Two Perspectives

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/07/20/may-not-look-like-but-celtics-construction-plan-schedule/V7AI890AxG3A2cXh7zLHsJ/story.html#

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2015/07/bulpett_some_not_sold_on_terry_rozier_rj_hunter

dboss

dboss wrote:http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/07/20/may-not-look-like-but-celtics-construction-plan-schedule/V7AI890AxG3A2cXh7zLHsJ/story.html#

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2015/07/bulpett_some_not_sold_on_terry_rozier_rj_hunter

dboss

dboss,

I have reached my limit of Boston Globe articles, due to my scanning the internet for articles to post here every day, and cannot read it.

Could I ask someone to cut-and-paste the article here for me?

Thanks.

As far as the Herald article goes, I am not as down on Rozier and Hunter as those anonymous league sources seem to be.  Rozier might not be a pure point guard but who cares?  Purebreds have value when you're talking about dogs and horses but beyond that?  What's Dirk's position?  It didn't exist before he came into the league.  I didn't think Hunter's defense was bad at all.  In fact, I saw him working a helluva lot harder, and more effectively, than James Young.

Jordan Mickey, is a player I was thinking about starting a thread on, just for him.

Danny was able to get KG in 2007 because of two reasons:  he had already pulled off the heist for Ray Allen, which thawed out KG's opposition to Boston and because we had (and had developed) Big Al Jefferson.  I have already said "no Ray Allen, no KG".  What is also true is "no Big Al, no KG" because Paul Taylor wouldn't have gone for the trade no matter what KG was willing to accept.  My thoughts, admittedly ridiculously premature but nevertheless coming on strong, is that Jordan Mickey could be our next Big Al.  He needs to solidify his mid-range shooting, but he already has some shooting touch from 18-19', so it's just a case of practice, practice, practice.  He might also have to put on a few more pounds on his 238# body but he's not anorexic to begin with and his defensive talents, instincts and timing are already quite impressive.  

Next year is Amir Johnson's and David Lee's year.  We're paying too much money, $27M just for the two of them, to not play them (especially if there's any consideration of trading them by the deadline to a playoff team that is looking to fill out some depth at their positions.  You have to play them so the teams can see them and not wonder why they're not playing.  That is one of the problems Danny will have with moving James Young.  GMs will want to know why he's not earning minutes).  Jordan Mickey will be getting reps, both here and perhaps in Portland, and then the sky's the limit for him in 2016-2017.  He's on a 4 year $5M deal, with the last two years being team options.  That is the most lucrative NBA contract ever signed by a 2nd rounder and, I believe, will turn out to be dirt cheap.  Some people (I don't want to mention any names...Cowens...) have been bemoaning Danny not taking DeAndre Jordan and/or Rudy Gobert.  I predict there will be a lot of people who will be upset they didn't take Jordan Mickey.  A lot. He might not be the game-changer those first two are (in Jordan's case he might change the game in a negative way because of Hack-a-Jordan) but he'll still be an eye-popper on defense.

And once the eyes start popping, the phone will start ringing and then we'll have something.


bob


.

[quote="bobheckler"]

dboss wrote:http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/07/20/may-not-look-like-but-celtics-construction-plan-schedule/V7AI890AxG3A2cXh7zLHsJ/story.html#

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2015/07/bulpett_some_not_sold_on_terry_rozier_rj_hunter

dboss

dboss,

I have reached my limit of Boston Globe articles, due to my scanning the internet for articles to post here every day, and cannot read it.

Could I ask someone to cut-and-paste the article here for me?

Thanks.

As far as the Herald article goes, I am not as down on Rozier and Hunter as those anonymous league sources seem to be.  Rozier might not be a pure point guard but who cares?  Purebreds have value when you're talking about dogs and horses but beyond that?  What's Dirk's position?  It didn't exist before he came into the league.  I didn't think Hunter's defense was bad at all.  In fact, I saw him working a helluva lot harder, and more effectively, than James Young.

Jordan Mickey, is a player I was thinking about starting a thread on, just for him.

Danny was able to get KG in 2007 because of two reasons:  he had already pulled off the heist for Ray Allen, which thawed out KG's opposition to Boston and because we had (and had developed) Big Al Jefferson.  I have already said "no Ray Allen, no KG".  What is also true is "no Big Al, no KG" because Paul Taylor wouldn't have gone for the trade no matter what KG was willing to accept.  My thoughts, admittedly ridiculously premature but nevertheless coming on strong, is that Jordan Mickey could be our next Big Al.  He needs to solidify his mid-range shooting, but he already has some shooting touch from 18-19', so it's just a case of practice, practice, practice.  He might also have to put on a few more pounds on his 238# body but he's not anorexic to begin with and his defensive talents, instincts and timing are already quite impressive.  

Next year is Amir Johnson's and David Lee's year.  We're paying too much money, $27M just for the two of them, to not play them (especially if there's any consideration of trading them by the deadline to a playoff team that is looking to fill out some depth at their positions.  You have to play them so the teams can see them and not wonder why they're not playing.  That is one of the problems Danny will have with moving James Young.  GMs will want to know why he's not earning minutes).  Jordan Mickey will be getting reps, both here and perhaps in Portland, and then the sky's the limit for him in 2016-2017.  He's on a 4 year $5M deal, with the last two years being team options.  That is the most lucrative NBA contract ever signed by a 2nd rounder and, I believe, will turn out to be dirt cheap.  Some people (I don't want to mention any names...Cowens...) have been bemoaning Danny not taking DeAndre Jordan and/or Rudy Gobert.  I predict there will be a lot of people who will be upset they didn't take Jordan Mickey.  A lot.  He might not be the game-changer those first two are (in Jordan's case he might change the game in a negative way because of Hack-a-Jordan) but he'll still be an eye-popper on defense.

And once the eyes start popping, the phone will start ringing and then we'll have something.


bob




Danny Ainge has the Celtics where they should be entering the third season after the dissolution of the New Big Three.

By Christopher L. Gasper Globe Columnist July 21, 2015



It hasn’t been a Summer of (Kevin) Love or much else for the Celtics.

The best-laid plans for a transformational offseason have failed to come to fruition. The team was rebuffed when it tried to parlay its raft of draft picks into a move up in the NBA Draft. Its most high profile free agent addition is big man Amir Johnson. Its most marketable young player, Marcus Smart, suffered a cringe-inducing injury, dislocating two fingers, during NBA Summer League action.





A team whose mascot is named Lucky should expect better fortune. Maybe the Celtics used up all their luck making the playoffs, or maybe it’s not that the Celtics’ summer has fallen short, just the patience of the Parishioners of the Parquet.

There is nothing wrong with the Celtics’ current course. President of basketball operations Danny Ainge has the Celtics right where they should be entering the third season following the final dissolution of the New Big Three via shipping Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets for all those draft picks.

When Ainge finally hit the demolition button on the New Big Three-centric Celtics there was an unspoken agreement between the team and its fans that it was going to take five or six seasons to restore the luster to the NBA’s most storied franchise. The Celtics were starting over. Patience wasn’t a virtue, but a necessity.

The indefatigable Ainge will pursue every option and entertain any idea to hit fast-forward on that timeline. But short of getting three No. 1 picks in four years and the guilt-laden best player on the planet landing back in your lap like the Cleveland Cavaliers it’s hard to shortcut the circle of life in the NBA. And recycling the summer of 2007 plan that brought together Pierce, Garnett, and Ray Allen is not an option.

Celtics fans, your team will be contenders before Widett Circle undergoes a metamorphosis to Midtown Boston and the Parade of Nations comes marching into the nouveau neighborhood’s disposable Olympic Stadium. But some patience is required.

In fairness to Green Teamers, a few developments raised their hopes of raising a banner — owner Wyc Grousbeck hinting at fireworks in 2014, Love’s open flirtation with the city last summer, and coach Brad Stevens’s magic act getting the Celtics into the playoffs.

Plus, a generation of fans here in the Hub of Hardware are hard-wired to expect perennial championship contention for all of their teams. Rebuilding is for other, lesser sports locales. What qualifies as patience here is waiting on a street corner to see your favorite player when the championship parade rolls by.

Some diehard Celtics fans — and members of ownership — will point out that the Celtics made the franchise-altering trade for Garnett on July 31, 2007. This is true, but no player of KG’s status is likely to land in green between now and opening night.

The pre-New Big Three Celtics already had a perennial All-Star and franchise cornerstone in Pierce. They had swung a draft deal for Allen. They weren’t sifting through their roster like a miner panning for gold, praying for something of value to slip out of the soil.

(With the signing of second-round pick and Summer League sensation Jordan Mickey on Monday the Celtics have 16 players on their roster, one more than the league limit.)

The primary reason the Garnett trade came later in the summer was the fiercely loyal Garnett’s hesitation about leaving Minnesota and his trepidation about playing in Boston.

These Celtics have to bide their time and hope to get a franchise player using their hope chest of draft picks and roster redundancy or see him sprout from their roster.

Warning: Don’t put any stock into Summer League performances when assessing the Celtics’ championship outlook.

Yes, Smart resembled a mini-Magic Johnson, averaging a league-high 24 points and 7.5 assists in the Utah Summer League. But he shot only 26.5 percent in three games in the Las Vegas Summer League.

It’s more telling if Smart doesn’t dominate Summer League, which in terms of level of play is somewhere between NBA garbage time on loop and an NBA Developmental League All-Star game.

You’re not going to learn whether Smart is a franchise point guard, whether first-round pick Terry Rozier was a reach or Rondo 2.0, whether fellow 2015 first-rounder R.J. Hunter can get his shots at the NBA level or whether Mickey is a steal in Summer League action.

Sorry.

There is a yawning reality gap between the Vegas Summer League, where Seth Curry, he of four NBA games and one career field goal, averages 24.3 points per game, and the NBA, where his older brother, Steph Curry, is the MVP.

There is an NBA maxim, “It’s only Summer League.” It exists because Summer League is an infamous hoops mirage. Just Google the name Marco Belinelli, who was a 2007 Summer League second coming.

Belinelli has enjoyed a solid role-player career, winning a title with the San Antonio Spurs. But he signed with his sixth team, the Sacramento Kings, this summer.

That’s not to say there isn’t anything with the Celtics to be excited about this summer.

Flipping the expiring contract of spare part Gerald Wallace to the Golden State Warriors for David Lee was a shrewd move. A two-time All-Star, Lee is the type of rebounder the Celtics crave. With only a year left on his contract, Lee is a low-risk, high-reward addition for the Celtics, assuming he emerges from their front-court glut.

But the Celtics are still very much under construction, and it’s going to take more than a couple of seasons to see Ainge’s blueprint get the Green back to redecorating the Garden rafters.

This is a city used to seeing its construction projects take longer than expected and the planning process turn anfractuous.

The Celtics are actually on schedule, even if it doesn’t feel that way.

Bobh,
Thanks for the links.
Both articles are, for the most part, what your friend LL mentioned in his Summer Quandaries spoiler - summer quandaries.

I'm not sure I understand/agree with S. Bulpett saying that RJ Huner was "deer-in-the-headlights" and is destined to play in Main. As I recall there were quite a few voices here and other forums (I don't remember if SB was one of them) that proclaimed that Hunter is NBA-ready player (which I agree with).

The theme of RA-KG trade is getting close to the proverbial dead horse beat to pulp. Every journalist considers it to be a must to be included in the article about Celtics. Danny should've put some copyright on it to get some royalties - he'd be a billionaire by now.

AK

sinus007 wrote:Bobh,
Thanks for the links.
Both articles are, for the most part, what your friend LL mentioned in his Summer Quandaries spoiler - summer quandaries.

I'm not sure I understand/agree with S. Bulpett saying that RJ Huner was "deer-in-the-headlights" and is destined to play in Main. As I recall there were quite a few voices here and other forums (I don't remember if SB was one of them) that proclaimed that Hunter is NBA-ready player (which I agree with).

The theme of RA-KG trade is getting close to the proverbial dead horse beat to pulp. Every journalist considers it to be a must to be included in the article about Celtics. Danny should've put some copyright on it to get some royalties - he'd be a billionaire by now.

AK

sinus,

The links are courtesy of dboss.


bob


.

Bobh,
sorry, my bad. But thanks anyway.

Dboss, thanks for the links.


AK

Shades of Barney Fife getting the shot off before the pistol clears the holster.  There are a lot of games to be played, a lot of patience to be had, and a lot of player transactions to be made before registration of definitive perspectives makes sense.

Just watch the press in the next month or two—especially if Danny doesn't make another trade in the interim.  We'll see 3,000 stories saying basically the same things as these.  It's already tiresome, and my own perspective is that—as far as Celtics news—I'm on life support, with only Lee Lauderdale standing between me and extinction.

Sam

This is for all the Chicken Littles and Doom-and-Gloomers...

Thanks to Redsarmy.com for the inspiration.





btw, that is Kevin Bacon in, I believe, his first movie role.


bob



.

What an outstanding movie! The cafeteria scene is a classic, first with Belushi going through the line and gobbling everything in sight and then the three little words that will forever be immortal; "I'm a zit!"

If there really is a heaven, it would be fitting for John and Robin Williams to do two-a-nighters at a string of clubs.

Sam