Didn't see one.
Avery Bradley is looking really good early. The rest of the team is playing as you'd expect.
Avery Bradley is looking really good early. The rest of the team is playing as you'd expect.
I'm not that worried about it. Olynyk and Smart are by far our best bench players.I tougher Brown looked really good from what I saw, but admittedly I was mostly paying attention to him moving around on offense. Bradley wad great last night, and they're fun to watch, but the bench coughing up leads is annoying.
Are you implying that Bradley playing well wasn't expected?Didn't see one.
Avery Bradley is looking really good early. The rest of the team is playing as you'd expect.
I expected him to play well, but he's gone a bit beyond that. And it's not just that he's hitting his shots, he looks really comfortable and in control out there, which is the most encouraging thing for me. Since he's been around for so long, it's easy to forget that he hasn't even turned 26 yet. He's a good case study for developing a really young draft pick. Maybe there's hope for James Young yet...Are you implying that Bradley playing well wasn't expected?
Only reason I ask is that I kept hearing (not necessarily here) how Bradley's rise was a surprise as if he came out of nowhere. The reason he went 19th was due to him being a tweener without a perimeter shot to play the 2 and without the handle to play the 1.
As the topic of "upside" has been discussed and misunderstood forever this was the prototypical "high upside" pick by Ainge. Bradley, similar to someone like Wade Baldwin (one reason I love Baldwin's upside), had all the athletic traits to be an elite player......the freakish length, speed, quickness, first step, explosiveness, he had it all. You can't teach these trait and "if" Bradley developed his improveable skills, primarily perimeter shooting and ball handling in his case, then the sky was the limit. It is also why I'm so high on Jaylen Brown and really liked this pick.
People forget how highly Avery was regarded coming out of high school with some having him the #1 overall recruit even over Wall. Here was one:
http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/class/2009/order/true
Bradley has a few weeks like this every season. Let's not get crazy. He will probably get injured or cold and revert to the player he has always been within a reasonable time frame. Just enjoy the hot periods when they come.I expected him to play well, but he's gone a bit beyond that. And it's not just that he's hitting his shots, he looks really comfortable and in control out there, which is the most encouraging thing for me. Since he's been around for so long, it's easy to forget that he hasn't even turned 26 yet. He's a good case study for developing a really young draft pick. Maybe there's hope for James Young yet...
probably not though.
Don't see that implication in his post at all. I think we're all with you: it's just wonderful to see his hard work paying off. The improvements he's made this year -- especially with regards to his passing -- are really substantial. The deal he is on is incredible value given those improvements. It's been really incremental with him: last year his handle was much more competent, but this year he seems to be comfortable running an offense.Are you implying that Bradley playing well wasn't expected?
Only reason I ask is that I kept hearing (not necessarily here) how Bradley's rise was a surprise as if he came out of nowhere. The reason he went 19th was due to him being a tweener without a perimeter shot to play the 2 and without the handle to play the 1.
As the topic of "upside" has been discussed and misunderstood forever this was the prototypical "high upside" pick by Ainge. Bradley, similar to someone like Wade Baldwin (one reason I love Baldwin's upside), had all the athletic traits to be an elite player......the freakish length, speed, quickness, first step, explosiveness, he had it all. You can't teach these trait and "if" Bradley developed his improveable skills, primarily perimeter shooting and ball handling in his case, then the sky was the limit. It is also why I'm so high on Jaylen Brown and really liked this pick.
People forget how highly Avery was regarded coming out of high school with some having him the #1 overall recruit even over Wall. Here was one:
http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/class/2009/order/true
No, he's a good player. He's just playing better than expected to date. When people discuss trades, usually people always bring up Bradley as the most likely to go. Considering he's still only 25, him improving over last year isn't unfathomable and makes him a borderline all star. Maybe we should be keeping him.Are you implying that Bradley playing well wasn't expected?
I don't understand this. Bradley has improved a great deal and has lifted his floor above the D-only, offensively challenged liability he was entering the league. He won't be reverting back to that. Perhaps this is his ceiling, but he's 26, works on his game and will be a free agent at the age of 28, its not unreasonable to think further improvement is possible......revert to the player he has always been within a reasonable time frame.....
Žižić has also become the league’s top rebounder (9.29 rebounds per game), second scorer (21 points per game) and third shot blocker (1.71 blocks per game) in October.
Classic rookie-style foul trouble.I only watched intermittently (World Series!), but was there an obvious reason that Jaylen had his minutes cut last night? I figured he'd get a lot of run after Crowder went down. Was it Smart? Poor play? Bad fouls?
I love Zizic's footwork and timing......very good mechanics and a great body. His athleticism is deceivingly good too. Next step is developing a face-up jumper or his upside could be a rich mans Pachulia-type. That's not a bad thing but this kid is close to being really really good. It's nice to have a rotational big already in the bag heading into the next couple years.
Yeah, I can see a more athletic Pachulia-type. Do the dirty work, block some shots, rebound and get some easy buckets by the basket. I really like how agile he is for his size. He's got some work to do defensively in the pick and roll, but he can make up for some struggles simply with his athleticism.I love Zizic's footwork and timing......very good mechanics and a great body. His athleticism is deceivingly good too. Next step is developing a face-up jumper or his upside could be a rich mans Pachulia-type. That's not a bad thing but this kid is close to being really really good. It's nice to have a rotational big already in the bag heading into the next couple years.
Good sign that he's shooting 78% from the line on over 8 attempts per game.I love Zizic's footwork and timing......very good mechanics and a great body. His athleticism is deceivingly good too. Next step is developing a face-up jumper or his upside could be a rich mans Pachulia-type. That's not a bad thing but this kid is close to being really really good. It's nice to have a rotational big already in the bag heading into the next couple years.
Particularly since watching Tyler Zeller is not a fun experience.I love Zizic's footwork and timing......very good mechanics and a great body. His athleticism is deceivingly good too. Next step is developing a face-up jumper or his upside could be a rich mans Pachulia-type. That's not a bad thing but this kid is close to being really really good. It's nice to have a rotational big already in the bag heading into the next couple years.
4 fouls in 8 minutes. A couple were questionable, but, welcome to the league, rook.I only watched intermittently (World Series!), but was there an obvious reason that Jaylen had his minutes cut last night? I figured he'd get a lot of run after Crowder went down. Was it Smart? Poor play? Bad fouls?
Probably not much to address until they're closer to being healthy. First 3 games w/o Smart and Olynyk, last night without Olynyk/Horford/Crowder. Jerebko is a concern, but these bench units hopefully shouldn't be getting many minutes after the next two weeks.Crowder left on crutches last night. Hopefully Horford's back soon.
I'm curious how Brad Stevens is going to address the early habit of giving up big leads. Granted it's only the first week of the season, but he can't be happy having to bring his starters back in after going up big in the fourth.
Well you can't really change it after a 20+ win that followed a pair of blowout losses.New starting lineup - Olynyk and Smart in, Zeller and Brown out - seemed to result in a far more competitive 1st quarter vs the Knicks. Granted there were still rebounding issues but that's part of the package with this team
Does Stevens keep it this way for the time being?
That was my thinking as well. Horford is on the roadtrip and will return soon, so the starting lineup will get reshuffled in any caseWell you can't really change it after a 20+ win that followed a pair of blowout losses.
Yep. Spreads the floor, passes well and plays solid positional D.Olynyk is secretly the straw on this team.
Olynyk is secretly the straw on this team.
I love a great bounce pass.And good god this pass from Isaiah to KO:
Another view:
Let's not forget KO went for 19 and 7 (3 of 5 on 3pointers) vs the Knicks just last week. Admittedly he sucked against the Warriors (and he had a lot of company in that regard), the matchups weren't favorableThe amount of love that useless hack Kelly Olynyk gets in here will never cease to amaze me.
“At that point the game was turned around, and I guess we gave up — the coaching staff, as well,” Thomas said after the game. “We started subbing. It was bad. Especially — I only played 27 minutes. We gave up.”
This.Holy balls folks. They played the best team in the league while missing two of their three best players. How fucking well do you expect them to do when Amir Johnson and Kelly Olynyk are your starting frontcourt? And because of missing two of their best players they are forced to try and go small with a Smart/Avery/Thomas backcourt against a team that runs small ball better than anyone?
That's because the Detroit game is more important. 'lil Zeke.IT called out Brad after the game. Says he threw in the towel too quickly
Yeah, I'm sure Stevens figured to cut losses and rest up for a game he could actually win 24 hours later. It's unusual to see a coach called out publicly though, much less Brad who is pretty highly regarded.That's because the Detroit game is more important. 'lil Zeke.
This is pretty much the point I've been making for awhile now. Brad has utilized Kelly off the bench in favorable matchups much like how Doc used Big Baby and Leon Powe which is why none of these players saw major minutes when they were in Boston. These players performance in limited minutes isn't exposed due to their usage and we saw how Baby was exposed when he was forced to play big minutes when injuries happened both here and in LA. This is why Kelly always will be a limited minute bench player.Let's not forget KO went for 19 and 7 (3 of 5 on 3pointers) vs the Knicks just last week. Admittedly he sucked against the Warriors (and he had a lot of company in that regard), the matchups weren't favorable
He's a useful role player which means Stevens has to find the right situations in order for him to succeed.Difficult to do with Horford and Crowder out and you're playing the most talented team in the league