Summer Quandaries 27: Camp - My Favorite Match Up

http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2015/08/sq27-campmy-favorite-match-up.html



SQ27 Camp—My Favorite Match Up

By Lee Lauderdale








I've been stumped for two days since every train of thought eventually turns to camp, and every camp thread veers off into a dozen different directions. So I've decided to take the one that has recurred most often and been the most vivid. Last year I thought the most violent and competitive battles would be Smart vs. Bradley and Sullinger vs. Bass. The first seemed a candidate for death match in the octagon; and the other more like a battle of the leviathans. They were both great examples of why I would gladly sacrifice tickets to the December games for a pass to all the October workouts; sometimes the magic in the kitchen is even more satisfying than the final product on the table. This year, I think no conflict will be more intense than Smart battling Smart2 (i.e. Terry Rozier)!

While I think you can make a pretty good case for any of the three rookies breaking out, and by that I mean playing his way into minutes on the parquet and forcing an adjustment in game rotations, none have the potential to radically alter multiple positions more than the progress of Rozier. He should be too green, certainly to carve out minutes at the most difficult college-to-pros transition at point guard. Terry though, like Smart, may be a guard that defies categorization. Usually we think of these tweener's as working at a disadvantage, but Terry, like Marcus, brings such strength and defensive aggressiveness to the back court that he may force his way onto the court not in spite of, but because of, his flexibility.

Another factor in his, and Smart's, favor is the improving level of passing across the roster. IMHO the worst passers on the team are Young and Bradley, with Perry Jones coming in at “who knows?” Sadly, after them, I would list Turner and Thomas, not so much for lack of skills but rather for lack of awareness and inclination. They may be the leading assist men on the team, but far too many of those assists came from desperation rather than calculation. As for Smart and Rozier, neither has yet shown a natural propensity for playing point guard, and there is some parallel with Avery Bradley who came into the league with a touted defense, an offense that was a work in progress, and little concept of what is required to be a point guard. I don't think Marcus and Terry will be as poor as Avery in their adaptation to NBA point guard, but both have a long way to go. Interestingly, if Rozier pushes his way into the lineup, playing with Smart where both are interchangeable guards, the tornado of defense might generate a fair bit of offense. Other than that, the pairing will be depending heavily upon the ball/player movement, pick and roll, and passing bigs to grease the offense into production.

Their camp battle should be a riveting spectacle. At times it may be difficult to believe that neither is armed, or that basketball is not supposed to be a collision sport. In both cases the defensive prowess far exceeds their handle so quite a few possessions may not progress past mid court. Interestingly, when they play together, each may offer relief as either may bring the ball down court so the ball handler match up can be against the lesser of back court defenders. If this Rozier emergence comes to pass, it is very likely that opposing back courts may find nagging injuries growing prohibitively debilitating when the prospect is facing the Celtics (think of the great hitters in baseball that took a day of rest when a knuckle-baller was slated to start against them the next game).

Only 40 days to camp.



bob
MY NOTE: I think there are lots of interesting match ups coming up in camp. Smart vs Rozier, Hunter vs Young vs Jones (Young is in the middle because he's the tweener between 2 and 3), Lee vs Sully. The Smart/Rozier one Lee Lauderdale (as opposed to David Lee) is talking about is a weird one because Smart is just so much bigger physically but has trouble staying in front of speed. Rozier, I'll bet, does not. I can't talk about Rozier's offense, we'll see, but if he can shoot the battle may not be between Smart and Rozier but between Bradley and Rozier. Probably the only players not competing for time, or even just a spot on the team, are Zeller, Kelly, Amir, Crowder and Thomas. Those players all pretty much have their roles set and, barring trades, will get their minutes. Zelly (or Keller, if you prefer) are our only centers, Amir is the long PF (Mickey is going to have to really, really show something to replace many of Amir's minutes), Crowder is our Swiss Army Knife wing and Thomas is our only real play creator.

Only 40 more days to camp. Another good reason why making the playoffs is a good thing, they shorten the summer.


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