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Theis
Thompson
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Author Topic: Who starts: Theis or Thompson?  (Read 4884 times)

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Re: Who starts: Theis or Thompson?
« Reply #30 on: December 01, 2020, 11:29:29 PM »

Online Roy H.

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I think Thompson is the starting center, when he is ready.  I think that is pretty easy.

Theis is a better defender and a better finisher.
And returning from knee surgery. Like Walker, I think the C's should take it slow with Theis. Thompson should start.

Not all knee surgeries are equal.  This was a minor one to “remove a lose body”, and there’s been a full recovery.

I haven’t heard anything from the team about an impact on his playing time.


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Re: Who starts: Theis or Thompson?
« Reply #31 on: December 02, 2020, 01:42:25 AM »

Offline Hoopvortex

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I think Thompson is the starting center, when he is ready.  I think that is pretty easy.

Theis is a better defender and a better finisher.
And returning from knee surgery. Like Walker, I think the C's should take it slow with Theis. Thompson should start.

Not all knee surgeries are equal.  This was a minor one to “remove a lose body”, and there’s been a full recovery.

I haven’t heard anything from the team about an impact on his playing time.

Good points about his post-surgery, though his knees are vulnerable. I would not bet on a long career.

I agree that he’s a better finisher and defender, too.

Theis is a mediocre rebounder. Thompson is better, especially on the offensive board, but he’s a long way from elite.

Theis’ big strength on offense is he’s an outstanding roll man.  He became much more valuable to the Celtics last year when they revamped the offense to take advantage of Kemba Walker‘s pick and roll skills, but Daniel had great chemistry in the two-man game with Tatum as well. He’s just brilliant at running interference for a ballhandler.

Theis played pretty much exclusively center last year, and that’s likely where he’s going to stay. He has good length and anticipation, but he doesn’t have the mobility to guard most 4’s out on the floor, and on the other hand, he is an excellent rim protector and good pnr defender, so you’re not likely to see him on the floor with Thompson a lot.

I didn’t notice anyone mention Grant Williams in this thread, but he got a fair amount of his minutes – including fourth-quarter minutes - at center, due to his switchability.
'I was proud of Marcus Smart. He did a great job of keeping us together. He might not get credit for this game, but the pace that he played at, and his playcalling, some of the plays that he called were great. We obviously have to rely on him, so I’m definitely looking forward to Marcus leading this team in that role.' - Jaylen Brown, January 2021

Re: Who starts: Theis or Thompson?
« Reply #32 on: December 02, 2020, 08:37:55 AM »

Online Vermont Green

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A lot of people seem to think Theis should play over Thompson and that our core line up will be Walker-Smart-Brown-Tatum-Theis.  I don't like this core unit as it is undersized at almost every position.  Even if there are things that Theis can do that Thompson can't (or not as well), Thompson provides the size and strength that this units needs most.  It is not a big swing in talent, both of these bigs are pretty marginal but I think there is benefit to having at least one true "banger" on the floor with this core unit.

I further think there is a chance that Theis can adapt his game to more of a power forward over a center/banger that he was forced to try to be last season.  Right now, and based on last season, the Celtics don't have the personnel to play with two bigs on the floor, or if they do, they give up a lot of skill.  Teams need to be able to play 2 bigs sometimes.  You can't always play small ball.  If Theis can adapt his game some and get back to shooting 39% from 3 (to match 2018-19), a line up with Theis and Thompson on the floor could work and be their 2 big formation to use when they need to.

We may well see a lot of Smart-Brown-Tatum-Theis-Thompson this season.  For that line up to work best, Theis will need to adjust and improve.
« Last Edit: December 02, 2020, 08:54:25 AM by Vermont Green »

Re: Who starts: Theis or Thompson?
« Reply #33 on: December 02, 2020, 08:49:44 AM »

Offline Surferdad

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OK, I'll be corny and say, "It's not who starts but who finishes that is most important."

Walker
Smart
Brown
Tatum
Thompson

Re: Who starts: Theis or Thompson?
« Reply #34 on: December 02, 2020, 11:50:05 AM »

Offline Hoopvortex

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I’m a little surprised to see so much confidence in this thread that we’ll see lineups with two bigs. I think it’s unlikely (unless you count Grant and Semi as bigs). No two of Theis, Kanter, or TL virtually ever shared the floor together last season.

On the other hand we did see a lot of Grant at center last year, as a rookie, including substantial crunch-time minutes.
'I was proud of Marcus Smart. He did a great job of keeping us together. He might not get credit for this game, but the pace that he played at, and his playcalling, some of the plays that he called were great. We obviously have to rely on him, so I’m definitely looking forward to Marcus leading this team in that role.' - Jaylen Brown, January 2021