Queta probably can get away with it by learning drop coverage and avoiding the perimeter. and NEVER playing against 5-wide.
Agreed. We've been posting this for a bit now but I think the Celtics have two "needs" (neither of them are very big and one of them is more of an ideal scenario). This is kind of tangential to Queta because, in a perfect world, he could be the answer to the paragraph below.
Good point about wear-n-tear with Beef Centers
I'd imagine that Brad will be in the market for upgrades at these positions if not for a full-fledged need....so there isn't any worry at this point in time. We have plenty of NBA depth sitting on that bench to plug in regular season minutes. Every contender is looking to add pieces at the deadline and things would have to go absolute best case scenario to not do so.
Portugal pretty regularly scores as one of the most proficient English as a second language countries (usually in the 7th to 9th range) with particularly high proficiencies in Porto, Lisbon and Algarve. I would also guess that the academy he played at taught kids English, since it is often a common language for pro basketball players.
SAC signed McGee and then waived Noel and Queta.
As I'm reading your post I was thinking of your final sentence the entire time. There isn't much need to worry about the 50 games for a couple reasons....one, if he makes a leap and shows he is an NBA player you can simply convert him but more than likely he'll remain active for those first 50 games up until the trade deadline before Brad adds a veteran big to displace Kornet at the deadline so Queta won't be needed. He's basically regular season insurance at this point.
I chalk up Queta misses to nervousness/energy. BUT he'll probably never be more than a 5th offensive option.
The game moves way too fast for him especially when he's out there against opposing starters who know how to exploit his lack of foot speed/positioning. In college he was very effective on the low block scoring but it was against much smaller defenders and he was a low-post 3-second call waiting to happen on every touch as he patiently backed down into position for short jump hooks, push shots, layups and dunks.....that isn't happening in the NBA but he is slowing the game down better than I thought to make him a serviceable regular season emergency big on a team like the Celtics where he doesn't have to do much outside of his strengths. He just isn't playable against starting units.
Agreed, what we need out of that spot is a great rebounder who's an acceptable defender (preferably switchable to wings), with acceptable tools on offense. We don't need - and couldn't afford anyway - a big with great offensive moves from 10' and in. Poeltl would've been ideal but we couldn't have gotten him. I'd been hoping a bit on Zach Collins since he was on an expiring and non-guaranteed year, but the Spurs decided to back him a few weeks ago in a new 2-year deal. Marvin Bagley is probably available but we can't afford him. Drummond, on an expiring $3.4M deal, would be close to ideal from a rebounding perspective, but Chicago needs him to suck up minutes, a price that's worth it to them is probably not worth it to us.
I like Poeltl in theory, but his free-throw shooting makes him all but unplayable at the end of close games. Not that the C's necessarily would have used him in those situations, but that's still a glaring weakness.
Oof. 45% (14 for 31 thus far this year) is certainly terrible. It was at least not among the worst in the league last year (59%, 119/201). Kornet doesn't take a lot of FTs, but last year he was pretty great for a big man (32/39, 82%).
I was with you on needing decent defense and rebounding. both of which Kornet is pretty good at I should mention. but then mentioning Collins and Bagley? aren't both of them the opposite of that archetype?
Right: we're not going to be posting him up. He had 10 boards in 15 minutes! 6 offensive rebounds!
One of the reasons I would surmise that the Green Kornet is ahead of Queta is that the Cs apparently think that Kornet is better guarding guys 1 on 1 as last night they allowed him to get switched onto IIRC Trae and Hunter and Bogie (although all made their shots). Queta was exclusively drop coverage, which didn't go very well either.
Yes! Trust is earned and the players know who they trust in certain situations. Putting the ball into the hands of Queta as a moving target is rarely going to be a good option unless it's for an uncontested catch and dunk.
I was mostly looking at offensive efficiency around the rim and then evaluating plausibility from there (if that proves to be Queta's major drawback). I probably should've scanned for rebounding firstly, when thinking about options beyond our roster. Fair point.
the numbers as well as my eyeballs indicate Kornet is exceptionally efficient finishing. I don't see what you see re his hands, I see a guy whose actually really really good at getting the ball in quickly and with touch when he gets an opening.
We're talking about different things. The criticism I have with his hands is receiving the ball on a layoff from another player's drive. He seems to fumble the ball upon receipt way more often than an NBA player should. Once he's secured it, though, right around the rim, he is indeed very efficient at scoring it (to my eyes).
