Grading Boston Celtic Players, at the Three-Quarter Pole

jrleftfoot wrote:Hardly worth arguing over, but assuming usage rate means how many times he handles the ball (does it?), could it be that he is simply getting rid of the ball quicker, maybe making the pass before the assist pass, rather than being a one man team like 2 of our recent point guards, IT( who I love-- he HAD to be  a one man gang at times) or another guy that I am less fond? It seems to me that Kemba scores when it's needed, and defers to the hot hand at other times. He's not assist hunting like Rondo, but whipping the ball around. Just my opinion. We all can agree that we need to find a way to do it without him tonight.Everybody has to step up. I'm tired of losing to my second least favorite team.

bobheckler wrote:

Shamrock1000 wrote:

jrleftfoot wrote:Excellent summary, bob. I'm not going to run down the list, because I don't strongly disagree with any of your grades . I do think you are being a little hard on Kemba , though. It seems to me that he takes over when he has to and defers when somebody else has the hot hand. Doesn't mind playing off the ball and letting Hayward or Smart run the show. There have been several games where he was taken out, reinserted when the score tightened and immediately restored order.In the short term, and I emphasize that caveat, I believe him to be our most  irreplaceable player. If anyone gets an A ,I believe he should.

Agree. Just out of curiosity Bob, what numbers are you referring to when you say Kemba's numbers are down relative to years past? His 2 pt% is as high as ever, his 3 pt % is up (way up), his efg % is up, his FT% is as high as ever, his ts% is up (as it must be given the other numbers), his PER is as high as ever. His points, rebounds, and assists per game are slightly down, but when considered per 36, they are right up there. Most of his advanced stats are also quite good, and the few that may be down compared to last year are easily explained by the fact that he is on a better, more balanced team (e.g VORP - there are so many good players on the Celtics, no one will have an outsized VORP). I was looking at basketballreference.com btw...

Shamrock,

His fgas, assists/minute, ftas/minute.

These might have to do with the balance on this team but it seems to me his assists and fgas/ftas should not all go down if his Usage Rate stays up.  His Usage Rate this year is off from last year but in line with his other years.  If he's touching the ball (i.e. Usage) he should be shooting it, passing it or getting fouled with it.

Not a big deal, I thought, I only downgraded him a bit.  Or so I thought.  Lol.


bob


.

bobheckler wrote:Ok, so it's a little past the mid-point.  There are 34 games left (17 home, 17 away) so that's actually 58.5% through, but I spaced out.  So here we go.

These are my votes as of today.  You can compare your quarter pole thoughts, as posted above, to what you feel today.  It should help provide clarity on trends.

For those of you who didn't join in at the Quarter Pole there's no reason why you cannot start now.

My grades are how I see these players now and comparing them to what I saw at the quarter pole.  So, they are 2nd quarter reviews and not complete season-to-date.



Jaylen Brown

Everything I said at the Quarter Pole is still true, he's just proved me right over a bigger number of games.  As far as I am concerned I think he was robbed of an All-Star nod because the league decided they needed representation from the Miami Heat.  The most amazing thing to me is that I still think he has a long way to go before he hits his ceiling.  He might not/probably won't hit it this year, but it's there for him to go get.

Grade:  A+
Previous Grade:  A+


Gordon Hayward

Once again I stand by my quarter pole assessment, he's doing everything Brad and Danny (and us fans) could ask of him and he has played in 31 games as of now.  With 47 in the books that means he played in all but 3 or 4 of the 26-27 games since the Quarter Pole.  He's healthy, he's delivering and, as a point forward, makes it very hard to stop us.  His rebounds/game is at a career high.  His 51.7% fg% is also at a career high, as is his 88% ft%.  HIs Net Rating, +12, is tied with his all-time career high in his All-Star year.  Our Mr. Do-it-all.

Grade:  A+
Previous Grade:  A+


Marcus Smart

First Team All-Defense.  He was last year and almost certainly will be this year.  His ppg is at a career high but, to be honest, I almost don't care if he never takes another fga, everything else he does makes him invaluable.  His fg% is an awful 37.4%.  That's the only thing that is making me drop him from an A+ down to an A.  I said it wouldn't care if he never took another fga, I didn't say I would ignore that he does take them.  An A is still pretty good.

Grade:  A
Previous Grade:  A+


Kemba Walker

Kemba's numbers are all off some from previous years.  He's still a better fit for this team than you-know-who but his efficiency is down in almost every category.  That means he has to take a bit of a hit.  HOWEVER, his eFG% is at his career high, so what he's doing he's doing efficiently.  Where he's gaining, and he can thank Brad for this, is that while he is taking fewer fgas/game and /minute a higher percentage of his fgas are 3s this year.  He's shooting 38.8% from 3, vs a career 36%, so his eFG% is up because he's getting more points from his 3s and he's taking more of them.  Credit to him for shooting a higher % on 3s, credit to Brad for pushing him that way.  Furthermore, just from an optics perspective, it doesn't look like he's dominating games like he used to.  That might not be his fault, that might just be the J's rising, but nevertheless.  It is strange, though, that I'm giving a lower grade to an All-Star starter than to non All-Stars.

Grade:  B+
Previous Grade:  A


Jayson Tatum

Efficient?  Not particularly, but he still finds ways to score and he's playing defense at a high level.  His scoring is up even as his fg% is at career lows.  His fg% is at a career low, as is his 3pt fg%.  His ftas are a career high, his ft% slightly off.  He has become a volume shooter and scorer, as opposed to Jaylen and Gordon who are much more efficient.  His Net Rating is a mediocre +3.

Grade:  B+
Previous Grade:  B+



Daniel Theis

Still undersized, still gets the job done.  He's not the board monster or inside force Kanter is but his heady play anchors our baseline defense.  His Net Rating is a powerful +21 (124-103).  We know he doesn't score a lot and yet the team scores at a 124 points/100 possessions rate when he's on the floor.  However he does it he's an offensive facilitator.  Maybe his not demanding the ball is the secret although he is shooting 54.5% from the field.  He is who he is and he seems to fit this team well.  We have the 4th best Defensive Rating, as a team, in the league and our starting center deserves some of the credit for that.  Furthermore, we are 3rd in the league in fewest Points In The Paint given up.  Undersized and all we aren't giving up a lot in the paint and, once again, our primary baseline defender deserves to be pushed out to the front of the stage for some of that recognition and applause.

Grade:  B+
Previous Grade:  B+


Brad Wanamaker

His efficiency has dropped off, as has his minutes.  He's still very steady, not a lot of unforced errors, and he's quite strong for his size.  Finishes very well through contact.  His assist-to-turnover ratio has dropped from 2.64:1 at the quarter pole to 1.44:1.  Still a solid NBA back up point guard but he's fallen off his perch a bit.

Grade:  B
Previous Grade:  B+
 

Enes Kanter

Has come on strong since his last report card.  His defense, always inducing a gag reflex in me, no longer does so (at least not consistently).  He is a double-double machine and frees our 4 shooters to fire away knowing that he'll crash the boards and make defenders pay if they switch off him onto the ball.  He's playing the fewest minutes/game since his sophomore season but I don't think I've ever seen him play better than he has the past 20 games.  His Net Rating is an eye-popping +23 (125-102).  I'm struggling to wrap my mind around the name Enes Kanter being associated with a 102 Defensive Rating.  His very impressive 125 Offensive Rating is due to his offensive rebounding.  His offensive rebounding rate/minute is near career highs and when you consider he was on a team with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, players who took a lot of shots, that's pretty amazing what he's doing for us.  By elevating his defense to the point that I don't reflexively projectile hurl when I see him defend, while still doing what he does best, he definitely earns a big upgrade on his score at the halfway mark and my esophagus' undying gratitude.

Grade:  A
Previous Grade:  B


Robert Williams III

Sadly it has not been time well applied for The Time Lord.  His health has now become a serious question mark.  I wish I knew which way he was going to go.  Danny might move him as part of a package as a result of his health and our need to provide Theis and Kanter with greater usable depth (the rarity of Poirier getting on the floor is why I used the word "usable") or to pick up a veteran scorer off the bench.

Grade:  Incomplete
Previous Grade:  C+


Semi Ojelaye

Some nights he's out there playing good defense but can't hit a basket but recently he has played some very good games.  He is being much more aggressive with attacking the basket and he has the foot speed to stay in front of guards when he's switched at the arc but has the body strength to keep bigger players at bay.  His 3pt fg% is up to a roughly league average 36%, which is acceptable for a player only playing 15mpg.  He has gone from a specific role player, a 3-and-D guy specializing in small ball 5 and defending The Freak to a player Brad can put in and knows he'll be where he's supposed to be on offense and defense.  An upgrade is definitely warranted.  

Grade:  B-
Previous Grade:  C


Carsen Edwards

Edwards is in danger of becoming this draft year's Jimmer Fredette.  It's too soon to write him off but he can't seem to get out of Maine even when we need more guards, and I don't expect that to get any easier now that Romeo is healthy.

Grade:  Incomplete
Previous Grade:  C-


Grant Williams

What a difference another 3/8 of a season makes.  He's playing well, he's rebounding (some tough traffic ones too) and, unlike at the quarter pole, he's hitting his shots.  At the quarter pole his Offensive Rating was 78, now it's 99.  Still not great but a sharp upward turn from the quarter pole and, I'll bet, if you culled the numbers from the quarter pole out of his current ratings so you could just see the difference over the past 26 games or so, I think you'd see a reasonable Offensive Rating from GWill.  His 99 is still being diluted by his abysmal offensive start.  His current fg% is 38% but his 3pt fg% is now up to 23%.  I said in my quarter pole analysis I looked forward to reviewing him again at the midway point.  Well, I am, and he is now starting to match up with pre-season expectations.  I still say Brad playing him at small ball 5 so much is doing him a disservice but I have to grade him upon what he is doing and not what I think he would be doing if I was Brad Stevens.  Nevertheless a HUGE well-deserved upgrade is due the young man.  Remember, these grades are for the 2nd quarter of the season and not season-to-date.  If he just improves at being a small ball 5 a bit his grade will come up by the 3/4 pole (or if Brad starts playing him more at his more natural position of 4)

Grade:  B-
Previous Grade:  F


Javonte Green

Say what you will about Javonte but when his number gets called he usually makes the most of his minutes.  As of the quarter pole he had only played a total of 104 minutes.  He has now played 338, more than triple, and he has played him in less than 3X the games.  That shows increasing confidence in him by Brad.  He's shooting 52.7%, an outstanding number by a guard.  His 3pt fg% is 28% but he takes less than 1/game, so who cares?  At 56% his eFG% is quite healthy and we all know how electrified the bench and the fans get when he rises for a dunk.  He's an energy player, living out his dream.  A decent grade is due him, albeit based upon still relatively few minutes.

Grade:  B-
Previous Grade:  Incomplete



Vincent Poirier

The Pear Man has only played 92 minutes, total, this season.  I don't understand it, I don't see what he's doing wrong in the few moments of exposure he gets.

Grade:  Incomplete
Previous Grade:  Incomplete



Romeo Langford

He has only played 114 minutes total.  Can't really judge him yet.  He looks very good when he plays.  He's a slasher, not a shooter, so Brad needs to have him in there at the right time.  The good news is that a lot of slashing is an attitude and attitude is hard to instill.  Shooting is practice, just look at Jaylen and Marcus.  Neither of them could shoot when they came in the league.  Give Romeo a few years and, if Danny and Brad did their usual diligent job of drafting players putting heavy weight on their work ethic and desire to overachieve, he could be a very nice player for us.  There is no worse case scenario for a rookie than to miss summer league, almost all of preseason and the first month or so of regular season.  Romeo didn't even play his first real NBA game until 12/18, game 25.  We just played game 47, so he's been playing fewer games than he missed to begin the season and still he has only played in 12 games.  Nothing for 24, then 12 of the next 23.  Not his fault if he doesn't explode out of the box.  

Grade:  Incomplete
Previous Grade:  N/A


bob


.

bobheckler wrote:

jrleftfoot wrote:Hardly worth arguing over, but assuming usage rate means how many times he handles the ball (does it?), could it be that he is simply getting rid of the ball quicker, maybe making the pass before the assist pass, rather than being a one man team like 2 of our recent point guards, IT( who I love-- he HAD to be  a one man gang at times) or another guy that I am less fond? It seems to me that Kemba scores when it's needed, and defers to the hot hand at other times. He's not assist hunting like Rondo, but whipping the ball around. Just my opinion. We all can agree that we need to find a way to do it without him tonight.Everybody has to step up. I'm tired of losing to my second least favorite team.

DB,

Maybe they're hockey assists.


bob                                                                                  



that's kinda what I had in mind






















.

tardust wrote:Jaylen Brown
1st quarter Nice year for Jalen so far.  Possible All Star. His scoring is coming on real nice and will continue to improve.   Needs to improve his passing. I don't see him set up anyone for open shots.  A few games his opposite had high scoring games.
2nd quarter Jaylen has slipped a bit this second quarter. Not bad but slipped, scoring down, has been a turnover machine the past month even though he doesn't handle the ball that much. His passing has not improved. Borderline allstar, can't argue with the guys on the team. I see many allstar teams in the future. He is still our 3rd best player on the team. He continues to rebound well and score well. I haven't seen the defense I was accustomed to. In real plus minus stats he is 35th in just shooting guards! Not overall but shooting guards. [/b]

Grade:  A- 1st quarter
Grade: B+ 2nd quarter


Gordon Hayward
1st quarter: Gordon was back to normal before his injury.  Slow and methodical and shooting was there. Would be A+ if he hasn't missed so many games.
2nd quarter: Gordon has some ups and downs this quarter. He just kind of gets lost in the shuffle. Kind of a glue guy for us. Usually comes thru when needed. I think the foot is a little problem for him that probably won't go away until next year if ever.
Grade:  A- First Quarter
Grade: B+ Second Quarter

Marcus Smart
First Quarter: Guy wants to win and makes winning plays. Gets too emotional sometimes but I can live with it. He is forming his game to fit this team. Best defensive player on team.
Second Quarter: Continues doing the same things. Pretty much same player as first quarter. I wish when he is missing shots he would quit shooting, but I can live with him.

First Quarter: Grade:  A
Second Quarter Grade:  A-

Kemba Walker
First Quarter: Everything I said Kyrie wasn't last year.  He lets other players excel.  Wants to be on winning team and I can see his game getting even better as the season goes on.  His defense at times has been very good.
Second Quarter : He hasn't changed much from First quarter. He gets points when we need it and gives effort on defense even being undersized sometime. Still the leader of the team. A deserved All Star Player.

First Quarter: Grade:  A
Second Quarter: Grade A

Jayson Tatum
First Quarter: Possible All Star.  He takes the tough shots,  passing has improved.  Defense there. 3rd in league in overall plus minus behind  Antetokounmpo, 255 to 209 with Tatum 2 less games.  Lebron is right behind Tatum.    (Tatum +209, Walker  +98,  Brown +66.) Tatum plays al lot with bench players.  There is a reason why all the NBA people rate him as a top prospect.  Jayson will be the top player on this team and most talented for years to come.
Note:  He will improve around the rim and when he does his shooting percentage will approach 50%.  Kemba is only shooting 1/10th of a percent better than Jayson.  Last week I read he was top player in league when shooting to tie the score or take the lead in the last 4 minutes of a game.

Second Quarter: Everything I said in first quarter rings true. All star and deserving. A smudge behind Walker for best player on team with the highest upside of anyone on the team. He has that star quality that is rare. He is just going to get better boys. Real Plus minus top five is Lebron, The Freak, Leonard, Harden, and Jayson Tatum. Any list that includes those guys is a for real stat. I said when he start finishing better his % would rise and it has risen each month. When he is on the court the team flourishes, you can't argue that. Still clutch. People want to focus on his efficiency , well its getting better and better. Many time All Star in future.

First Quarter :Grade:  A
Second Quarter: Grade A

Daniel Theis
First Quarter :Good player but should be coming off the bench.  
Second Quarter: Has gotten better with being the only center on the team the last month. I raised his score for this reason. I am happy for him.

First Quarter: Grade:  B+
Second Quarter: Grade A-

Brad Wanamaker
First Quarter :Quite a upgrade from what we had last year.  He is slowly getting better and better.  I wasn't a big fan of his but he is winning me over.

Second Quarter : Still Playing OK , I think a small slip the second quarter but sometimes his minutes have fluctuated. I think what you see is what we will get.

First Quarter : Grade:  A-
Second Quarter: Grade B


Enes Kanter
First Quarter :Defense is not good but he gets the job done on offense.  
Second Quarter: Is playing better but has missed a lot of games lately. A force on the offensive end. Defense may be a little better.

First Quarter: Grade: B
Second Quarter : Grade B+

Robert Williams III
Hasn't got where I was hoping yet but I still have hope.

First Quarter: Grade C+
Second Quarter: INC

Semi Ojelaye
First Quarter: Has always played pretty good defense and his shot has started to fall more frequently.  I didn't really expect him to stay on the roster this year,  but for the price he is working.
Second Quarter: I think he has really improved his offense this second quarter and has had a impact. With minutes he will continue to improve.

First Quarter: Grade:  C+
Second Quarter: Grade: B-

Carsen Edwards
He will eventually get his shot to start falling when he get regular minutes and adjusts to NBA life.

First Quarter: Grade:  C
Second Quarter: INC

Grant Williams
First Quarter : I believe he will be a solid player.  Struggling now but he is not that bad a 3 point shooter.  He plays bigger than his size.
Second Quarter: Well everything I said was true. Will continue to get better and carve our his spot in the rotation.

First Quarter Grade:  C-
Second Quarter Grade: B

Javonte Green
A lot of offensive ability to score.  You always need one of them.  ( Lou Williams for example)
Second Quarter - Same description

First Quarter Grade:  C
Second Quarter Grade C

Vincent Poirier
haven't seen enough

Grade:  Incomplete- Same

bobheckler wrote:Ok, so it's a little past the mid-point.  There are 34 games left (17 home, 17 away) so that's actually 58.5% through, but I spaced out.  So here we go.

These are my votes as of today.  You can compare your quarter pole thoughts, as posted above, to what you feel today.  It should help provide clarity on trends.

For those of you who didn't join in at the Quarter Pole there's no reason why you cannot start now.

My grades are how I see these players now and comparing them to what I saw at the quarter pole.  So, they are 2nd quarter reviews and not complete season-to-date.


Jaylen Brown

Everything I said at the Quarter Pole is still true, he's just proved me right over a bigger number of games.  As far as I am concerned I think he was robbed of an All-Star nod because the league decided they needed representation from the Miami Heat.  The most amazing thing to me is that I still think he has a long way to go before he hits his ceiling.  He might not/probably won't hit it this year, but it's there for him to go get.

Grade:  A+
Previous Grade:  A+


Gordon Hayward

Once again I stand by my quarter pole assessment, he's doing everything Brad and Danny (and us fans) could ask of him and he has played in 31 games as of now.  With 47 in the books that means he played in all but 3 or 4 of the 26-27 games since the Quarter Pole.  He's healthy, he's delivering and, as a point forward, makes it very hard to stop us.  His rebounds/game is at a career high.  His 51.7% fg% is also at a career high, as is his 88% ft%.  HIs Net Rating, +12, is tied with his all-time career high in his All-Star year.  Our Mr. Do-it-all.

Grade:  A+
Previous Grade:  A+


Marcus Smart

First Team All-Defense.  He was last year and almost certainly will be this year.  His ppg is at a career high but, to be honest, I almost don't care if he never takes another fga, everything else he does makes him invaluable.  His fg% is an awful 37.4%.  That's the only thing that is making me drop him from an A+ down to an A.  I said it wouldn't care if he never took another fga, I didn't say I would ignore that he does take them.  An A is still pretty good.

Grade:  A
Previous Grade:  A+


Kemba Walker

Kemba's numbers are all off some from previous years.  He's still a better fit for this team than you-know-who but his efficiency is down in almost every category.  That means he has to take a bit of a hit.  HOWEVER, his eFG% is at his career high, so what he's doing he's doing efficiently.  Where he's gaining, and he can thank Brad for this, is that while he is taking fewer fgas/game and /minute a higher percentage of his fgas are 3s this year.  He's shooting 38.8% from 3, vs a career 36%, so his eFG% is up because he's getting more points from his 3s and he's taking more of them.  Credit to him for shooting a higher % on 3s, credit to Brad for pushing him that way.  Furthermore, just from an optics perspective, it doesn't look like he's dominating games like he used to.  That might not be his fault, that might just be the J's rising, but nevertheless.  It is strange, though, that I'm giving a lower grade to an All-Star starter than to non All-Stars.

Grade:  B+
Previous Grade:  A


Jayson Tatum

Efficient?  Not particularly, but he still finds ways to score and he's playing defense at a high level.  His scoring is up even as his fg% is at career lows.  His fg% is at a career low, as is his 3pt fg%.  His ftas are a career high, his ft% slightly off.  He has become a volume shooter and scorer, as opposed to Jaylen and Gordon who are much more efficient.  His Net Rating is a mediocre +3.

Grade:  B+
Previous Grade:  B+



Daniel Theis

Still undersized, still gets the job done.  He's not the board monster or inside force Kanter is but his heady play anchors our baseline defense.  His Net Rating is a powerful +21 (124-103).  We know he doesn't score a lot and yet the team scores at a 124 points/100 possessions rate when he's on the floor.  However he does it he's an offensive facilitator.  Maybe his not demanding the ball is the secret although he is shooting 54.5% from the field.  He is who he is and he seems to fit this team well.  We have the 4th best Defensive Rating, as a team, in the league and our starting center deserves some of the credit for that.  Furthermore, we are 3rd in the league in fewest Points In The Paint given up.  Undersized and all we aren't giving up a lot in the paint and, once again, our primary baseline defender deserves to be pushed out to the front of the stage for some of that recognition and applause.

Grade:  B+
Previous Grade:  B+


Brad Wanamaker

His efficiency has dropped off, as has his minutes.  He's still very steady, not a lot of unforced errors, and he's quite strong for his size.  Finishes very well through contact.  His assist-to-turnover ratio has dropped from 2.64:1 at the quarter pole to 1.44:1.  Still a solid NBA back up point guard but he's fallen off his perch a bit.

Grade:  B
Previous Grade:  B+
 

Enes Kanter

Has come on strong since his last report card.  His defense, always inducing a gag reflex in me, no longer does so (at least not consistently).  He is a double-double machine and frees our 4 shooters to fire away knowing that he'll crash the boards and make defenders pay if they switch off him onto the ball.  He's playing the fewest minutes/game since his sophomore season but I don't think I've ever seen him play better than he has the past 20 games.  His Net Rating is an eye-popping +23 (125-102).  I'm struggling to wrap my mind around the name Enes Kanter being associated with a 102 Defensive Rating.  His very impressive 125 Offensive Rating is due to his offensive rebounding.  His offensive rebounding rate/minute is near career highs and when you consider he was on a team with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, players who took a lot of shots, that's pretty amazing what he's doing for us.  By elevating his defense to the point that I don't reflexively projectile hurl when I see him defend, while still doing what he does best, he definitely earns a big upgrade on his score at the halfway mark and my esophagus' undying gratitude.

Grade:  A
Previous Grade:  B


Robert Williams III

Sadly it has not been time well applied for The Time Lord.  His health has now become a serious question mark.  I wish I knew which way he was going to go.  Danny might move him as part of a package as a result of his health and our need to provide Theis and Kanter with greater usable depth (the rarity of Poirier getting on the floor is why I used the word "usable") or to pick up a veteran scorer off the bench.

Grade:  Incomplete
Previous Grade:  C+


Semi Ojelaye

Some nights he's out there playing good defense but can't hit a basket but recently he has played some very good games.  He is being much more aggressive with attacking the basket and he has the foot speed to stay in front of guards when he's switched at the arc but has the body strength to keep bigger players at bay.  His 3pt fg% is up to a roughly league average 36%, which is acceptable for a player only playing 15mpg.  He has gone from a specific role player, a 3-and-D guy specializing in small ball 5 and defending The Freak to a player Brad can put in and knows he'll be where he's supposed to be on offense and defense.  An upgrade is definitely warranted.  

Grade:  B-
Previous Grade:  C


Carsen Edwards

Edwards is in danger of becoming this draft year's Jimmer Fredette.  It's too soon to write him off but he can't seem to get out of Maine even when we need more guards, and I don't expect that to get any easier now that Romeo is healthy.

Grade:  Incomplete
Previous Grade:  C-


Grant Williams

What a difference another 3/8 of a season makes.  He's playing well, he's rebounding (some tough traffic ones too) and, unlike at the quarter pole, he's hitting his shots.  At the quarter pole his Offensive Rating was 78, now it's 99.  Still not great but a sharp upward turn from the quarter pole and, I'll bet, if you culled the numbers from the quarter pole out of his current ratings so you could just see the difference over the past 26 games or so, I think you'd see a reasonable Offensive Rating from GWill.  His 99 is still being diluted by his abysmal offensive start.  His current fg% is 38% but his 3pt fg% is now up to 23%.  I said in my quarter pole analysis I looked forward to reviewing him again at the midway point.  Well, I am, and he is now starting to match up with pre-season expectations.  I still say Brad playing him at small ball 5 so much is doing him a disservice but I have to grade him upon what he is doing and not what I think he would be doing if I was Brad Stevens.  Nevertheless a HUGE well-deserved upgrade is due the young man.  Remember, these grades are for the 2nd quarter of the season and not season-to-date.  If he just improves at being a small ball 5 a bit his grade will come up by the 3/4 pole (or if Brad starts playing him more at his more natural position of 4)

Grade:  B-
Previous Grade:  F


Javonte Green

Say what you will about Javonte but when his number gets called he usually makes the most of his minutes.  As of the quarter pole he had only played a total of 104 minutes.  He has now played 338, more than triple, and he has played him in less than 3X the games.  That shows increasing confidence in him by Brad.  He's shooting 52.7%, an outstanding number by a guard.  His 3pt fg% is 28% but he takes less than 1/game, so who cares?  At 56% his eFG% is quite healthy and we all know how electrified the bench and the fans get when he rises for a dunk.  He's an energy player, living out his dream.  A decent grade is due him, albeit based upon still relatively few minutes.

Grade:  B-
Previous Grade:  Incomplete



Vincent Poirier

The Pear Man has only played 92 minutes, total, this season.  I don't understand it, I don't see what he's doing wrong in the few moments of exposure he gets.

Grade:  Incomplete
Previous Grade:  Incomplete



Romeo Langford

He has only played 114 minutes total.  Can't really judge him yet.  He looks very good when he plays.  He's a slasher, not a shooter, so Brad needs to have him in there at the right time.  The good news is that a lot of slashing is an attitude and attitude is hard to instill.  Shooting is practice, just look at Jaylen and Marcus.  Neither of them could shoot when they came in the league.  Give Romeo a few years and, if Danny and Brad did their usual diligent job of drafting players putting heavy weight on their work ethic and desire to overachieve, he could be a very nice player for us.  There is no worse case scenario for a rookie than to miss summer league, almost all of preseason and the first month or so of regular season.  Romeo didn't even play his first real NBA game until 12/18, game 25.  We just played game 47, so he's been playing fewer games than he missed to begin the season and still he has only played in 12 games.  Nothing for 24, then 12 of the next 23.  Not his fault if he doesn't explode out of the box.  

Grade:  Incomplete
Previous Grade:  N/A


bob


.