Why Isaiah Thomas Sees Terry Rozier As An Answer To Celtics’ Offseason Questions

http://nesn.com/2016/08/isaiah-thomas-says-celtics-guard-terry-rozier-is-going-to-surprise-people-next-season/



Why Isaiah Thomas Sees Terry Rozier As An Answer To Celtics’ Offseason Questions



by NESN Staff




on Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 9:35AM




The Boston Celtics surprised many people when they selected Louisville guard Terry Rozier with the 16th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Rozier was expected to go later in the first round, and Boston already had plenty of guards at the time. But Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge saw something in Rozier, and he steadily improved as a rookie last season with his scoring, rebounding, perimeter defense and energy.

Celtics All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas recently was asked by Dan Favale of Bleacher Report how the C’s would replace Evan Turner, who left to join the Portland Trail Blazers as a free agent this summer. It appears Thomas sees something in Rozier as well.

“Another guy, my guy, Terry Rozier, is going to surprise people,” Thomas said. “I think he’s ready to make an impact.”

Rozier isn’t likely to play small forward like Turner, but similar to the former No. 2 draft pick, the sophomore guard has plenty of experience as a primary ball-handler who can create offense in a variety of ways.

Rozier’s first-round playoff performance versus the Atlanta Hawks was an excellent ending to his first pro season, and it’ll give him something to build off of entering 2016-17. The Celtics need him — and several other young players — to take another step in his development to ensure they make a deeper playoff run.



bob
MY NOTE:  Terry Rozier is not as versatile as Turner but he can guard lightning quick guards that Turner couldn't.  Now that we have Jaylen Brown the hole in the depth chart at 3 created by Turner's departure for greener ($) pastures has been filled.  Has Turner's ball-handling duties been filled?  That's where Rozier needs to step up.  Point Guard has, arguably, the longest learning curve of any position in the league, and Rozier is only now about to start his sophomore year, but he needs to start to show the game is starting to slow down for him.  He also needs to hit his jumpers, to keep defenses honest.  Rebounding?  I am hoping, on a /minute basis, he will fill the hole left by Turner.  Last year Evan Turner grabbed 6.3 total rebounds/36mpg but only .8 offensive/36.  Terry Rozier grabbed 7.3 total rebounds/36mpg but a whopping 2.8 offensive rebounds/36!  The reason why I said "I am hoping" he will fill the hole is because Turner played 28 mpg last year while Rozier only played 8 mpg and it's iffy to extrapolate results out that much.  I do think that Rozier, pound-for-pound, might be the best rebounder on the team.


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I was not particularly happy when Danny selected Rozier.  He did not appear to be a play making guard and his shooting was questionnable.

Those observations remain true however seeing is believing and Rozier is a multi-skilled player with tremendous upside.

The two things that have surprised me the most are (1) his lightening quick handle combined with his hesitation stop and go move that is unpredictable to defend and (2) his rebounding.

He is the best rebounding PG on the Celtics since Rajon Rondo.  They have very similar abilities.  Some players just seem to know where the ball is coming off the rim and Rozier has that.  His reaction time is so quick that he gets to the rebounding position before the competition and he also has big time hops for a PG.  On defense Rozier can flat out press the length of the court.  While he does not have the same level of skill taking the ball from the opponents like Bradley and Smart, he has quick hands so i expect to see his steal totals spike up.

Toward the end of the year when he finally got some rotation minutes he played very conservatively, very safe as he did not try to impose his will and he avoided making turnovers.  During the Summer league we saw more aggressiveness on offense.

I think Rozier will break out from the pack this year and become a dynamic rotation player for the Celtics.  I think everyone can agree that IT is a quick PG but Rozier is even quicker than IT.

As we continue to discuss our expectations for the upcoming season we have not talked that much about how much quicker and more athletic this team will be this year.  I think we are going to see something we have not seen since Cowens and Jo Jo White and Havlicek were playing...a blistering fast break!

I know for sure that Sam would be most pleased.

dboss

Rozier averaged 8 mins a game last season but he only played in 39 regular season games. Smart, Turner, Bradley and Crowder missed 37 games between them, so it is safe to say that Rozier was only a part of the rotation when they were hurt. 

Therefore, assuming the remaining guys from the C's core (Bradley, Thomas, Crowder and Smart) stay healthy and play similar minutes as they did a season ago, Rozier and Brown will be counted on to collectively replace the 28 mins per game that Turner brought. 

Brown will replace all of the D Turner brought against burlier SF's and (hopefully) some of his mid-range shot creation. He should be more explosive at the rim and get to the line at least as much or more. 

Smart's 27 mins per game may not change, but his role could. He was part of a second unit with Turner where one of the starters was almost always on the floor with them while Turner facilitated the offense. If Crowder was out there Smart guarded PG's and Turner SG's. If Bradley or Thomas were out there than Smart guarded SG's and Turner SF's.

What will change this year? Well, Smart will be the facilitator of the 2nd unit when he's out there with Brown and Crowder (MS defends PG's) or Bradley (MS defends SG's). When he is on the floor with one of IT and Rozier who runs the O becomes a murkier situation. Those guys will defend PG's of course, he'll defend SG's, but IT may have to run the offense, which Turner often did when on the floor w IT. Then Rozier and Smart will be in a competition to see who plays more of the Turner role and who more of the Bradley/Smart role from last year. 

This is what training camp and the preseason is for. Good news is that there really should only be 28 mins per game needed for Rozier and Brown to split. There is also Gerald Green to add to the mix as he could beat out the inexperienced Brown for 12-16 mins on the wing and defend someone like JR Smith for stretches while Smart defends LeBron(!)

You guys might want to read this thread. Kind of a bad sign, some of this stuff:
http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=86907.0

If nothing else, Rozier is trending in a positive way since being drafted two Junes ago.  He played very little during the season although looked good as a Red Claw, got to contribute in the series against the Hawks and then shined in the summer leagues.

He may still not be a star player, but when young guys are trending in a positive manner like he has they should continue to get opportunities to keep improving and earning more playing time.  His athletic skills will allow him to keep improving as long as he keeps learning and working at his craft.

Although he may not be a top level rotation contributor this season we need to remember that he is only a second year guy.  I will predict that he will make a very nice contribution to our rotation this season.

If nothing else, he is WAAAAAAY ahead of James Young who was drafted at the same spot in the draft (one year earlier) and is now a third year player.  Rozier has far out performed Young in every mental aspect of becoming a better player and is proving just how important the mentality to get better is for any NBA player.  

Rozier is close to helping the team on the court while Young is on his way out of town.

arambone wrote:You guys might want to read this thread. Kind of a bad sign, some of this stuff:
http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=86907.0

maybe he`s joining the KKK----talk about conspiracy theories----probably went to Louisville because they wear  the Blood`s colors