Because Robinson can’t close out quarters. You start Mitch and get 5 to 6 minutes of balls to the walls offensive rebounding, and then sub in Queta to finish out the quarter. Mitch maybe closes some games depending on matchup and situation, but starting him is more about minimizing his largest weaknesses, his free throw shooting.

Edit: maybe you start Queta and hit him with a quick sub after 3-4 minutes, and I’m sure Joe will play around with it, but I think starting Mitch gives him the most options through the course of a game.

Who thinks that

He wont bc hes not made to play more than 24 mpg

Queta will be the starter

Define “everyone”, please, because I’m not sure I’ve heard anyone say that.

I don’t think anyone thinks that. It feels very intentional that Mitch was brought in to be the backup center. He flourishes in that role.

I think Queta will start but depending on the night / need either of them could close

It’ll be matchup dependent like it was with Al and Kristaps

Neither is going to be an All-Star, and it’s going to be about matchups. I think we will probably see a bit of both.

Queta can’t defend against top tier bigs, Mitch can. But Mitch can’t shoot FT’s and if Queta takes another step forward, he will very likely be a clearly better offensive option.

Queta was 5th in the NBA in defensive WARP last year in a virtual tie with Derrick White

https://espnanalytics.com/nba-net-ptsWAR/

No smart fan thinks that. He averaged 23mins and 50gms played per season in his career. Those are not starter mins or games played. You want to save him for the playoffs, besides not every team has a Embiid

Robinson rebounding and defense down the stretch in close playoff games is where we truly need him.

The regular season we should rest him as much as possible.

Queta should be the starter

He won’t. Same way Pritchard started over Anfernee Simons even though he probably should have been a starter. Mazulla sticks with his guys.

Maybe because Robinson is known to be better?

Starter will just be a title to start the season. I think the goal is for Queta to eventually be a starter that can play 30 minutes a night while defending well and not getting in foul trouble and for Robinson to be the true back up but until then they will split minutes. I don’t think Queta is fully formed yet.

Who is saying that? I thought it was pretty clear he was brought in as a backup. He may start against certain matchups but I think ultimately it’d be best to play both in the mid 20 minute range to keep them healthy.

I think the interesting thing is all 3, Garza included, have different strengths and weaknesses so it will be interesting to see how they are used

Because he’s the shiny new addition to the team. That’s it. And he just won a chip so there’s more name recognition than Queta to casual fans

Mitch will likely mostly play outside of bonus time to prevent hack-a-mitch. Which may mean starts.

I think he should but play backup minutes. The Knicks had to start Towns obviously, and that led to Mitch checking in and playing minutes where the Knicks already had enough fouls where teams could get over the foul limit and send him to the line. If he starts quarters instead that strategy goes away.

The fact that in 2026 we still have professional basketball players making tens of millions of dollars who can’t shoot a free throw is just mind boggling to me.

I think Robinson should start, but I think he and Queta will end up with similar MPG, so its not a huge difference. They will never play on the court together for any meaningful minutes, but Mitch can start and help get the score up with his rebounding, and Queta will likely have more legs by the close of the game. Having Queta closing also negates the hack-a-Mitch tactic (not sure how many other teams used that besides the Cs).

Robinson is one of, if not the very best offensive rebounder in the league. He was vital for the Knicks title, and he was a large reason why the Knicks knocked the Celtics out two years ago - Joe had no workable solution for him. He also is a little less prone to bone head plays imo than Queta. Look at some of those fouls he was giving away against the Sixers in that first round embarrassment. Queta fell off hard in the post season and he is an absolute foul magnet.

Queta has more endurance than Robinson, who I think should get about 24-28 MPG, with Queta getting the rest - fouls, fatigue, and injuries, or blow out games will get Garza on the court, or Cenac at the five.

Personally, I don’t see these as a ‘pick a side’ competition. Both big men will get minutes. They have overlapping skills, but Robinson is the better rebounder, Queta is more athletic. After the worries about the big man position last season, its good to see the Celtics have excellent front court depth. Now they just need to get another guard…

Its ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ probably wait till after preseason to at least see how each center plays with the new starting line up

I would think it makes sense to start Robinson each quarter. Pretty much only on the basis that other teams cant do hack a mitch.. or if they try to anyway you sub him out once youre in the bonus and its a win-win

Queta isn’t a starter level player for the playoffs

When we play Philly will Queta still play more? He couldn’t defend Embiid.
Lots of questions this year.
I wasn’t crazy about the JB trade but there’s a part of me that thinks this happened to help improve overall chemistry.
Of course,

Because Queta was cooked by Embiid

Mitch probably will start, but he and Queta will split time almost evenly. Keeps Queta out of foul trouble and avoids Robinson’s free throw struggles at the ends of quarters.

Because he’s better than queta

Why is this important?

Any strategy that puts winning above all else is all that Celtics fans care about.

This drama bullshit type thinking is not something I see actual Celtics fans talk about.

We only care about banners. Wait, don’t reply until you read that again.

Neither of them is “starting center caliber” especially in the NBA East. The Celtics have 2 non-shooting centers that they are paying over 30 mil a year. I personally think its a mistake, for that money we could have Myles Turner, who fits Mazzulla philosophy much better, but that a whole different discussion. Right now Robinson is the better center so he should start. Everyone is talking about Queta having a break out season last year, Queta had a “Queta” break out season. His minutes doubled because he was all the Celtics had and so his production doubled. It wasn’t like OMG this guy made huge strides in his game, because he didn’t. Did his game progress, yes it did but not to the point that anyone outside of the Celtics fans are calling it a Breakout season. With Queta there is the developmental intrigue because he’s younger, active, physical, and as i said he did make progress. But Robinson is more proven. He has done it in bigger games, against better centers, with more defensive responsibility. Robinson should start because he is the better defender, better rebounder, more physical interior presence, and more proven NBA center. If Queta continues to develop he could easily become the starter.

The only real reason I’ve heard is because Robinson can’t shoot FTs and you don’t want teams intentionally fouling him. If he starts, they can’t do that unless they want to get into the penalty earlier.

I don’t think it’s a great reason because Queta is otherwise the better center who can play more minutes, but I guess I technically see the reasoning

Everyone does not

He’s the greatest offensive rebounder of all time

He is better and more experienced

Queta is starting, for sure. He’s a better player, was previously the starter, and is more durable.

I don’t know why anyone thinks highly of Robinson at all. He truly sucks and they grossly overpaid for him.