My Post-Draft Synopsis

112288,

Lets all hope that July will tell the tale that June (so far) has not.

Wide....I like that!

112288

112288 wrote:The 28th pick was a token gift thrown in by LAC.  So remove that pick and what did we get for a 4 and out playoff appearance...................Rozier!

112288

playoffs?? this is probably the worst Celtic team ever that made it to the playoffs.

I'm not sure why all the extreme reaction to the picks.  To me the only one I can't figure is Thornton; I agree it was time to take another PG, but would have gone with Harrison.

Rozier should end up a rotation player, eventually starting at PG with Smart at 2G.  Smart has been heading toward being our 2G since draft day 2014.  I agree with Rambone, most of the draft capsules you read don't seem to have ever watched Rozier (or anyone else for that matter).  He's quick, can shoot and distribute.  I would have gone with Jerian Grant, but clearly PG was our greatest need.

I thought we would go PF second, but they apparently saw a possible rotation player at PF would likely still be available at #33, and they got one in Mickey.  I saw someone comment earlier he was D-League bound, but I think that's a pretty remote possibility.  More likely he joins one of Bass/Sully/Kelly at PF with the other two getting their mail in a new zip code (Danny's probably far from done juggling with just the draft).  The opportunity to get the shooter we so badly need at #28, and having Hunter available, probably dictated that selection.  I was thinking Dakari Johnson at #33, but he would need time and seasoning for a few years like Perk once did (as we may all recall), where Mickey can probably gain a fair number of minutes right away.  He's a banger inside and a rebounder.  Mickey is one of the more NBA ready PFs in this year's draft.

It may be time to get the idea of needing a "rim-protecting center" (man, I hate that over-used term) out of our collective heads.  There wasn't a prime, NBA-ready, center available by #16, there's not one lurking as a free agent, and we probably don't have the goods to trade for one.  Maybe, just maybe, the plan is going to evolve not to bother at all.  Anybody notice the absence of one in this years finals?  Heck, anyone notice the absence of any center in this years finals?  Festus Ezeli was the Warriors center by the time the finals started.  What did Festus get in that series; something like 11 minutes?  Plenty of teams are moving away from building with a dominating center, and it's not a completely new trend.  A little team called the Chicago Bulls once went on one long and crazy run without one joining them for the whole ride (and no, neither Cartwright nor a shell of what was once The Chief count). Some analysts even thought we should take a gamble on Upshaw. Come on; no one was that desperate. That kid needs some help to turn himself around; fast.

The last pick is the only one I would completely question.  But at least it was a PG, and taking a couple of players at that position is a good, and needed, play.

I think treating the draft like an isolated event is a mistake, especially with Ainge.  We still have money to spend, although the current free agent pool isn't great.  On top of that we still have more picks than we could need, and even if they are a year plus off, packaging them with the likes of Sully, Kelly, Bradley and who knows who else, might bring us back at least a serviceable player at one of the three forward spots.

The draft is simply act one in a three act summer play.  Welcome to the first intermission.

cowens/oldschool wrote:

112288 wrote:The 28th pick was a token gift thrown in by LAC.  So remove that pick and what did we get for a 4 and out playoff appearance...................Rozier!

112288

playoffs?? this is probably the worst Celtic team ever that made it to the playoffs.

Only if you count the games when Rondo was here.
We were the second best team in the east after the all star break.

Did you forget about that?

112288,

Patient? July will tell the tale?

ROTFL, you have to get a better dictionary or thesaurus, the one you use has let you down!

gyso

NYCelt wrote:I'm not sure why all the extreme reaction to the picks.  To me the only one I can't figure is Thornton; I agree it was time to take another PG, but would have gone with Harrison.

Rozier should end up a rotation player, eventually starting at PG with Smart at 2G.  Smart has been heading toward being our 2G since draft day 2014.  I agree with Rambone, most of the draft capsules you read don't seem to have ever watched Rozier (or anyone else for that matter).  He's quick, can shoot and distribute.  I would have gone with Jerian Grant, but clearly PG was our greatest need.

I thought we would go PF second, but they apparently saw a possible rotation player at PF would likely still be available at #33, and they got one in Mickey.  I saw someone comment earlier he was D-League bound, but I think that's a pretty remote possibility.  More likely he joins one of Bass/Sully/Kelly at PF with the other two getting their mail in a new zip code (Danny's probably far from done juggling with just the draft).  The opportunity to get the shooter we so badly need at #28, and having Hunter available, probably dictated that selection.  I was thinking Dakari Johnson at #33, but he would need time and seasoning for a few years like Perk once did (as we may all recall), where Mickey can probably gain a fair number of minutes right away.  He's a banger inside and a rebounder.  Mickey is one of the more NBA ready PFs in this year's draft.

It may be time to get the idea of needing a "rim-protecting center" (man, I hate that over-used term) out of our collective heads.  There wasn't a prime, NBA-ready, center available by #16, there's not one lurking as a free agent, and we probably don't have the goods to trade for one.  Maybe, just maybe, the plan is going to evolve not to bother at all.  Anybody notice the absence of one in this years finals?  Heck, anyone notice the absence of any center in this years finals?  Festus Ezeli was the Warriors center by the time the finals started.  What did Festus get in that series; something like 11 minutes?  Plenty of teams are moving away from building with a dominating center, and it's not a completely new trend.  A little team called the Chicago Bulls once went on one long and crazy run without one joining them for the whole ride (and no, neither Cartwright nor a shell of what was once The Chief count).  Some analysts even thought we should take a gamble on Upshaw.  Come on; no one was that desperate.  That kid needs some help to turn himself around; fast.

The last pick is the only one I would completely question.  But at least it was a PG, and taking a couple of players at that position is a good, and needed, play.

I think treating the draft like an isolated event is a mistake, especially with Ainge.  We still have money to spend, although the current free agent pool isn't great.  On top of that we still have more picks than we could need, and even if they are a year plus off, packaging them with the likes of Sully, Kelly, Bradley and who knows who else, might bring us back at least a serviceable player at one of the three forward spots.

The draft is simply act one in a three act summer play.  Welcome to the first intermission.

+1

Am I totally unrealistic to think that Mickey has s

Am I totally unrealistic to think that Mickey has some of the same skills that made Bill Russell great?

worcester wrote:Am I totally unrealistic to think that Mickey has some of the same skills that made Bill Russell great?

About as unrealistic as it was billing Danny Ainge as the next Jerry West, the man whose silhouette is the logo of the NBA.

Mickey can block shots. Russell is the Gold Standard. Other than blocking shots I am unaware of any other skill Mickey might have that one could use to compare a kid who has never laced up an NBA sneaker to the man the NBA Finals MVP trophy is named after.

Like your attitude, though. :-)

bob


.

How quick a jumper is Mickey?  That was the secret to Russell's blocking ability and, especially, his ability to send rejects to teammates rather than out-of-bounds.

Sam

sam wrote:How quick a jumper is Mickey?  That was the secret to Russell's blocking ability and, especially, his ability to send rejects to teammates rather than out-of-bounds.

Sam

sam,

Russ's tapping to a teammate is an extremely rare trait and is probably one of the biggest reasons why he was an elite shot blocker.

In the draftexpress video, Mickey is described as a very good pnr defender.  The NBA is a pick-and-roll league, so having someone who is already good at that is a big deal.  He's 6'8" plus a smidge, so he's about the same size as Steady Eddie, but he has a 7'3 1/2" wingspan vs Bass' 7'2".  Bass is 250# and Mickey is 238#, so a little difference there that might make a difference, but I'm not worried about young players putting on weight so much as I am as with them losing weight (e.g. Sully).  Kelly gained weight last year and it helped his defense.  Not an elite defender, and never will be, but he was better his second year than his first.  By the time Mickey is in his sophomore year he could be 245# and that'd be just fine.

You have to click on the youtube logo at the bottom right to see this video. When you get to the part where they are highlighting his rim protection, you'll see that every one of his blocks end up staying in bounds.





bob


.

Bob,

Some good stuff.  I'm not sure about the level of his competition.  They seemed to come to him more than he went after them.  Maybe his teammates were just very good at funneling them to him.  I liked his jumper.  Of course, they didn't show the misses, but he seemed comfortable from either side or straightaway.  They mentioned his hedging, and I didn't think his recovery was particularly quick.  He did seem to keep the ball in-bounds on a lot of his blocks, so that was a very good thing.

The kid definitely has good defensive instincts and quick bursts of energy.  Should be fun watching him in the Summer League (where I'm assuming he'll play).

Sam

I watched the LSU-Kentucky game last night, the one where Jordan Mickey's LSU nearly upset Kentucky.

I can really see Mickey challenging Sully and KO for the starting PF spot, sooner rather than later.

Mickey is very much a shorter WCS, except Mickey has better offensive moves.

He's going to be great as a swiss army knife defensive role player for us, and he can switch onto centers, small forwards, shooting guards, and perhaps even point guards most of the time.

He keeps his head up, slides his feet to help, and jumps incredibly quickly.

I think his lateral quickness is good but not outstanding like WCS, but Mickey has much thicker legs than WCS, as well as a lower center of gravity. That gives Mickey a leverage advantage against taller and stronger opponents, while WCS will be hard pressed to outmuscle opposing centers and stronger PFs.

And yes, Mickey is able to get his mitts on a whole lot of missed shots, and within the first 3 minutes of that Kentucky game I watched, Mickey tipped two balls that saved or changed possession in favor of his team.

Mickey got dunked on by WCS a couple times, but he was always Right There challenging the dunk, and one of them he actually poked the ball out of WCS's hands, about 11 feet off the ground. Lucky for WCS, he was so far above the rim when Mickey poked the ball out, that the ball ended up going in and kind of looking like a dunk.

Here's that play


And here again are Mickey's highlights from that game


If Mickey can post up and score over WCS, he'll be just fine offensively in the NBA.

He's probably what Leon Powe would have been if he had never destroyed his knees in college.

I thought Leon Powe destroyed his knees in the pros.

If Mickey becomes what Powe was developing into before tearing up his kneethat would be nice. The Celtics will have yet another decent rotation player to develop to play or try to trade.

sam wrote:How quick a jumper is Mickey?  That was the secret to Russell's blocking ability and, especially, his ability to send rejects to teammates rather than out-of-bounds.

Sam

.....best leaper by far that there ever was

very impressive the way he posted WCS.

cowens/oldschool wrote:very impressive the way he posted WCS.

And WCS is no slouch nor 98-lb weakling neither.


bob



.

Regardless of how these various moves work out, it's refreshing to see increasing emphasis on defensive abilities.  Even the drafting of Frazier suggests that the acquisition of of offense is not being compromised by questionable defense.  Now, if Danny can just extend the defensive trend to the center position, a lot of dominoes could fall into place.

Sam

sam wrote:Regardless of how these various moves work out, it's refreshing to see increasing emphasis on defensive abilities.  Even the drafting of Frazier suggests that the acquisition of of offense is not being compromised by questionable defense.  Now, if Danny can just extend the defensive trend to the center position, a lot of dominoes could fall into place.

Sam

too bad he wasn't more aware of this when he drafted KO and traded for Zeller

http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/5-biggest-steals-of-the-2015-nba-draft.html/?ref=YF&tpl=op

Cow, actually there was a leaper better than Russ - his good friend Johnny Mathis who beat his NCCA college high jump record before going on to make many other kinds of records.

Johnny Mathis has sold well over 350 million records worldwide,[1][2] a according to Guinness Book of World Records writer and charts music historian Paul Gambacini and some other sources. This makes Mathis the third biggest selling artist of the 20th century.

In 1958, Johnny’s Greatest Hits was released. The album spent an unprecedented 491 consecutive weeks through 1967 (nine and a half years) on the Billboard top 100 album charts, earning him a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mathis#Honors_and_awards

Steve has already proven the first quote about Johnny to be erroneous, but the second sure holds true.

I passed up a chance to attend a party at Johnny's house after the Balloon Game.  I really wanted to see his livingroom pool, and I greatly admired his work....still do.  But another Johnny took precedence that night....Havlicek.

If you've never heard Johnny Mathis' "Pieces of Dreams," add it to your bucket list.

Sam