Brad Stevens: Terry Rozier has 'elite athleticism, elite work ethic, elite competitiveness'

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Boston Celtics' Brad Stevens: Terry Rozier has 'elite athleticism, elite work ethic, elite competitiveness'



Updated Apr 16; Posted Apr 16




By Tom Westerholm




When the Boston Celtics drafted Terry Rozier, he wasn't a particularly popular pick.

At No. 16, most analysts (and even scouts) believed Rozier was a reach, and that the Celtics could have gotten him later in the draft. Boston had a second pick that year -- No. 28 -- and the consensus seemed to be Rozier would have been available then as well.

But Danny Ainge took no chances, snapping up the Louisville sophomore at No. 16 and ignoring the fanbase's displeasure.

Nearly four years later, no Celtics fan is complaining.

"I go back to when Danny drafted him," Brad Stevens said in a conference call on Monday. "(Rozier) has the elite athleticism, elite work ethic, elite competitiveness and if you put those three things together, usually it turns out pretty good."

In Sunday's Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks, Rozier had perhaps his most impactful stretch as a professional. It was his defensive mistake that allowed Milwaukee to tie the game down the stretch, but it was also his devastating crossover that froze Eric Bledsoe in place and nearly gave the Celtics the win.


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In overtime, Rozier continued to pitch in. His eight points in the period -- which included a clutch 3-pointer when the Bucks were threatening to pull away -- helped propel the Celtics to a 1-0 series lead. After struggling badly in the early going, Rozier finished with 23 points on 7-for-18 shooting, 4-for-9 from three.



"Terry's a stud," Stevens said after the game, smiling slightly.

Roughly 18 hours later, Stevens hadn't changed his mind.

"You never doubted Terry, when given the opportunity, he'd really be able to play at a high level," Stevens said. "I think we saw that right when Kyrie went out for those games in January, that three-game stretch when we played at home when Shane and Marcus where both out too where Terry basically was our only point guard on our roster. He was incredible in those three games. But that's been building from the time he got here."

The last time the Celtics faced the Bucks in the regular season, Rozier was sidelined with an ankle injury. That was a wild game, in which Shane Larkin was also away from the team with the flu. Stevens started Kadeem Allen at point guard but also used Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and even Greg Monroe to handle the ball up the floor.

Both Rozier and Larkin are back of course, and having players who can reliably dribble makes a real difference for the Celtics, although Stevens noted that Tatum has made himself into whatever the Celtics might need. When the rookie gets a rebound, he often pushes the pace himself.

"I'm not sure what else we can (ask of Tatum)," Stevens said. "We're trying to put our team in great positions, and he's a big part of that. He's in a lot of actions for us. We're asking him to do a lot on the other end of the court. Last week he was playing point guard for us. Maybe we'll try him at the five at some time, but I don't know what else we can do with him."


Other notes:

- The Celtics were obliterated on the glass last year in the playoffs, especially against Robin Lopez and the Chicago Bulls in the first round. This year's team is less hopeless on the glass, and the Bucks' small lineups present opportunities for offensive boards.

Still, the Celtics have to be careful: If they don't get back, the Bucks will make them pay.

"I thought we had a couple fortunate bounces we took advantage of in scramble plays, but I thought we were also really aggressive to the glass," Stevens said. "If they're going small, they are extremely quick, agile, versatile and offensive rebounding is going to have to be a part of who we have to be. It's a hard balance because they are so elite in transition, you have to be able to do both well."

- Four players -- Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, Tatum and Rozier -- played more than 40 minutes for the Celtics on Monday. Stevns said the Celtics rested players during the regular season to prepare for moments like this.

"Obviously with an overtime game, it's a little unique," Stevens said. "But I think everybody feels good enough to play high minutes. And it's one of the reasons we treated the last four games of the regular season the way we did."


Marcus Morris, meanwhile, played 36 minutes.

"We viewed him as a starter and a starting-level player since we acquired him," Stevens said. "Obviously he's playing starter-level minutes, and we need him to continue to be really good for us. ... He's an aggressive, confident player. He's been in the league a long time. He knows what his strengths are, he knows what he does best and he constantly works to get better. He's in here every day whether it's a practice day or an off day shooting the ball, working on his game. He's very committed, he's an excellent pro and he's made a big difference for us."



bob
MY NOTE: The Celtics have a routine they put potential draft picks through at the end of the normal workout that has a reputation for being grueling. It is designed to show if you have the grit to fight through fatigue and some failure after already going through a full draft workout. Terry Rozier is the only player who did the workout, and then asked to do it again because he thought he could do better. I remember Danny mentioning that and being in absolute awe of that. Every other player, for all the years they've done this, were just happy to be done.


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The maturation of Terry Rozier will result in one or two things.  His stock will be high enough to market him as a starting PG that plays both ends of the court.  His value could be of significance in a trade.

Or Danny realizes that Terry is like a precious gem whose skills are appreciating so distinctly that he could be an Allstar one day.

I would extend him at the end of next year.  I would play him starter minutes (30) mpg from this point on.

On another thread, I commented that I wasn't sure Jaylen has a true scorers mentality. Although I think that as soon as next year he could average 20 ppg, I still don't think he is a natural scorer. Doesn't mean he cannot be a great scorer, because I think he will. He definitely has the physical tools, and he is developing an attitude that he needs to do this night  in and night out. However, he has had to work to develop that attitude, and probably has heard a lot of encouragement from Brad and others. It didn't come naturally like it did for someone like Pierce. It was right in PP - no matter if he was shooting lights out or missing broad sides of barns, PP wanted the ball and was sure the next shot would go in. No matter the situation, PP wanted to take the shot. I don't think that is in Jaylen. It is definitely in Terry. If his skills ever catch up with his confidence, look out league.

The big question is, what happens next year? Terry wants to be a starter, and is earning the right to start right under our eyes.  So what do we do? Kyrie is a superstar. Even if Terry is okay as a 6th man, can we get him the minutes he deserves? Can Kyrie or Terry play at the 2 at all? If so, will that eat into Jaylen's and Gordon's minutes? Does Danny trade him while his value is peaking? Definitely a rich team's problem, but one that will need addressing.

Shamrock1000 wrote:On another thread, I commented that I wasn't sure Jaylen has a true scorers mentality. Although I think that as soon as next year he could average 20 ppg, I still don't think he is a natural scorer. Doesn't mean he cannot be a great scorer, because I think he will. He definitely has the physical tools, and he is developing an attitude that he needs to do this night  in and night out. However, he has had to work to develop that attitude, and probably has heard a lot of encouragement from Brad and others. It didn't come naturally like it did for someone like Pierce. It was right in PP - no matter if he was shooting lights out or missing broad sides of barns, PP wanted the ball and was sure the next shot would go in. No matter the situation, PP wanted to take the shot. I don't think that is in Jaylen. It is definitely in Terry. If his skills ever catch up with his confidence, look out league.

The big question is, what happens next year? Terry wants to be a starter, and is earning the right to start right under our eyes.  So what do we do? Kyrie is a superstar. Even if Terry is okay as a 6th man, can we get him the minutes he deserves? Can Kyrie or Terry play at the 2 at all? If so, will that eat into Jaylen's and Gordon's minutes? Does Danny trade him while his value is peaking? Definitely a rich team's problem, but one that will need addressing.

Rock

There is no immediate need to do anything with Terry.  I think his performance justifies more rotation minutes.  I think he can play starter minutes off the bench and I think he can play off the ball.  He is insurance as a starting pg if Kyrie is not healthy and he is insurance in the event that Kyrie leaves Boston.  Danny still has two years before he has to make a decision on Rozier.  A lot of things can and will happen over the next two seasons.

I do not agree with you regarding Jaylen not wanting to take the big shot.  There is little evidence of that now.  Jaylen is cleary on the fast track on establishing himself as a primary offensive weapon.  He was Mr basketball here in GA.  He simply dominated the competition with his strength and athleticism.  He realized that he needed to work on his ball handling and shooting skills.  He continues to work hard to improve his game.  He is just 21 and in just his second year.  There is no doubt in my mind that he knows he can be a great player.

As a fan I am really enjoying seeing the young guys develop.  I am not concerned about what happens 2 years from now.  

Danny has to make some decisions this summer.  Smart is the big decision followed by Baynes and Monroe.

Shamrock1000 wrote:On another thread, I commented that I wasn't sure Jaylen has a true scorers mentality. Although I think that as soon as next year he could average 20 ppg, I still don't think he is a natural scorer. Doesn't mean he cannot be a great scorer, because I think he will. He definitely has the physical tools, and he is developing an attitude that he needs to do this night  in and night out. However, he has had to work to develop that attitude, and probably has heard a lot of encouragement from Brad and others. It didn't come naturally like it did for someone like Pierce. It was right in PP - no matter if he was shooting lights out or missing broad sides of barns, PP wanted the ball and was sure the next shot would go in. No matter the situation, PP wanted to take the shot. I don't think that is in Jaylen. It is definitely in Terry. If his skills ever catch up with his confidence, look out league.

The big question is, what happens next year? Terry wants to be a starter, and is earning the right to start right under our eyes.  So what do we do? Kyrie is a superstar. Even if Terry is okay as a 6th man, can we get him the minutes he deserves? Can Kyrie or Terry play at the 2 at all? If so, will that eat into Jaylen's and Gordon's minutes? Does Danny trade him while his value is peaking? Definitely a rich team's problem, but one that will need addressing.

The Pierce v. Brown comparison is, I think , inapt. Pierce played 3 seasons of college ball on top caliber teams and was several years older than Brown was in their respective rookie seasons. Pierce was joining a crappy team with no one to defer to. Brown was joining IT, Bradley, Horford etc. Their situations were completely different. Pierce was certainly a more accomplished and  experienced player coming into the league than Brown was. It looks like JB is ready to take the mantle if called upon. If he continues to knock in 3s, its going to be hard to guard him one on one, because he can attack the basket so forcefully.

Dboss and JR - thanks for the comments. Insightful stuff. My comment was not meant to be a knock on Brown at all. I am all in on both of the J's, and think that Jaylen could be another Kawhi. Thus, I agree that he could easily be a 20 ppg player as soon as next year, and he is certainly looking like the breakout player of the 2018 NBA playoffs. I intended to contrast Jaylen to Terry. Terry is much closer to being a gunner than Jaylen. Thus their respective developments seem to require almost opposite paths - Jaylen has to learn to look for his shot more often, and Terry could maybe learn to be more selective. If anything, my comments were almost a compliment in that Jaylen is far from being a gunner. I think some players just have that instinct. Pierce had it from the moment he entered the league (and so did Antoine). I think Terry has it. Jaylen reminds more of a Kawhi, or even a Lebron, in that he is developing a more complete game.

Shamrock1000 wrote:Dboss and JR - thanks for the comments. Insightful stuff. My comment was not meant to be a knock on Brown at all. I am all in on both of the J's, and think that Jaylen could be another Kawhi. Thus, I agree that he could easily be a 20 ppg player as soon as next year, and he is certainly looking like the breakout player of the 2018 NBA playoffs. I intended to contrast Jaylen to Terry. Terry is much closer to being a gunner than Jaylen. Thus their respective developments seem to require almost opposite paths - Jaylen has to learn to look for his shot more often, and Terry could maybe learn to be more selective. If anything, my comments were almost a compliment in that Jaylen is far from being a gunner. I think some players just have that instinct. Pierce had it from the moment he entered the league (and so did Antoine). I think Terry has it. Jaylen reminds more of a Kawhi, or even a Lebron, in that he is developing a more complete game.

Thanks for responding, Shamrock. I see the distinction you are making.