Giddens & Walker

[lantinm]

Just a reminder that they both play in their first D-League game tonight.

All D-League games can be seen for free via webcast.

Go to http://www.nba.com/dleague/ and click on Live Webcast where the scoreboard is displayed (on the right).


Note: You'll need an All-Access pass (which is also free) from NBA.com to watch the games.


Anyone else going to be watching the webcast tonight (in addition to the C's tonight of course)?

[greenbeans]

Didn't they play last week? Was it preseason maybe?
Oh well, thanks for the link!

[lantinm]

Yes, it was pre-season. They both scored 16 apiece.


Through three quarters, Walker has 21 pts (on 5-6 from downtown) and 4 rebounds.


Giddens has 13 pts and 6 boards.


Note: The D-League streams have worked intermittently tonight. Hopefully, they can fix them soon.

[Celtic Esquire]

Both Walker and Giddens appear to have played pretty good games.

Boxscore:

http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/boxsco ... 2020800004

[GregB]

Quite the statline for Walker. On paper Walker and Giddens looking good. Nice to see it translating into a victory.

[rambo_ortega]

both players looks good. i hope playing in the dleague affects them the way it did to farmar last season. walker shot a lot and really well from 3pt area.

[GregB]

Apparently Giddens hit the game winning shot. Good for him. I like his game.

It seems a fair amount of people look at drafting giddens as a mistake after Walker gained more publicity and PT during preseason.

But, I think it had more to do with who they were competing against for PT. Giddens biggest competition was TA who is our first wing off the bench. Seeing the bulk of the minutes. Walker competed against Darius Miles. Enough said.

[campybatman]

What position are they playing at for their team in the NBDL? Where would you rank the Celtics rookies in comparison to other rookies in the league? I ask since I don't follow the NBDL.

[GregB]

What position are they playing at for their team in the NBDL? Where would you rank the Celtics rookies in comparison to other rookies in the league? I ask since I don't follow the NBDL.

Looks like Giddens played SG and Walker SF.

As far as where they stand, This was their first game of the year. Too early too tell. But, they should have plenty of opportunity. Outside of those two and Dontell Jefferson. Their teams appears to be pretty awful.

[campybatman]

I was expecting to a degree that Giddens not so much in talent but with his maturity (given his older age) he would exhibit something similar to Al Thornton (an older rookie too) as a rookie in terms of being a part of the regular rotation right off. But, since that's the Clippers, that's an entirely different opportunity for a rookie than it would be in Boston.

[buckner1976]

Apparently Giddens hit the game winning shot. Good for him. I like his game.

It seems a fair amount of people look at drafting giddens as a mistake after Walker gained more publicity and PT during preseason.

But, I think it had more to do with who they were competing against for PT. Giddens biggest competition was TA who is our first wing off the bench. Seeing the bulk of the minutes. Walker competed against Darius Miles. Enough said.

I agree. I think a fair number of people really slept on him and his game. Walker was the more well known kid and he looks like a find too but it would be a mistake to think Giddens doesn't have it. The real question is gonna be how do these 2 even find time even next year. TA looks like he's rounding back into his old self. Ray is showing absolutely zero signs of slowing down and Paul is just Paul. So I don't know how it's gonna happen.

[Man_Up]

I was expecting to a degree that Giddens not so much in talent but with his maturity (given his older age) he would exhibit something similar to Al Thornton (an older rookie too) as a rookie in terms of being a part of the regular rotation right off. But, since that's the Clippers, that's an entirely different opportunity for a rookie than it would be in Boston.

That's what I was quietly hoping for as well.

I guess we were both expecting a bit too much.

At least the maturity seems to be there off the court.

[MVP16]

The numbers are nice, but D-League doesn't mean too much. Marcus Williams lit up whoever of Walker/Giddens was guarding him for 27 points. But I am encouraged seeing Walker shooting 5-9 from the 3 point line. Hopefully that continues and transfers into the NBA. If either of Walker/Giddens can play good defense and shoot consistently from the 3, they can be valuable later in the season.

[GregB]

Apparently Giddens hit the game winning shot. Good for him. I like his game.

It seems a fair amount of people look at drafting giddens as a mistake after Walker gained more publicity and PT during preseason.

But, I think it had more to do with who they were competing against for PT. Giddens biggest competition was TA who is our first wing off the bench. Seeing the bulk of the minutes. Walker competed against Darius Miles. Enough said.

I agree. I think a fair number of people really slept on him and his game. Walker was the more well known kid and he looks like a find too but it would be a mistake to think Giddens doesn't have it. The real question is gonna be how do these 2 even find time even next year. TA looks like he's rounding back into his old self. Ray is showing absolutely zero signs of slowing down and Paul is just Paul. So I don't know how it's gonna happen.

I think Walker could get some minutes next year. Because, He plays a position of need as a backup SF. Giddens future playing time, Will really depend on what we end up doing with Ray Allen and Tony Allen. I have a feeling one of those two will be gone after next year or as soon as this offseason. So Giddens could find himself some time next. But likely not until the year after. He is stuck like Pruitt.

[elrod enchilada]

This was an encouraging start for Walker & Giddens. Especially the 3 pointers. If Walker can nail 3s, the only thing stopping him from a solid career will be his knees. Likewise, Giddens can have a career with consistent shot -- he shoots free throws like Reggie Evans-- and handle. It is already clear that he can play D and, as Ainge put it, he is a spectatcular rebounder for a guard.

Buckner 1976 is right: it is hard to see where exactly these guys can find court time in Boston even next year. But these are very nice problems to have.

Now Semih Erden needs to get healthy and dominate the Euroleague.

While we are at it, what is the latest on Ben Pepper?

[cfan79]

I love that Giddens and Walker are the stars of this team. Too bad there's a 2 player limit for the D-league I would have liked to have seen Pruitt play for the Flash as well.

[BillessuR6]

NBDL seems like a very poor league. I don`t know how much these guys can actually develop there due to lack of competition.

It is really a pity we didn`t send JR or even Walker to Europe for a season. They would improve much more here than in some poor NBDL league.

[ParticleMan]

I agree about Walker looking better in preseason mostly because he got more opportunities. That's likely to continue of course, so Walker has a better shot of getting in the rotation in the near future (ie next year). It's too bad, I think Giddens is actually the better player. I think if we had known Tony would re-sign, come in healthy, and be close to all the way back, we may not have drafted Giddens.

The good news is we still have Giddens under control for several more years, whereas Tony is only for this year and next. So if TA busts out and demands, say, and MLE deal after next year, we can plug in Giddens there. So I think we should continue to hold onto JR. We can be like the Pats, with our reserves plenty good enough to play and only needing the opportunity, so that we don't have to be held hostage with contract demands for role players. That's the quickest way to financial hell. Same with POB, if Powe and Baby go crazy we have POB we can plug in there next year. It's definitely nice to see such a well-managed franchise.

[Dave_From_NB]

Ainge is just developing the next set of trading chips, nobody should be too concerned about trying to slot the prospects into future slots assuming everything is going to stay the same.

Does anyone think that Ainge would hesitate to move Giddens, Walker, POB, Pruitt, Davis, Erden, even Powe out of town?

I really don't think Ainge is looking to rebuild (after the Big 3) by accumulating players drafted in the 2'nd round. Look for a whole pile of these guys to be developed enough to be moved.

[eris]

I was really looking forward to seeing Walker and Giddens last night, but wasn't able to get the game to stream at all. In fact, I could get *any* of the DLeague games to stream...nothing but "We're having technical difficulties!"

Was anyone able record it? Could I get a copy?