Summer Quandaries 2016—The Lonely Voice in the Wilderness

http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2016/08/summer-quandaries-2016the-lonely-voice.html




Summer Quandaries 2016—The Lonely Voice in the Wilderness


By Lee Lauderdale








Each summer for more than a decade, I have done a series of posts in an effort to fill the void between the drop off in free agent activity near the end of July and the start of training camp at the end of September. For me this was the true doldrums of summer. The Boston media sportswriters lost all the lead out of their, well let's say pencils—and what should be just a personal problem became instead a keening deficit in the hearts of Celtics’ fans. These days, the blogosphere helps fill the vacuum but if you (like me) keep open a number of browser tabs/windows (one of which is always FLCeltsFan's Daily Links on celticsgreen.blogspot.com) and periodically refreshed during each day, you have noticed the past week has seen a serious drop off in traffic. The past two days I have failed to find (or Shirley find for me in the Links) a single article that sparked my imagination (O.K. maybe I just have a limited imagination!). Far too often I spent an entire August combing through the sports sites without finding a single item that actually provoked thought.

Eventually that led me to the realization that if I wanted something worth reading and contemplating, I should get up off my arse (in this case an apt but particularly poor analogy) and create such provocative content myself. So to span this yearly dead-zone I shall try to generate 40-something thought provokers to tickle the little gray cells this next month and a half. After all the unquenchable thirst for Celtics’ musings should not go unslaked.

Usually I start the last Sunday in July (kind of a blue moon or double negative--as Sunday is typically the lightest day of sport discussion traffic and the end of July the veritable cliff in meaningful discourse about the NBA). This year the proliferation of web sites and the improving quality of the Boston Celtics team carried the activity several weeks longer. But alas the time is here and I will once again throw myself into the breach This shouldn't be a solitary vice and I invite your participation, both commentary and suggestions. I readily admit that most of my postings throughout the year are offered with little attention to comments (I came, I saw, I wrote, I don’t really want to argue), but during the Summer Quandaries I make an exception. Offer criticism, I’ll consider and answer. Offer praise, I’ll try to humbly acknowledge. Offer ideas and I’ll surely consider adding topics to my daily musings. You want good stuff--get off (or on) your duffs and get engaged.

The dozen or more readers who have stumbled across my Summer Quandaries in past years will recognize the above paragraphs as my usual teaser before starting this anti-doldrums effort. As an attempt to add value for those faithful, and because the good stuff lasted longer than usual—delaying the start of my contribution, I will offer a small insight that seems to have eluded most of the “Oh My God, We Got Horford” columns.

To my way of thinking the best thing about Al Horford in Celtics' green is not his skill as a shooter; as a passer; as an individual or team defender, not his effectiveness as a screener who is equally a threat to roll or pop, not his good locker room personality or veteran presence, and not his flexibility to play inside or out. Not that all these goodies aren't true, and valuable, they are; but the real crème de resistance is the fact that he is the consummate glue guy and the perfect complement to both his teammates and the team as a whole.

The last player in green who I remember offering so much to his team was Larry Legend. Like Bird, Horford is a willing, skillful, and prescient passer. He's not afraid to take the big shot, and he is devilishly adept at making the defender wrong (stepping out on the reeealy big guys and posting up the smaller ones. Pair him with outside shooters and he patrols the paint and sets solid screens for drivers and slashers. Play a post-up player alongside him and he excels at the mid-range and is good enough from the 3-pt line to punish a team sagging off him, and his passes are timely and accurate whether inside or out.

It is his head for the game that really sets him apart. On defense he has all the little half-steps and adjustments to make openings seem closed, open shooters unavailable, and help readily available. On offense those same smarts let his take the half-steps to free a teammate, place his defender in no-man's land, and set a devastating pick or offer an open target for a driving teammate. He is like the ultimate Swiss Army knife, but the deluxe basketball version.

I think the guys are going to love playing with him, and hopefully will learn a great deal from how he plays the game and deports himself. If you have ever been lucky enough to play with even half as multi-skilled, insightful, and unselfish player, then you will know how the game just seems so much easier with them on the court. He leads the best way of all, by example.

I'll grant that Durant is the better shooter, and perhaps player, but I maintain that there was no better addition for the Boston Celtics. Golden State may have gotten the “better” player, but I believe that Horford makes Boston a better team than adding Durant alone would have.



bob
MY NOTE:  Anybody who has been following this board for the past few years knows, Lee Lauderdale is one of my favorite bloggers (sadly, as a melancholy reminder, he was one of Sam's favorites too).  He provides a fantastic service to us poor Celtic-deprived fans over these basketball dog days of summer.   As he said above, after a week or two of little-to-nothing, we now have an astute high-basketball IQ blogger filling the hole.  Maybe it will encourage some of our own board members to conjure up some thoughts of their own?

Nice to see you, figuratively-speaking, Lee.


.

I'm always a little leery about the validity of opinions that are not backed by solid statistical evidence -    
except when backed by a majority consensus opinion.

 swish

swish wrote:I'm always a little leery about the validity of opinions that are not backed by solid statistical evidence -    
except when backed by a majority consensus opinion.

 swish

Swish,


How about this?  This happened last season and is probably why he was an All-star.


Tom Halzack
@TomHalzack yesterday
Horford - first player in NBA history w/ 60 steals, 80 three-pointers, 120 blocks and 200 assists in the same season


bob


.

bobheckler wrote:

swish wrote:I'm always a little leery about the validity of opinions that are not backed by solid statistical evidence -    
except when backed by a majority consensus opinion.

 swish

Swish,


How about this?  This happened last season and is probably why he was an All-star.


Tom Halzack
@TomHalzack yesterday
Horford - first player in NBA history w/ 60 steals, 80 three-pointers, 120 blocks and 200 assists in the same season


bob


.

 Now that's what I call great backup research to make a point.  Well done bob.

  swish

On closer examination - he missed Odom. Of course its the 3 point shot that has singled out Horford and Odom. Still, all in all - impressive.

  http://bkref.com/tiny/06bq6


   swish

swish wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

swish wrote:I'm always a little leery about the validity of opinions that are not backed by solid statistical evidence -    
except when backed by a majority consensus opinion.

 swish

Swish,


How about this?  This happened last season and is probably why he was an All-star.


Tom Halzack
@TomHalzack yesterday
Horford - first player in NBA history w/ 60 steals, 80 three-pointers, 120 blocks and 200 assists in the same season


bob


.

 Now that's what I call great backup research to make a point.  Well done bob.

  swish

On closer examination - he missed Odom. Of course its the 3 point shot that has singled out Horford and Odom. Still, all in all - impressive.

  http://bkref.com/tiny/06bq6


   swish

swish,

Stats can be misleading ("There are three types of lies:  lies, damn lies and statistics" - Mark Twain) but they can substantiate what the eyes and mind see.  They can also re-direct your eyes and mind into a corner you didn't look into before.

What's nice about the above stat is it should serve to make board members who were only mildly enthusiastic about the Horford signing more positive about it.  I know there were posters who were wondering why Danny (or Atlanta or anybody else) would pay Horford that kind of money when, statistically, he isn't an elite rebounder, scorer or really any other statistical category.  He's a glue guy, and damn good at it too, good enough to get named by the coaches to 4 All-Star games.


bob


.

Bobh,
Thanks for the thread.
Just a couple days ago I wanted to ask where's our "doldrums of summer" savior and here he is.
I, theoretically, agree with his premise about AH as a glue guy, but let's wait until at least AS break to see it in practice.
Also, I'd add one more "goodie" to the LL's list for Horford - he's a good bait that will attract other FA's.

OTOH, I wonder if there are negative aspects of AH coming to Boston? I can't think of any.

AK

bobheckler wrote:

swish wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

swish wrote:I'm always a little leery about the validity of opinions that are not backed by solid statistical evidence -    
except when backed by a majority consensus opinion.

 swish

Swish,


How about this?  This happened last season and is probably why he was an All-star.


Tom Halzack
@TomHalzack yesterday
Horford - first player in NBA history w/ 60 steals, 80 three-pointers, 120 blocks and 200 assists in the same season


bob


.

 Now that's what I call great backup research to make a point.  Well done bob.

  swish

On closer examination - he missed Odom. Of course its the 3 point shot that has singled out Horford and Odom. Still, all in all - impressive.

  http://bkref.com/tiny/06bq6


   swish

swish,

Stats can be misleading ("There are three types of lies:  lies, damn lies and statistics" - Mark Twain) but they can substantiate what the eyes and mind see.  They can also re-direct your eyes and mind into a corner you didn't look into before.

What's nice about the above stat is it should serve to make board members who were only mildly enthusiastic about the Horford signing more positive about it.  I know there were posters who were wondering why Danny (or Atlanta or anybody else) would pay Horford that kind of money when, statistically, he isn't an elite rebounder, scorer or really any other statistical category.  He's a glue guy, and damn good at it too, good enough to get named by the coaches to 4 All-Star games.


bob


.

bob,

i agree with your below statement about stats.

"but they can substantiate what the eyes and mind see. They can also re-direct your eyes and mind into a corner you didn't look into before".

I'm much more impressed when opinion is backed up by stats - at least it offers something tangible to base a discussion on.

swish