Can R.J. Hunter be the shooter the Celtics need?

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2016/07/can_rj_hunter_be_the_shooter_the_celtics_need



Can R.J. Hunter be the shooter the Celtics need?


Steve Bulpett


Monday, July 18, 2016




Credit: Unknown
HUNTER: Former first-round pick saw limited play as rookie.


 
LAS VEGAS — It was the last night of the summer league in Utah, and R.J. Hunter was standing in a hallway talking about the differences from his first NBA season as he approaches his second.

Danny Ainge walked by, heard the conversation and piped in.

“The biggest difference is I wouldn’t be sitting out with a sore wrist,” Ainge said of the injury that flared again and put Hunter out of the last game of the Vegas league. “I have a left hand.”

It was suggested any Ainge sore wrist would be the product of shooting too much.

“You can tell him I took a charge every now and then, too,” Danny replied, continuing his roles of Celtics’ president of basketball operations and chief buster of chops.

“He was just busting on me, but he was telling the truth, too,” Hunter said. “Nobody wants to hear about a wrist in April and May.”

Hunter hopes to gather all the lessons he learned as a rookie and apply them toward a ticket to playing time. Just a year’s experience has made a major impact.

“That’s huge,” he said. “Working out before the draft is kind of just blind. You’re working out not knowing what you’ve got to work on. This summer’s been a lot of footwork and a lot of purposeful work. Last year, I did a lot of quantity. This year, it’s a lot more focused work and, I want to say, a lot of bang for my buck when I’m working out. Every single rep has to mean something. I’ve learned that, and I think that’s going to make me a lot better.”

The 6-foot-5 wing admits he didn’t fully grasp the NBA game when he got to the Celtics.

“No idea,” he said. “And there’s nothing that can really prepare you for it. You can watch all the film you want. You can compare yourself to other guys that are at your position. But you kind of have to go through it to really understand it.”

Now he’s in a position where the Celts need a consistent outside shooter — and he’s a shooter.

“I know what I can do,” Hunter said. “I know I can shoot. For me, it’s just getting on the court. All the other things — the defense and the details of the game — are what allow that to happen. So I have to take care of that part of the process. It’s definitely an adjustment, especially coming from my situation where I was a main scorer.”

Encouragement comes from even players like Kyle Korver and J.J. Redick needing time before becoming consistent contributors.

“I look at J.J. a lot, because it took him five or six years to actually be a consistent shooter in the league — and he’s an all-time shooter,” Hunter said. “So it’s all about patience. I think the first thing is believing in your abilities, and then just working on it.”

When he isn’t picking on Hunter, Ainge speaks of him in a more encouraging, though cautious, tone.

“He’s in the process of earning a spot in the rotation,” Ainge said. “We know he can shoot and we know he’s a good passer, and he’s fighting hard for an opportunity to play.

“But you’ve got to work to be good enough at the other elements of the game — defense, rebounding, strength. You can’t just be a shooter; you have to be able to do more. There are a lot of good shooters that aren’t in the NBA because they can’t do enough on the other end of the court.”

Hunter understands.

“It’s funny when I hear people tell me, ‘It’s a big year for you,’ ” he said. “Well, every year’s a big year.

“It kind of took me a year just to get (coach Brad Stevens’) trust. I think that’s most of it.”

Back in Utah, Hunter was just trying to hold up his end of the duel with Danny.

“He swears he played in the Stone Age,” Hunter said, “where it was like all warriors on the court and no fouls called ever.”

Ainge responded: “When’s the last time you played and somebody bit your finger?”

Hunter had never heard the story of Tree Rollins — and the famed “Tree bites man” Herald headline — though he said Rollins’ son played at his high school.

“They had a picture of my finger in his mouth. He nearly bit it off,” Ainge said. “We were fighting on the floor and got tangled up.”

“How did you feel about that?” Hunter asked.

“I felt sore . . . but I came out and (scored) 25 in the first half of the next game,” said Ainge, who actually had the 25 two games later. “They couldn’t stitch it, but I still played. Two hands, left and right. You can’t hold me down just because my wrist is sore.”

At that, Hunter surrendered, knowing Ainge was delivering a message. If it gets through, Hunter could be part of the answer to the Celtics’ need for a floor-spacing shooter.



bob
MY NOTE:  One of the commentators in the Summer League said that Hunter was some really bad fg% on 3s when they were contested but 45% when he was open.  If true then, to me, it comes down to mental toughness and experience.  You have to be mentally tough to be able to come off a screen or whatever, have a guy flying at you and be able to shut them out and focus on the shot.  That toughness comes from within and I have a fairly high confidence level that RJ can get there based upon him being a coach's son.  Coach's sons sometimes lack the aggressiveness that other players have (see Dunleavy, Mike and Olynyk, Kelly) but they are usually quite disciplined in their approach to their craft.   He was a rookie last year.  His head was exploding with defensive rotations and proper spacing on offense to gain an edge against the bigger, faster stronger players of the NBA.  If the game starts to slow down for him he could take a nice step up this year.  I'm not saying he will be a starter, I'd be shocked and dismayed at the state of our roster if he is, but he could be the "designated gunner".  And Danny's right, passing probably is Hunter's strong suit.


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WellI I would pick him over Young.

Contested shots are inherently more difficult to make.  Not sure where toughness comes in.

The problem with the Celtics offense last year had little to do with contested shots.  They had problems making wide open shots.

If a 3 point shot is being contested it is probably a bad shot to attempt unless you name ends in Curry or Thompson.

dboss

dboss,

Yes, the Cs had a terrible time making uncontested shots last season from almost any distance that was outside of the lane. Part of why they got so many uncontested shots was because teams were pretty much daring them to shoot those threes while clogging the lane. The strategy was clearly "if the Cs cannot make the threes we don't have to defend them out there", and it worked pretty much all season.

Not sure if Hunter is going to be the shooter that he was in college, but I do hope that he can be. He seems like a smart, hard working kid. Hope he makes it. At least he is way ahead of Mr. James Young.

It sounds like Danny thinks he's a pussy

I'm not convinced RJ actually is a great shooter, and I am certainly an RJ booster.

Looking back at his college stats over three years he shot 42.3 overall from the field and 35.4 from three. I'm not sure how 35.4 from the college three matches up to other snipers though I did look up Buddy Hield who shot 39%.

Could it be RJs deep three to beat Baylor got so much publicity we think that is normal for him? Perhaps he has range but is not necessary a great percentage shooter from three?

Time will tell.

bobc33 wrote:I'm not convinced RJ actually is a great shooter, and I am certainly an RJ booster.

Looking back at his college stats over three years he shot 42.3 overall from the field and 35.4 from three.  I'm not sure how 35.4 from the college three matches up to other snipers though I did look up Buddy Hield who shot 39%.

Could it be RJs deep three to beat Baylor got so much publicity we think that is normal for him?  Perhaps he has range but is not necessary a great percentage shooter from three?

Time will tell.

I have to agree with you about Hunter.  But I do think he is better than Young.

DA has yet to address the shooting issue.

He is probably working on that now.


dbossj

Better shooter than Young? Possibly.

Both bound for Europe within the next 12 months? Quite likely.

Two players who are talented, but below the rigorous NBA standard.

Better than James Young doesn't mean much these days.

I'd take Nader over either, and I wouldn't keep Zizic in Europe so that Hunter can do his better than James Young thing with a valuable roster spot.

Ante, Gerschon, Jaylen, Terry, Marcus and Abdel not a bad bench from the last two drafts

for a skinny little white guy, Ainge always played hard, he always went after it and got in peoples face, he was great at helping out and recovering back to his man, his swarming style defensively was one of the keys to that defense.