More Shots From The Hip

http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2015/07/more-shots-from-hip.html


More Shots From the Hip

By:  Lee Lauderdale







What do Terry Rozier, Isaiah Thomas, and Avery Bradley have in common? See answer at end.

"The Celtics made a draft commitment to Orien Greene, but when 6-foot-9 Los Angeles high schooler Amir Johnson was still on the board in the second round at No. 53 overall they tried to back off and give Greene a bit more to come in as a free agent."
-Boston Herald 2005

Greene balked but Danny finally got his man, albeit a decade later, and while Amir can probably no longer guard three positions, he does have great flexibility as a modern Big, and fits superbly in Brad Stevens' position-less basketball

Speaking of Power Three's, is Johnathan Holmes Danny's next candidate? Jordan Mickey, play at the three to limit LeQueen? And the latest breaking news, Ainge gets the Thunder to pay him to take the 3/4 Perry Jones I hoped for rather than Fab Melo. Three years later, I find myself quite conflicted about PJ3. Outstanding size and athleticism, was used as a Swiss utility-defender, and showed flashes of offensive potential, both slashing and from the arc. On the other hand, he often got lost on defense when off the ball, doubled his assist output all the way up to 1, and his college rebounding never translated to the big league. While the physical assets are most welcome, one has to wonder whether the mental chops and toughness are there.

Can't help but be impressed with Danny's silence after Bogans whined about being sent home in spite of “didn't do nothing.” Don't have to be a genius to read between the lines of Bogans' denial of any wrong-doing. Never wrestle with a pig, the one sure thing is everybody gets soiled. I still think that Bogans' banishment is paying continuing dividends as the verb Bogans-ed stands as a reminder of playing the right way, and the stark difference between TEAM and I.

On a side note, Jeff of CelticsBlog has a nice piece on potential “home-run” targets—and I found myself convinced that there were no available (even slightly, at least currently) stars that I found appealing at all. “Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make!” After finding the fireworks stand closed, I have to admire Ainge for spinning straw into, well, bronze at least, and some may transmute into the gold for which we all lust. Sure the fanbase is whining, carping, and gnashing their teeth—but that is what fan's do; Danny, on the other hand, continues to play the odds and angles, milking the situation for the best raw materials to allow his coach to separate the cream.

Oh yeah, neither Rozier, Thomas, nor Bradley can play more than one position. Every other likely for the roster plays at least two.



bob



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I find myself wondering what the one position is that Rozier and Thomas can play. Could Rozier not function pretty well at the "2" position? Could not Isaiah function pretty well at the "1" position?

Sam

sam wrote:I find myself wondering what the one position is that Rozier and Thomas can play.  Could Rozier not function pretty well at the "2" position?  Could not Isaiah function pretty well at the "1" position?

Sam

Rozier shot like 37% from 3 two seasons ago, while mostly playing SG.

Any chance IT will be traded if MT keeps on shining?

Bobh,
Thanks for the article. Short and to the point.
The only thing I'm not sure about is Rozier - he hasn't play a single game in the NBA so, how you can say with any kind of certainty what position he can or can't play.
As for the author, Lauderdale, quite a few big-shot MSM "journalists" who write about basketball could use him as a ghost writer - the readers would win big time.

AK

sam wrote:I find myself wondering what the one position is that Rozier and Thomas can play.  Could Rozier not function pretty well at the "2" position?  Could not Isaiah function pretty well at the "1" position?

Sam

sam,

For me to say a player is a two-position player they have to be able to play both sides of the ball at both of those positions.  As such, I do not consider Thomas to be a "2" nor do I think Rozier could play "2".

You're looking at Thomas and applying the gold standard of point guards and saying they must be a floor general and distributor and, since he doesn't think about that first, he thinks about shooting first, he's a "2" and the question becomes "could he play 1?".  That classic definition is not in vogue in today's NBA.  Look at the top "1"s in the NBA now:  Paul, Westbrook, Rose, Steph Curry, Irving.  Those are the elite and, with the exception of CP3, who is an exception in that he is a complete package, everyone of those other players are shoot-first point guards.  Pass-first point guards like Rondo and Rubio are no longer drooled over.  Perhaps some of the luster is gone from Rondo because of his personality but that's not true with Rubio, who has been a model citizen in Minny.  When he was picked 5th in The Annual Crap Shoot he was billed as the "next Pete Maravich".  Does he look a little like Pete?  Yeah.  Can he pass a little like Pete?  Yeah, as much as anybody humanly can, but they forgot that The Pistol was a lights-out shooter who still, to this day, owns the NCAA record for ppg at 45ppg.  Is pass-first Ricky Rubio considered an "elite" point guard"?  No, in my opinion, Isaiah Thomas is a shoot-first point guard.  He is not a "2" because he cannot defend that position.

It might be unfair to judge Rozier after just a few summer league games, but he looks to me like a better ball handling Avery Bradley.  Much has been said, a lot of it by you, about how Bradley is a tweener who lacks the handle to be a "1" but lacks the physical size to be a "2".  How is that not Rozier as well?  Bradley is 6'2", 190#.  Rozier is 6'1", 190#.  If Bradley doesn't have the physical size to be a real "2" then how can Rozier be?  He seems to have point guard ball handling skills, he is already a better shooter than Rondo, but playing defense at SG?  Good luck with that, kid.

I've spent the past few years struggling with the direction of the league.  The smash-mouth basketball days I loved in the '80s seem to be gone.  I was excited by Sully because he may have been a dinosaur but he was my kind of dinosaur.  I tried not to roll my eyes like Vegas slot machines at Kelly, because he's a stretch 4 who has been dragooned into playing center on defense, like Dirk has never been asked to do, but that's the league now.  The league runs, what amounts to, UNC's old four-corner offense except that instead of spreading the floor to kill the clock they're spreading the floor now and filling the corners with shooters as a normal part of the offensive sets and flow.  Adapt or die and, considering I am such an optimist and "silver lining" type of guy, I'm always going to try and adapt.  

Danny wanted more offense out of our point guard position.  Between IT and Rozier he's going to get it.  Will our assist totals go up?  Frankly, I think they will but not because we'll have a floor general but because of Brad's "position-less extra-pass offense".  Rondo is the last Celtic to lead the league in assists as long as Brad is the coach here, there will be too many hands on the ball/possession (and that's a good thing) but that also diminishes the need for a designated floor general, aka "classic point guard".


bob


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