Enes Kanter Freedom to Boston

lovegtm

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His form in the video he posted on Twitter looked quite compact and repeatable. That, combined with his FT% and career 37%ish from deep 2 make make me pretty optimistic he can extend his range.

Celtics are pretty obviously trying to do Brook Lopez v2, I just don’t believe his defense will be playable. I guess if you’re an optimist, you can make the case that Philly is a great matchup for him specifically, and Milwaukee/Indy could be worse.
 

Big John

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How much worse is Kanter's defense than, say, Al Jefferson's? Lateral mobility was never Al's strong suit.
 

lovegtm

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How much worse is Kanter's defense than, say, Al Jefferson's? Lateral mobility was never Al's strong suit.
Right, that’s the point. You generally don’t want your center’s defensive comp to be Al Jefferson.
 

HomeRunBaker

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The one Kemba’s teammates have struggled to deliver.
Name a single player who performed better with Kemba as his PG then they did elsewhere? You can go back to UConn where Jeremy Lamb criminally got off 9 FGA/g. Are you implying that Kemba is a passable distributor?

I like Kemba, he is what he is. He’s a shoot-first/shoot-second PG. I expect Brad to utilize him off the ball a ton with the offense running through Hayward so he can score without the offensive set becoming stagnant as it was in Charlotte (and in fairness probably should have been with that cast of characters).
 

pjheff

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Are you implying that Kemba is a passable distributor?
No, I’m questioning why he would distribute when he’s surrounded by Nic Batum, Marvin Williams, and Cody Zeller. I expect he’ll have an uptick in assists when playing for Stevens and with a more talented cast.
 
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Eddie Jurak

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Shoot first PGs are nothing new in recent Boston history.
  • Kyrie Irving: career 6.0 assists/36 minutes (6.7 with Boston), 30.7% AST% (33.0% with Boston)
  • IT: career 6.2 assists/36 minutes (6.7 with Boston), 29.4% AST% (32.8% with Boston)
  • Kemba: 5.8 assists/36 minutes, 28.7% AST%
 

JohnnyTheBone

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Nice stats, EJ. I envision Kemba as having the best traits of both Kyrie and IT, with better karma than the former, and more height than the latter. The ceiling for the C's is higher with Kemba than with either of them. Looking forward to the season.
 

Devizier

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Shoot first PGs are nothing new in recent Boston history.
  • Kyrie Irving: career 6.0 assists/36 minutes (6.7 with Boston), 30.7% AST% (33.0% with Boston)
  • IT: career 6.2 assists/36 minutes (6.7 with Boston), 29.4% AST% (32.8% with Boston)
  • Kemba: 5.8 assists/36 minutes, 28.7% AST%
These numbers don't really tell you much about their "shoot first" qualities, though. USG% and FGA paint that picture.

To give you an idea, Allen Iverson and Doc Rivers have pretty similar career AST%.
 

Eddie Jurak

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These numbers don't really tell you much about their "shoot first" qualities, though. USG% and FGA paint that picture.

To give you an idea, Allen Iverson and Doc Rivers have pretty similar career AST%.
I just assumed they were all high usage guys. But since you mention it:
  • IT: Career 27.4% USG% (31.8% with Boston)
  • Kyrie: Career 29.2% USG% (30.3% with Boston)
  • Kemba: Career 27.3% USG%, but last year it was 31.5%
Turnovers:
  • IT: Career 12.8% TOV% (11.5% with Boston)
  • Kyrie: Career 12.0% TOV% (10.9% with Boston)
  • Kemba: Career 10.5% USG%, but last year it was 10.1%
 

PedrosRedGlove

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Name a single player who performed better with Kemba as his PG then they did elsewhere? You can go back to UConn where Jeremy Lamb criminally got off 9 FGA/g. Are you implying that Kemba is a passable distributor?

I like Kemba, he is what he is. He’s a shoot-first/shoot-second PG. I expect Brad to utilize him off the ball a ton with the offense running through Hayward so he can score without the offensive set becoming stagnant as it was in Charlotte (and in fairness probably should have been with that cast of characters).
It's really weird that you use Jeremy Lamb as your example of players that didn't get enough usage playing with Kemba, especially considering the only year they played together was Lamb's freshman year, the same one in which Kemba dragged the UConn team on an historic NCAA title run.

Freshman Lamb got 13.1 FGA/40m, sophomore Lamb, out from Kemba's shadow, got 14.3. Fast forward a few years and Lamb finally eclipses 20 mpg for the first time in his 6th NBA season and starts 55 games in his 7th, averaging over 15 ppg playing alongside....Kemba Walker.
 

HomeRunBaker

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No, I’m questioning why he would distribute when he’s surrounded by Nic Batum, Marvin Williams, and Cody Zeller. I expect he’ll have an uptick in assists when playing for Stevens and with a more talented cast.
He froze Lamb out of the offense at UConn which was ok because he could score at will. I actually expect his assist numbers to go down since he will play so much more off the ball with Hayward as the initiator in the role he had in Utah.

I’m not knocking Kemba’s game.....but it simply doesn’t involve being a distributor. It never has been as he’s always been a questionable decision maker with the ball. His explosion and scoring ability has been able to mask these flaws especially playing essentially in obscurity where nobody really cares about NBA basketball but he’s in the spotlight now.

The expectations I keep reading here are frightening. Last year was a career year in a contract season but those expecting Kyrie without the baggage I think may be disappointed once his usage comes down a notch here.
 

PedrosRedGlove

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He didn't though. Lamb shot at almost the exact same rate the year after Kemba left. The difference in his increased field goal attempts is almost entirely connected to an increased in playing time from 27 mpg to 37 mpg, so unless Kemba was controlling the substitutions...

No one is saying he is Russell Westbrook, but I don't know how you're frightened by expectations that he will be a close approximation of Kyrie. Kemba's year last year was a career year, as was Kyrie's. He isn't a clone of Kyrie, but I'm wondering what actually makes them so different to you, because they've put up very similar production numbers over the course of their entire careers.
 

lovegtm

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He didn't though. Lamb shot at almost the exact same rate the year after Kemba left. The difference in his increased field goal attempts is almost entirely connected to an increased in playing time from 27 mpg to 37 mpg, so unless Kemba was controlling the substitutions...

No one is saying he is Russell Westbrook, but I don't know how you're frightened by expectations that he will be a close approximation of Kyrie. Kemba's year last year was a career year, as was Kyrie's. He isn't a clone of Kyrie, but I'm wondering what actually makes them so different to you, because they've put up very similar production numbers over the course of their entire careers.
Always remember: a player on an opposing team is an underutilized gem waiting to blossom in the right environment, while a player on the Celtics is an overrated fraud putting up numbers in a contract year.

In Kemba's case it's even funnier, because he elevated a sorry group to #11 overall in offensive rating, one spot behind the Celtics. He pretty clearly had a large positive effect on the performance of his teammates last year.
 

Eddie Jurak

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I actually expect his assist numbers to go down since he will play so much more off the ball with Hayward as the initiator in the role he had in Utah.
Disagree. I think he'll follow the same trajectory asfeelow score forst PGs IT and Kyrie before him. Slight uptick in assist rate and number. Slught uptick in usage relative to his career, but not raletive to last season where he was the only guy. You can argue that he'll be the first one to really have the benefit of Hayward, but for the past 3 years the Celtics ran significant offense through Horford, which will change.
 

DJnVa

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https://theathletic.com/1082759/2019/07/17/celtics-can-thank-old-friend-evan-turner-for-helping-to-recruit-enes-kanter/?source=dailyemail
Kanter needed to speak to someone who had played for the team before. Ainge suggested reaching out to Turner, the former Celtics guard who signed with Portland in the summer of 2016 (and was traded to Atlanta this summer).

If Kanter had any doubts about Boston after the team’s rocky season, Turner eased them. He told Kanter Celtics fans love players unconditionally as long as they play hard. He stressed to Kanter the Celtics organization is “amazing” from top to bottom and would treat him with respect.
 

ggreene

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More Erdogan BS
I have no idea what Enes is really like but he seems cheerful and positive and I find that amazing given his circumstances. I wish him the very best and will be rooting extra hard for him to do well.
 

Big John

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Yeah, he said the mosque was getting death threats etc.
In May, 2017 some of Ergodan's goons started beating up protesters outside the Turkish Embassy in Washington. It would have been worse except the D.C. police intervened to protect the protesters. This was right after Trump lavished praise on Ergodan at a White House meeting.
 

ifmanis5

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Interview w/Enes: https://hoopshype.com/2019/07/28/enes-kanter-qa-im-trying-to-be-the-voice-for-all-of-those-innocent-people-who-dont-have-one/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5d3e1b01595b5a0001

Brad wants him to shoot 3's...
Now, the league has changed a lot. There’s not much back-to-the-basket play anymore – that left – and that’s my game. Of course, with the league changing, everybody has to be able to make three-point shots now. That’s why my focus this summer is my three-point shooting. When I talked to Brad Stevens, he told me he wanted me to shoot threes. In the press conference, I was sitting next to Danny Ainge and he told me, “You know, that three-point line isn’t for decoration.” I was like, “Got it! Okay!”
 

lovegtm

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The 3 emphasis makes sense. There are a lot of reasons to think he can extend his range to there, but for whatever reason the Knicks and the Blazers didn’t have him doing it. A big part of getting big guys to move out is giving them the confidence that they have the green light, after a lifetime of coaches getting mad if/when they launch from deep.
 

ggreene

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I don't mind EK adding longer range as an option but I hope it doesn't become his ONLY option. I kind of like the idea of the C's having some kind of low post game.
 

oumbi

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Would you please explain why you think CBS would game plan for Kanter to only shoot three pointers? Even with Al, there were many opportunities for him to drive to the basket. I expect CBS to be aware of your point.
 

TripleOT

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When was the last time the Celtics had a good offensive rebounder in their rotation? Kanter was second in the league in offensive rebound percentage, 16.4% only 4/10s behind Andre Drummond. Kanter was sixth in total rebound percentage, 21.1%.

Hopefully, Celtics coaching and scheme can shore up his well noted defensive deficiencies and keep him on the floor.