Training Camp Thread, 2019-20 -- Strus, Gates & Maten Waived

[Andrew McCeltic]

Poirier's post D looks like garbage. Kanter's big and skilled down there but yeesh.

Meh, Kanter has made Embiid and many NBA players look bad too. Also, this is good, Poirier can only get better facing Kanter (hopefully).

Kanter is a 20/10 center with starter’s minutes, he has been for years. He’s just really bad defensively.

He’s only 26, if he were going to age into basic competence on defense, it would happen about now. He doesn’t seem like he’s going to do a Marc Gasol and make himself into a great defender- I wish he’d spent the off-season locked in a gym with Zaza Pachulia throwing wrenches at him.. He can be decent with effort and the right schemes, his praise of “communication” as the deciding factor is good and bad.

It was a surprising signing - he’s like the exact opposite of Al Horford - defense is a weakness, not much subtlety to his game, very extroverted, dominant as a low post scorer and rebounder. We’ve cycled through Greg Monroe and David Lee - and gave up on both quickly, but somehow Kanter was Danny’s top choice for a free agent big..

I hope it works out - if he’s neutral or a minor net positive on defense, he’ll be a fantastic starting 5. His DBPM the last two seasons were his best ever.

[Celtics_History_Lesson]

I highly doubt Langford sees much playing time this year.

Is there an actual and very specific NBA rule that says Romeo can't play NBA games with a ping pong bat on his hand?

Romeo Langford could be cleared to go live in practice either Friday or Saturday

He needs to get his shot in preseason, and if he outplays the holdovers then he plays lots of minutes, or the coach should go.


Celtics are set up to fail once again, using a lotto pick on someone who is then behind five players for his position?


If you are not going to play him, and hand out giant contracts to others at his position even though they are not good players, then trade Romeo before he loses value.

[Andrew McCeltic]

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/prac-100319-brown-looks-and-sounds-like-hes-ready-to-take-a-leap

Good word on Jaylen, he’s saying the right things, he knows exactly what he should be working on.. I think the grind is going to get him there as a scorer, the way it did Smart with his shooting.. But he would benefit from a lot of on-court reps and he may never get them here..

[Andrew McCeltic]

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/10/boston-celtics-rookie-grant-williams-impresses-brad-stevens-hes-going-to-be-an-nba-player-for-a-long-long-time.html?fbclid=IwAR24LoKXKPIUvumVDDxZwOLS7ki6QdeD02qqPpmAtZlVvXe-Blgymn8TYAU

Some good buzz on Grant - super smart, picks up concepts quickly. It's likely he struggles out the gate, but.. he's got plus strength, he knows how to play against big defenders and find daylight (like IT), he's got a track record of being very calm with the ball in his hands..

If he acclimates within a month or two, I could see Stevens running more and more plays through him, or calling his number as a midrange shooter. Will be interesting to see how smoothly he adjusts - I think there's a case for him having upside as a TJ Warren caliber scorer, too.

[Parliament10]

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[Dogen]

Poirier's post D looks like garbage. Kanter's big and skilled down there but yeesh.

he's very skilled down there. Kanter always abused Horford.

I agree.

But Poirier's D was a mess. Dislodged easily with every bump. Jumped at every head and pump fake. Weak contests.

He was probably just goofing off though.

Agree about Poirier's mess. And Kanter's too. I get that they are goofing around and it's the start of camp, but play like that in the season and you just get burned or pick up a cheap foul.

I wish we had some of the KG style big man presence on the team, someone who will go at players even in a scrimmage. Kanter seems like a great guy and offensively gifted, but there is no one in the front court to set that defensive tone. They act like it's OK to get beaten in the post.

Time Lord may eventually take on that role, but he's young and appears to be more quiet by nature, so we'll see.

My preference would be to pursue Sabonis. He's not yet a great defender, but a Swiss Army Knife type of big who can replicate some of what we lost in Horford, and he's got a bit of nasty in him.

Different topic: Langford's shooting form has a long way to go, if only judging from those short videos. He really needs a knock down three to get any meaningful minutes at his position on this team. Wish his stroke looked more fluid like Kemba's. It's a work in progress to be sure.

[zoyathedestroya]

Since Hayward and Theis are basically the same player, they count as one roster spot. We only need to cut two players -- Maten and Kaiser. Tacko makes 15th spot w/Javonte and Strus as the two-way players.

Ballhandlers: Kemba, Smart, Carsen, Wanamaker, Waters
Wings/Swings: Hayward/Theis, Tatum, Brown, Ojeleye, G.Williams, Langford
Bigs: Kanter, R.Williams, Poirier, Theis/Hayward, Tacko

Two-way: Strus, J.Green

[zoyathedestroya]

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Need Hayward and Kanter to lead in this department. Not as worried with our bench as Smart and G.Williams are natural talkers/communicators/energy-raisers.

[Slartibartfast]

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Need Hayward and Kanter to lead in this department. Not as worried with our bench as Smart and G.Williams are natural talkers/communicators/energy-raisers.

I always talk on D. Usually variations of "my bad."

[Slartibartfast]

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Need Hayward and Kanter to lead in this department. Not as worried with our bench as Smart and G.Williams are natural talkers/communicators/energy-raisers.

I always talk on D. Usually variations of "my bad."

Also "Could you take this guy? He's too fast/tall/strong" and "I'll guard the other guy with glasses"

[greenroom31]

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Need Hayward and Kanter to lead in this department. Not as worried with our bench as Smart and G.Williams are natural talkers/communicators/energy-raisers.

I always talk on D. Usually variations of "my bad."

"I talk talk, I talk to you"

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[Parliament10]

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[Disinformation]

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Hope for Langford's rookie season being interesting:

[GregB]

I just watched Brads media interview for today. He talked about how impressed he has been with Robert Williams growth. If we are going to contend in the east he is the type of X factor we will need.

[Parliament10]

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[Fencer reregistered]

I imagine Kobe's advice was very much like McHale's.

[SmartWentCrazy]

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Hope for Langford's rookie season being interesting:

I feel like we drafted Langford to be trade bait for one of Indy’s big men when the Turner/Sabonis duo fails. Langford is an Indiana high school legend and an IU player and the Pacers would definitely be able to sell him to their fanbase.

If Indy struggles and their duo proves incompatible, I could see Langford and a couple of picks for Sabonis happening.

[Homerclease]

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Hope for Langford's rookie season being interesting:

I feel like we drafted Langford to be trade bait for one of Indy’s big men when the Turner/Sabonis duo fails. Langford is an Indiana high school legend and an IU player and the Pacers would definitely be able to sell him to their fanbase.

If Indy struggles and their duo proves incompatible, I could see Langford and a couple of picks for Sabonis happening.

I think they need to park him in the G league and put the ball in his hands non stop. Brown and Tatum aren’t much for playmakers, this kid needs to have skill in that area or he’s far too redundant. Redshirt him in the G league and let him play

[SmartWentCrazy]

Hope for Langford's rookie season being interesting:

I feel like we drafted Langford to be trade bait for one of Indy’s big men when the Turner/Sabonis duo fails. Langford is an Indiana high school legend and an IU player and the Pacers would definitely be able to sell him to their fanbase.

If Indy struggles and their duo proves incompatible, I could see Langford and a couple of picks for Sabonis happening.

I think they need to park him in the G league and put the ball in his hands non stop. Brown and Tatum aren’t much for playmakers, this kid needs to have skill in that area or he’s far too redundant. Redshirt him in the G league and let him play

Would firmly guess that this is the plan. With Smart, Brown, Tatum and Hayward, he’s just not going to get the minutes/reps needed to develop.

If we keep him, I’m guessing its to fill a version of the idealized version of what Hayward brings to the table.

[zoyathedestroya]

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