The Starting Five: Looking at the Celtics Pre-Season So Far

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Starting Five: Looking at Boston Celtics Preseason So Far
October 14th, 2013 at 7:23 AM
By Sean Melia



The Celtics have a week of preseason games under their belt, and have four more ahead of them over the next ten days. On Monday mornings here at Celtics 101, we will bring you The Starting Five, a quick glance at the Boston Celtics and how they presently stand.



1) The week in review

The Celtics played four games last week, going 1-3. They found some things to work on (rim protection and rebounding), generated some (preseason) excitement with a great fourth quarter against the Knicks, erasing a 23 point deficit (is that what inspired the Red Sox and Patriots on Sunday?), and they also discovered a few bright spots.

2) The week ahead

On Tuesday the Celtics will head Brooklyn to take on the Brooklyn Nets. This game will no doubt feel a little strange. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have played about 12 minutes per game in Brooklyn's first two games. It's likely that they will play on Tuesday night, marking the first time we will see Paul Pierce on the floor with the Celtics while not wearing the green and white.

The Celtics will also play the Raptors on Wednesday and then the Timberwolves on Sunday evening.

3) Some pleasant surprises

Gerald Wallace has played very well for the Celtics in the first four games of preseason. He is shooting the ball well, hitting three pointers, hustling, and bringing some veteran fire to this team. It's clear he is enjoying the up tempo pace of the game, something he was not allowed to do in Brooklyn.

Jordan Crawford and Avery Bradley are both making a case for big minutes this season. Both are shooting over 50% on three pointers, and Bradley will need to continue this type of shooting to score keep defenses honest on the perimeter. Which is vital for this team's success.

4) The Rookie Project

It's been so far so good for Kelly Olynyk, Phil Pressey, and Vitor Faverani. All three seem like they have a roster spot carved out at this point.

Faverani has brought energy and seems to feed off the crowd. He runs the floor hard and gets out in transition whenever possible. He has also shown the ability to step out and hit some deep jumpers, including three pointers.

Pressey is handing out assists at an impressive rate and making his share of shots too. In 22 minutes he's averaging 4.8 assists and also shooting 63% from the field. His three point shooting and turnovers will need to improve, but it's been a good start for the quick point guard.

Olynyk, the best of this bunch, has been steady. He's scoring 9 PPG in 21 minutes of action. His passing ability has been impressive, and once he gets used to the pace of the game his turnovers (2.50) should go down.  

5) Below the Rim Basketball

Jared Sullinger, even with all the off-court distraction, has been very solid in the first four games. He is rebounding well, playing good defense, and scoring a ton of points around the rim. His size and stature make him the ultimate below the rim player. He's sneaky and smart in the post, scores with both hands, but does it all without any real explosiveness. He's like that guy in pick-up that every wants to guard at the start, until he starts dominating and no one has any idea how he is doing it.

The Sixth Man: Heading out on the road

This week will send the Celtics on the road for the first time, it will be interesting to see how they handle playing against some old friends in Brooklyn and then how they play in Canada and Minnesota after that.




bob
MY NOTE:  For the most part this is a cautious recitation of the abundantly obvious.  He certainly didn't overstate our issues with rebounding and rim protection.  I would disagree with him about Kelly being the most impressive of the rookies.  I think he has been the least impressive, to be honest.  His defense is weak, his rebounding is non-existent, his shot has not been dropping.  Not a big deal, I'm confident he'll improve by leaps-and-bounds over the season, especially his shooting, but so far, pre-season to-date, so weak.  I'd say the most impressive was Pressey, who really does look like he could be a legit point guard in the NBA with Faverani also doing well.  My expectations for Faverani were so low (although my hopes were high!) that I'm practically giddy with what he's shown so far.  He still has a very long way to go, but he has some skills and I'll take that for now and build on them. If Vitor turns out to be just a solid, dependable backup center, much less a starting one, then Danny pulled off a coup. Same with Pressey. These guys cost us nothing to sign and are dirt-cheap.


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I agree with every point, Bob. So far, I think it's safe to say that Jeff Green and Kelly Olynyk have been my two biggest disappointments, while Phil Pressey, Vitor Faverani and (probably) Gerald Wallace have been the biggest pleasant surprises.

And we're almost at midseason—PREseason, that is.

Sam

Bob,

I think Olynyk seems to be the least impressive because we were all expecting him to be that next perimeter sharpshooter but it hasn't quite panned out yet. However, this shouldn't take away from what he has done. 9 ppg isn't bad, and it'll go up soon. Faverani is looking like he has the making of a legit center once he continues to work on his game. I'm most impressed with Pressey because of the first impression I got from him during the summer league. I'm glad he's proving me wrong.

I think Sullinger is having the best preseason of any player so far. Wallace and Humphries are doing well, too. Green hasn't looked too inspiring and neither has Lee. Bradley is looking good as long as he isn't running the point. Crawford, for the most part, has been solid. Brooks and Bogans are just taking up roster spots. Bass is productive so far and has been a nice physical presence. I think he's proving his worth. At this point, I'd keep him over Lee.


KJ

KJ

Although I'd like nothing more than to see it I just don't see KO averaging over 9 PPG this year. Guess it will depend on his minutes, if he gets in the 22-23 MPG range he has a chance less than 20... don't think so. Shooting is a lot tougher here and he'll need to adjust some and that will take some time.

beat

beat,

I think he could be a 12-13 ppg scorer his first year, that's only him hitting another 2 field goals. I think he can do that once he's fully adapted to the system.


KJ

I just don't believe Kelly's strength is on the perimeter.  He can operate very cleverly down low.  The problem is that his best moves come in an area whre he's at the greatest disadvantage bulkwise.  The only advantage to having him operate outside is if he might draw a good rim defender away from the basket; but I just see opponents switching up defensive assignments accordingly.

Sam

KJ

So who are our scorers going to be?

Think you are very generous in giving him 12-13.

Think that Stevens will be spreading the minutes out quite a bit. Being there are only 96 minutes to split between the 4&5, i'm not confident that KO will get even 20 of those, maybe he can play a tiny bit as a 7'er at the 3 but that would be a stretch.... 4's and 5's are going by him like water off a cliff a 3 would be impossible for him to guard.

Sully, Green, Hump, Bass should all get more than 20 MPG although Green's will be somewhat split, Victor will get his too as he is the really only BIG we have. I just don't see where KO will get minutes enough to average double figures.

beat

beat,

Pre-Rondo/Post Rondo scoring? Hard to say.

There's too many variables involved to get an accurate handle on how each player will perform. The only guy I feel any confidence in predicting production is Sullinger.

I think KO will get quality minutes, provided he keeps playing relatively decent. If his output drops, then there's no way he could average double figures.

There's no great scorer, but there's a lot of guys that can get 10 pts on any given night. Lee (even though I have serious doubts about him), Bass, Humphries, Bradley, Sully, Wallace, Green (I think he'll be an upper teens, lower 20s guy), Rondo of course when he gets back. That leaves the likes of Crawford, Vitor, Kelly, Pressey, Brooks, and Bogans. Crawford is capable of scoring double figures if he gets hot. Vitor can bang underneath, may be good for 6-8 pts. Kelly has been averaging 9 pts thus far, which is pretty good.

There's probably 9-10 guys capable of double figures, but that doesn't guarantee it night after night. The fact that, overall, offense has been rather weak, certainly puts emphasis on the fact that their potential likely won't be reached any time soon.

Perhaps you are right that I am being generous towards my prediction for Olynyk's production. It may be a long shot but it's not impossible.


KJ

k_j_88 wrote:Bob,

I think Olynyk seems to be the least impressive because we were all expecting him to be that next perimeter sharpshooter but it hasn't quite panned out yet. However, this shouldn't take away from what he has done. 9 ppg isn't bad, and it'll go up soon. Faverani is looking like he has the making of a legit center once he continues to work on his game. I'm most impressed with Pressey because of the first impression I got from him during the summer league. I'm glad he's proving me wrong.

I think Sullinger is having the best preseason of any player so far. Wallace and Humphries are doing well, too. Green hasn't looked too inspiring and neither has Lee. Bradley is looking good as long as he isn't running the point. Crawford, for the most part, has been solid. Brooks and Bogans are just taking up roster spots. Bass is productive so far and has been a nice physical presence. I think he's proving his worth. At this point, I'd keep him over Lee.


KJ

KJ,

I agree, KO is a victim of the expectations game, expectations he set by playing so well in summer league as well as the fact that he is a #13 pick.

In fact, I agree with everything you wrote.


bob


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KJ and beat,

I think KO will average more than 9ppg for the simple reasons is that he has a versatile offensive game, so it won't hurt him so much if defenses shut down one of his shots, plus the anticipation that he will be playing at least 20mpg,  possibly or maybe even probably more.  Everybody knows he is a key part of the future and the goal is to be future-ready as soon as possible.  That means throwing him to the wolves, a bit.

Besides, he's the only 7'er on the team.  There will be times when we need to go tall, like against Indy, and that pretty much means him and Vitor.


bob


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