Media Day leftovers: Faverani ready to fight

ESPNBOSTON.COM
September, 30, 2013

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

WALTHAM, Mass. -- The health of rehabbing Rajon Rondo (ACL) and Jared Sullinger (back), and the arrival of Gerald Wallace were among the biggest headlines from Media Day with the Boston Celtics on Monday at the team's training facility. But here are a few more leftover notes from the three-hour session that kicked off the 2013-14 season:

* FAVERANI READY TO FIGHT: We still haven't seen him on the floor, but Monday featured the media's first access with Brazilian import Vitor Faverani. The 6-foot-11, 265-pound center intercepted team director of player personnel Austin Ainge (who happens to be fluent in Spanish) and brought him to the podium to help navigate his first Q&A session. The slightly broken English only made the International Man of Mystery's responses that more entertaining. Like when he was asked to describe his style of play. "My playing style, I don’t know, I like to fight, play in the paint, rebounds, dunks, pick and rolls," said fighting Faverani. To solidify his physical nature, Ainge added his own analysis: "He loves to hit. He’s physical. He comes in and makes things happen and instigates contact." As for choosing No. 38, even after his preferred No. 13 became available after fellow Brazilian Fab Melo was traded away to Memphis, Faverani noted, "My friends, they played handball, and one day at my house, we’re eating lunch and my number every time is 13. He said, if you play with 38, I’ll get a tattoo for you. So I get the number 38." His friend now has a tattoo.

* BRADLEY FOCUSED ON BASKETBALL: September was an emotional roller coaster for Avery Bradley with the passing of his mother, Alicia, and the birth of his son, Avery Bradley III. Bradley largely steered clear of questions about his emotional state, but he did relent when asked about fatherhood. "It’s been amazing," he said. "I’ve been having my family and my girlfriend support me for this upcoming season. They all want to see me do well and they all want to see me to continue to keep learning this game and keep becoming a better player." Asked later if basketball can be therapy after his mother's death, Bradley offered, "It’s always been therapy," as he departed the podium.

* NO STARTING 5 IN MIND YET: Both Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and new coach Brad Stevens said they can't possibly know the starting 5 entering camp. "And I think about it all the time. Maybe it’s paralysis by analysis," quipped Stevens. "I don’t think it’s fair because we haven’t all been on the court together yet. And I think we’re in position where we’ve got a lot of guys that may be a better player in a 1-on-1 game, but may not fit the strengths of the other guys that are going to be on the court, so there may be some mixing and meshing there where you maybe -- sometimes you don’t have your best guy playing with the other four guys as far as the next best player. You’ve got the right fit for those other four guys. I think we have to find that. Again, that’s part of building a team. The good news about that is we’re getting started, the bad news is that it’s a quick turnaround before you play [the first exhibition game] next Monday."

* NO SOX COMPARISONS, PLEASE: Ainge, who knows a thing or two about baseball, was asked if he saw any comparison with his team and the Boston Red Sox, who exceeded the expectations of most this season while making the playoffs in what many thought would be a transition year. "Baseball is such a different sport. I think baseball and football, you have so many more players, and in baseball, one player doesn’t dominate the game as much," said Danny Ainge. "In basketball, I don’t think there’s really any correlation we can draw from that situation. They’ve had a terrific year and I’m really excited about the postseason, watching the Red Sox play. I actually thought the Red Sox would have a better year this year just because they have a really good pitching staff and expectations were lower a little bit. I think they have some terrific players on that team, but I’m not surprised by their success this year."

* KG STILL MOTIVATING GREEN: While Jeff Green gave an unemotional, "No" when asked if it was difficult to learn that the Celtics had traded away Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, he did shower Garnett with praise for his role in Green's late-season outburst last year. "He’s a guy who pushed me to become the player I ended the season as," said Green. "I owe a lot to him as far as my focus and my determination and my aggression." Garnett often reminded Green to remain aggressive by telling him to behave like a word not printable in this space. Green keeps that in mind entering the new season, noting, "I’m going to continue to take the words of Kevin Garnett and be an [expletive], be aggressive and continue to improve my game, this year, next year, and next year after that. I’ve just got to keep working."

112288

I will not be surprised at anything that may happen during the year. This year will be filled with ups and downs and we will get a good sense of who stays and who goes sometime mid to late February to early March.......Ah can spring be far behind!!!

For me its going to be fun to watch rookies possibly turn into true NBA stars and building of the next team to raise banner #18!

Sometime in late November or early December I will suggest and post several games that we can vote on to meet in Boston like we did last year.

112288

Although it might not have been the most coherent thought Brad will ever utter, it seems to me that he feels a number of players on the roster may be better one-on-one players than team players. I hope I just misunderstood because I don't want to go through the season kicking in television screens.

Sam

"And I think we’re in position where we’ve got a lot of guys that may be a better player in a 1-on-1 game, but may not fit the strengths of the other guys that are going to be on the court, so there may be some mixing and meshing there where you maybe -- sometimes you don’t have your best guy playing with the other four guys as far as the next best player. You’ve got the right fit for those other four guys. I think we have to find that."

I think that Stevens is saying that the best player (better in a 1-on-1 game) may not always be the best choice of player to fit in with the four other guys that are going to be on the court to create the best "team" on the floor.  That's not all that much of a new concept for the Celtics, seeing that they have a history of being team oriented rather than star-oriented.  The fifth (and sometimes sixth) best player can come off the bench and the team would be all the better for it.

In a lineup of Rondo, Bradley, Green and Sully, who would best fit in with that group?  The best player left (better in a 1-on-1 game) may be considered to be Bass or Wallace, but Stevens is saying that a lesser player may fit in with that group of four better.  Perhaps Olynik or Fav could be a better fit.

Stevens says that it is good that he can soon play the mix-and-match game with the players available to him.  He goes on to say that it is bad because there isn't much time to do it before the first pre-season game.

gyso

gyso wrote:"And I think we’re in position where we’ve got a lot of guys that may be a better player in a 1-on-1 game, but may not fit the strengths of the other guys that are going to be on the court, so there may be some mixing and meshing there where you maybe -- sometimes you don’t have your best guy playing with the other four guys as far as the next best player. You’ve got the right fit for those other four guys. I think we have to find that."

I think that Stevens is saying that the best player (better in a 1-on-1 game) may not always be the best choice of player to fit in with the four other guys that are going to be on the court to create the best "team" on the floor.  That's not all that much of a new concept for the Celtics, seeing that they have a history of being team oriented rather than star-oriented.  The fifth (and sometimes sixth) best player can come off the bench and the team would be all the better for it.

In a lineup of Rondo, Bradley, Green and Sully, who would best fit in with that group?  The best player left (better in a 1-on-1 game) may be considered to be Bass or Wallace, but Stevens is saying that a lesser player may fit in with that group of four better.  Perhaps Olynik or Fav could be a better fit.

Stevens says that it is good that he can soon play the mix-and-match game with the players available to him.  He goes on to say that it is bad because there isn't much time to do it before the first pre-season game.

gyso

gyso,

Take these comments, add to them Stevens' comments about how having Green and Wallace together is good, and I think we'll be seeing Wallace at 3 and Green at 4 and maybe even Wallace at 2 and Green at 3. Against big teams like Indy, or with high-powered 3s like Miami and NY, you might be seeing Wallace playing D against them.

I know Wallace is still having trouble wrapping his mind around the trade, I can't blame him, but I have no problem welcoming a player who prides himself on his defense and rebounding and whose nickname is "Crash" because of the way he gives up his body.

.

Bob,

It certainly seems as though Brad's amenable to giving Wallace a look at the "2." Wouldn't it be interesting if that move gave Wallace enough physical advantage to make him a real impact player. Heck, it might even be a reason for Sims to catch on with the team as a backup at the "3" (although that's probably a stretch—and I don't mean a stretch-3).

Sam

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/faverani-jokes-food-sold-me-boston


bob.

.

I would like to know what 1 on 1 players he is referring to.

From what I have seen only Green and Rondo can consistently go 1 on 1.  If he thinks anyone else can go 1 on 1 it may just be that Stevens never coached this level of talent.  He never even had a great one on one player at Butler.  

As far as Wallace is concerned we are already loaded up at the 2 plus Wallace cannot score the ball that well from the perimeter.  I think we will definitely see Wallace at the 3 and Green at the 4 depending on the matchups but that would be a defensive move.

These options are sure to be put to the test as Stevens identifies where to get the most productivity out of different groupings.

Watching these different groupings develop will be very interesting because these groupings may be utilized based on who the opponent is.  Stevens is totally different than doc  and may be more like Bill Belichick.

dboss

dboss wrote:I would like to know what 1 on 1 players he is referring to.

From what I have seen only Green and Rondo can consistently go 1 on 1.  If he thinks anyone else can go 1 on 1 it may just be that Stevens never coached this level of talent.  He never even had a great one on one player at Butler.  

As far as Wallace is concerned we are already loaded up at the 2 plus Wallace cannot score the ball that well from the perimeter.  I think we will definitely see Wallace at the 3 and Green at the 4 depending on the matchups but that would be a defensive move.

These options are sure to be put to the test as Stevens identifies where to get the most productivity out of different groupings.

Watching these different groupings develop will be very interesting because these groupings may be utilized based on who the opponent is.  Stevens is totally different than doc  and may be more like Bill Belichick.

dboss

dboss,

Wallace might not be a good face up shooter from the perimeter, but I bet he can post up almost any 2 in the league. Defensively, he's big enough to handle the big guards on Indy.

It's going to be interesting to see Stevens' lineup choices. Doc was very much of a "these are my guys, but sometimes I just get a feeling and give someone else a chance" type of a coach, while Stevens seems much more of a "matchups" coach, trying to maximize whatever he can get out of every little mismatch, which may result in a lot of different lineup looks.


bob

.

I hope that, starting with today, Brad's utterances about the team will be based more on what he's seeing and less on what he surmises from video and other reports.

Sam

Guys,

I thought that I explained (above) what Stevens meant by the 1-on-1 comment.  It is just a way to compare the various players on a team.

Player A is the best player on the team.  He can beat all the rest of the team 1-on-1.
Player B is the second best player on the team.  He can beat all the rest of the team 1-on-1, except Player A.
Player C is the third best player on the team.  He can beat all the rest of the team 1-on-1, except Players A and B.
Player D is the fourth best player on the team.  He can beat all the rest of the team 1-on-1, except Players A, B and C.
Player E is the fifth best player on the team.  He can beat all the rest of the team 1-on-1, except Players A, B, C and D.
Continue with Players F, G, etc.

Many people would say that the best TEAM would be Players A through D, plus Player E.  That is your best 5 players. Stevens is saying NO.  Player F or G may have strengths that better fit in with Players A through D, even though Player E is clearly better than Players F or G.

The 1-on-1 comment really has nothing to do with actually playing 1-on-1.  It was not meant to be taken literally.

gyso

Lineups will be in-flux for a good while anyway. But with the exceptions of JG and RR, I see a heck of a lot of role players.

But a (RR, JG, KO, AB, JS) lineup would be rather interesting to watch.


KJ

Gyso, interesting perspective and an excellent summation. Thanks.

Sam