Sorry for the digression, but wasn't the 2011 draft thought to be weak? (This article says yes but I can't remember back that far.)
I don't think he said "worst signing" he said his least-liked, and there's a difference.
This. Get this man in the Theis School of Sealing the Lane (tm) and he's already a better player for this team in a vacuum than Kanter was. On defense this guys is a shot blocker, can switch and close out, handle the PNR, runs the floor well, and has a nose for rebounds.
I think two bigs who can’t stretch the floor is one too many, and Time Lord is ready for a real role, so I would’ve preferred Ibaka to TT. LA is a more attractive destination than Boston, however so Ibaka was never an option, just as Harrell wasn’t. I’m assuming Danny thinks TT will be more durable than Baynes; given their age, that’s probably a good bet.
Sure. I think Thompson is likewise too immobile to be a credible defender mostly. He's a good rebounder, and this gives the illusion of being useful defensively, but he's just too slow and plodding to be useful against most bigs. Stop me if this seems familiar - as I do think we've seen this archetype before the Celtics. He's not Kanter-level immobile, which is nice, but he's also not built for the modern NBA either. And apart from rebounding, he doesn't do much of use on the defensive end. Which is why his teams have mostly been better defensively with him on the bench.
I think that this is where most people are.
I think what it comes down to is whether or not this is correct. I don't think it is.
Metrics on awful teams can be deceptive and carry little valid imo. I’d weigh history in similar winning environment much stronger provided there isn’t any apparent drop off in physical abilities. He’s no great shakes.....but we’re talking about big depth here not a guy to rely upon for 20+ mpg.
Again, the match-up data is flawed for a variety of reasons but it does support the view that, aside from other similar sized players, Thompson has trouble with wing players. It doesn't make him terrible but it just shows that he can be targeted and when teams run out a small line-up with a true stretch big, he probably shouldn't be on the floor.
Yes—we’ll see Theis or Grant in those situations, maybe TL.
Yes, I think this is an example of where you need scouting and analytics to understand what's going on. Cleveland has been a mess and while that doesn't mean Thompson is good, it also means it's dangerous to say he's bad based primarily on that too.
Remember when posters were calling George Hill “cooked” when he was serving time in Sacramento a couple years ago? Metrics are a tool used to evaluate a player but should never be the be-all end-all as there are other factors to consider.
Yup. Or the reverse, where we heard that Tiago Splitter was a secret star...until he left the specific role he had in SA and was just mediocre (and then hurt).
And ironically, TT was the starting big on the team who did take down Golden State’s historic shooting team. Obviously Lebron is Lebron, but he deserves some credit for stifling the Dubs, especially when Kyrie and Kevin Love were on the floor with him for the most part. My impression of him is undoubtedly informed by what I saw as pretty damn good help defense against the Death Lineup and a couple of games where he killed the Celtics on the glass, so I very well could be missing something important, but per HRB’s George Hill rule, the dude has been losing games while Collin Sexton jacks ill-advised shots fir a couple of years there, and was basically the only positive influence when everyone was throwing Beilin under every bus in Cleveland. I’m excited to watch him play with this team.
One interesting thing when I watched his film against Philly and Milwaukee was how often he was frustrated by teammates blowing defensive communication and assignments. He spent like half of each game visibly pissed at the incompetence/laziness. He wasn't without his own faults, but he seems a good candidate to improve in a good defensive system.
from the same blogger post-exit to Boston:
Not super-shocking that the Celtics preferred the 29 year-old who is better in every way other than having a mediocre, slow-release. 35% 3.
I'm not a fan of BIGs that shoot 35% while stealing shots from Jays/KW.
Interesting that he already knows the Theis seal and has enough quickness to execute it.
A young Derrick Coleman would be a perfect NBA center in today's game. Good (not Kyrie-level, but good) handle, especially for a big. Could step out and shoot the jumper, was an excellent rim protector, phenomenal athlete, and hoo-boy could that guy play the lob game. He was a very good power forward (sadly, his career could have been much much better if he would only have put in the effort) but would be a perfect 5 in today's game. Again, if he was motivated.
I think he'd be run off the court in today's NBA due to his complete lack of effort. Obviously has the skill, tho.
Chris Webber also comes to mind. Had an OK handle. Could shoot and screen and boy could he pass. I also believe that he was a better defender than the numbers show as that Kings team wasn't really a defensive juggernaut. At 6'9" perhaps he'd be a little undersized but he could play inside and out.
David West and Kenyon Martin both recently shouted out Andre Bargnani as a guy who would’ve excelled in today’s game. They said they used to beat the shit out of him and he wanted no part of it, but with the way things are called today, nobody would be able to get physical with him. Of course, Bargs was terrible at defense, so I’m not quite sure how good he’d actually be overall, but it did make me think twice about writing off Pokusevski as a guy who’ll never hold up.
Wow, and Ariza. It seems like he last played a decade ago.Bargnani is younger than Milsap
Kiki VanDeWeghe would have been MVP level great in today's game. Not only would his skills play way up in a more open offensive era (his step-back jumper in particular), he probably wouldn't have had all of the back issues from the physical 80's era.
Yeah, I think to the extent he's had rough moments, they've been largely on Stevens for putting him in weird situations (some by necessity). Things will be a lot more natural once they have one more depth wing to throw out there. I suppose tonight was a first look at how that might go: play JaVonte more, and play 8Mile more so that Smart can be a wing/2, which takes away some of the need to play Theis+TT at once.
46.9% of his shots are from 0-3. He's hit them at a 80.0% clip. 46.9% of his shots are from 3-10. He has hit 26.7% of them.
No, he's not. I think he is average - below average on defense. Regarding his finishing ability, I think he needs a little more time to get into playing form. He has basically just played his own personal preseason.
Score one for the analytics. TT stinks on D. Maybe if he lost 10 lbs it would be more mobile and marginally better, but overall he is pretty disappointing.
