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It's all part of Doc Rivers' plan to make things more challenging for the Celtics.
The Celts could have taken the easy route and beaten the Hawks and Cavs in 5 or 6 games, but they wanted to take those series to 7 games in order to heighten the suspense.
But after losing at home to the Detroit Pistons, Rivers realized that he had taken things too far, and it was time to start playing Cassell.
Rivers' attempt to make things difficult for the Celtics is all part of his plan to make sure that KG and Ray Allen fully savor the Celtics playoff experience by playing as many games as possible, rather than dispatching the opponents quickly.
Now that he has accomplished his goal with two 7-game series and a home loss to the Pistons, he is ready to act normally and start playing Cassell.
- JL

There may be another reason for not playing Cassell as well.
Let's look at the situation logically. Cassell is the only Celtic who already has championship rings, so he does not need to experience the playoffs. Furthermore, maybe Rivers thinks that Cassell joined the team only to collect another ring, and does not actually need to experience being out on the floor.
Case 1-A - the Celtics do NOT play Cassell, and they do NOT win the title. In this case, everyone loses. Neither the team nor Cassell gets a ring, and Cassell does not get to experience time on the floor as well.
Case 1-B - the Celtics do NOT play Cassell, and they DO win the title. This is the ideal outcome for Rivers and the Celtics. Both the team and Cassell get their rings, and Rivers proves that he could do it without begging Cassell for help.
Case 2-A - the Celtics DO play Cassell, and they do NOT win the title. In this case, Cassell wins, but the team loses. Cassell gets experience playing for the Celtics, but the Celtics do not get their ring. It does not matter to Cassell, since he already has rings.
Case 2-B - the Celtics DO play Cassell, and they DO win the title. In this case, the Celtics have a bittersweet victory, and Cassell gets what he wants. The team gets their ring, but they admittedly had to do it with Cassell's help. Cassell gets the last laugh because he gets another ring as well as playing time.
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So there you have it. It is because Cassell already has rings from his days with Houston that puts him in a special position. He wants to collect more rings, but he also wants to participate on the floor. For him, he wins as long as he gets a ring OR he gets to play. Even if the team does not win the title, he already has his own rings.
- JL

Sam Cassell is almost 40 years old and he is complaining? I don't know if Sam "I Am" is fit for playoff basketball. You need to play with a much more intense game the deeper you go into the playoffs. His game may suit the C's for the regular season, but the playoffs are the playoffs.

This is incredible. People just ignore it. The reason Doc didn't play Cassell is Because Cassel looks only for his own shots instead of sharing the ball. Doc put Cassel in because without KG and Ray, he needed someone who could help Pierce scoring. When cassell plays, he takes everyone else out of the offensive flow, since no one even expects him to share the ball. It boggles MY mind that he would make a comment like that now, deep in the playoffs and start bickering for a spot when he KNEW he would be a reserve and as such, he might not play for a few games as per coach decision!

http://goallineblitz.com/game/signup.pl?ref=3432979

I don't know why they stopped playing Eddie House in favor of Cassell in the first place. The Celtics were doing just fine before they got Cassell and Eddie was doing what Eddie does. No problem. No drama. As for now, it's obvious that the Celtics can play without his defense on Chauncey Billups as many thought they needed. I've been on the record on this subject and I stand by my earlier assertions. The Celtics did not need Sam Cassell and it was a mistake to sign him. This guy is just a distraction waiting to happen. First it's the talk of a new contract for next year. Now this! In the middle of a championship run! I can understand a competitive spirit, but in some cases there is a point of diminishing returns. Like when an athlete doesn't know when to quit or back off in order to help his/her team.

*Shaking my head*

These things don't happen in a vacuum folks. He's done it everywhere he's been and it's not like he was "the reason" for why his other teams won championships. I dare say there were other players who were "the man" on those respective teams.

I mean really folks. What has Sam Cassell brought to the table that the Celtics didn't have to begin with? *Sheesh* I think the Celtics "thought too much" on this one.

I agree with cassell. He should be played for at least 3 reasons

1) Keep him warmed up just in case they need to go in their bench - say someone gets in foul trouble, someone gets hurt,

2) He can't play any worst than Ray Allen at this point. He plays defense and is probably shooting better than Ray.

3) Keeps the team from getting exhausted. Team must be tired and playing him and limiting some other players time in some games will make sure everyone stays fresh.

4) I don't think he needs the rest, in fact i think he needs the activity so he stay in game time shape (different from practice) and it will hurt his confidence (it will hurt his playmaking ability and shot) if he doesn't play.

You said it right "Roni".

Your're not playing Sam because during the whole postseason you have been a horrible ballhog and have taken bad shots at key moments in the game...Start playing with the team and maybe you'll get some minutes

ummm Sam, maybe you got benched because you've SUCKED! He has been throwing up bad shots and missing. The Celtics are better off with Eddie House. He takes good shots, plays better defense, and runs the offense.

whenever I see Sam Cassell I think of Lou Gossett Jr. in "Enemy Mine"..... I'm just sayin'

Sam I Am needs to stop complaining, and stop sucking. He had one good game all playoffs, and that was saturday night.

one can only wonder why the Celtics acquired Cassell in the first place

None of your reasoning makes sense to me. I mean, they didn't sign Cassell thinking he was a ball hawk and not a team player. That wouldn't make any sense. And what coach would want their team to get to a 7th game just to see if they can survive it? Ludicrous. Obviously, whatever Doc feels is something he discovered during the regular season....not when he signed him.

They're doing fine without him.

He had missed 16 or 17 straight shots from the field when he got benched.......hmmmm let me think about this one....I wonder if missing all those shots and turning the ball over all the time had anything to do with the benching........hmmmmm let me think on that one......

The one thing that has frustrated me about Doc at times is that he seemed to change his entire setup as soon as the postseason started. During the regular season we had the veteran presence and poise of the Big Three, but that was also coupled with the speed and energy of the younger guys like Rondo, Big Baby, Leon Powe...etc. When the playoffs began you hardly saw either Powe or Davis and Cassel seemed to be playing more minutes than Rondo.

Why change a formula that won you 66 games during the regular season? It makes no sense.

whenever I see Sam Cassell I think of Lou Gossett Jr. in "Enemy Mine"..... I'm just sayin'

dfwpjc | 05/26/08, 11:36 AM

HA! You're not the only one man.