Celtics' top pick Rozier out to silence doubters

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/boston-celtics-top-pick-terry-rozier-out-to-silence-doubters?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo



Celtics' top pick Rozier out to silence doubters
July 3, 2015, 10:45 am








WALTHAM, Mass. – Like most NBA rookies, Terry Rozier is out to prove himself against any and all competition.

His first crack at that begins next week when the Celtics’ summer league team participates in the Utah Jazz Summer League. From there, he’ll play for the Celtics’ summer league team in Las Vegas, too.

The spotlight will indeed be on the Celtics’ first-round pick, even more so because he was selected 16th overall - higher than most anticipated.

At the Celtics’ draft party, a chorus of boos and ‘Who’s that?’ rang out upon his selection.

Most NBA experts had him pegged as a late first-round pick or early in the second round.

Because of that, the 6-foot-1 guard comes in with many doubters – something he is more than aware of.

He knows they exist, but that doesn’t mean he has given his critics much thought.

“When I’m out on the court, I have no doubters out there,” he said. “I’m more worried about the coaches believing in me, my teammates believing in me. That’s more important to me. No fan or nobody else got me to this point; I did. I’m more worried about my situation and helping this team.”

After the first couple of days of practice, Rozier has primarily played point guard.

Known for his toughness, Rozier has been matched up frequently with Marcus Smart and, although it is still early, Smart has been pleased with Rozier’s compete level.

“That’s a good guy to have on your team,” Smart said.

That compete level made for some frustrating times leading up to the draft.

Shortly after Rozier declared for the draft following his sophomore season at Louisville, he was pegged by most as an early second-round pick.

Following the pre-draft combine in Chicago in May, his stock went up slightly to where he was viewed as a late first-round pick. Rozier’s rise up the draft board seemed to stall in large part because some of the guards rated ahead of him did not want to participate in the same workout with him.

A league official of a team that did in fact work out Rozier told CSNNE.com that there were a couple of point guards rated ahead of him that preferred to not participate in the same workout with Rozier.

“But that happens all the time, every year,” the executive told CSNNE.com. “It was a business decision; we understand how that goes. Why work out against a guy who could potentially hurt your draft position? It makes our job tougher, obviously, but we expect that with a few prospects every year so to us, it’s not that big a deal.”

Rozier was well aware of why some players didn’t want to be included in the same workout with him.

That didn’t make it any easier to deal with.

“There’s a lot of guards I’ve been wanting to go against that I couldn’t catch in the draft workouts,” Rozier said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun, a lot of competing. I just want to win; not try to make it a thing about myself. Just try to win for my team.”

Rozier acknowledged there was some concern that he might be selected later in the draft because he wasn’t able to show what he could do against some of the top guards in the draft.

“It was tough,” Rozier said. “But...the Celtics figured out guys didn’t want to work out against me and I got picked higher than a lot of the guards.”

And while he’s happy with being selected by Boston, there’s no time to sit back and be satisfied.

“At this point, it don’t matter who got picked where,” Rozier said. “Now you have to prove yourself and what you can do in this league.”



bob
MY NOTE:  FINALLY!  A decent piece by Blakely.  This is the old question of "how do you prove the existence of a something by its absence?"  If you're a boxer and your opponent takes a body blow and then is doing everything he can to not take another body blow, that says something.  If you're a wide receiver and you don't want to run a slant over the middle against a certain linebacker, but you've done it on other weekends against other linebackers, that says something.  If higher rated players don't want to play against you, that says something.  I also like the "now that I'm in the league it doesn't matter where I got drafted, I have to earn this" attitude.

Game 1 of summer league for the Celtics is 7/6 @ 9 pm EDT.  There will be a game on thread.



.

Can't wait

I hope he succeeds.  His blend of skills and athleticism would be a welcome addition, depending on how well he displays them.


Sam

Hi Sam and Bob I have not fallen off the face of the earth, just spending 6 days at Newton Wellesley Hospital. I have a blood infection. They have shipped me off to Spaulding Rehab for 6 weeks of rehab, yuck. They have me on some medicine that cannot be given at home. I am going out of my mind

I have kept in touch with the boys, wish a little more had taken place.
I am glad they signed Crowder. I just wanted to say hi and let toy know I am still here

Love
Rosalie

sam wrote:I hope he succeeds.  His blend of skills and athleticism would be a welcome addition, depending on how well he displays them.


Sam

Hi Sam,

I'm assuming, if you're online again everything went well. I sure hope so. I'm a little superstitious about wishing people well BEFORE something (the most I'll say is "break a leg") but afterwards is ok. It has been an anxious few days for me. Here's hoping you'll be back to running up a few hills in San Francisco with me again soon.


bob

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Hi Sam and Bob  I have not fallen off the face of the earth, just spending 6 days at Newton Wellesley Hospital.  I have a blood infection. They have shipped me off to Spaulding Rehab for 6 weeks of rehab, yuck.  They have me on some medicine that cannot be  given at home.  I am going out of my mind

I have kept in touch with the boys, wish a little more had taken place.
I am glad they signed Crowder.  I just wanted  to say hi and let toy know  I am still here

Love
Rosalie

Hi Rosalie!

You know I was wondering where you went.  Normally I'd send a pm to Sam and ask him but he has been offline for days too.

Hope you're feeling better.  If this was inevitable it's better it happened now and not during the season.   It has been a long, long time since I lived in Newtonville vut I remember Newton-Wellesly as being top-notch.

Please keep us up to date on how you are doing. The board isn't the same without either of you.


bob


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Thanks Bob, will let you both know what is going on. This has been
a long haul. Being here in Cambridge is a real bummer. I wanted to
be closer to home, Oh well,

Love
Rosalie

Rosalie,

You know we're all sending strength and energy your way.  Here's hoping your every day is better than the previous one because, as you well know, medicine works much the same as sports' "one game at a time" saying.

We'll be looking for progress reports while wishing you nothing but the best.

Sam

Thanks to all. If it 'wasn't for this medicine they have me on I would be able to be closer to home.

My son put an NBA app on my computer so I will be able to watch
the summer games. I don't know what I would do without him. He knows what is important to me.

Thanks for the good wishes, I will be in touch with you. I am moving around pretty good so I am hoping for the best.

Love
Rosalie

Rosalie my dear....


Hope everything continues to improve for ya and ya get home soon.

Best of health to you Rosalie.

Rosalie, it's interesting that you're "moving around pretty good."  Just out of curiosity, how's your vertical leap?

Sam

Higher than Hibbert, and a better shot. I can pass like a shot too!

I don't doubt a bit of it, Rosalie.

Sam

I am still trying to figure out why we drafted him.

If we needed a PG then draft a PG.

Dboss

Dboss,

It seems that the definition of the position has changed a lot since you and I started watching the NBA.  I was a little surprised when, in addition to not being a big assist guy, he wasn't a great shooter either.  I'd have to guess it was his physical attributes that most attracted Danny.

Sam

Stevens. He seems to be in love with the guy

dboss wrote:I am still trying to figure out why we drafted him.

If we needed a PG then draft a PG.

Dboss

he sure didn't show me anything tonite, Marcus Banks was way more impressive in SL.

Cow

He has a long way to go. He looked off balance most of the night. As I stated before this was a reach at 16. When some fans selectively look at highlight videos that only show the good, they lose perspective.

Dboss

I expect to see him play better. I hope he does. Last night MS controlled the game so Rozier played off the ball.

I would like to see the coaching staff put the ball in his hands so we can get a better idea of his abilities running the point.

I do not want people to think I do not like him. I am just not convinced that he was the right pick given other options at the PG and other positions of need.

Dboss

Hi,
Ditto to Dboss

AK

where was the speed? the first time you saw young Rondo play, he was the fastest quickest guy on the floor, didn't see anything near that last night.

Then your tv needs repairs.  I didn't think Rozier's defense was great, and his offense was spotty (which means quite good at times and not so good at others), but his speed was VERY apparent.  Not just end-to-end but also in the half-court and taking the ball to the hoop.  At one point, I almost mentioned on the Game On Thread that—strictly from the perspective of speed and nothing else—I'd like to see him and Thornton on the floor together.

Sam

maybe its cause too many people could get past him-no problema

Maybe it is because Smart took three quarters of the shots. He didn't
share the ball much. I know this is summer league but.....