guess we may find out against the Knicks if Sully can actually play.
It's still pre-season. Yeah, it'll be another data point, but all we've seen of Sullinger is Summer League and two games against Euro-league teams. I want to see what he can do it against NBA players in real NBA games...ie. the regular season.
I've been, and still am, a Sullinger doubter. Not a hater, but I have had my doubts about him since before the draft. I always figured he would be able to rebound and that's something the C's need, but *just* rebounding isn't good enough, and that's where my questions start. It appears that he has poor lateral quickness and doesn't have exceptionally long arms or a lot of lift to make up for his lack of ideal height. Can he handle NBA PF's who are quicker and/or longer than he is? Will he be able to keep them from shooting over him, driving past him? Is he going to be able to make the defensive rotations...I think he'll learn them, but can he do them quickly enough to stop pick and rolls, for example? Offensively, will he be able to get his post shots off without getting them batted back into his face? Can he hit a 12-15 foot jump shot consistently?
To me, those questions remained after Summer League. He did rebound well, but he was also bothered by longer/quicker big men and he did look a bit slow on rotations. But that was Summer League where big men don't thrive (not when all the little men are taking shots every chance they get). The two games against Euro-league teams don't mean a lot.
Now, otoh, if he continues to play at the level he showed in the first two games through the rest of pre-season and the first month of the season I'll have to change my mind. I hope he does and if he does, I won't mind eating crow one little bit.
However, for now...no Bass isn't in the way.