Celtics (0-0) at 76ers (0-0) Preseason Game #1 12/15/20

[RodyTur10]

Nesmith looked like the game was moving a little too fast for him, especially defensively. But he hustled his butt off and showed some nice rebounding skills. I think by midseason he will be much better.

Pritchard didn't seem to be phased by the speed of the game. He's bigger than I thought and moved well. Very high BBIQ, that was obvious. Kid is going to be a fan favorite in Boston for years!

what i saw that was good, but not expected, was how pritchard uses his limited physical abilities to their max.

on a couple of drives he managed to draw defenders to him, then would either step back and shoot, or, cut in at the perfect angle to put up a lay in. he is smart and knows how to get the most out of his abilities.

i think he may have a long career as a bench player in the nba, and that is pretty good for picked where he was in the draft.

I think the sky is the limit for this guy. He can shoot he can drive.. that makes him dangerous. He also plays good defense.

Pritchard was able to drive past defenders, if he can do that consistently then that's HUGE. Because Pritchard has the BBIQ to make the right play, the range to shoot from anywhere and the handle to finish or dish.

[boscel33]

Except for the names on the back of the jerseys, I would have thought I was watching a Summer League game last night.  I saw some good play and some what the heck play.  To be expected for the first game, but scary they only get two pre-season games.  BTW, PP looked good, but Carsen Edwards looked good in the pre-season last year too.  Let's not over react.

[Darth_Yoda]

If guys like Kemba, Langford and Thompson can't get healthy, we will see more of our 3rd unit.

Langford is third unit.

PP and NEsmith are well ahead of Langford on the depth chart.

[jambr380]

Except for the names on the back of the jerseys, I would have thought I was watching a Summer League game last night.  I saw some good play and some what the heck play.  To be expected for the first game, but scary they only get two pre-season games.  BTW, PP looked good, but Carsen Edwards looked good in the pre-season last year too.  Let's not over react.

Pritchard plays with a lot more purpose and is a lot more dynamic due to his BBIQ. It would be great to have an Eddie House on the roster, but Carsen doesn't appear to be that guy. His spot would be much better suited to another team's cast-off vet wing/swing. Ideally we can acquire a guy like Justise Winslow at some point this season (when MEM eventually falters), but any FA Forward would be better than Carsen at this point.

[jambr380]

If guys like Kemba, Langford and Thompson can't get healthy, we will see more of our 3rd unit.

Langford is third unit.

PP and NEsmith are well ahead of Langford on the depth chart.

I think Langford is well ahead of Nesmith at this point, but Nesmith will have every opportunity to prove himself with Langford sidelined. Stevens trusted Langford to play in the playoffs; he didn't even trust Nesmith to play in the 1st half of a preseason game with several key rotation players/starters missing.

[Darth_Yoda]

Nesmith looked like the game was moving a little too fast for him, especially defensively. But he hustled his butt off and showed some nice rebounding skills. I think by midseason he will be much better.

Pritchard didn't seem to be phased by the speed of the game. He's bigger than I thought and moved well. Very high BBIQ, that was obvious. Kid is going to be a fan favorite in Boston for years!

I didnt find that with Nesmith. I think he was average in this game. his problem, I believe, is that he hasnt played real meaningful basketball in a long time.

[Darth_Yoda]

If guys like Kemba, Langford and Thompson can't get healthy, we will see more of our 3rd unit.

Langford is third unit.

PP and NEsmith are well ahead of Langford on the depth chart.

I think Langford is well ahead of Nesmith at this point, but Nesmith will have every opportunity to prove himself with Langford sidelined. Stevens trusted Langford to play in the playoffs; he didn't even trust Nesmith to play in the 1st half of a preseason game with several key rotation players/starters missing.

Him not starting means nothing at this point. Nesmith is going to be coming off the bench this season, and Danny likes to have people play there role as much as possible to get used to it. Nesmith played his role. Also Brad was running him a little at PF last night, which I absolutely HATE, but for some reason this team begs to have a small team. So no doubt to try and make room for the Indiana boy to play for the indiana coach while moving the superior player out of his natural position.

Romeo in the playoffs was out of necessity. not out of favor.

Nesmith is ahead of Romeo on the depth chart. Romeo at this point in time (assuming he and Kemba are healthy) is behind Teague, PP and Nesmith off the bench and the wing spot.


Side note after my rant:
How long into the season do we see Brad run a lineup of
Pritchard
Teague
Romeo
Nesmith
GrantW

God that lineup makes me want to puke.

[footey]

If guys like Kemba, Langford and Thompson can't get healthy, we will see more of our 3rd unit.

Langford is third unit.

PP and NEsmith are well ahead of Langford on the depth chart.

Nope.

[RockinRyA]

If guys like Kemba, Langford and Thompson can't get healthy, we will see more of our 3rd unit.

Langford is third unit.

PP and NEsmith are well ahead of Langford on the depth chart.

I think Langford is well ahead of Nesmith at this point, but Nesmith will have every opportunity to prove himself with Langford sidelined. Stevens trusted Langford to play in the playoffs; he didn't even trust Nesmith to play in the 1st half of a preseason game with several key rotation players/starters missing.

Him not starting means nothing at this point. Nesmith is going to be coming off the bench this season, and Danny likes to have people play there role as much as possible to get used to it. Nesmith played his role. Also Brad was running him a little at PF last night, which I absolutely HATE, but for some reason this team begs to have a small team. So no doubt to try and make room for the Indiana boy to play for the indiana coach while moving the superior player out of his natural position.

Romeo in the playoffs was out of necessity. not out of favor.

Nesmith is ahead of Romeo on the depth chart. Romeo at this point in time (assuming he and Kemba are healthy) is behind Teague, PP and Nesmith off the bench and the wing spot.


Side note after my rant:
How long into the season do we see Brad run a lineup of
Pritchard
Teague
Romeo
Nesmith
GrantW

God that lineup makes me want to puke.

No, Romeo in the playoffa was not out of necessity. He has proven that he can defend at the NBA level, something Nesmith hasnt. Ainge also mentioned something about Romeo being in the rotation if he wasnt injured.

Our top 2 bigs were injured, you basically have your 3rd big starting with only G Williams as your real backup big. Of course some guys will have to play out of position, esp in a preseason game where you dont want to play guys a whole lot of minutes.

I guess we can ignore these facts just to push our narratives right? 

[gift]

Nesmith looked like the game was moving a little too fast for him, especially defensively. But he hustled his butt off and showed some nice rebounding skills. I think by midseason he will be much better.

Pritchard didn't seem to be phased by the speed of the game. He's bigger than I thought and moved well. Very high BBIQ, that was obvious. Kid is going to be a fan favorite in Boston for years!

Nesmith: I saw the same thing. He's not used to the speed of the game and how quickly he'll need to make decisions. Despite this, he found ways to contribute on both ends of the court. I take that as a really good sign.

Pritchard looks like he'll be a contributor at some point this season, maybe as early as next week.

[Vox_Populi]

Agreed with everyone here. Preseason or not Pritchard, like Grant last year, just looks like he knows what's going on and has enough athletic ability to get there/do it.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Nesmith looked like the game was moving a little too fast for him, especially defensively. But he hustled his butt off and showed some nice rebounding skills. I think by midseason he will be much better.

Pritchard didn't seem to be phased by the speed of the game. He's bigger than I thought and moved well. Very high BBIQ, that was obvious. Kid is going to be a fan favorite in Boston for years!

Nesmith: I saw the same thing. He's not used to the speed of the game and how quickly he'll need to make decisions. Despite this, he found ways to contribute on both ends of the court. I take that as a really good sign.

Pritchard looks like he'll be a contributor at some point this season, maybe as early as next week.

That was a bit to be expected regarding Nesmith. The kid is still raw and much of his success came against lesser competition. Much of his impact on the game in college was offensively, where the gameplan centered around him. He's an intelligent kid and hard worker.

I caught the full first half but I watched the little 10 minute youtube highlights of the game to see the second. What surprised me was how many offensive highlights for the Sixers from the second half were when Nesmith was guarding the man with the ball. I saw effort, good contests, and decent positional defense. Still, his reaction times will need to get faster.

I'm on board with everyone else on Pritchard. Looks like a solid rotation guy. I really liked the chemistry he and Teague had together. That's a small lineup, but I think the offense will run smoothly. That's a lineup that could be exploited come playoff time, but it could also carry the offense for large stretches in the regular season.

[tstorey_97]

If you watched Pritchard in college and then last night?

Same player. He has "his game" and based on last night the game seems it might be a "NBA game".

He doesn't have much lift and thus, when he drives he has to do different things to get the ball in. Kemba or IT he is not, but he knows how to pick his spots.

He knows where to position himself at both ends. He does not "watch" the game...kind of like Smart, but different.

The guy can shoot!  Each of his shots last night were the shots he was making in college.

He plays hard with a high pace. You could see for moments last night he was annoyed with his team mate's pace.

With about 3 minutes to go the Celtics hit two or three shots in a row and Pritchard was pushing the ball like it was the Pac 10 tournament finals.

I'm assuming Thompson will be back and Kemba won't be back for many weeks.

Teague
Smart
Brown
Tatum
Thompson

Theis
Pritchard
Grant
Assorted bench wings who can rise to the occasion or get a veteran wing...now

[Darth_Yoda]

If guys like Kemba, Langford and Thompson can't get healthy, we will see more of our 3rd unit.

Langford is third unit.

PP and NEsmith are well ahead of Langford on the depth chart.

I think Langford is well ahead of Nesmith at this point, but Nesmith will have every opportunity to prove himself with Langford sidelined. Stevens trusted Langford to play in the playoffs; he didn't even trust Nesmith to play in the 1st half of a preseason game with several key rotation players/starters missing.

Him not starting means nothing at this point. Nesmith is going to be coming off the bench this season, and Danny likes to have people play there role as much as possible to get used to it. Nesmith played his role. Also Brad was running him a little at PF last night, which I absolutely HATE, but for some reason this team begs to have a small team. So no doubt to try and make room for the Indiana boy to play for the indiana coach while moving the superior player out of his natural position.

Romeo in the playoffs was out of necessity. not out of favor.

Nesmith is ahead of Romeo on the depth chart. Romeo at this point in time (assuming he and Kemba are healthy) is behind Teague, PP and Nesmith off the bench and the wing spot.


Side note after my rant:
How long into the season do we see Brad run a lineup of
Pritchard
Teague
Romeo
Nesmith
GrantW

God that lineup makes me want to puke.

No, Romeo in the playoffa was not out of necessity. He has proven that he can defend at the NBA level, something Nesmith hasnt. Ainge also mentioned something about Romeo being in the rotation if he wasnt injured.

Our top 2 bigs were injured, you basically have your 3rd big starting with only G Williams as your real backup big. Of course some guys will have to play out of position, esp in a preseason game where you dont want to play guys a whole lot of minutes.

I guess we can ignore these facts just to push our narratives right? 

Outside of the unnecessary final part of your post I will comment on.

1st, in the playoffs last season out wing rotation consisted of Kemba, Wannamaker, Smart, Brown and Tatum. Hayward was injured and Semi is Semi. So yeah, Romeo was out of necessity as much as anything. He is better than Semi and Green. And I would take anything Danny stated after the playoff exit with a grain of salt as he was saving face more than anything. Media and fans needed and wanted excuses, so Hayward was out, romeo was out. He would have helped, yada, yada. Romeo, at most, would have played 10 minutes a game and would have had no impact on the game.

And yeah, Romeo can defend at the NBA level, and Nesmith, in a single preseason game, has not proved that yet (although his defense last night was solid) but that is all romeo can do. Romeo still hasnt proven he offense in the NBA.

Also, if Romeo was to be counted on so much then team would not have drafted another player who plays his position. I think the hope from Danny is eventually have PP/Romeo/Nesmith wing trio and that might be ok because Romeo can be 3rd guy.

[Roy H.]

I’m just glad it looks like we may have a bench this year.  Between Thompson, Teague, Pritchard, Nesmith and the Williams, we have credible options.

I would like to see us dump Edwards or Green (who played well) for a legitimate NBA player.