Thornton Could Be Boost Celtics Need Off The Bench

http://www.csnne.com/blog/celtics-talk/thornton-could-be-boost-cs-need-bench



Thornton could be boost C's need off bench
September 11, 2014, 2:15 pm







BOSTON — In just a few weeks the Boston Celtics will embark upon a new season with a few new guys that fans know little about.

Among those players, you can bet at least one or two will perform at a level higher than expected.

So we ask, who will be the biggest surprise among Boston's new guys?

The Celtics added some legit NBA talent this offseason via trades (Marcus Thornton, Tyler Zeller), the draft (Marcus Smart, James Young) and free agency (Evan Turner).

But of those five players, the biggest surprise may wind up being Thornton for several reasons.

For starters, many assume he'll be traded because he's in the final year of his contract and the Celtics have way, way, WAY too many guards to speak of.

But as you look at this roster and look at all those guards, keeping Thornton around for a while - OK, at least past Christmas - makes a lot of sense.

Reflecting upon last season, one of the biggest problems Boston had was finding someone to score the ball.

Jeff Green had his moments as most - including LeBron James - can attest to.
Ditto for Avery Bradley who parlayed a strong season shooting the ball into a four-year, $32 million contract this summer.

So with a lack of scoring consistency in the starting lineup, the punch delivered by the reserves was just as erratic.

It remains to be seen if Thornton is the answer to the Celtics' scoring woes, but one thing we do know.

He can only help.

Thornton's coming off a season split between Sacramento and Brooklyn in which he averaged just 9.8 points per game. His play really took a nose-dive with the Nets, a team that underachieved in every way imaginable for most of last season.

But think about it.

Just imagine if the Celtics had a guard off the bench who they could count on for double digits scoring most if not all nights?

And if you look at Thornton's body of work, the likelihood is that he'll provide double digit scoring as a backup.

He's a 13.4 points per game scorer throughout his career which includes him coming off the bench in 63 percent (215 of 341) of those games.

Of the current Celtics, only Jeff Green has a higher career scoring average (14.2).

But Green's points have come with him averaging 32.7 minutes per game, while Thornton's double digit scoring average has been done in 26.1 minutes a night.

That's not a knock on Green, but acknowledgement that Thornton's reputation for being an instant-offense player is well deserved.

And if you think back to last season, an inability to generate points was a major factor in the Celtics' struggles.

Boston foes averaged 100.7 points which placed the Celtics' scoring defense 13th-best in the league.

Not bad when you consider all those cut-and-paste lineups Brad Stevens worked with last season.

But more telling was the Celtics' minus 4.5-point differential which was the sixth-worst in the league and more important, played a major role in the team only being able to string together 25 wins.

For Boston to have the kind of pleasantly surprising season few expect, they will need one of these new guys to emerge with a difference-maker, kind of season.

And Marcus Thornton may very well be that guy.




bob
MY NOTE:  Well, it's true we could use a pure gunner.  Thornton scares me a bit, like the way Crawford did but, as long as he's wearing green, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.



.

I think every team needs a quick trigger off the bench. If Thornton can fill that role, awesome. It'd at least replace Crawford's scoring ability.



KJ

C'mon Sherrod. You basically copied several of my posts of the past few weeks to the effect that Thornton might become a good sixth man who could score in bunches off the bench.

Sam

Sam,

Perhaps he's a guest, but of the lurking variety.

I wouldn't put it past these sports hacks to rummage through countless internet blogs to plagiarize.


KJ

KJ,

Actually, I was kidding, but you have a point.

Sam

If Blakely is reading posts here, he's not doing a very good job of absorbing the material.

Outside wrote:If Blakely is reading posts here, he's not doing a very good job of absorbing the material.

He must have taken an oath to adhere to 19th century yellow journalism standards.



KJ