Well they've got Brisset, Stevens and even Walsh for that wing defender, so I think that's not a priority. There's bodies at the 3rd big and point as well that will be fine for the regular season and probably for limited playoff minutes. The question should be that if one of the top six is out in the playoffs, is there a guy or two who can step up and play 20-25 minutes effectively. That's one of the questions that needs to be answered in the first half of the season.
Right, Stevens can go bang with anyone, and Brisset is decent there too. Can they shoot? Not really, but a version of them who can shoot and play real offense costs way more than the Celtics can afford in matching salary and draft capital.
That article should be required reading for anyone concerned about the bench or Hauser's D.
Interesting to read the comments in that article as it might have foreshadowed Smart's departure (and Grant's too, as Hauser was outperforming Grant defensively). One example:
So we replaced Smart with Holiday and we put Porzingis in the starting lineup and demoted Al to Grant's role this year...
Smart slipped a lot on D, relative to other guards with elite reputations. It was heresy early on, but I think it's pretty easy to see now that we have the eyetest comparison with Jrue.
God I miss Healthy TimeLord. He was just so damn much fun. Him at 15-20' per game with the second unit would've been perfect this year, alas.
Healthy Timelord was the Celtic's best, most impactful defender in 2021-22, regardless of the DPOY Award. After working closely with him for 5 seasons I imagine Boston's doctors/trainers just couldn't figure out a way to keep him together for extended periods of time. I expect PDX will limit TL's minutes and deal him to a contender for draft assets by the trade deadline.
I'm not quite sure how Brad turned
The KP part of the deal is simple: he was going to decline his option and sign on the open market if Washington didn't do a Boston deal.
Where were the other NBA-contending GMs? a 2nd + Jones + filler for a cusp All-Star willing to extend on a discount
KP wanted to go to Boston. It's the usual dynamics with a S&T: guy has a place he wants to go, so he gets there in exchange for some minimal assets.
Healthy Timelord was potentially a generational talent on D, a more athletic Ben Wallace.
Brad sold high again......
It's the value of having a great agent so you don't end up in Portland during a rebuild.
This is a great framing. Grant was one of my binkies and I was sad to see him go but when you put it like this…LFG!
I’m having nightmares of him driving into traffic in the paint aimlessly and having to escape. If he his at least more than 1-17 from 3 he might be playable. Last night was awful. As were all the other nights except the 1 good game. Huge weak link in the chain right now. The dude HAS to hit shots. Without that he’s a big problem.
I don’t think that shooting is his primary role with this team. Pritchard’s role is mostly 2nd unit ball handler and offense initiator. He seems to be doing okay at that upping his assist rate and keeping turnovers relatively low. I like that he consistently pushes pace. Someone here described him as a 2 in the size of a 1. I think that is generally accurate however there is no role for him as a 2 on this team. I do think his shooting will come around.
His minutes didn't go up in the two games DW missed. I think Joe recognizes that he's not going to be good in extended minutes.
I'm not sure about that. His minutes per game were boosted by two blow out games where the starters sat for the 4th quarter. In those games he played more than 25 minutes. Prior to the two blow outs he was getting 11-12 minutes per game. In the two games DW missed he played 19 and 20 minutes.
I’m right with you regarding his driving deep and then stopping his dribble among a bunch of 6’8” plus guys. I figure they’re going to give him about 20 games to figure things out but IMO Svi could fit nicely into Pritchard’s role. Svi is a decent ball handler and PP is typically on the court with 1-2 of White/Jrue/Tatum so him needing to handle the ball is reduced. If PP doesn’t come around, I hope Svi gets a good look.
Pritchard 0-10 3-pt in the three games since Indiana (post motivated by Jaylens 28% on years sans Wizards game).
Think Joe gets a lot of credit for encouraging the guards to crash (and organizing the team so that that doesn't kill them in transition). PP has a nose for the ball, and this lets him use it to the fullest.
Nice thread. Consistent playing time is really helping him figure out how to work his drives better. The difference from the start of the season is night and day.
Weiss must have had the exact reaction I did to a couple of Pritchard’s plays the other night and thought “He is using his strength/body very well this season.”
His playmaking and defense are far better than I'd expected coming into the year. Just behind Jrue and DW in Assist%, excellent Ast/TO ratio. Team has a net rating of +13.4 when he's on the floor. I give the coaching staff props for continuing to help guys like PP and Hauser develop into dependable rotation players.
PHI tried to isolate Harris on PP at least a couple of times and without going back through the game, my recollection is that PP held up at least okay.
He's strong, which goes a very long way as a small guard. You can be a lot longer and skinnier, like Halliburton, and NBA players will just drive through you and dismiss you.
He's playing with FORCE. Every drive has purpose now, and he's not freaking out that he can't get his shot off against length inside. He knows what he wants to do from each spot on the floor.
Looks like that is third in the league among PGs behind Chris Paul and Tyus Jones
Which is interesting, because Tyus Jones was probably coming in to play ahead of Pritchard, had the Brogdon deal not fallen through.
I made a point that Brad seems opposed to tiny PGs and someone cited PP. to me, the strength is a huge difference—-he’s not great but he can hold up in switch or when posted in a way IT (because of size) and Kemba (strength) just couldn’t. It matters—especially when role is 15 min a game vs 35
I don’t really understand this. The one thing that I think we all agreed on coming into this season was that Pritchard is a 40% shooter on reasonably high volume. Yet there was a real debate here whether he is a rotation player in the playoffs. The areas Pritchard is advancing his game on offense is creation and ball security. He’s creating a good amount more assists and has significantly reduced turnovers. Some folks here think he’s really taken a step forward defensively as well, something I’m personally less convinced of but more because I was on the high side of folks here on his defensive ability going into the season than because I’m seeing something different from others this year.
