CAN TERRY ROZIER BUILD OFF LAST SEASON’S PLAYOFF OPPORTUNITY?

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CAN TERRY ROZIER BUILD OFF LAST SEASON’S PLAYOFF OPPORTUNITY?



08.12.16 at 3:15 pm ET



By Josue Pavon





Apr 26, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Terry Rozier (12) shoots the ball against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter in game five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Terry Rozier has made his case for why he deserves an increased role for the Celtics next season (Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports)




The playoffs provided a glimpse of what could be for Terry Rozier and the Celtics.

When Brad Stevens turned to the 16th overall pick of the 2015 draft in the April playoff series against the Hawks, the 6-foot-2 rookie did not disappoint.

After averaging only eight minutes in 39 regular season games, Rozier made his presence felt in his first NBA playoff series – averaging 4.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19.8 minutes.

He knocked down shots, did a stellar job on defense and most importantly, became the facilitator who Stevens could rely on for valuable minutes.

However, past performances won’t necessarily cement Rozier into the Celtics’ 2016-17 rotation. His opportunity in the playoffs was due in large part to Avery Bradley being unavailable after suffering a right hamstring injury in the Game 1 loss in Atlanta. But Rozier’s skill-set as a pure point guard will certainly increase his chances in becoming one of Stevens’ go-to options off the bench next season.

In a sixth man role, Evan Turner emerged as the team’s secondary facilitator for two years in Boston. As the secondary ball handler, Turner helped keep opposing teams at bay while the starters rested.

Now, with Turner in Portland, many expect Rozier to take on an increased role. He used the Celtics’ Summer League platform to prove why he’s ready to step up to the challenge. Rozier was the team’s MVP this summer – averaging 20 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

As the floor general – Rozier set up his teammates, led the team in scoring and forced turnovers on the opposite end. He also proved he can score at the rim and has an outside touch – something the Celtics are always looking for off their bench.

As he heads into his sophomore season, Rozier believes he was always ready for the kind of opportunity he received in the playoffs and has used this summer to work on becoming a smarter point guard.

“One of the things I said before training camp is that I’m smarter [now],” Rozier told Boston.com. “I felt like I could always play, but I just feel that my opportunity came late obviously in the playoffs [last season]. I got to see that as a rookie early and it made me smarter to just see things. Then, this summer I went over a lot of things and touched on things I could do as a point guard. I think I just became smarter more than anything.”

As Turner leaves behind an important role for this young team, look for Rozier to continue to make a strong case for himself in training camp and in the preseason as a guard who’s ready to become Isaiah Thomas’ backup point guard. He has shown that he can read opposing defenses, get the ball to his teammates and his underrated quickness allows him to score at the rim.

Much like Bradley and Marcus Smart, Rozier is a defensive-minded guard.  He has a knack for suffocating his opponents in the backcourt and has the potential to blossom into a consistent scorer.

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has noticed Rozier’s vast improvement and believes he’ll have no problem earning minutes from coach Stevens next season.

“I think that Terry Rozier has made a great case for himself for next year,” Ainge told Boston.com. “He’s been our best player from the first day of training camp, just didn’t get a lot of opportunities because of our depth at guard. I think he’s winning a spot [in the rotation].”



bob
MY NOTE:  Rozier was our best player, by far, in summer league but that's summer league, a way-station for transient bubble players hoping for the chance to be invited on the shuttle to the next, bigger bubble.  HOWEVER, he showed himself to be lightning-quick last year against real NBA talent.  He showed himself to be a phenomenal rebounder for his size last year against real NBA talent.  His shot was shaky and his floor generalship weak.  Both of those should improve this year as his rookie jitters subside a bit and the game slows down a bit for him.  Remember Bradley in his rookie year?  He was so intimidated he didn't want to get on the floor for practice.  A bunch of time in Portland fixed that confidence problem and now he's a effective on offense and a stone-cold killer on defense.  Rozier doesn't, and didn't, have a confidence problem.  He just had a "my brain is exploding" problem.  That's fine, it's a rookie thing and that's in the past.  I don't want to hit this too hard, but Terry Rozier could make Avery Bradley obsolete. He has the same skill sets and, possibly, better passing skills. He's already a better ball handler, especially in the full court.


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I have no doubt that Rozier is going to have a much bigger role on the Cs this year to include a regular rotation spot whether the rotation is either nine of ten players.

He was not only our best player by far in the summer league, but his improvements from summer league in 2015 to 2016 was borderline remarkable in so many ways to include his leadership, his composure, his finding the open man much sooner, his shooting confidence, etc, etc, etc. In fact, if you had not seen him two summers ago as a 16th pick and only saw him this year for the first time you would have thought that he was a top three pick.

He is a little shorter than I wish he were, but he is lightning quick on both ends of the floor, hustles all the time and clearly has the athleticism to play in the faster pace that Coach Stevens seemingly wants his team to play.

I really liked what Rozier said about his improvement somewhere this week when he said that he is better because he has learned so much in his first year. Congrats to Rozier and the coaching staff. And, this shows me that he may be one of the guys who fully understands the power of knowledge in his profession. We can all name a few players who have probably not followed this path, and have not made it in the NBA at least not to the level of their pure athleticism.

If Turner was still on the team Rozier might not be a rotation player this year, but with Turner now in Portland, Rozier WILL be a large part of our rotation and could be on his way to a starting position within another year or two.