Hodge Podge Stats + quotes (Kyrie appreciation, etc).

[Fan from VT]

A lot of back and forth about Kyrie, Bench rozier, Starting rozier, young guys, vets, underperforming, etc.

Some interesting random info:

- Of 5 man groups playing together > 200 minutes this season, the #3 lineup in terms of net rating is Boston's lineup of:
Irving - Smart - Tatum - Morris - Horford.

This passes the general eye test of Smart's defense/intangibles being very beneficial, as well as a general smell test given the other groups in the top 5 (GSW Curry-Thompson-Durant-Looney-Green; POR Lillard-McCollum-Turner-Aminu-Nurkic; UTA Rubio-Mitchell-Crowder-Ingles-Gobert; PHI Redick-Butler-Simmons-Chandler-Embiid).

-- (Oh, and amazingly, when dropping the minimum minutes requirement in steady increments, that boston lineup still stands out. For example, dropping down to just 120 minutes together, and Indiana lineup sneaks in, as does 1 denver lineup, but that boston lineup drops a couple spots just because of 3 different iterations of lower-minute but productive Toronto lineups sneak into the top 10 there).


- He is 6th in the league in real plus minus. Also passes league-wide sniff test given the top 11:

Harden
P George
A Davis
Jokic
Curry
Irving
Durant
Giannis
Gobert
Lowry
Lebron

- He is (and this is startling to me every time I check) 26 years old. Will be 27 in March. That's pretty darn young. That's 2 years younger than Klay Thompson, 3.5 yrs younger than Durant, and 4 years younger than Curry, to pick out players from the current NBA dynasty. This means his next 4-5 year contract will cover his 27-31/32 year seasons, which is an excellent investment.

- This is not an empty stats gunner. Look at the team lineup net rating above, and the real plus minus, and look at his individual numbers at age 26:
23.7 pts, 4.8 rbs, 6.9 assts, on 50/41/85 shooting (.603 true shooting).

Despite that, his USG per NBA.com is only 24th, fairly low for someone of that caliber (Harden is off the charts #1, but Kyrie is well behind Durant, James, Curry, Giannis, Embiid, Westbrook, Booker, etc).




Then I see this quote from today:

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/how-can-celtics-get-starter-terry-production-when-kyrie-healthy

"When we play with [Irving], it’s more like a show. We sit back and watch -- watch him go crazy,” said Rozier. “And, without him, obviously we don’t know who the scoring’s really going to come from so somebody’s gotta step up. And we just try to find our way.

I mean, that's on Rozier. Irving's usage rate is 24th! This is not even Lebron/curry/Durant level let alone Westbrook/Harden level. If you can't figure out productive stuff to do with him on the court that's a flaw.




I do think there are too many players, and I suspect the Celtics play better in terms of energy if ANY 1 of Kyrie, Rozier, Brown, Tatum, or Hayward were to sit.

I do think Hayward is being force-fed unearned minutes. If it helps him return to form, then it will be worth it; if it alienates and stunts Brown/Tatum without helping Hayward improve, it is not worth it.

I think Rozier is an interesting piece. I do not like his quotes or attitude. I don't think he is good enough as a starter to justify trading a top 10 1st/2nd all-nba caliber player like Irving, and he is not good enough off the bench to justify his attitude.

I suppose, if I were in charge, I would keep rozier for now just as a stopgap option if Kyrie leaves for nothing in free agency this summer. I would not trade Kyrie. If Kyrie promised he was staying, I'd trade rozier. I would not plan on Rozier as a long-term starting PG. I would also significantly decrease Hayward's minutes; I have been quite disappointed in him. His injury has been compared to Paul George's, though George was much more productive earlier in recovery than Hayward has shown, though their situations were different. If he does not improve, he needs to be treated like a sunk cost so that we don't end up effectively losing him, tatum and brown.

I would not trade Tatum yet unless it was for someone like AD WITH an extension, maybe. I would trade Brown; I do not think he is untouchable.