For better or worse, I always try and call it like I see it. On draft night I was fine with the Nesmith pick as he was pretty much the entire Vanderbilt offense last year before it being cut short a month by injury. The team was disjointed and the offense fell apart for several weeks once he left the lineup. Granted, I didn’t watch a ton of Commodore basketball last year but from what I saw, and the teams response after he went down, I felt this was a fine pick.
I'm not saying he's ready to be an NBA rotational player either. I'm certainly not calling for him to get 25+ minutes a night. But to the bolded, everything you are criticizing him for on offense is also true of Semi and Grant. Neither of those guys can create their own shot, their handles are worse than Nesmith's IMO, and we know they can't create off the dribble. I am not normally a guy that believes in playing the kids. I'm the guy that argues for bringing them along slowly. I have a problem though when we're playing .500 ball, losing regularly to the dregs of the league and our #14 pick in the draft is being benched behind guys that literally do nothing better than he does, and maybe, they are even worse than he is.
Ditto.
The problem I see with promoting Nesmith over Semi/Grant is that one is a backcourt/wing defender while the other two are more versatile and are primarily playing the 4 and sometimes defending bigs in the paint. Nesmiths minutes seem to have gone to Teague initially and now that Smart has returned it would take backcourt injuries for him to get another opportunity as he isn’t fighting for the Semi/Grant minutes.
I thought with the emergence of TimeLord, and Theis and TT playing pretty well, we'd start seeing less of Grant and Semi for the exact same reason, but it hasn't been the case so far. I know Brad said last week that he wants to sit one of them during each game while they go through this crazy stretch, so I can see the argument for playing one or the other when an opposing team is actually throwing 2 bigs on the floor.
It's almost like they are a mid tier team themselves. The C's really aren't in that great of a position going forward either. We have Tatum and Brown. Maybe TL. We can hope and pray on Romeo and Aaron.
We've seen GW and Semi the last two games because TT has been out.
The Cs are 0fer UT, LAL, PHI, and BRK, so I wouldn't be surprised if they were 0fer the "5 best teams," depending on who one includes as the 5th best team.
Are we talking about the same Cs team that has made the ECF in 3 out of the last 4 years?
You think Atlanta and Charlotte would? Dallas?
If Aaron Nesmith is worse at guarding laterally at the 3 point line than Grant Williams, he's completely, 100% useless to any NBA team. We've now determined in this thread that he can't guard guard down low, he can't guard the perimeter, he can't create, he can't dribble and he lacks confidence. The guy shouldn't even be playing in Europe if that's true, never mind going #14 overall in the draft last year.
That's not true in today's NBA. There's room for guys like Duncan Robinson, Seth Curry, Shake Milton, Joe Ingles, Harris, etc. etc. etc. - guys who can really shoot but really can't guard one on one. It takes time for them to be able to play in NBA games.
Yeah, I am calling BS on Nesmith not moving laterally as well as Grant Williams. I’ll give you Semi (even though I think that’s a toss up too) but no fucking way on Grant. In fact, I think every player you mentioned is way better at moving laterally than Grant. Maybe if he was in shape it’s an argument but not this current version
I'm probably not going to convince you but we've talked about it in threads before - Semi has great feet for a guy who is 240; Grant was drafted because people thought he could stay in front of guards (and he did so in the bubble); and if you watch AN, he doesn't shuffle his feet. He literally turns his hips and starts running after people. Watch him the next time he plays. He's gotten a little better about it since the first games but moving laterally is not his forte.
If Nesmith struggles to that degree when trying to move laterally, then perhaps the C's shouldn't have used the No. 14 pick on him.
This is spot on. AN has beautiful shooting mechanics and good athletic ability. Hopefully, his ship rights itself once he finds confidence.
Like I said, Duncan Robinson really can't guard anyone (on a NBA level) and he's a pretty valuable piece on a Finals squad. AN will be okay. He's not going to be a defensive stopper but there are things he can do (see chasedown blocks) and once he learns the NBA, he will be fine IMO. With one caveat - as long as he's shooting 40% from 3P on volume.
It's too early to tell but that may end up being the case.
I think you actually did just agree with me....Semi’s problem isn’t lateral quickness it’s that he refuses to leave his feet and challenge anyone. I buy that he’s better at shuffling his feet than AN.
Thanks for posting. For peeps who can't read this article, here's the CsBlog version: https://www.celticsblog.com/2021/3/19/22340358/marcus-smart-on-the-up-and-down-boston-celtics-season-were-not-having-fun
In theory, that makes sense, but the C's are losing to the bad teams on the schedule, not only the good ones.
Barnes on paper is a good fit. In practice he would not be imo. I think he and Boston would be a terrible combination in terms of expectations versus capability. He is a useful player but he alone would probably not make a meaningful difference in the team's current ceiling.
The Celtics are 13th in the league in Opp 3-pt Pct. It isn’t like we are the Cavaliers defending the perimeter.
Didn't see this post last night. I agree with your post, in it's entirety (partially because you are saying 6-10, versus 3-10). My quibble is the area of growth. Any individual skill growth in these two that doesn't involve one of them crossing the line into legit MVP candidate isn't enough to get the team over the hump by itself. These two need to learn to make their teammates better, and play a game that maximizes whatever fungible 6-10 teammates that are present. They improve their handles, their step back, their crossover, their finish by what percent? 3? 5? 10? Conversely there is room for massive improvements in their team play, their team game - and that could be a difference maker in getting them over the line. And those growing pains could be occurring simultaneously with them working on their skill games. And if not simultaneously, then I'd say work the team game skills when with the team, and individual skills can be worked in the offseason with their personal trainers, they are acknowledged gym rats.
Couple Things
All true, and yet Stevens draws a play up on a white board to run after a time out. I understand the level of knowledge you have (many of you have), but telling me that things can't be improved mid-season is BS. Somewhere between my hyperbole of it's not that hard, and you all answering that it's impossible is the real answer of "we can do some things". That's what I want, to see some "motion" things.
I'll reach into my bag of excuses here on the defense:
Snipped some here, but your point 2 is fucking hilarious. Also true.
Regarding point 3, he was responding to my point that the MORNING of one of the superbowls they added a play in the hotel ballroom or wherever they were. Ran the play in the superbowl successfully. One of the Pats players is mic'ed up, and asks another player "Where did we get that play? I've never seen it before." Answered casually: "we put it in this morning."
Yeah they can work in a play that nobody has seen before, and it might work. But as we've seen in football, a team will see that and adjust. Then that play doesn't work anymore. It's good for one instance, and that one instance may be the biggest play of the day and change the outcome of the game. There's a lot of misdirection and surprise in football.
I'm not asking for gadget plays... no one is. I'm saying the idea that NOTHING can be done midseason is incorrect.
Agree with all of this, I'll just add one thing about the Jays ISO/get mine offense. It's perfectly fine for the Jays to go ISO. My beef is they need to be decisive, attack the rim, shoot or quickly move the ball with purpose.
Ha! Exactly.
While I agree with all of this, I think that we've seen some negative side effects of those potted plants getting into motion too. The supporting cast simply doesn't have enough of an understanding to make smart cuts most of the time and frequently end up fucking up the spacing when they try to improvise.
While it's not in my nature to ever agree with HRB, he is right. The team is very young/inexperienced or older/declining (Kemba/TT/Teague).
) and creates unnecessary drama. I'm sure we're only a few days away from CHB weighing in with an optimistic take.
But a motion offence is not a new play. It is new rules, philosophy, and many motion people say it can end up with the shot distribution evening out. As we are all aware the Celtics are not deep in offensive talent. There is a pretty good chance you are right, as difficult as the change would be, it is not like they are changing Ted Williams swing, a change is needed.
