Jackie Mac on WEEI

In an interview on WEEI today, Jackie MacMullan said:

1. She thinks that Ray Allen's ankle will have to "get fixed" sometime. She thinks it may be some tendonitis and some "structural stuff".

2. Thinks Avery Bradley is stuck in no-man's land between positions. She doesn't like his ball-handling, and she points out a point guard must be a good ballhandler, and she says he's not a great shooter. She said she's not ready to give up on him yet, but she wonders where he'll fit in the NBA.

3. She thinks the loss of Wilcox was the "death knell" for this team. She says it won't hurt in the short-term, but they'll feel his loss in the playoffs.

4. She thinks Doc Rivers would love to coach Austin and she thinks it could work because of the special relationship Doc has with his son. She said Doc told her, not for attribution, back when Austin was in 7th grade that Doc thought he could play in the NBA someday.

bob

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Jackie knows her basketball, but totally disagree with her on Avery Bradley....as he is proving her wrong night after night.

He is improving his handel on a nightly basis (ave 1 to per game), is shooting nearly 50%, and is gaining in confidence game after game. Not sure who she is watching, but it clearly isnt AB

Jackie Mac hasn't been watching the last 10 Celtics games if thats all she can say about Avery Bradley, the kid has played himself into the starting lineup IMHO, even with Ray coming back at some pt. The team now gets off to fast starts with the fastest backcourt in the game, our overall team defense and fastbreak ability is so much better with AB starting.....the chemistry is so there.

Yup. Loved watching AB and Rajon switching seamlessly....like the PG got by one guy, and BOOM there is another even better defender waiting for him.

Aside from games against teams with very tall SG (Indiana, Utah), I think this is a great option for the future.

PS - I dont see Ray being happy about giving up his starting job, so when he comes back -I look to AB going back to 6th man duties.....but in the long run, Rondo and Bradley is a nice tandem.

Jackie M ....... YOU HAVE TO BE ON DRUGS TO MAKE STATEMENTS ABOUT BRADLEY LIKE THAT...........Just because you had your 15 minutes of fame by writing about Bird & Magic does not cut it!

HERE IS WHY SHE IS WAY OFF BASE

First, Bradley is heads above anyone in the league on ball pressure and man to man defense for the guard position - shooting or point,

Second, he has progressed SIGNIFICANTLY each game in all his basketball related skills as to the position assigned when given time to play. Remember when he had no confidence in the beginning and shot air balls!!!!! Now he is nailing 3pters with regularity each game!!!!!!!!!!

Third, Bradley rookie year (last year) did not start in October training camp so as to learn Celtic basketball but rather in late November because of ankle surgery.........from there it was catch up time for him and gaining minutes in garbage time due to Doc's ...Play the Vets rule. Same for this season, no summer league, no training camp per say..........give me a break Jackie M,

Fourth, HE ONLY TURNED 21!!!!!!!!!! Where was Rondo at 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fifth, he is explosive with or without the ball.........in an article last week they said he is the fastest player in the league.......Hey Jackie........you cannot teach SPEED!!!!!!!

Six, he is a far better shooter then Rondo, far better free throw shooter then Rondo, far better explosive speed then Rondo, and far better leaper then Rondo!

Hey Jackie........GIVE BRADLEY THE SAME NURTURING WHAT RONDO WAS GIVEN BACK IN 2007-2008 SEASON.......Rondo had lots of spoon fed nurturing by Doc...he was allowed to make lots of mistakes when he was given the starting point guard position, many mistakes were covered up by the Big Three or did you forget Jackie M,

HEY JACKIE.............IT'S STILL BASKETBALL SEASON..........GET OVER THE FLORIDA TAN AND RED SOX BASEBALL AND START WATCHING SOME BASKETBALL FOR ONCE!!!!!!

112288

Let's get hold of ourselves here.

I can't believe the number of posts that diss Jackie MacMullan without even attempting to address the points she actually made:

• She basically said he's a tweener, and he is. He's a strong defender of PGs but with ball-handling that's too tentative for an NBA PG. He's a very good pusher of the ball, but one who jams on the brakes and stares into the headlights about the time he reaches the arc. And his ballhandling is tentative to say the least. So he's far from being an NBA PG.

• The other half of the "tweener" equation is that he hasn't proven to me that he can consistently guard playoff-caliber SGs who are much taller than he is. Perhaps he'll prove me wrong over the next difficult stretch. I hope he does, because I believe this is the one greatest hurdles he'll have to clear to be a complete weapon. Moreover, a SG shouldn't just be an adequate shooter; he should be a great shooter (think Ray Allen). Jackie didn't say Avery wasn't an adequate shooter. She said he's not a great shooter. And he's not, although the possibility always exists that he could turn into a great shooter with a lot of practice.

Like so many Celtics fans, I've been amazed and excited over Avery's rapid growth. I've credited him with being a major catalyst in two areas that have transformed this season's Celtics: pushing the ball more consistently and moving without the ball. His defense (at least on relatively small opponents) is nothing less than amazing. His shooting (including his free throws) is definitely improving but can go south, especially in the second halves of many recent games. I've said I believe Avery's best contributions frequently come during the first half, while Ray's best contributions frequently come during the second half; so I'd like to see Avery get a disproportionate number of first-half minutes while a rested Ray plays more of the second half and especially down the stretch.

According to the report, Jackie did not address any of these considerations. She simply said Avery is a tweener, not a great shooter, and has suspect ballhandling skills. As things stand right now, she's absolutely right. Let's not allow our emotions to cloud fact.

Sam

+1 on Sam.

Avery is a volume player while Ray is a dagger player

Those two provide different "games" and if Bradley is able to guard SGs that are taller/stronger then he is good to go vs any opponent and just provides a different look from Ray.

For the Celtics it will be important to have several different tools that need to be used right since we dont have a sledgehammer that can just drive the points in.

Sam,

He's more of a point then a shooting guard. Please allow the kid some more experience.

112288

112288,

Defensively, I agree that Avery is more of a PG than a SG. But on offense, forget it! He's at his best on offense when he's set up on the baseline or for a mid-range jumper or in transition. He has virtually no conception of how to run a team. His typical move as a PG is to dribble around the perimeter and pass off based on no strategy that I can recognize.

Of course I'll allow the kid some experience. He has great potential, and it wouldn't bother me if he continued to start even when Ray comes back. In fact, if you read my post carefully, you'll note that I gave great credit to Avery in ways that I haven't seen mentioned by anyone else. I'm not dissing the kid.

But that has nothing to do with this thread. The point of this thread involves comments made about this point in time by Jackie MacMullan. All I'm trying to do is to encourage people to address her claims, rather than circumventing them, when they evaluate Jackie's comments.

Sam

Agreed Sam!

112288

Sam

Seems like you are glossing over the points where Jackie is wrong, to focus on those where she may be right.

1) She said Avery was not a good ball handler...and she is wrong. He is averaging 1 TO per game...and is a +6. He gets the ball up the court and while his decision making isnt as decisive as I would like - he is 21 years old AND has gotten much much better this season.

2) She said he isnt a good shooter...and she is wrong. AB is shooting OVER 50% from the field, which is more the respectable.

In the end, WHO CARES what position he should be or if he is a tweener. The kid is only 21, is a world class athlete, elite defender and is consistently making good decisions. All that and he gets paid peanuts.

Absolutely all upside - so see no basis for her comments.

Guy's

Jackie M seems to drift in and out of sports and teams and is not focused on a day to day basis as we all are at Sam's Celtic Forum. I guess that is why I get heated when the "Drive BY" media throws out something without backing it up.

MrKleen is right on his stats about Bradley.

I have read that Bradley was named in most of Danny's trade discussions. This kid is a throw back to KC Jones or Satch. You need to throw in a guy who can break the rhythm of a team. It is a weapon any team would love to have.

112288

About his ballhandling, as a PG you can not just count straight TOs.

I do not think he throws away the ball just straight but if he is tentative on offense (from not wanting the turnover) he can instead cause the shots taken to be poor or shot clock expiring.

Missed shots might not be credited to him as turnovers but they might be caused by him.

Not saying that this is the definite case with Bradley because I honestly havent been paying much attention to him at PG, just saying that "good ballhandling" is way beyond just not turning the ball over from your own hands in my opinion.

Mrkleen,

Please let me know specifically which point(s) of Jackie I "glossed over." There was not a single such instance. I dealt with every point she made about Avery Bradley. I appreciate your agreement that I focused only on points where she was right, because that group encompasses every point she made about Avery.

She didn't say Avery was not a good shooter. She said he was not a great shooter. And, as I mentioned earlier, I believe that's a major distinction. Suppose Avery were just a good defender rather than a great one. Would a team choose to play him at SG mainly because he's a great shooter? I think not. As I also said, there's always the possibility that his shooting will continue to improve. But, at this point in time, he's not the prototype great-shooting SG. And Jackie was talking about this point in time.

I usually avoid discussions in which the +/- stat is used to evaluate individual players. That's bogus "evidence." The fact is that he's playing the most minutes of any Celtics recently. The more minutes someone plays, the more his +/- rating duplicates the entire team's margin of victory/defeat. The Celtics have been winning by some pretty comfortable scores. Hence, someone who plays as many minutes as Avery would wind up with a pretty comfortable +/- rating.

Turnovers are only a small fraction of ballhandling for a PG. Most of Avery's handling of the ball as a PG involves dribbling (almost aimlessly) along the perimeter. While doing that, he's seldom challenged because the opponents are delighted to see seconds running of the Celtics' shot clock with nothing positive happening for the Celts. When he brings the ball upcourt, he almost never makes an entry pass. He moves the ball laterally, and the ball is often handled more decisively by KG or Pierce.

At best, he has a smidgeon of PG skills in terms of calling sets, threading passes through defenders, directing traffic, setting up teammates in positions to succeed, and myriad other things that make PG the most important position. Again, perhaps he'll improve in these areas (although I really haven't seen many signs of that this season). But, right now, he definitely lacks ballhandling skills for an NBA PG (which is what Jackie was talking about); and much of his ballhandling as a SG involves catching and shooting.

It's ironic that you incorrectly accuse me of "glossing over" anything when that's exactly what I've noted about many of the posts in this thread.

No big deal though. I've come 180 degrees from the time, earlier in the season, when I (along with many others) was down on Avery. He must have worked very hard on his shooting; he might just be the most disruptive defender in the league; he moves beautifully (and with an excellent sense of timing) without the ball; and he has learned so fast that there's no reason to believe that his growth spurt won't continue.

But Jackie was talking about a couple of challenges that currently exist. Count me among the many who are rooting for Avery to become a more complete contributor in a well-defined role for the Celtics.

Sam

Tentative comes from not wanting to be traded from the Celtics. If he was given a blank check from Doc and told play and I don't care what happens but play, I think you would see him more creative. Remember he had to scrap his way to this point to get time and if Rondo did not go down with his wrist injury we would all be saying.............Bradley who??????????

'Cause we would never had know what the kid has.

Same goes for Moore at 6'5".........This kid can shoot!

112288

112288,

If that were true, why is Avery not tentative in trying jumpers and even three-pointers? He has obviously gained confidence in those situations. If he had gained similar confidence and/or requisite skills in the area of creative ballhandling, why would he be much more reluctant than to be a creative ballhandler than is currently the case?

Maybe I'm just watching the same team Jackie is, but in virtually every instance when Avery's pushing the ball downcourt and the opponents' defense is back, Avery stops almost on a dime and dribbles outside while he figures out what to do.

I really appreciate Avery's effort in pushing the ball because I believe it's rubbing off somewhat on Rondo as well as some other team members. But two of the reasons for pushing the ball are (1) to get into halfcourt option before the opponent's defense is set and (2) to start the first option quickly so there will be plenty of shot clock time available if that option fizzles and they need to try another one or two options. When Avery's dribbling around the perimeter, it undoes a lot of the advantage gained by pushing the ball.

I'm not sure what Avery's advent to the rotation has to do with the subject of this thread—Jackie's comments—although I'm glad he did crack the lineup.

Sam

Sam

So I guess I am confused what the point of what you and Jackie Mac are saying.

You go on down the exhaustive list of what Avery cant do, and what he isnt good at - to come to the same conclusion as many of us...that he is a good young player who is getting better all the time.

Jackie MacMullen is simply doing what journalist do to remain relevant and keep people talking about her....she is being a contrarian for the same of argument.

Kind of like admitting you can only afford a Ford - then going on and on about how mediocre and average Fords are. Dont see the point.

Avery Bradley is turning into a valuable cog for the Celtics, for this season and long into the future. Doc has done a masterful job brining him along...so in the end who cares what he isnt. What he is, is a great young man who plays his ass off and any other team in the NBA would love to have as a weapon.

Sam,

The art of being a play maker is much more complex and demanding then taking an open shot when given the opportunity,

Play making entails timing with other teammates which means that person would have to be playing and practicing regularly with his teammates to know their individual moves/likes and dislikes.

Rondo shines when playing with the big 3 because he knows their moves inside and out. However when playing with many second unit players, his TO rate increases and he looks ordinary as compared to playing with the first unit.

I think Bradley's play making would look a lot different if he had the same set of players with the same set of skill levels that Rondo has.

Just remember, the kid was walking on egg shells when given the opportunity to play more. Doc is MR. Hook when he see's TO's.

112288

Mrkleen,

1. The subject I've addressed in this thread is Jackie MacMullan's comments on Avery Bradley. I happen to agree with the reservations she expressed.

2. I've never considered this thread a moratorium on Avery Bradley.

3. But, just to satisfy the desire of some posters to turn this thread into a moratorium on Avery, I also presented many of my positive views on his current contributions and his future potential. You conveniently chose to ignore this positive litany by concluding (very incorrectly) that I summarily dissed him and then illogically jumped to the conclusion that he's a valuable player.)

I'm happy to continue this debate, as long as we're focusing on Jackie's views. Perhaps you could start by indicating why you chose not to respond to my request for a list of Jackie's points that you claimed I failed to address. I've mentioned this two or three times without response.

I choose not to collaborate in turning this into an Avery Bradley debate. My own views about Avery venture well beyond the couple of areas Jackie chose to address. I've mentioned numerous positives about Avery in this thread and others, and I've reiterated how enthused I am about his presence and his future.

Sam

Sam

Since you seem so in tune with Jackie - tell me what her point is?

What is she hoping to accomplish by nit picking a few minute points about a guy who was probably the 8th or 9th man when the season started?

I mean, who IS a great shooter besides Ray Allen on this team?

Guess I dont get her point.

Mrkleen,

To address your last point first, I'd say KG and Paul Pierce are great shooters.

I took the trouble to go back and listen to the interview. In actuality, Jackie offered a number of viewpoints on Avery:

• He's a gamer.

• He has defensive intensity.

• He cannot handle the ball on the NBA level.

• He doesn't shoot the ball well enough, and he's not big enough to guard
opponents as a classic 2-guard.

• She certainly hasn't given up on Avery.

The word "great" was never used as a yardstick of his shooting ability. She offered at least as many positives as negatives. I didn't even hear her say he was a tweener, although it could probably be inferred from her concerns at both PG and SG.

I feel almost patronizing in honoring your request to tell you what her point is. I see her point as being that, while Avery's intensity (especially on defense) is extraordinary, that factor alone is not enough allay her concerns about ball-handling as a PG and both shooting and defensive size inadequacies as a SG. The fact that she hasn't given up on him presumably alludes to the same hope all of us have that he'll continue to improve.

Frankly, I view all of this as a tempest in a teapot. Jackie MacMullan is a very learned basketball person whose right it is to have reservations about any player. My reason for voicing my own concerns is that I sensed that people felt almost insulted by her reported viewpoints and yet, when they gave reasons behind their feelings, they totally ignored the actual points she had made. I stand even more resolutely by my perception.

Sam

Sam,

Sorry but Jackie M. is way off in her assessment of these two points listed below.

• He cannot handle the ball on the NBA level. SHOW ME PROOF. GIVE STATS!

• He doesn't shoot the ball well enough. AND RONDO IS ANY BETTER! He is a fine shooter and one better, he knows how to play without the ball as a point guard!

• He's not big enough to guard opponents as a classic 2-guard. DOC THREW HIM IN AS A 2 GUARD. IT WAS NOT HIS CHOICE. YOU GO WHERE TOLD TO GO. People have to understand, Bradley is not a 2 guard.

Jackie M. is the media darling in Boston. She is personable, cute, engaging, good writer in terms of telling a story, but she is not an expert by any means in assessing talent on any level including the NBA! If so she would have backed her statements up with examples.

Sorry, but to me she is just another scribe with a point of view.

112288

I think he can handle the ball at the NBA level, elite level, maybe not now, but hes figuring it out and improving by leaps and bounds right now. He is no where near the shooter Ray is, who is? yet does so many things well, such as pressure the ball, running the floor, moving without the ball, can hit his midrange jumper and is figuring out how to get that midrange jumper off in this offense. Anybody see him attack and dunk on Kevin Durant? Kid has a serious burst and some unique skills and is getting better and better. We can run with him and Rondo together in a way we never could with Ray and our defense is better even if he has to defend the 2's. Instead of nitpicking the kid, Jackie Mac could have noticed in midst of so many injuries that could devastate a team, we have gelled with playing two attacking points in the backcourt. Those SG's also have to keep up with AB on the defensive end and the kids been exploiting those taller slower SG's with blazing speed, athleticism and smarts, not trying to do too much, yet using his skillset to play off Rondo, Pierce and KG.

Who would you rather have defending the prototypical 2 Ray or AB? He may be 3 inches shorter, but I'd still take AB's pressure even on a taller opponent, AB will still get his hands on more balls thoroughout the game.

Maybe she just wanted to keep people realistic and make sure it did not turn into some kind of Linsanity.