Playing time. It’s always been a strong point of debate within the Celtics blogsphere. That debate includes us here at CelticsHub, where myself and two esteemed colleagues have been making the case for months to keep the veterans minutes down, particularly those of Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.

Doc has a history of leaning on these two too much, for mostly logical reasons (lack of depth, injuries, etc.) in the past couple years. A contingent of C’s fans may argue that these extra minutes has been partially response for both players’ regression in on-court performance (Allen) and injury woes (Pierce), but that’s an argument for another day.

This year, with the additions of Marquis Daniels and Rasheed Wallace to the bench, things were supposed to be different. This team would now have depth, as well as a couple shooters to space the floor, reducing the need for Pierce and Allen to play major minutes with the second unit.

Unfortunately, like most things involving this team, this setup didn’t exactly go as planned. Thanks to injuries to Daniels, Tony Allen, and Glen Davis, the second unit was left shorthanded for nearly three months. This, combined with some spotty (I’m being kind), performances by the 2nd unit’s supposed shooters, left the need for Pierce/Allen to anchor that unit nearly as critical as last year.

The onus fell even harder on Ray Allen, along with Rajon Rondo to a lesser degree, with the injuries to Pierce and Kevin Garnett in December-February. Bench players were being shuttled back and forth between the starting lineup and bench, leaving no continuity between either unit, as well as a dependence on Rondo and Allen to lead the way offensively with the 2nd team on any given night.

That was the story with this squad through February. Thanks to this, the minutes per game for those guys, along with the rest of the starters (when healthy, at the All-Star Break were high. Let’s take a look at the breakdown.

Pierce: 35.5
Allen: 36.7
Rondo: 36.9 (career high 33.0 min)
Garnett: 30.6
Perkins: 28.6

It was the same old song and dance from last year. This squad was primarily old, weren’t getting much rest, and to top it off, the team was floundering for two months.

Fast forward to the month of March. Finally, this team is healthy and has gone 7-3, albeit against primarily inferior opponents. It’s progress nonetheless. The thing I am most encouraged by in this month though, is the minute management by Doc. A closer look at how it is all breaking down recently, after the jump » Read more: Minutes Watch: A Positive Report