Post Game Thread - Pre Season vs Charlotte

bobheckler wrote:Lots to like, some not so much.

If Jaylen Brown is supposed to be our lock down defender he has a long way to go.  Gave up buckets to Batum and Kidd-Gilchrist that didn't need to be given up.  Meh night for Jaylen.

Tatum with rookie jitters that settled down after he started the 2nd half.  4 assists and 1 TO was a nice surprise.

Daniel Theis is going to get serious minutes this year.  He missed 2 dunks and an elbow jumper but did EVERYTHING else right.  12 points, 5-8, 1-1 from 3, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 0 TOs, 1 block and was in the middle of a lot of stuff in just 14 minutes.  His offensive and defensive rotations looked very veteran.  He's a basketball player, this is basketball.  Whoever our Euro scout is he done real well.

Baynes looked great.  Hit a couple of elbow jumpers that are bonus.  10 points on 5-8, 5 boards and a block.  Very happy with what I saw.  Did an excellent job of frustrating Dwight Howard which is enough to earn him a B- grade alone.  Howard is a dinosaur, he just hasn't figured out it's time to lie down and turn into oil.

Yabby, Semi looked lost, but who cares?  Morris will fill those minutes.  He might be weak because he missed camp but by January he'll be ok.  Assuming, you know, he's not in an orange jump suit.

Larkin looked very good.  A real floor general.

Nader.  I have no idea how he is able to just make beelines to the rim all the time like that and nobody gets in his way.


A nice first game.  I didn't think Irving and Hayward looked particularly good, not good shooting nights for either, but I'm not worried about them.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400978752



bob


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you could say the same thing about Hayward, if he is supposed to be our go to scorer, he needs a lot of work, the player that avg 24 points in the playoffs will show up soon. I don't think Brown will ever be as technically as good a defender as AB, few are, he will have lapses, but I still see a budding young player that can help us both ends. He still got up on the shooting hand enough to make shots clank too. Nader, Theis, Larkin all looked good, Theis was so good at so many modern PF things. Baynes showed a Spur like presence, nothing fancy, just does lunch pail big man dirty work. We've got an almost completely new team and so far I really like it.

dboss wrote:Brad may start Baynes when we go up against teams with big centers.  No need to tired out AH at the 5 against brutes.

One game does not make a season but Theis looks very much ahead of Yabusele.  Yabu did some banging and fought hard for additional possessions but on offense he looked off balance and somewhat clumsy.  That is just my opinion.

Theis replicated the highlight films I have been watching for the last few months.  He appears to be the best roll guy on the team.  He looks like a seasoned veteran.  

Smart took and made some nice three points shots but he also took some bad ones and missed badly.  I have mentioned before that he can become a more reliable player on offense if he takes less three point shots.  He needs more discipline with his shot selection.  He did however make Smart like plays on defense and going after 50/50 balls. There was a great play where he came out of nowhere to fight for a rebound.  That was a 40/60 play and he still managed to save a possession for Boston.

Terry had three steals last night.  He scored on an Irving like drive and layup, a smooth three pointer from the corner and a dunk off of one of his steals.

When Larkin came in the Celtics had lost their momentum and then he proceeded to take his man off the dribble twice for really nice layups.  He is a solid ball handler and provides another layer of depth at the point.

I am not all that concerned about Jaylen on defense.  I am still more concerned about his ability to make shots.

dboss

dboss wrote:Yabu grabbed 6 rebounds so at the very least he showed up on the glass.

If I was making a decision today Theis would be top 4 rotation for Bigs.

Dboss

swish wrote:All you need to know about preseason is the fact that Durant, Curry, Green and Thompson went one for nineteen on three point shops.

  swish

bobheckler wrote:

swish wrote:All you need to know about preseason is the fact that Durant, Curry, Green and Thompson went one for nineteen on three point shops.

  swish

swish,

All of this is part of the process and each part of the process should be recognized, appreciated and discounted for what it is, what it is not, and where it fits into the process.

Last night's game was not

1.  NCAA, where the teams might have a couple of players on each squad that might be drafted into the NBA, but 2/3 - 3/4 of the players will not.  Zero NBA experience.
2.  Summer league, where the teams might have a couple of players on each squad that might be invited to camp, but 2/3 - 3/4 of the players will not.  Limited NBA experience.

Last night's game was

1.  NBA basketball, where the teams have a couple of players who will NOT make the team, but 2/3 - 3/4 of the players WILL.  NBA starters and veteran bench players getting minutes.  That is a significant difference in quality of talent and execution.  Are they in playoff form?  Of course not, but even where they are now either team could easily beat any of the two prior pieces of the process.  Blindfolded.

2.  Every starter on the Hornets played 21-24 minutes.  Not heavy minutes, but enough to project their impact, and the players they started are probably their regular season starters.

3.  Every Celtic starter played 16-20 minutes only and Baynes and Brown might not be regular starters.  Lighter minutes, meaning their starters played minutes against our bench.  Rookie Jayson Tatum played game-high 33 minutes.


My point is that prepping our bench for the season is an essential part of the process.  Steph Curry (and Kyrie and Gordon) can miss every shot but it doesn't matter because everybody knows they'll hit them 3 weeks from now.  What matters, at this point in the process, is how well does the offense execute, how well does the defense adjust and rotate and how well does the bench play against quality and that's what we saw last night.


bob


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