Danny Ainge: ‘It’s time’ for James Young to show what he can do

http://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2016/07/08/danny-ainge-james-young



Danny Ainge: ‘It’s time’ for James Young to show what he can do




Young is shooting 66.6 percent from 3-point territory in summer league.
Boston Celtics' James Young, center, shoots as Philadelphia 76ers' Christian Wood, back, defends during the second half of an NBA Summer League basketball game against the Boston Celtics Monday, July 4, 2016, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Kim Raff) Boston Celtics' James Young attempts a shot against Philadelphia's Christian Wood during Utah summer league. –Kim Raff/AP



By Henry McKenna  July 8, 2016




The Celtics drew up a play for James Young to take the final shot of the Celtics-Spurs summer league game on Thursday. But Young never got the ball. Instead, Terry Rozier called for the shot, and knocked down a game-winning 3-pointer.

Young, who is two years younger than 22-year-old Rozier, has struggled to get minutes and opportunities with the Celtics during his two years with Boston. On Thursday, Boston tried to give Young an opportunity, and perhaps fittingly, another player grabbed that opportunity away from the young shooting guard.

The offseason departure of Evan Turner, however, could free up more game time for Young, who has averaged 8.9 minutes in 60 NBA games.

“Listen, you have to earn a roster spot,” Ainge said of Young, via ESPN.com. “There are some exceptions, like James Young is an exception. He was drafted at 18 years old, and we have to be patient with him, but now it’s time. But competition is a good thing. It brings out the best in these guys.”

Rozier, one of the Celtics’ many guards in competition for game time, is fully aware of the opening as well. He said on Thursday that he intends to fill the void created by Turner’s departure. But don’t count out Young just yet.

During three games in Utah summer League, Young averaged 11.6 points, five rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.6 steals. He shot 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from the field and 8-of-12 (66.6 percent) from the 3-point line. And while it’s not NBA-level competition, those numbers are a considerable improvement from his 30.6 field goal percentage and 23.1 3-point percentage from the 2015-16 season.

“I’ve been putting a lot of work in,” Young told Celtics.com after leading the C’s with 17 points on Tuesday. “So it’s just starting to show off and I’m just going to keep working until I’m where I need to be.”


bob


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Young was passed by late last year by John Holland (called up from the D League) and has been already passed this year already by Jackson (mid second round pick), in my opinion, as both guys have a much more rounded game than Young has been able to develop since being drafted. Bentil and Brown play different positions, but are also better than Young. The two international players picked in round one may be better NBA players as well although they both may again play in Europe for another season.

The only guys who are not better than he is is the 51st pick this season (can't remember his name) and the kid that played in Australia last year as a draft and stash (getting old or just unimpressed by either guy and I cannot remember his name either). And, likely some of the camp attendees to fill out drill lines and scrimmages may also end up being better than Young, too.

Young has had one skill (shooting) that has given him a lot of chances so far. And, yes, he did shoot a little bit better in the three Utah League games but still not good enough to carry him for another year on the varsity roster because the rest of his game is just not very good. He cannot keep his guy in front of him on defense, he never seems to rotate to help on defense, he does not draw and dish and rarely completes anything but routine passes when on the perimeter. I just do not think that he has the ability to catch on after showing very little improvement in his two full seasons of being a professional basketball player.

I am also very concerned with some of the comments made by fellow younger teammates this summer when they are actually trying to compliment Young when they say stuff like "he seems to get it a little better now". This bothers me because there has to be a reason why he is only now "seeming to get it".
The "seeming" part worries me, too, because such statements indicate that they are basically saying that he doesn't "get much of it" still. It also makes me think they are not sure that he will "ever get it" as well.

OK, I know that someone will bring up his age, but I say if you really want to become a player that you need to learn much more at a much faster pace to make it in the NBA.

He just comes off, to me, as the kid who was just physically better than his peers all the way from parks and rec type leagues right through his first year of college. Now that the other guys are catching up physically he has been proven to either not being able to learn or still trying to just get by on physical abilities. Either way, unfortunately for Young, it looks like he is not going to be able to keep up mentally.

Let us revisit the facts again.

Young will Never be a good NBA player because he does not have a handle.  He cannot get to spots on the floor and he cannot finish off the dribble when driving to the hoop.  

DA should cut his losses.  He should have drafted Hood.  Time to part ways with Young.  

dboss

dboss wrote:Let us revisit the facts again.

Young will Never be a good NBA player because he does not have a handle.  He cannot get to spots on the floor and he cannot finish off the dribble when driving to the hoop.  

DA should cut his losses.  He should have drafted Hood.  Time to part ways with Young.  

dboss

I think I counted six statements here that I absolutely agree with.