Mickey Feels Like He Should Have Been A 1st Round Pick

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/mickey-feels-he-shouldve-been-1st-round-pick?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo



Mickey feels like he should've been a 1st round pick
July 12, 2015, 1:45 pm






LAS VEGAS – The Boston Celtics have played four summer league games, but only one player has played and started in every game … and his name isn’t Marcus Smart.

It’s Jordan Mickey, the team’s second round pick who may end up being one of the bigger steals in last month’s NBA draft.

And while there’s motivation to perform well being in the NBA, Mickey says he has an added incentive for being selected later than he expected.

“I feel like I should have been a first round pick,” Mickey told CSNNE.com. “I can’t control what other teams did. I’m thankful for the Celtics picked me when they did.”

Indeed, Mickey was a player that the Celtics had great interest in which is why they brought him back for a second workout.

There was some thought about taking him with the 28th pick, but Boston elected to go with R.J. Hunter – a player who had been projected to go as high as the mid-teens – with that selection.

Mickey has shown in summer league play a more well-rounded game that he acknowledges wasn’t on display often when he played at LSU.

But since he declared for the draft, he went about working on his face-up game and low-post offensive moves as well as some ball-handling, knowing he’ll have to show growth in all those areas if he is to have the kind of NBA career he envisions.

So far, Mickey has been able to deliver on the things that got him on the NBA radar (defense, rebounding and blocking shots) while displaying a better offensive game than expected.

In four summer league games (three in Salt Lake City and one in Las Vegas), Mickey has averaged 11 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots while shooting 54.5 percent (18-for-33) from the field.

“I definitely want to show that I have the capability of scoring the ball,” Mickey said. “I hang my hat on defense, rebounding and blocking shots. But I have to show I can score some too, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that so far.”

Mickey is well aware of the moves and pending moves of the Celtics in terms of their frontcourt.

In addition to a returning frontcourt that includes Kelly Olynyk, Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller, Boston also re-signed Jonas Jerebko along with adding free agent big man Amir Johnson. And that doesn’t include a pending trade with Golden State that will net the Celtics two-time all-star forward David Lee.

As talented as those players are, Mickey has made a compelling case for himself to hang around well beyond the summer.

And the feedback he has been getting from the team leaves him feeling as though they like what they have seen from him thus far.

“As far as I know, they love me,” Mickey said. “They think I’m doing great. I just want to continue to impress everybody around.”

And in doing so, he’ll only make it harder for Boston to not include him in their 15-man roster.

“I’m trying,” Mickey said with a grin. “I’m trying.”



bob
MY NOTE:  Nothing like a player with a chip on his shoulder.  Pierce made the 9 teams who passed over him pay for years for that.  Isaiah Thomas is fueled by being #60.  Considering he was the leading shot blocker in the NCAA last year, it is surprising he wasn't a first rounder to me too. He's playing like it.


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As I recall, he had only one poor rebounding game, and he was up against Okafor.  Otherwise, he has shown great consistency.  Anyone can have a breakout game once in a while.  This guy can fill a stat sheet and seems to be the goods, although his big test will come against NBA competition.


Sam

Imagine the marketing opportunities if he'd signed with the Orlando Magic.

You know, it's been so refreshing not to have heard a bitch or moan about Danny for quite a while.

Sam

For most athletes there is nothing more motivating than having the feeling that you were by-passed/skipped over/ignored, etc to spur you onward and upward.

Whatever works for this kid is good for me. He may turn into more than just the 15th guy on the roster if he keeps improving as it already seems that he does some things better than both Sullinger and Olynyk. Of course, he has not played against a full NBA roster yet either.

If nothing else he is improving his trade value with every good performance in the summer league games.

It's possible that his presence could have a bearing on the willingness of Danny to trade away Sully (if not Olynyk).  We used to say that about Bass, but The Mouse has the potential to surpass Brandon in terms of diversity of skills.

Sam

Good for Mickey.

Here's to him showing everyone what they missed. I think he will prove to have been a very wise pick.

Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
Scanning Vegas summer league stats, Jordan Mickey leads the league in blocks (3.5 per game) & FG% with a minimum of 20 attempts. (.591).
10:21 AM - 13 Jul 2015
  83 83 Retweets  72 72 favorites


This is as of after Game 2. Considering Okafur and Towns and WCS are playing in this league too, that's pretty freaking impressive even if it doesn't hold up.


bob


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WCS is impressive too. Glad we were able to land Mickey.

There's a great chance he'll take the Boston crowd by storm. Nothing like a blocked shot to throw Bostonians into spasms of rapture. And they'll appreciate his constant effort too.

Sam

Again, imagine if he'd been drafted by Orlando. Think of the marketing possibilities.

worcester wrote:Again, imagine if he'd been drafted by Orlando. Think of the marketing possibilities.

Player/coaches are banned, but how about player/mascots?



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Excellent point Bob. Mickey could be a 2fer.

"Ears" would be a good nickname for him.

Sam

sam wrote:"Ears" would be a good nickname for him.

Sam

Fewer keystrokes too.


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And I bet he's never heard any of these alleged witticisms before.

Sam

Watching the Knicks tonight I wonder how can we possibly scors inside vs. Porzinkis?