Allen: I miss Eddie House

I miss Eddie House. After being the first guard off the bench for much of the regular season, the likable House has been relegated to a strictly observation role during the NBA playoffs. It's nothing he did, either. His reduced role started with the arrival of Sam Cassell to the Boston Celtics, where the 38-year-old Cassell appeared to be handed the backup point guard role just a couple games after he joined the team. At the time, it appeared to be a sound move. Cassell has more experience as a point guard while still being able to provide the offense and outside shooting that sometimes alludes starting point guard Rajon Rondo. Cassell played on NBA championship teams with the Houston Rockets (during the first Michael Jordan retirement) and was a clutch peformer during those runs.

Cassell has had his moments with the Celtics, including a 17 point performance in a win at San Antonio, and back-to-back games of 20 and 22 points against the Hawks and Knicks in April, but overall, we can say that his tenure with the team has been somewhat of a disappointment, especially on the road in the playoffs. Having joined the team so late in the season, he's had difficulty learning the entire playbook in his short time here. He has also been a liability on the defensive end, getting burned by the opponent's backup point guards. In my mind, Cassell was acquired to play against one guard in the Eastern conference: Chauncey Billups. The fear was that down the stretch of a close game, Billups could take Rondo (or House) down the post and just overpower them. Cassell has the guile and experience to better handle that matchup. He also is known to take smaller guards into the post himself.

The problem is, Cassell hasn't been much of asset to this point in the postseason. He's had some hot stretches, but in general the team's performance has suffered with him in the game. Besides, they haven't yet faced Billups in the post season. The Pistons are waiting for them, the Celtics need to close out the Cavs first. In game five, Doc Rivers solved the problem by having Rondo play the entire second half, which worked out well since Rondo played perhaps the game of his young life that night, scoring 20 points and dishing out 13 assists in front of the huge playoff TV audience.

Rivers said that if Rondo had tired in the second half, House would've been his substitute, not Cassell. I hope this holds true for game six as well. House isn't a pure point guard by any stretch, but he at least has been in the system for the entire season and knows the plays. On defense, House will never be mistaken for Alvin Robertson in his prime, but he's a whole lot quicker than Cassell, and will not be suffering whiplash watching the likes of Daniel Gibson fly by him.

I want to see House in there. I've missed him over the last month or so. He did a fine job off the bench through most of the regular season when the team was rolling along. The guy has the quickest release on his shot of almost anyone I've seen, and when he gets hot, he can put up points in a hurry. With Ray Allen struggling mightily from the outside in the playoffs, Eddie House could just be the secret weapon the Celtics need going forward. I've missed Eddie. It's time we see him again.
 

Bruce Allen is the creator of Boston Sports Media Watch, which has recently been recognized by SI.com as one of the best non-corporate sports web site's on the Internet.