Hoopshype Preview: Boston Celtics

http://hoopshype.com/2015/09/16/preview-boston-celtics/



Preview: Boston Celtics
September 16, 2015- by Jorge Sierra







STAYING: Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Jonas Jerebko, Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart, Jared Sullinger, Isaiah Thomas, Evan Turner, James Young and Tyler Zeller.

ADDED: RJ Hunter (Georgia State), Amir Johnson (Toronto), Perry Jones (Oklahoma City), David Lee (Golden State), Jordan Mickey (Louisiana State) and Terry Rozier (Louisville).

GONE: Chris Babb (Golden State), Brandon Bass (LA Lakers), Gigi Datome (Fenerbahce Ulker), Phil Pressey (Portland) and Gerald Wallace (Golden State).

STRENGTHS: Pretty good depth … Celtics should have a long rotation with bench players that are not significantly worse than the starters … They will be a tough, physical squad with players like Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley, Amir Johnson or Marcus Smart roaming the court … Perimeter defense should be pretty strong … Isaiah Thomas was a fantastic fit in Boston late last season … If he can sustain that performance, that would be terrific news for Boston … One of the most underrated players in the NBA … They have added offensive talent with the acquisition of David Lee … Well-coached team that plays with effort and unselfishness … Many players will be gunning for new contracts, so motivation should not be a problem.

WEAKNESSES: No stars … Starting five is not that scary … In terms of offensive firepower, they are pretty average … Outside shooting is an issue … Boston had the fourth-worst shooting percentage from beyond the arc last season … Don’t expect major progress there … Not much intimidation down low … Opponents shot very good percentages around the rim vs. the Celtics in 2014-15 … They are still too young … The Celtics have 11 players born in the 90’s … Talent-wise they are not in a position to compete with the best in the East at this point.

PREDICTION: 3rd in the Atlantic Division / 10th in the Eastern Conference.



bob
MY NOTE:  So, at 10th in the EC, he doesn't see us making the playoffs?  There's some bulletin board material for you, Brad.

Shooting from beyond the arc should be better this year with another year of Smart learning the NBA 3pt line, IT and Hunter.  Maybe Bradley has extended his range as well.  We have a bunch of very good mid-range shooters, which I know has fallen out of fashion, with Lee, Zeller, Sully, Bradley and Turner.  The replacement of Wallace with Lee is definitely an upgrade in shooting.  Lee is also an excellent passing big man, which will make Brad very happy since that fits perfectly into his system of ball movement.  Yes, we are too young, Danny and Brad have said as much, but Trader Danny never sleeps.  On the other hand, our youth has some experience:  Bradley is only 24 but has been in the league 5 years going on 6, Sullinger is only 23 and is entering his 4th year in the league, Kelly is only 24 and going into his 3rd year in the league, Zeller is 24 and is going into his 4th year.  In other words, they're young but are at that cusp where bigs take that step up (or don't).

This writer also gives no credit for continuity.  There are 10 players returning from last season:  Turner, Bradley, Smart, Thomas, Jerebko, Crowder, Zeller, Sully, Kelly and Zeller.  That's 10 of the top 12 players (Amir and Lee) with experience in Brad's system, knowing what he wants and how he wants it.  Last year we all oohhed and aahhhed over how well Brad was able to produce considering Danny was churning his roster like buttah and then finish 24-12 after the trading deadline passed.  Well, Brad is starting off with almost all the players he ended with.  Only Bass is gone, of the players that got a lot of minutes last year.  This year is going to be interesting because now we'll really see how much bite Brad's system has and how good our players are and can be under Brad.  We're not going to be surprising people this year. This year our players have to show improvement and execute, execute, execute.

Is our starting 5 scary?  No.  Is our bench scary?  If you are an opposing coach you should be scared.  Our bench, last season, was better than our starters and the addition of Amir and Lee should make the starters and the bench even better by either starting those two and pushing a starter from last year down onto the bench or having one of them start and the other improve the bench.  So, you can either wear your starters down playing them long minutes or you can play them regular minutes and then have your bench get blitzed by our superior bench.

Green goggles?  Sure, I've been accused of wearing them, but I don't see how we're worse than last year.  Which team, that was behind us last year, improved SO much they're going to catch us even as we're improving too?


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