SL Post Game # 3 Celtics Crush Magic 108-71

It is just Summer League.  

The Celtics went out and simply demolished the Magic by 37 points in another end to end performance 107-71.

They had 33 assists and made 19 deep balls ((19-44 or 43.2%)

So I am just going to go down the list.

After struggling to find his shot in games 1 and 2, Sam Hauser lit the gym up with 21 points.  He shot 6-10 from deep and gave us a glimpse of what he may be able to add to this team.  He is an excellent catch and shoot guy.  I think that he will definitely get a chance to play because shooters like him are what the NBA is all about.  

PP ran this team like an old pro.  There is something to be said for giving the ball to your PG and letting him bring it up the floor to initiate the offense.  He had another excellent outing in scoring 17 points with 9 assists and 4 rebounds.  He only took 9 shots but made 6 of them and went 4-6 from deep including two QTR ending deep 3 balls in your face.  With the addition of Schroder, the PG depth on this team looks very good and if you have concerns about his opportunity (PP), he can play off the ball because he is a catch and shoot guy and he can also pull up off the bounce.  

Aaron continues to roll out more diversity in his offensive bag of tricks.  He did not shoot the deep ball very well but we saw finishes at the rim, a floater and another hard drive on the baseline and a pull up for a nice jumper.  He also had 9 rebounds and 4 assists.  He is a very strong rebounder.  His ball handling looks much improved as does his passing.

Bruno the brut was added to the roster after game one.  We can speculate why.  Show and tell to attract another team or maybe after game one the coaching staff concluded that we needed more size and strength.  Whatever the reason, he contributed 10 points and 6 rebounds to the cause and he runs the floor with purpose.  He also had 2 assists and a block.  Is there anyway for Boston to reverse the Kanter signing because Bruno looks like a keeper and at 22 on a cheap contract, I would like to see Boston give him some real development time.

Yam went 3-6 with 3 rebounds and no assists in a short 15 minute stint.  He has PG skills.  However the level of competition in the NBA especially on a physical level has pretty much eliminated him from getting on the 15 man roster.  

Raw recruit, Begarin,  played 30 minutes and filled in the stat sheet with 7 points,  8 assists and 7 rebounds and 2 steals AND 5 turnovers.  He has a lot of upside.  He rebounds and defends well and he runs the floor.  His shooting needs a lot of work but his mechanics are not broken (A.K.A Romeo Langford)  he's 18.  Should the other 2-way spot go to him or to Yam if either would accept the opportunity?   Next year when Richardson is gone I could see Begarin challenge for a wing spot on this team.  I could also see Yam fighting for a spot at PG when Schroder is gone.

One last point. Joe Mazzulla has done a fine job coaching this squad. Great flow to his rotations and influence on the great passing and solid defense we are seeing.

Another game, another blow out.  <Yawn>

Pritchard and Nesmith look like veterans out there playing with boys, which is how players with an NBA season under their belt are supposed to look in SL.  What I like best about their play is that they are obviously, consciously trying to focus on the parts of their games the coaches have told them to focus on.  They are showing themselves to be very coachable.  Pritchard was told to be more of a floor general, to run the offense more.  Last night he had 9 assists and 3 turnovers.  His shooting range, for a 23 year old, is unreal.  Nesmith was told to get into the flow and dominate with his shooting and to show off his improved ballhandling.  Haven't seen too much additional ballhandling from him but he has been a bucket.  I think it's safe to say we should all be very happy with how these two have performed in Vegas.  They are looking like some of the best players in town.




Marc D'Amico @celtics
yesterday
Payton Pritchard: “What separates good point guards from becoming great is the ability to make people around you better, get people easier shots, and control the game … Obviously that’s what I’m trying to become, so I’m going to keep working on that.”




Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Ime Udoka's demand for better ball movement is being heard. The Celtics set an NBA summer league record with 33 assists tonight.

Pritchard with the 9, but Bergarin with 8.  He had 5 turnovers, including one that sailed into the 4th row, but he passed a lot.  7 rebounds and 2  steals for our newest Frenchy.  He's not making the team, no chance of it, but he's looking like he could make it one day.  Considering he just turned 19 last week that's pretty impressive.

Another Celtic with a great game was Sam Hauser, our two-way player.  Game high 21 points on 7-12, 6-10 from 3 and 7 assists and only one turnover.  There's 24 assists (9-Pritchard, 8-Bergarin, 7-Hauser) out of 33.  Nesmith also had 4 assists in addition to his 18 points and 9 rebounds, which brings us to 28 out of 33.  The players that are moving forward were the players that were making the impact and that is good for the season.  My impression of Hauser so far is that he is a very good catch-and-shoot guy, excellent shooting mechanics, but his handle isn't especially good and I haven't seen him shoot off the dribble yet.  He needs to be able to at least shoot off the dribble like Mitchell Robinson to take the next step up.  He cannot expect to be alone in the corner.

Marc D'Amico @celtics
yesterday
Sam Hauser after knocking down six 3-pointers tonight: “The first two games I was kind of getting used to [the game speed] and couldn’t make a shot. But I think in this third game, I really got my legs underneath me and adjusted."




Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
yesterday
Sam Hauser says the Celtics offered him a two-way deal right after the draft. "I just think it's a good organization. I think there's opportunity there for me throughout the year to get better as a player."


Carsen Edwards banged heads with Cole Anthony.  Edwards went to the bench with a "left ear laceration".  That means he got a booboo on his ear.  He didn't return to the game.  Now, I admit it has been a while since I personally stepped onto a basketball court but I don't remember ears as being a critical organ for playing well.  When he left the game he was 3-9, 1-4 from 3,  in 15 minutes which is to say "business as usual" for Carsen Edwards.  His loss was some other player's gain.  My only regret is that he probably hasn't done enough for another team's scout to think "maybe we should call Brad about him".

Romeo had a scheduled night off.  That's odd but they have plenty of other wings on the roster they want to look at.  According to HC Joe Mazzulla this day off for Romeo against the Magic was planned long ago.

Madar has been looking more tentative in the last 2 games.  I still like his play but he needs more seasoning and he definitely needs 10 more pounds.  He's maybe an inch taller than Pritchard but look at the two of them together.  Pritchard looks like a bruiser and Madar like a scarecrow.  The next time I see Yam I want to be able to see him and not through him.  Move Carsen, sign IT and send Madar back to Israel with a checklist of things he needs to work on this coming year.  I wouldn't mind having Madar get the 2nd two-way contract but I don't think he'd take it and I don't think Brad will buy him out of his Israeli League contract just to send him to Maine.  I think, however, he can tell the difference in the speed and physicality of the game here and that's Step 1 in his development.

Bruno with a nice energy game.  It might just be because those are marginal NBA players he's out there with but he just looks so much bigger than everybody else.  He was 4-4 from the line last night, after going 1-4 in his other summer league game.  5-9 is about his career average of 68%, but his stroke last night looked very good.  Very smooth and exactly reproduced on each fta, so he can shoot fritos.  There are players like Dwight Howard who look completely uncomfortable on the line, who shoot like it was a hot potato and they couldn't wait to get it out of their hands with the predictable results.  Bruno's fritos look good.  To earn any kind of significant minutes he needs to become more reliable from there.  1-4 one night and 4-4 from the next won't work.  10 points and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes?  I'm good with that, Bruno.  He even had 2 assists.  Once we figure out what about Kris Dunn, is he a player and we keep him or do we move him, we'll have a better idea how good a trader Brad is.  So far Trader Brad's record is Horford + Dunn + Fernando + Richardson = Kemba + Tristan + 2021 #16 pick + a 2nd round pick.  Depending upon Dunn that's not bad so far, imo.




John Karalis
John Karalis @RedsArmy_John
yesterday
Joe Mazzulla says playing Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith moving forward is a "day by day" thing. Sounds like it's a full organizational decision, not just his

So, this sounds like Ime is thinking about platooning PP and AN together during the season and wants them to develop chemistry by playing together now.  That's just my attempt to understand the above comment from Mazzulla.  If so, I'm good with that.  Basketball is a chemistry game as well as Xs-and-Os.


Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
yesterday
Remember, there's no summer league playoff bracket this year. The teams with the two best records play in a title game, with score differential serving as the tiebreaker. With two blowouts, the Celtics should be a lock if they beat Philly on Saturday.


https://www.espn.com/nba-summer-league/boxscore?gameId=401352166&league=nba-summer-las-vegas

Bob,

You and dboss both have a post-game thread going.

You are second in by about 25 minutes or so.

With your permission, I'll combine them.

gyso

PP is going to be our PG of the future. What range he has on the 3 and such good decision making already. He's tough mentally and physically.

Yam needs those 10-15 pounds before he's NBA material. Work on it son. Go back to Israel. Feast on those falafels and hit the weight room. 2022 can be your year to enter the NBA.

Aaron will be a Celtics starter by 2022, and he'll ball a lot this year. Yes this team is young, but we do have a bunch of talent among the youngsters. Romeo, I do hope you've worked on your shot. Forget the Romeo PG experiment.

gyso wrote:Bob,

You and dboss both have a post-game thread going.

You are second in by about 25 minutes or so.

With your permission, I'll combine them.

gyso

gyso,

Go for it.


Bob


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