Does Avery Bradley Have the Clutch Gene?

one game Bradley

one game Turner

next game..who knows?

that's the scary thing for both us fans AND the other team.

Hes done it before too, can't recall which games, hes already hit more game winners this year than Jeff Green did his whole career in green.

I've never been the biggest Bradley booster.  First, he couldn't play the "1" position, which I knew wasn't his fault.  But, at that time, his substandard shooting meant he couldn't play an effective SG only, and all he had going for him was his suffocating defense and a baseline move on which he combined quite well with Rondo.

Then Avery's shooting began to improve, but it had been so bad that I wanted to wait and see if it was an aberration.  It continued to improve, but then I noticed that his defense was no longer suffocating.  Moreover, he was still a relatively short SG.  And somehow the baseline move had basically disappeared (perhaps in part because Rondo also disappeared for long stretches with injuries).

More recently, Avery has had more shining moments than dismal moments, but he has often been streaky in both respects.  He now ranks 7th among current Celtics in two-point shooting percentage and is virtually tied for second in three-point shooting percentage.  On the other hand, he's in the middle of the team pack in terms of turnovers per 36 minutes.  He's still short, and I spotted a couple of baseline drives recently, but he also literally kicked away a breakaway that might have sealed the deal earlier against Portland.  In his fifth season, it appears that his ballhandling may never be among his greatest assets, to say the least.  And he's still short.  And his defense is better than average, but not by a wide margin.

So analyzing Avery's pluses and minuses is tantamount to a roller coaster ride.  It's characteristic of what I call the "on the other hand..." syndrome that pervades this team.  I'm happy to accept the writer's assessment that he's the best clutch option on the current team; and I've gone on record (in last night's Post-game Thread) as hoping this team, as is, could finish out the season together.

So, when I look at Avery's value to the Celtics, it's not so much about now (it's relatively high, with the emphasis on relatively).  It's more about what happens down the road and whether a more consistent version of this year's shooting improvement plus a somewhat better-than average defense will qualify him as a bona fide building block for a contending team in the future—especially when he could now be approaching the halfway point in his career and the downslope of his athleticism.

Despite my qualms about the spottiness of his performance over the years, I've really gotten to like the kid.  And I like him more than ever now because of the confidence he exudes.

But, just as I'm fond of saying, "Then is not now," I also feel that "Now is not later."  And in my amateurish way of trying to see into the future, I'm more bearish than bullish on Avery's long-term appropriateness as a lead SG on a contending team.  It's apparent that he won't grow any more physically.  To some extent, he has been able to compensate for his height brevity with his athleticism; but I see his athleticism waning over time.  I'd love to have him around for years as a backup SG, but I'm not sure the Celtics could afford (in every sense of the word) that luxury in the long run.

But this is a season to relish every good thing that happens and shove all the concerns into a "See me in a couple of years" box.  And, right now, Avery's a major part of what's making this team exciting and (dare I say) the most competitive it has been all season.  So, kudos, Avery, for what you have accomplished, and best wishes in your development over time.

Sam