Celtics /TWolves Preseason Game # 7

The Celts lost 104-89.

That fact we all know about.

What we still do not know is who is going to start for this team, who will be the major rotation players, who will be situational rotation players and who are our finishers.

My player of the game was Avery Bradley who looks a bit more comfortable running the point than he did 2 weeks ago.  AB finished with 11 points 3 assists, 3 steals, 6 rebounds and only 1 turnover.  But lets not fool ourselves.  The Celtics had a total of 12 assists for the game and there remains a gigantic hole at the PG position.

Perception is usually wrong.  It seemed that the Celtics where running up and down the court but their meager 12 fast break points indicated that they have not been able to sustain an uptempo pace throughout the game.  This is partly do to the substitutions and the lack of chemistry when different players are playing together.

The Celtics need to figure out who is going to be their main pick and roll guys on offense.

Last night Sully took a big step back because he envisions himself as a guy that has enough range to go deep on the pick and pop.  We have seen that from him in a number of games now and if it persists he may see his minutes reduced.   He had 1 rebound last night.  We need him on the block.

KO had 6 rebounds but continues to display an inability to block out and also his defense is very porous.  He is not physically strong enough to play the way we need him to play.  I think we give him more time to develop and he could be a solid contributor but he is not ready yet.

Wallace plays hard all the time.

Bass rebounded well but needs to learn to give the ball up to the wings.

Green continues to struggle making shots.

Hump is not getting his fair share of minutes.

Lee continues to disappoint

Brooks is a treat or treat player

Vitor is going to force Stevens to play him.

Some of these deficiencies are correctable but some are not.  We need a another center and Vitor needs to be one of our main rotation players and could even start at center.

If I was going to pick my starting five it would be

Bradley, Lee, Bass, Green and Humphries.    Wallace would be my 6th man and the first guy off the bench.  Then I would rotate Jared or Vitor into the game at center.  My preference would be Vitor because Sully also cannot play center.  I like seeing both Wallace and Green in the game at the same time.

Sully could backup Bass and either Wallace or Green could back up Lee or when we go small they could play the SF/PF spots  I would let Crawford sub for Bradley until Pressey is ready to be the full time BU PG.  KO would come in as a situational player at PF or center based on need.

That is my 10 man rotation.

Dboss,

Although I (like you) would like to see more of a transition attack, it can't happen without good rebounding.  So it we'll probably be seeing a load of halfcourt ball, at least until the Celts find some way to improve the defensive rebounding.

We've seen Bradley make some good passes in transition.  However, I've only seen him make one pass that advanced the ball in the halfcourt this entire preseason.  He ALWAYS passes laterally in the frontcourt as if hoping the guy he passes to can institute some offense.

So, putting these two things together, I'd rather see either Crawford or Pressey at PG because they're better than Bradley as PGs in the halfcourt offense.  Admittedly, both have flaws, but at least they try enough halfcourt advancement to expose those flaws.  I'm not concerned about the lack of scoring with a dysfunctional halfcourt PG as I'm worried about the inability to enable teammates to improve their halfcourt games.

Sam

Well Sam

You are right about that. We cannot run without more rebounds and the mindset to run even after made buckets.

I like Pressey at PG more than either AB or Crawford but I do not know if they start Crawford over Lee and put Avery at the two..

Stevens should just experiment until he finds the right combination.

I guess we will find out next week.

Dboss

Dboss,

I've never liked predictions, but this is ridiculous. In no recent year have I had fewer suspicions about what might happen during the season.

By the way many thanks for initiating the post-game threads.

Sam

Bass, Sully, and Humphries is a terrible combination to play all at once. Too many undersized guys that will get beat out on some rebounds.

I've seen enough of Crawford to believe that my early assumptions about him held a lot of weight. He is no PG. Heck, he shouldn't even be a starter.

Bradley is, overall, looking better now that he isn't the PG. That position doesn't reflect well on his skill set. Let him play off the ball, Stevens.

Green really needs to wake up at some point. If not during preseason, than sometime soon, because this team needs a legit, consistent scorer. It's as if he's been sleepwalking through a rather critical time in chemistry building.

Vitor is impressive. I really didn't know what to expect but WOW. He's physical, has good hands, and a soft touch on his shots. Kind of like Sully, but taller. I think he deserves a nice chunk of minutes at the 5 spot.

Olynyk is struggling. He's had some good games, but his defense leaves too much to be desired. He'll get better with time, but expecting a significant immediate impact seems out of the question. But he has contributed and I still view him favorably.

This team has a lot of guys that can score. Wallace and Green are the best scorers. They can get into the mid to upper teens. Hump, Vitor, Bradley, Sully, Bass can get you 8-12 points. Olynyk, Crawford, Lee, Brooks can do about the same. This doesn't even include Rondo. They *can* score a lot. But will they? Who knows.

One last note, ENOUGH WITH THE THREES!!!


KJ

http://www.nba.com/games/20131020/BOSMIN/gameinfo.html?ls=slt

3 for 26 on three pointers (ouch) and outrebounded 54-40.

End of story.

Haven't been able to watch only a couple games but in looking at the stat line seems we are always getting fewer free throw attempts than whomever we are playing.

Some games we got less than 20 attempts.

Tells me this we are not taking the ball inside near enough and as others have mentioned we shoot too many threes and no one on this team is capable of 40% out there.

And there too, who do we have that can score from the inside much beyond Sully?

Of course as many have mentioned rebounding has to improve.

Stevens has his work cut out. Best player won't suit up until we are perhaps 25-30 games in. No proven center certainly nothing for a real backup. Hopefully players can find their roll and comfort zone and we can at least begin to match the intensity of whomever we play. Heck in thinking about it perhaps other team might look at us as easy prey and not play hard themselves, might get a few W's that way.

I'll take solice that the future can and will get better and I'll take the wins we get this season.

beat

KJ

I would not beat up on Sully and Hump about rebounding since they are actually the best rebounders on this team.

Sully is most effective in the post and not hanging around the three point line.  Hump has had some spotty games but is probably the best all around forward that we have.  He is not great at anything but still pretty solid all around.  It seems we have a lot of complimentary players.

KJ I should also point out that no one has really emerged as that Knock down perimeter scorer.  Bradley and crawford are the best 3 point shooters.   i think Both KO and Hump need to get more shots in those areas where they are most effective but we do not have a PG to get them the ball.

This is definitely an adventure.  It should be fun and I am sure that we will have more than enough topics to discuss.

Beat I agree that when Rondo returns the offense at least should be more coehesive.  While I do like some aspects of the motion offense it does not really utilize or identify where the ball should go.  When Rondo comes back he will know who should get the shot.

dboss