The weaknesses of the new team, and some good things too

[darrendaye]

I think Queta tops at 20 minutes per game. As somebody said, he's an energy big, and the more minutes he plays, the less impactful he's gonna be. He's probably still gonna start most games, similar to that Aron Baynes role that one season.

That means Boucher will be playing mostly at the 5. Garza will eat up whatever minutes left at that position. At the 4, I see a rotation of Hauser, Minnott, Brown, and even Walsh in small lineups. I'm optimistic on Minnott. He could be a poor man's Jalen Johnson for us. A very poor man.

Boucher is more of a 4 than a 5.

I think it might be something like this for mins at the 5:

Queta: 24
Garza: 18
Boucher: 6

Then Boucher gets 10 MPG at the 4, so 16 total.

The min totals for all of them could end up slightly lower, depending on how many mins at the 5 Tillman and Amari get..

Way I can see this playing out is.....
C: Queta (20), Garza (16), Boucher (12) and
PF: Boucher (12), Minott (16), Brown (20)*
SF: Brown (14), Hauser (24), Scheierman (10)
SG: White (16), Simons (32)
PG: Pritchard (32), White (16)
* Unless it's Walsh, I'm not getting talked into saying Hauser or Scheierman are PFs if they play alongside one of the Jays

[Dogen]

I think Queta tops at 20 minutes per game. As somebody said, he's an energy big, and the more minutes he plays, the less impactful he's gonna be. He's probably still gonna start most games, similar to that Aron Baynes role that one season.

That means Boucher will be playing mostly at the 5. Garza will eat up whatever minutes left at that position. At the 4, I see a rotation of Hauser, Minnott, Brown, and even Walsh in small lineups. I'm optimistic on Minnott. He could be a poor man's Jalen Johnson for us. A very poor man.

Boucher is more of a 4 than a 5.

I think it might be something like this for mins at the 5:

Queta: 24
Garza: 18
Boucher: 6

Then Boucher gets 10 MPG at the 4, so 16 total.

The min totals for all of them could end up slightly lower, depending on how many mins at the 5 Tillman and Amari get..

Way I can see this playing out is.....
C: Queta (20), Garza (16), Boucher (12) and
PF: Boucher (12), Minott (16), Brown (20)*
SF: Brown (14), Hauser (24), Scheierman (10)
SG: White (16), Simons (32)
PG: Pritchard (32), White (16)
* Unless it's Walsh, I'm not getting talked into saying Hauser or Scheierman are PFs if they play alongside one of the Jays

The PF situation is a tough as center. I'm not sure I want to see Brown trying to pound down there. He still strikes me as more of a 2/3 than a 3/4. But, if he's into it I guess.

Brown is stronger than Hauser, but Hauser has the height. Maybe Sam can get some minutes at the 4. Ideally, Walsh has gotten stronger and can move more in to a strtch 4 role. He and Minott. I'm not holding my breath though.

[165bows]

I think Queta tops at 20 minutes per game. As somebody said, he's an energy big, and the more minutes he plays, the less impactful he's gonna be. He's probably still gonna start most games, similar to that Aron Baynes role that one season.

That means Boucher will be playing mostly at the 5. Garza will eat up whatever minutes left at that position. At the 4, I see a rotation of Hauser, Minnott, Brown, and even Walsh in small lineups. I'm optimistic on Minnott. He could be a poor man's Jalen Johnson for us. A very poor man.

Boucher is more of a 4 than a 5.

I think it might be something like this for mins at the 5:

Queta: 24
Garza: 18
Boucher: 6

Then Boucher gets 10 MPG at the 4, so 16 total.

The min totals for all of them could end up slightly lower, depending on how many mins at the 5 Tillman and Amari get..

Way I can see this playing out is.....
C: Queta (20), Garza (16), Boucher (12) and
PF: Boucher (12), Minott (16), Brown (20)*
SF: Brown (14), Hauser (24), Scheierman (10)
SG: White (16), Simons (32)
PG: Pritchard (32), White (16)
* Unless it's Walsh, I'm not getting talked into saying Hauser or Scheierman are PFs if they play alongside one of the Jays

This spells out my issue exactly - first off, none of these guys are playing anywhere close to 82 games so it makes sense to do this as total minutes.

Second I totally agree no one in the Brown/Hauser/Scheierman camp is really a four at all so the minutes are totally full when the rotation is healthy 1-3, and just not even really enough bodies at the 4/5 (unless Tillman returns like a WWE star from the brink of the grave).

[playa-hater]

I would like to go on record as saying, If Hugo doesn't get minutes THIS season, with a "bridge year" and/with a need to develop young players, I will be pissed/depressed all rolled into one. And I am not talking about garbage time.

[itrsteve]

Call me crazy but I’m looking forward to this season. Talent is going to come out of the woodwork, don’t care to predict which player(s) but it’s going to be fun and fast play.

Psyched Brad was able to pivot the way he has.

[Fierce1]

Call me crazy but I’m looking forward to this season. Talent is going to come out of the woodwork, don’t care to predict which player(s) but it’s going to be fun and fast play.

Psyched Brad was able to pivot the way he has.

That is why I refuse to believe this season will be a lottery season.

[itrsteve]

That is why I refuse to believe this season will be a lottery season.

Then cue the "diehards" that get pissed about winning

[Celts17Pride]

That is why I refuse to believe this season will be a lottery season.

Then cue the "diehards" that get pissed about winning

I would love the Celtics to win 50+ games, I would never get pissed about winning. I will watch every game and be rooting for the Celtics to win. The only difference is I don't "refuse to believe" what I see. The Celtics are a high 30's win team as currently constructed in my opinion. I look forward to a fun year and hopefully the Celtics find a few players for the future.

[hugepatsfan]

I think Queta and Scheierman will emerge as decent rotation pieces.

I think Pritchard will show out with some extra opportunity and be viewed higher this time next year.

Brown and White might show some more weaknesses without Tatum but they are who they are. Same with Hauser and Boucher on a different level.

I don't see Simons doing some 180 and being a different player than he has been, but he'll be ok. He does some things well even though overall he's not a very good player (and I don't expect him to be).

Maybe Garza or Minot break out, but I'm expecting them to be fringe NBA players like they have been who won't stick. Unfortunately, Walsh feels destined for this fate as well.

Tillman looked physically cooked this past year but maybe he dials it back to his MEM days which is a solid rotation piece.

Hugo may end up being a good player, but he seems like a pretty raw 19 year old prospect with lots of development to do so if he does play much this year, I don't expect it to look very good overall aside from flashes. Which is ok.

[hugepatsfan]

I would like to go on record as saying, If Hugo doesn't get minutes THIS season, with a "bridge year" and/with a need to develop young players, I will be pissed/depressed all rolled into one. And I am not talking about garbage time.

He's 19 years old and has limited experience even overseas. I get you want to play young guys in a bridge year, but a skill-wise raw 19 year old is extreme. At some point, if the guy is a puddle out there it's determinantal to his confidence and development to keep playing him. Bridge year or not, he may well not be ready to play. Not saying that is the case, but we should all acknowledge it as a possibility so we don't immediately bring out the pitch forks if he's not playing a ton.

[redslastlaugh]

Coach Mazzulla has not emphasized development of young players since he took over the C's and has gone out of his way to express that he doesn't even like rookies. This was somewhat understandable when he was fighting to keep his job and then fighting for a championship. But this year development should be a higher priority for him.

The evolution (or not) of Joe's philosophy on development is going to have a big impact on how much Hugo plays.

Also, we have three 2-way players in Shulga, Luis and Amari that should get minutes this year too imo. If I was ranking all of our players on rookie deals/2-ways I think they're all basically jumbled up in the same talent tier as prospects, so I would not be mad if the 2-way players got as many minutes as Walsh, Scheierman and Gonzalez.

In ten yrs, I wouldn't even be shocked if one of Amari Williams, Max Shulga, or RJ Luis has had the best NBA career of our young guys. For that matter, I also wouldn't be shocked if of Walsh, Hugo and Baylor, none is on an NBA roster in 4 or 5 yrs.

I would like to go on record as saying, If Hugo doesn't get minutes THIS season, with a "bridge year" and/with a need to develop young players, I will be pissed/depressed all rolled into one. And I am not talking about garbage time.

[jmr07019]

Coach Mazzulla has not emphasized development of young players since he took over the C's and has gone out of his way to express that he doesn't even like rookies. This was somewhat understandable when he was fighting to keep his job and then fighting for a championship. But this year development should be a higher priority for him.

The evolution (or not) of Joe's philosophy on development is going to have a big impact on how much Hugo plays.

Also, we have three 2-way players in Shulga, Luis and Amari that should get minutes this year too imo. If I was ranking all of our players on rookie deals/2-ways I think they're all basically jumbled up in the same talent tier as prospects, so I would not be mad if the 2-way players got as many minutes as Walsh, Scheierman and Gonzalez.

In ten yrs, I wouldn't even be shocked if one of Amari Williams, Max Shulga, or RJ Luis has had the best NBA career of our young guys. For that matter, I also wouldn't be shocked if of Walsh, Hugo and Baylor, none is on an NBA roster in 4 or 5 yrs.

I would like to go on record as saying, If Hugo doesn't get minutes THIS season, with a "bridge year" and/with a need to develop young players, I will be pissed/depressed all rolled into one. And I am not talking about garbage time.

I know the draft is a crap shoot but if your second round picks out play your first round picks it’s says something about your front office and scouting dept.

[redslastlaugh]

Also, we have three 2-way players in Shulga, Luis and Amari that should get minutes this year too imo. If I was ranking all of our players on rookie deals/2-ways I think they're all basically jumbled up in the same talent tier as prospects, so I would not be mad if the 2-way players got as many minutes as Walsh, Scheierman and Gonzalez.

In ten yrs, I wouldn't even be shocked if one of Amari Williams, Max Shulga, or RJ Luis has had the best NBA career of our young guys. For that matter, I also wouldn't be shocked if of Walsh, Hugo and Baylor, none is on an NBA roster in 4 or 5 yrs.

I would like to go on record as saying, If Hugo doesn't get minutes THIS season, with a "bridge year" and/with a need to develop young players, I will be pissed/depressed all rolled into one. And I am not talking about garbage time.

I know the draft is a crap shoot but if your second round picks out play your first round picks it’s says something about your front office and scouting dept.

It does a little bit, but it also doesn't matter. In 1999 the Spurs took Leon Smith in the first round and Manu Ginobili in the second. Leon Smith only played 100 mins in the NBA but it all worked out for them, lol

If we can get 2 good players out of these picks, I don't care if its RJ Luis and Amari Williams or Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Coach Mazzulla has not emphasized development of young players since he took over the C's and has gone out of his way to express that he doesn't even like rookies. This was somewhat understandable when he was fighting to keep his job and then fighting for a championship. But this year development should be a higher priority for him.

The evolution (or not) of Joe's philosophy on development is going to have a big impact on how much Hugo plays.

Also, we have three 2-way players in Shulga, Luis and Amari that should get minutes this year too imo. If I was ranking all of our players on rookie deals/2-ways I think they're all basically jumbled up in the same talent tier as prospects, so I would not be mad if the 2-way players got as many minutes as Walsh, Scheierman and Gonzalez.

In ten yrs, I wouldn't even be shocked if one of Amari Williams, Max Shulga, or RJ Luis has had the best NBA career of our young guys. For that matter, I also wouldn't be shocked if of Walsh, Hugo and Baylor, none is on an NBA roster in 4 or 5 yrs.

I would like to go on record as saying, If Hugo doesn't get minutes THIS season, with a "bridge year" and/with a need to develop young players, I will be pissed/depressed all rolled into one. And I am not talking about garbage time.

I know the draft is a crap shoot but if your second round picks out play your first round picks it’s says something about your front office and scouting dept.

Golden State picked Harrison Barnes 7th, Festus Ezeli 30th and Draymond Green 35th in 2012.
Denver picked Jusuf Nurkic 16th, Gary Harris 19th and Nikola Jokic 41st in 2014.
A second round pick outplaying a first rounder isn't necessary the sign of a bad scouting department.

[jmr07019]

Also, we have three 2-way players in Shulga, Luis and Amari that should get minutes this year too imo. If I was ranking all of our players on rookie deals/2-ways I think they're all basically jumbled up in the same talent tier as prospects, so I would not be mad if the 2-way players got as many minutes as Walsh, Scheierman and Gonzalez.

In ten yrs, I wouldn't even be shocked if one of Amari Williams, Max Shulga, or RJ Luis has had the best NBA career of our young guys. For that matter, I also wouldn't be shocked if of Walsh, Hugo and Baylor, none is on an NBA roster in 4 or 5 yrs.

I know the draft is a crap shoot but if your second round picks out play your first round picks it’s says something about your front office and scouting dept.

It does a little bit, but it also doesn't matter. In 1999 the Spurs took Leon Smith in the first round and Manu Ginobili in the second. Leon Smith only played 100 mins in the NBA but it all worked out for them, lol

If we can get 2 good players out of these picks, I don't care if its RJ Luis and Amari Williams or Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez

I disagree that it doesn’t matter. If your second rounders outperforms the first rounders it tells you the front office is more lucky than good, and luck will eventually change.

I have zero expectations for anyone taken after the 40th pick. I expect 40-50% of guys taken between 20 and 30 to contribute. These numbers would seem to be more or less in line with historical data without doing too deep a dive on it

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

The biggest weakness is the Vulture Ownership and the Grousbeck Family going Full Vampire Greed. You never go Full Greed...

[redslastlaugh]

I know the draft is a crap shoot but if your second round picks out play your first round picks it’s says something about your front office and scouting dept.

It does a little bit, but it also doesn't matter. In 1999 the Spurs took Leon Smith in the first round and Manu Ginobili in the second. Leon Smith only played 100 mins in the NBA but it all worked out for them, lol

If we can get 2 good players out of these picks, I don't care if its RJ Luis and Amari Williams or Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez

I disagree that it doesn’t matter. If your second rounders outperforms the first rounders it tells you the front office is more lucky than good, and luck will eventually change.

I have zero expectations for anyone taken after the 40th pick. I expect 40-50% of guys taken between 20 and 30 to contribute. These numbers would seem to be more or less in line with historical data without doing too deep a dive on it

Yea, but if you have 3 players on your board each with a 33% chance of hitting their ceiling upside. And you take them at pick #25, #35, and #45 and the guy picked 45th hits their topside outcome, and the guys picked 25 & 35 bust, is that luck exactly? Or your front office identified 3 equivalent prospects and expected 1 of 3 to pan out and that's what happened, so its a something of awin for the scouts, perhaps.

Also, luck is partly making bets that have a chance of paying off.

And, lastly, luck is part of life and from time to time we all are fortunate enough to get a lucky break, lol

[hugepatsfan]

Coach Mazzulla has not emphasized development of young players since he took over the C's and has gone out of his way to express that he doesn't even like rookies. This was somewhat understandable when he was fighting to keep his job and then fighting for a championship. But this year development should be a higher priority for him.

The evolution (or not) of Joe's philosophy on development is going to have a big impact on how much Hugo plays.

Also, we have three 2-way players in Shulga, Luis and Amari that should get minutes this year too imo. If I was ranking all of our players on rookie deals/2-ways I think they're all basically jumbled up in the same talent tier as prospects, so I would not be mad if the 2-way players got as many minutes as Walsh, Scheierman and Gonzalez.

In ten yrs, I wouldn't even be shocked if one of Amari Williams, Max Shulga, or RJ Luis has had the best NBA career of our young guys. For that matter, I also wouldn't be shocked if of Walsh, Hugo and Baylor, none is on an NBA roster in 4 or 5 yrs.

I would like to go on record as saying, If Hugo doesn't get minutes THIS season, with a "bridge year" and/with a need to develop young players, I will be pissed/depressed all rolled into one. And I am not talking about garbage time.

We all know Joe says hardo **** to be funny with the media. I don't really buy that he doesn't like rookies or isn't a development guy. Nesmith talked about how when he was a young guy fighting for minutes under Brad/Udoka that Joe worked extremely closely with him behind the scenes. He was someone players advocated to keep on Ime's staff because of his developmental work as an assistant. Hauser was nothing when he took over and he carved out a role for him. I'd say he's gotten Queta a decent amount of playing time considering Porzingis/Horford/Kornet all overlapped his time here. Scheierman didn't play much to start last year, but got real run at the end of the year. Pritchard had some track record but has really grown and gotten more opportunity under Joe.

He's been HC for 3 years and they've been a title favorite all 3. Scheierman was the only 1st round pick he coached and he HAS developed one guy in Hauser and given some run to another in Queta so far. I don't buy that he's not a development guy because he doesn't throw 2nd round picks in over the extremely high end rotation players we've had. We can't simultaneously bend over backwards praising what great rosters Brad put together the last few years and then also be mad Joe isn't playing 2nd round picks over those guys.

[redslastlaugh]

Coach Mazzulla has not emphasized development of young players since he took over the C's and has gone out of his way to express that he doesn't even like rookies.

I would like to go on record as saying, If Hugo doesn't get minutes THIS season, with a "bridge year" and/with a need to develop young players, I will be pissed/depressed all rolled into one. And I am not talking about garbage time.

We all know Joe says hardo **** to be funny with the media. I don't really buy that he doesn't like rookies or isn't a development guy. Nesmith talked about how when he was a young guy fighting for minutes under Brad/Udoka that Joe worked extremely closely with him behind the scenes. He was someone players advocated to keep on Ime's staff because of his developmental work as an assistant. Hauser was nothing when he took over and he carved out a role for him. I'd say he's gotten Queta a decent amount of playing time considering Porzingis/Horford/Kornet all overlapped his time here. Scheierman didn't play much to start last year, but got real run at the end of the year. Pritchard had some track record but has really grown and gotten more opportunity under Joe.

He's been HC for 3 years and they've been a title favorite all 3. Scheierman was the only 1st round pick he coached and he HAS developed one guy in Hauser and given some run to another in Queta so far. I don't buy that he's not a development guy because he doesn't throw 2nd round picks in over the extremely high end rotation players we've had. We can't simultaneously bend over backwards praising what great rosters Brad put together the last few years and then also be mad Joe isn't playing 2nd round picks over those guys.

We'll find out this year. Joe has the security of an extension and the entire organization (front office, coaching, etc) should have young player development as a priority.

It's also possible that our young players all suck, lol ... and there is nothing to develop.

But I am hoping for a 2005-06 type of season where we had just drafted a bunch of young dudes outside the lottery: Kendrick Perkins, Al Jefferson, Delonte, TA, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Justin Reed, and we were giving the young kids some run to see what we had...

But some coaches just fundamentally are not interested in playing young players over vets because that's not the best approach if you're trying to win the game at hand. Joe played Hauser early on but Sam Hauser is the exact type of player Joe would play because of the Mazzulla Ball philosophy of shooting 3s. There's like 25 players in the history of the NBA with a career 3pt% of >41% and Sam is one of them. But Hugo, Walsh, Amari, these are not pure Mazzulla Ball players and if Joe will play them in search of developing their value (if they're not helping Celtic wins) is still somewhat an open question

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Coach Mazzulla has not emphasized development of young players since he took over the C's and has gone out of his way to express that he doesn't even like rookies. This was somewhat understandable when he was fighting to keep his job and then fighting for a championship. But this year development should be a higher priority for him.

The evolution (or not) of Joe's philosophy on development is going to have a big impact on how much Hugo plays.

Also, we have three 2-way players in Shulga, Luis and Amari that should get minutes this year too imo. If I was ranking all of our players on rookie deals/2-ways I think they're all basically jumbled up in the same talent tier as prospects, so I would not be mad if the 2-way players got as many minutes as Walsh, Scheierman and Gonzalez.

In ten yrs, I wouldn't even be shocked if one of Amari Williams, Max Shulga, or RJ Luis has had the best NBA career of our young guys. For that matter, I also wouldn't be shocked if of Walsh, Hugo and Baylor, none is on an NBA roster in 4 or 5 yrs.

I would like to go on record as saying, If Hugo doesn't get minutes THIS season, with a "bridge year" and/with a need to develop young players, I will be pissed/depressed all rolled into one. And I am not talking about garbage time.

We all know Joe says hardo **** to be funny with the media. I don't really buy that he doesn't like rookies or isn't a development guy. Nesmith talked about how when he was a young guy fighting for minutes under Brad/Udoka that Joe worked extremely closely with him behind the scenes. He was someone players advocated to keep on Ime's staff because of his developmental work as an assistant. Hauser was nothing when he took over and he carved out a role for him. I'd say he's gotten Queta a decent amount of playing time considering Porzingis/Horford/Kornet all overlapped his time here. Scheierman didn't play much to start last year, but got real run at the end of the year. Pritchard had some track record but has really grown and gotten more opportunity under Joe.

He's been HC for 3 years and they've been a title favorite all 3. Scheierman was the only 1st round pick he coached and he HAS developed one guy in Hauser and given some run to another in Queta so far. I don't buy that he's not a development guy because he doesn't throw 2nd round picks in over the extremely high end rotation players we've had. We can't simultaneously bend over backwards praising what great rosters Brad put together the last few years and then also be mad Joe isn't playing 2nd round picks over those guys.

Kornet and White are two other guys that have made massive leaps forward under Joe as well. Funny how people latch on to one comment by Anton Watson that reinforces their point of view but ignore the mountain of evidence that goes against it. By the way, considering Anton Watson still hasn't signed anywhere I'd say Joe Mazzulla is hardly the only person in the NBA community that doesn't like him.