Kanter, Poirier Should Give Boston Big Boost on Boards

bobheckler wrote:Ben Rohrbach @brohrbach
about 1 hour ago
Celtics are high on Vincent Poirier. Talked to a couple people familiar with him. No. 1 thing that stood out: His athleticism. He led the Euroleague in rebounding. “That doesn’t happen by accident.” He passed up a bigger payday in Europe to come to the NBA.

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bob
MY NOTE:  We have long bitched about how we are getting outrebounded by other teams.  Between Kanter and Poirier as the primary bigs and Williams and Theis as secondary bigs (I'm thinking Theis will be playing more 4 this year than 5) it looks like that won't be happening next year (fingers crossed).  Our bigs can't shoot from outside, except for Theis, but Danny sure did address our rebounding and paint issues.


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Good to know the coaches are loving Poirer’s athleticism....I have faith in internationals eye test.

If he is everything he could be, what a great move by Danny. Hope to see some twin tower combinations this year.

I read that the Celtics believe Poirier got the potential to be a big time defender and rebounder.

I’m assuming he’s at the Auerbach Center working out, great if the coaches like what their seeing so far....

Kanter may extend his shooting range under Brad's tutelage.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/boston-celtics-high-center-vincent-013653699.html

I just saw this tweet about Kanter.
We know his strengths are rebounding and scoring inside.
There are other aspects he does not do well, including defense which isn't easy to measure by numbers.


Tommy Beer @TommyBeer
about 5 minutes ago
Only seven times this decade has a player logged more than 1,500 minutes yet tallied fewer than 40 steals and 40 blocks in the same season. Nikola Peković did it once in 2012-13 Jordan Hill did it once in 2015-16 Enes Kanter has done it 5 times, including each of the last 4 yrs

TJ


Thanks for reminding us what a poor defender Enes Kanter is.


BR has him at one of the 5 worse defenders in the NBA

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2822874-metrics-101-exposing-the-nbas-worst-defender-at-every-position#slide1

The section applicable to him below:

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Were it not for the defensive rebounding numbers that boost his DBPM into more palatable territory, Enes Kanter would emerge with an even worse score in this analysis. But based both on his work with the New York Knicks and his short tenure with the Portland Trail Blazers, he still doesn't have any trouble earning the featured spot for centers. [/list]

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This shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Kanter has functioned as a defensive liability for years, attempting to overcome his uninspired, stuck-in-molasses play on the preventing end with tenacity on the glass and tremendous touch around the basket. He might hemorrhage points, but he can often make up the lost ground with sheer offensive firepower. [/list]

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Still, wouldn't it be great if such a trade-off weren't necessary in the first place? [/list]

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Kanter can't be pleased that even Devin Booker, who knows a thing or two about lackluster defense, has poked fun at his porosity. But he's deserved the barbs.[/list]

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Leaving the 6'11" center alone in the painted area isn't a recipe for disaster. He's willing to contest shots and play physically on the interior, even if he's liable to give up quite a few easy buckets. It's when he's dragged out of the restricted area that he becomes a true turnstile, and it's increasingly easy to force that development in an NBA defined by five-out offensive sets with floor-spacing acumen at every position. [/list]

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Put Kanter in a pick-and-roll, and he'll conflate disparate coverages before picking the wrong one and betraying his teammates with athletic disadvantages. Ask him to guard an isolation set, and his compatriots may as well shield their eyes from the ensuing carnage. Worse still, opponents understand these limitations and frequently target him—the strategy to which Booker was alluding. [/list]

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The Knicks were 3.9 points per 100 possessions worse on defense when he played. Admittedly with quite the small sample, Rip City's defensive rating has fallen by 11.8 when he's logging minutes.[/list]

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Based on his lengthy history as a weak link in the defensive chain, don't expect that trend to change anytime soon. [/list]

might be best to play Katner in a zone a lot.



oh well, the best we could afford I suppose!

We knew Kanter can't defend. The team certainly knew that when they signed him as well. That's one reason why there have been other centers brought in. R Williams, Theis, Fall and Poirier are all hanging around because, hopefully, one or two of them can provide some added D. Kanter is the best that could be obtained under the circumstances, and can add some inside scoring and board a little.

No doubt there is a trade-off. Kanter can board and score. Guys like Theis and Williams can defend. VP has an opportunity to also help on the glass and use his size to defend and score in the post.

Ideally you would want a center that does everything well. The Celtics do not have that but collectively, their center rotation has quality depth.

A lot of moving parts and a lot of unanswered questions remain.

Al is now 34 and couldn’t rebound well enough, Kantor was top offensive rebounder per minute in league a few times, Poirer led the Euroleague in rebounding, RW has attributes to develop into a defensive force/glass eater. I’ll take my chances with this crew to do enough big man/dirty work things to help us more than last years crew....