Semi Ojeleye's job is brutal, but Boston Celtics rookie proving worthy of task

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2017/10/semi_ojeleyes_job_is_brutal_bu.html






Semi Ojeleye's job is brutal, but Boston Celtics rookie proving worthy of task





Updated on October 28, 2017 at 12:14 PMPosted on October 28, 2017 at 11:00 AM






Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James, left, passes against Boston Celtics' Semi Ojeleye in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, in Cleveland.(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)








By Jay King





Nobody has it tougher than Semi Ojeleye.

He's making more than $1 million this season to play a game. He's learning under a top coach, Brad Stevens, in a quality organization. Though Ojeleye's not playing a lot yet, he's getting a chance early in his NBA career. He's blessed in a lot of ways, but, man, his assignments couldn't be more difficult.


See, the Celtics have given Ojeleye a role. He's not asked to score a lot of points. He's not going to touch the ball a whole lot. He will not play a ton of minutes. When he's on the court, his primary role is to defend. And the guys he's asked to defend -- well, that's the challenging part. The Celtics aren't hiding Ojeleye on chumps. They're calling on him to limit some of the world's best players. 


The rookie has appeared in only four games so far, but already the pattern is clear. Ojeleye has spent most of his 50 NBA minutes defending superstars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, the early-season MVP frontrunner; Kristaps Porzingis, who appears to have taken "the leap"; and LeBron James, one of the three or four best players ever (at least). 


Don't expect the trend to stop, either. Marcus Morris' return will cut into some of the young guys' playing time, but Ojeleye will guard elite playmakers when he's in the game. 

"That's kind of what we need Semi to be," head coach Brad Stevens said Thursday night after Ojeleye guarded Antetokounmpo during Boston's 96-89 win. "We need him to be a guy that can go in and guard some of these guys with his body and athleticism."


Have fun, rook.


Al Horford has performed brilliantly in most of the same matchups, but he's a four-time All-Star. Ojeleye's a second-round pick from SMU. Though he's uniquely gifted with "combat muscles," as Celtics Twitter likes to say, these assignments are vicious. 


But there's no denying Ojeleye is a specimen. He has nimble feet yet still looks like he could snap the TD Garden in half with his bare hands. Here he is cutting off Antetokounmpo, a monster of a different breed, several times in the same possession:

https://twitter.com/_/status/923734717580632064


"That dude looks like a 3,000 character," said Marcus Smart.


The movie about an epic war is actually called 300. Smart probably just misspoke, but I prefer to believe he exaggerated to suggest Ojeleye could have starred in an even more epic film.  


"He's strong as an ox," Smart continued. "And I think Giannis realized that on a couple of times where he tried to bang him and he didn't go anywhere. But as a young guy who has to step up to the plate with all the injuries and things that have happened, he's responded really well. His offense is going to come. Because he can shoot the ball, it's gonna come. But for him to come in and play defense on one of the better players in this league and help this team, that's tremendous."

Tremendous for the Celtics, yes. But for Ojeleye?


"You just try to prepare, watch film, try to be always ready," he said. "You try to take it seriously, know their tendencies, and go out there and just do what you can."


Sometimes that won't be enough. Superstars will get theirs. Ojeleye has a brutal gig. But the impressive part is that he's already earned it. 


bob
MY NOTE:  Yabby is 1" taller than Semi and probably 25# heavier.  This should be his job, but Semi is outpracticing him and earning his minutes from Brad.  GREAT defense by Semi on The Freak in the twitter video on two separate defensive stands.  He stopped Giannis once, forced him to pass out and reset, and then forced a bad shot.  Watch how wide his feet were and how quickly they moved, and Giannis was not able to back him down, Semi is just TOO STRONG.  And watch Semi's hands, they were not on Giannis, they were out where the refs could see them, just like Brad coached (I provided a camp workout video where Brad was teaching that).  Listen and learn from Coach, play some minutes.


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Semi reminds me of Leon Powe.

The big difference is Semi is a good 3pt shooter.

If Semi starts to make those 3s, he'll get more playing time.