Faverani Makes Most of Start

Excerpted from a post-game article.  The rest was just a rehash of other comments.


Postgame: Faverani makes most of start
October, 23, 2013
OCT 23 11:55PM ET


BOSTON -- Imagine what a healthy Vitor Faverani could do for the Boston Celtics.

Playing through a bit of back stiffness that nearly shelved him for Wednesday's preseason finale, Faverani instead earned his first career start and responded with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 6 blocks over 28 minutes as the Celtics topped the Brooklyn Nets 101-97 at TD Garden.

Faverani, a 25-year-old rookie from Brazil, blocked four shots during a 10-minute first-quarter shift and didn't slow down from there. Even as he was forced to lie on the floor near the Boston bench when he was off the court, often getting stretched out by the training staff, Faverani showed no ill effects on the floor.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the challenge for Faverani now is building off Wednesday's effort.

"I thought Vitor was really good," Stevens said. "Now I think the challenge for Vitor is, coming off of success, how do you handle that? I think that he’s shown nothing but a good maturity about him thus far. And I don’t have any reason to think that he won’t handle it well. For a rookie out there, I thought he looked pretty darn good -- albeit an old [rookie]."

Over eight preseason appearances, Faverani averaged 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks over 15.5 minutes per game. He got elevated to a starting role Wednesday with Jared Sullinger not with the team due to illness. Stevens admitted he liked having the extra length of the 6-foot-11 Faverani -- Boston's only true center -- with the starting unit. Stevens added that, regardless of who starts and who comes off the bench, the Celtics need all of their bigs to contribute moving forward.

But there's an awful lot to like about Faverani.

"He’s got great hands," Stevens said. "You should see him throw a baseball pass right-handed, and then you should see him throw it left-handed. It’s pretty remarkable. Maybe we’ll have him do that Friday night at the [team's open practice at TD Garden]. But he’s a guy that does have some things that are hard to find in bigs."



bob


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Bob,

You're aware of my theory that regardless of the competition, once a player has shown he is capable of something, he doesn't lose that capability. He just has to learn how to apply it more consistently. That's the way I feel about Vitor. And, as I said in the Post Game Thread, I'm a bit concerned about how much floor time he can get since he has a tendency to foul. And the better the competition, the quicker the fouls mount. But I really like this kid—and especially his lack of hesitancy at going to the hole or up for the block.

I'd pay good money to see a one-on-one game between Vitor and Olynyk.

Sam

sam wrote:Bob,

You're aware of my theory that regardless of the competition, once a player has shown he is capable of something, he doesn't lose that capability.  He just has to learn how to apply it more consistently.  That's the way I feel about Vitor.  And, as I said in the Post Game Thread, I'm a bit concerned about how much floor time he can get since he has a tendency to foul.  And the better the competition, the quicker the fouls mount.  But I really like this kid—and especially his lack of hesitancy at going to the hole or up for the block.

I'd pay good money to see a one-on-one game between Vitor and Olynyk.

Sam

SAM,


It'd be 'bombs away' vs. 'Smashmouth'. Sunshine vs The Brazilian Buffalo.

The winner would be whoever doesn't foul out first.

As far as your theory goes, I'm afraid I have to differ.  I think summer league shows exactly how much the difference in the quality of the competition matters.  Yes, I know that summer league is basically a week of pick-up games and is wafer-thin on chemistry and continuity, but all the teams suffer through that.  Furthermore, as you see those quality summer league rookies suit up for their first real NBA games, you see their games suffer.  It's pretty much the same game as summer league, the difference is that ALL the players are all bigger, stronger, faster and more experienced.  It's the next step up the ladder in Basketball Darwinism, and not all can adapt well enough to survive.


bob



.

Bob, I'm not sure how what you wrote relates to my theory. Basically, I'm saying that if a person exhibits the ability to perform a certain act (let's say a behind-the-back move), then prima facie, he possesses the ability to perform that act. Yes, as the level of the competition rises, he also has to improve his execution and his judgment on when to use it commensurately. But he doesn't lose the basic ability to perform the act. I believe Vitor can shoot very well with both hands. He possesses that skill, regardless of how far the skill takes him or how much he has to learn when and how to apply the skill in a consistently successful manner. My theory is not predictive of a player's ability to use the skill against all levels of competition any more than anything I say is a prediction. But I see an ability as a resource upon which to build if the player can manage it.

Sam

sam wrote:Bob,

You're aware of my theory that regardless of the competition, once a player has shown he is capable of something, he doesn't lose that capability.  He just has to learn how to apply it more consistently.  That's the way I feel about Vitor.  And, as I said in the Post Game Thread, I'm a bit concerned about how much floor time he can get since he has a tendency to foul.  And the better the competition, the quicker the fouls mount.  But I really like this kid—and especially his lack of hesitancy at going to the hole or up for the block.

I'd pay good money to see a one-on-one game between Vitor and Olynyk.

Sam

Sam,
I heard Hubie said something similar in regards to Vitor during the last night's game.

AK

He's the only legit 5 so it's gonna have to work. But I am confident in him.


KJ