RealGM

These are excerpts from his chat today.

Sam (Princeton, NJ)

John, is Marquis Daniels really a sufficient wing backup for the Cs? Did they make a mistake by not going harder after guys like Moon and Barnes?
John Hollinger
(3:36 PM)

Moon was out of their price range once they used their midlevel on Sheed. As far Barnes, he's a 3/4, which Boston didn't need. Daniels helps because he can play point guard when Eddie House is in the game and then switch assignments on D, the only problem is that he misses 20-25 games a year with injuries.
Josh Schmidt (Dighton, MA)

Do you see the Celtics giving Bill Walker, J.R. Giddens, and Sheldon Williams some playing time? Walker was a good scorer in college, Giddens showed improvement, and can Williams play like a 5th overall pick like he was?
John Hollinger
(4:09 PM)

I could see Walker getting some minutes, yes. Giddens is terrible, I don't think he can play and have no idea why they picked him. Williams will be the fifth big man and be better than your typical No. 3 center if he's in shape (which he wasn't last year)-- terrible shooter and finisher, but he's physical and he rebounds.


scathing comments on Giddens. Thing is I respect his views. But I think he is way off on the C's standings. He has us third in the East. Discuss

This IDIOT doesn't know ****! Giddens is terrible?Wtf is he smoking? Giddens is an athletic FREAK! The guy is lightning quick, for his size, and rebounds like a monster for his position...IMO, he is better than Bill Walker..all he needs is a shot..he can't shoot for nothing in this world...but terrible?Come on now...Bob swift is a terrible basketball player..and Hollinger sucks big balls for saying that..

Lets refrain from using language that is inappropriate. Thanks. canman

He probably hates Giddens because technically his per-minute numbers are astounding. Every time Hollinger makes his cute rankings he probably scans down and goes "Whoa! 24 points, 18 rebounds, and 6 steals!!! Who is thi...oh, it's just J.R. Giddens."

Hollinger doesn't actually watch any games. He just sits behind a computer, crunches numbers and then declares who he thinks is good or bad.

His opinion means nothing to me.

all u have to do is look at giddens and u can tell he can't be effective in an nba setting.... and from what i've seen his play verifies that. it's bs the c's aren't looking to sign a real pg, makes no sense. we don't want a sg who has to make the transition. f daniels. all we needed was a pg and a backup for pierce and it didn't happen.

Can't argue with him really, except for the 3rd in the East part; but everyone is discounting us because of injuries or fear of injuries, not talent.

What was the point of Giddens? What good is an undersized guy who can't play anything but 2 guard? We aren't in a position to slowly accumulate tweener projects and cash them in down the road; we need guys who can contribute now, who have versatility, or who have real upside. He made no sense when DeAndre Jordan was on the board - Jordan could have taken POB's place, and with POB's spot we could have gotten a legit backup 3. KG's injury made it moot, but it never made sense.

So? I do think we made a mistake by not talking Walker with the 30th, but I think Giddens can become a good all around player some day (in the AI2 mold)

Edit: and I'm pretty sure he's gay (not that there's anything wrong with that ), just listen to him speak.

Hollinger doesn't know what the heck he is talking about when it comes to basketball. I bet you he has never even picked a basketball up in his life. Hollinger also says that he doesn't understand all the fuss being made about the Celtics and that they will finish no higher than 3rd in the East.

He is a dweeb.

Don't really care for Hollinger, but don't know how you can argue with his take on Giddens, dude has to play to improve and I don't mean in an empty gym in Summer League or the D League.

But I am going to go out on a limb and say if we stay healthy we will finish better than 3rd.

sully00 wrote:But I am going to go out on a limb and say if we stay healthy we will finish better than 3rd.

If this team is healhthy. It hard not to like the likely 9 man rotation

Rondo
Ray
Pierce
KG
Perk

Bench:
Sheed
Daniels
House
Baby

Thats a lot better than last year. Prob sprinkle in a PG or SF as 10th and 11th guy who will get occasional run. If the Cs are happy with Walker at the 3. I think PG is DAs top priority once he finalizes Daniels contract.

Looking back to JR's time at NM makes one wonder why he's never seen more than 5 minutes on the court for us.

If nothing else, this does highlight that the C's need to get production from Giddens and Walker this season. I mean, how much is a position on a championship team's roster worth? This is a win now team, they need to get returns on thier investment this season. Hudson you, MAY, be able develop this season, but NBA attrition proves more and more that you need to fireable weapons on hand. You never know who may go down with injury. The 13th man on your roster you may have to call upon to be in your rotation due to contingency efforts.

I worry most about Giddens not being worth the roster spot. He needs to be ready to deliver.

Who does he have at #1? Probably the Cavs right? He's been riding Lebron's jock since time immemorial.

barnes>daniels
missed that many games,yep right about that.
giddens never impressed me I'm on the billy walk(bill walker) band wagon though.

I think were real close to the top and most the other contenders are done right.
We still ironically have a nice situation with lots of expiring contracts at mid grade level talent.
I think we are best in east on paper by far right now, if we add true point and daniels on paper we are the top on paper.
#3 not a chance.

ryan in Maine wrote:Looking back to JR's time at NM makes one wonder why he's never seen more than 5 minutes on the court for us.

Huh? His last year was great but the year before he got kicked off the team, looking at his time in NM and Kansas would make you wonder why he got drafted in the first round. He has consistently struggled to live up to expectations on and off the court.

Hope the kid is great but I also hoped Joe Forte was going to be great he just seems at this point to be another guy who coasts on talent.

Celtic Esquire wrote:Hollinger doesn't actually watch any games. He just sits behind a computer, crunches numbers and then declares who he thinks is good or bad.

His opinion means nothing to me.

This...he sucks. Whatever Hollinger says, I always think the opposite...

chakdaddy wrote:Can't argue with him really, except for the 3rd in the East part; but everyone is discounting us because of injuries or fear of injuries, not talent.

What was the point of Giddens? What good is an undersized guy who can't play anything but 2 guard? We aren't in a position to slowly accumulate tweener projects and cash them in down the road; we need guys who can contribute now, who have versatility, or who have real upside. He made no sense when DeAndre Jordan was on the board - Jordan could have taken POB's place, and with POB's spot we could have gotten a legit backup 3. KG's injury made it moot, but it never made sense.

To think Danny passed on both DeAndre Jordan and Mario Chalmers is sad. Giddens has never look as good to me as Bill Walker. At this point even Kyle Weaver looks to have been a better pick than Giddens. If he doesn't do something quick Giddens isn't anything other than an expiring contract.

Giddens is ****...thought it after we drafted him, still think it now...

Giddens was probably a mistake and Danny was probably talking him up a bit this summer and showcasing him a bit in the summer league. But Hollinger is also probably overstating the situation, and in classic Danny style he may have more than made up for it in picking up Lester Hudson. We'll see.

DA has a proven track record at building a championship team. He did that in large part by drafting way beyond our reasonable expectations and then letting the Celtics staff develope these picks. A 30 pick has the expectation of no second contract. I think there is a reasonble chance Giddens and / or Walker turn into rotation players at some point.

I'm willing to give the brain trust 2 or 3 years with any prospect. If DA and company have faith in them, I'll have faith in them too. I see no use in bad mouthing and undermining our prospects.