Role Players are the Key May 10, 2010

Role Player: A team athelete who plays mainly in specific situations.

In other words, somebody who gets strictly limited playing time and only performs a few functions, whether that is to be a pesky perimeter defender, a large body in the paint, a three point shooter, or whatever else. These are the guys that are essential to every team, and if coaches play them smartly then these are the guys that can make all the difference between a good team and a great team.

But really, how important are these players? I mean, they’re don’t play big minutes, they generally jump in and out of the rotation, and they certainly don’t put up big numbers. Your Glen Davis, your Mikael Pietrus, even your Sasha Vujacic, these guys do not put up big numbers or minutes. In the grand scheme of things, they are just players with enough marginal talent to fill in for the stars who need to take a breather…right?

Ironically enough, these players are actually extremely vital to teams, especially those with hopes of making deep playoff runs. I’ve said this before to no avail, but now this 2010 postseason is surefire proof of how important these role players are. These guys who could barely make the rotation are now stepping up when it counts, and it’s definitely no coincidence.

See, you know what you get with role-players. Coaches, especially the great ones, know exactly when and in what context to put in a role player where they can be a spark off the bench and surprise the other team. Case in point: the Celtics-Cavs game this Sunday. As much as I have been disgusted with his ‘rebel without a cause’ attitude these past few seasons, we all have to admit that Rajon Rondo (29 points, 18 boards, 13 assists) was going off for an amazing triple-double performance that just destroyed the Cavs’ hope for an easy series (but that’s a whole different story). The point is, role-player Tony Allen was inserted by Doc Rivers for 25 huge minutes off the bench while Rondo was tearing i t up. Now, Tony Allen (‘the other Allen’, as I so fondly like to describe him) has been jumping in and out of Doc’s rotation for years (did you know he’s been a Celtic for his whole 6-year career?), and Doc knows exactly what he can and cannot do. He’s a slasher and an energetic defender, and that’s about it. But Rivers brilliantly used his talents to its maximum potential as he commanded T-Allen to slash and cut and create energy. Sure enough, with most Cavs defenders keeping their eyes on Rondo Tony Allen got some huge points off then bench for the Celtics. At one point, Paul Pierce was kneeling on the sideline to come back into the game and Doc actually got up and pulled him back to the bench in order to keep Allen in the game. Good call.

Honestly, I don’t think the Celtics win without Tony Allen. Yes, Rondo’s game is one for the ages, but this Sunday Tony Allen was the second best player. His impact of 15 points felt like a lot more, given that he scored mostly late in the game. The Cavaliers, heavily favored coming in, dropped another game and a huge reason for that is an unheralded role-player. We can see Doc Rivers’ brilliance not only in that game, but also two years ago when the then-nearly unheard of Leon Powe went off against the Lakers in the NBA finals.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Last Friday (May 7th) Goran Dragic of the Suns went off for 26 points in 17 minutes against the Spurs, leading the charge in a huge comeback win. Goran-fucking-Dragic? Who even knew his name last week other than some Suns fans and hardcore basketball nerds like me? Pietrus on the Magic is also a huge player whose stats don’t reflect his impact on the game. In addition to being an extremely annoying defender who frequently takes turns guarding the other team’s best player, he’s hit big threes almost every game this postseason, even with limited playing time. He is also able to contribute while Carter or Lewis are resting, which is a huge and often underrated factor. Back in LA, the Lakers ancient 35 year old point guard Derek Fisher is having an amazing postseason once again(this Saturday he hit three huge threes against the Jazz and created 20 efficient points of unexpected offense).

It’s the same story every year with a lot of these role players. People see their sub-par stats and their small impact in the regular season and they cry out that these players are no good and that their previous accolades were somehow flukes. This could not be further from the truth. In reality, good coaches know exactly what they can get out of their players and play them accordingly. Doc Rivers knew that Tony Allen’s skillset would fit the game on Sunday. Phil Jackson knows that Fisher hits huge shots in the postseason and turns it up another gear. Stan-Van knows that Pietrus can reliably hit the triple and give his stars valuable rest for solid stretches. If you compare some other teams who are supposed to be at the elite-level, they are noticeably lacking important role-players, these building blocks that are both vital and at the same time unheralded on elite teams vying for a championship. Look at Atlanta. Their bench players not named Jamal Crawford (who isn’t really a bench player) don’t have the skills that helps their team win. Even on the supposedly-deep Cavaliers, the role players are not getting any time to do what they do (Moon, Powe, and Hickson all have very different and useful talents that are not being showcased this postseason by Mike Brown). In the end, it’s that instant offense, that pesky D, that offensive rebounding, that corner three, or whatever else your local role player does that makes him so important. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the real difference between teams that are great and teams that are just pretty good.