level. That’s been the truth for some time.
idg why people get so hung up on starting vs. not. In fact we started the game on a 13-2 run last night. It’s about total minutes, matchups and who’s out there to close the game. The “starter” title gets way too much clout these days. It’d be one thing if we were starting games poorly, but we really haven’t been for the most part.
To me, this is a needless imposition by Tatum (and in general regardless of who’s making starter comments) that puts the coaching staff in a unnecessary spot. It’d be one thing if we didn’t have the best record in the league and were floundering…it’s just not the time for this stuff. It’s a me vs team mentality that isn’t conducive to a great team environment.
Al needs more than two days rest to be effective. Let Rob start.
I’d rather they begin to start Rob in the second half and then also close the game. His presence tends to keep them on track offensively as you need to attack the paint to find him. He can help their 2nd half woes
I’d hope so. Maybe Joe just wants him healthy going into the offs. I’d assume Rob is starting after ASB
I don’t really care who starts as long as he’s finishing games. He’s such a deterrent at the rim that in late game situations where teams tend to iso more, guys unable to go to the basket and forced to take mid range or 3pt shots while our guys can stay home is a lot better than being in constant rotation because we can’t defend the rim. It also saves energy.
So I’m fine if they want to not start him to conserve his minutes before the playoffs but he absolutely should be starting by then.
As far as the double big lineup, I just think it’s hard to do with our current personnel and wanting consistency. Keep in mind we basically swapped Theis with Brogdon. They don’t play the same position. You can sub Rob or Horford out for Theis, but you can’t sub them for Brogdon in the same way. At the point you’re going small. If we trade for an actual rotational big, I imagine that’s when we’ll start seeing the double big lineup again.
These are literally the only 2 reasons why Rob isn’t starting right now. I don’t believe Mazzulla is that stubborn that he refuses to do it out of his own personal approach. He very much seems like an analytics guy and the numbers about that lineup don’t lie.
I 100% want him to start, but Mathematics Mazzulla probably doesn’t like something about some obscure points per possession advanced metric that says he’s better off the bench. At the very least, I’d like to see the double big lineup for a bit more run during the games, they can work it in even if he’s not “starting”
JT thinking about getting those free lob assist
Is anybody actually watching the clip? Lol
He’s not prioritizing starting or saying grind him to the ground, he even says starting vs not is nbd and that robs health is important
Jt just wants to play woth Rob more, and because JT starts, hes saying Rob starting with him would lead to that
Rob is so fucking good man, obviously he’s a super athletic and monster defender but it’s really the IQ, energy, and playmaking that make him stand out imo
A lot of the impact he has is just small shit you’ll never see on the box score, setting hard screens, boxing out, deterring shot attempts, making quick decisions on offense
I forget how good he really is because we don’t get to see him play enough
I concur
The problem is I think Al is too proud to come off the bench. However, White has been better than him and that basically solves our backup big issues where we don’t really have to play Kornet (double bigs not as much).
We need to start a Tatum “you know” tally in interviews
Rob is our third best player and it isn’t close
So he’s not on minutes restriction 🤔
I guess Mazzulla is still chasing that historic offense that’s improbable to come back. Let’s see how stubborn he is
JT shitposts on this sub I know it.
He should start.