cloverleaf wrote:Hal14 wrote:Article about Watson with some quotes by Brad:
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/celtics-scheierman-watson-2024-nbadraft-picks-brad-stevens/#:~:text=Stevens%20excited%20about%20Watson's%20defensive,that%20end%20of%20the%20floor.
I find a couple of things interesting about Brad's comments about Watson:
a)"Anton's strength and ability to move his feet laterally give him a chance to be one of these big, strong hybrid forwards that can switch and guard a lot of people"
Switch the name and Brad could have literally said the exact same thing word for word about Grant williams, Al horford and Xavier Tillman when Boston first acquired them.
This video touches on Grant Williams' defensive versatility, why Brad loved him so much when he was the coach..and why Grant was able to get consistent rotation mins as a rookie - on a team that went to ECF.
Grant's strength and quick feet helped him defensively - as well as being a high IQ defender who knows how to read the offensive player to know where he's gonna drive, is disciplined enough to not bite on fakes, is fearless in that he doesn't back down and isn't afraid of defending even the toughest scorers.
You could say all of that same stuff about Horford, Tillman and Watson.
b) Another quote from Brad in the article:"I want him to come in here with the mindset that he's gonna let it fly like he's never let it fly before," said Stevens. "I think he's a better shooter than he sometimes thinks he is."
I know what you're thinking, Watson isn't that good of a shooter. Well, neither were Al, Grant and Tillman when they first arrived in Boston, as we see here:
Al and Grant both ended up being elite shooters during their time in Boston.
Too soon to tell on Tillman, as he just got here at mid season - still hasn't gone through a full offseason or training camp with the team. But he did show flashes of improved shooting and more confidence in his shooting already since arriving in Boston.
But you look at the shooting development of Al, Grant as well as D-white, Jaylen and others after becoming a Celtic and it's clear that the org is good at developing their players shooting ability.
Watson is already starting off as a decent shooter coming in to Boston..and his shooting improved each year he was at Gonzaga.
Everybody keeps saying that Scheierman is a Hauser replacement. But what about Watson? It kind of seems like he could be a Grant replacement. And possibly (if he doesn't resign with Boston) a Tillman replacement (and even if Tillman does resign, maybe eventually he will get moved i Watson is coming along nicely and is ready for a larger role) and possibly (if things *really* come along nicely with Watson's development) perhaps down the road, he could be a Horford replacement, whenever he decides to retire.
Brad would have been a real jerk if he'd said that about Al, who was a 4x AS in Atlanta, when he first came to Boston. Fortunately, also, he didn't try to make a hybrid forward out of him.
Didn't Brad at one point encourage the whole Garden to repeatedly yell at a guy to shoot?
Olynyk, I think.
