Brad Stevens on areas C's need to improve

[crimson_stallion]

The thing most people don't seem to realise is that you can't JUST get a rim protector.  You need to get a rim protector who is skilled enough overall that you can afford to play him starters minutes...because there is no use in a rim protector who plays 5 minutes a game.

How many rim protectors are there in this league who are also starting caliber players?

This is where you can remove guys like Biyombo from the list.

And I get the feeling that you're severely underrating the 2013-2014 Spurs. They're not just some well-coached team of role players. That team still had Parker, Duncan, Ginobili (who turns it on exclusively for the playoffs) and the 2015 DPOY in Leonard. I don't think we have a player on the level of those 4.

So you don't think we have a player of the caliber of a 38 year old Ginobili, a 38 year old Duncan, or a 34 year old Parker?

I'd like to hear somebody explain what Parker does better than Isaiah Thomas, because I've got nothin'. 

Score?  Nope.
Pass?  Nope.
Defend?  Nope (Parker was one of the few guys with a worse Defensive RPM than Thomas)
Rebound?  Nope

The answer is, nothing.  There is nothing Parker does better than Thomas other than simply being a few inches taller.

I think we have a number of guys who are better players than Ginobilli is right now. Pretty much everybody except Wallace and Pressey.

Duncan and Leonard present tougher challenges.

[littleteapot]

In general, very small guys like Isaiah who aren't very physical can do all the same things as everyone else usually, but if anything goes wrong they don't have a physical advantage to fall back on and they make mistakes.

This particular case is kind of silly as Parker is a much better ball handler and yes he is a better defender. You can't really use a plus/minus stat to compare a starter and a bench player because the starter has to play more minutes and plays against better competition. Part of the reason Thomas is a bench player is that there is usually another bench guard you can hide him on defensively.

[Tr1boy]

The thing most people don't seem to realise is that you can't JUST get a rim protector.  You need to get a rim protector who is skilled enough overall that you can afford to play him starters minutes...because there is no use in a rim protector who plays 5 minutes a game.

How many rim protectors are there in this league who are also starting caliber players?

This is where you can remove guys like Biyombo from the list.

And I get the feeling that you're severely underrating the 2013-2014 Spurs. They're not just some well-coached team of role players. That team still had Parker, Duncan, Ginobili (who turns it on exclusively for the playoffs) and the 2015 DPOY in Leonard. I don't think we have a player on the level of those 4.

So you don't think we have a player of the caliber of a 38 year old Ginobili, a 38 year old Duncan, or a 34 year old Parker?

I'd like to hear somebody explain what Parker does better than Isaiah Thomas, because I've got nothin'. 

Score?  Nope.
Pass?  Nope.
Defend?  Nope (Parker was one of the few guys with a worse Defensive RPM than Thomas)
Rebound?  Nope

The answer is, nothing.  There is nothing Parker does better than Thomas other than simply being a few inches taller.

I think we have a number of guys who are better players than Ginobilli is right now. Pretty much everybody except Wallace and Pressey.

Duncan and Leonard present tougher challenges.

Rim protector that can stay on the floor. Doesnt have to start. For example the role Brandan Wright played for Dallas and ezeli for gsw.

[hwangjini_1]

The thing most people don't seem to realise is that you can't JUST get a rim protector.  You need to get a rim protector who is skilled enough overall that you can afford to play him starters minutes...because there is no use in a rim protector who plays 5 minutes a game.

How many rim protectors are there in this league who are also starting caliber players?

This is where you can remove guys like Biyombo from the list.

And I get the feeling that you're severely underrating the 2013-2014 Spurs. They're not just some well-coached team of role players. That team still had Parker, Duncan, Ginobili (who turns it on exclusively for the playoffs) and the 2015 DPOY in Leonard. I don't think we have a player on the level of those 4.

So you don't think we have a player of the caliber of a 38 year old Ginobili, a 38 year old Duncan, or a 34 year old Parker?

I'd like to hear somebody explain what Parker does better than Isaiah Thomas, because I've got nothin'. 

Score?  Nope.
Pass?  Nope.
Defend?  Nope (Parker was one of the few guys with a worse Defensive RPM than Thomas)
Rebound?  Nope

The answer is, nothing.  There is nothing Parker does better than Thomas other than simply being a few inches taller.

I think we have a number of guys who are better players than Ginobilli is right now. Pretty much everybody except Wallace and Pressey.

Duncan and Leonard present tougher challenges.

Rim protector that can stay on the floor. Doesnt have to start. For example the role Brandan Wright played for Dallas and ezeli for gsw.

is this the same brandan wright the celtics traded away last season?

[Birdman]

Center!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[slamtheking]

The thing most people don't seem to realise is that you can't JUST get a rim protector.  You need to get a rim protector who is skilled enough overall that you can afford to play him starters minutes...because there is no use in a rim protector who plays 5 minutes a game.

How many rim protectors are there in this league who are also starting caliber players?

This is where you can remove guys like Biyombo from the list.

And I get the feeling that you're severely underrating the 2013-2014 Spurs. They're not just some well-coached team of role players. That team still had Parker, Duncan, Ginobili (who turns it on exclusively for the playoffs) and the 2015 DPOY in Leonard. I don't think we have a player on the level of those 4.

So you don't think we have a player of the caliber of a 38 year old Ginobili, a 38 year old Duncan, or a 34 year old Parker?

I'd like to hear somebody explain what Parker does better than Isaiah Thomas, because I've got nothin'. 

Score?  Nope.
Pass?  Nope.
Defend?  Nope (Parker was one of the few guys with a worse Defensive RPM than Thomas)
Rebound?  Nope

The answer is, nothing.  There is nothing Parker does better than Thomas other than simply being a few inches taller.

I think we have a number of guys who are better players than Ginobilli is right now. Pretty much everybody except Wallace and Pressey.

Duncan and Leonard present tougher challenges.

I think you'd be hardpressed to find anyone who wouldn't take current Parker over current IT.

from what I've seen of Parker and IT, I'd give the nod to Parker in scoring, passing and defending (seems to be more of an effort issue with Parker whereas IT doesn't defend that well in general and can be picked on in the post) and I'd definitely give the edge to Parker in ballhandling-->saw IT play like he was out of his league in pressure games, particularly the playoffs, whereas Parker has shown he can run a team under pressure without making difficult passes or turnovers like IT (IT had difficulties making passes because couldn't see over/around the defender, couldn't pass over the defender, made a number of jump-passes just to get the ball to someone else).

[MikeJelly]

Soooooo this means we want Hezonja right?

[hwangjini_1]

Soooooo this means we want Hezonja right?

he would be a great addition to the celtics. the celtics needs scoring and hezonja should provide that and more. the real challenge would seem to lie in moving high enough in the draft to get him.

[SHAQATTACK]

We need multiple " Blonde Bombshell "  reporters .....always can use extras 

[fairweatherfan]

And I get the feeling that you're severely underrating the 2013-2014 Spurs. They're not just some well-coached team of role players. That team still had Parker, Duncan, Ginobili (who turns it on exclusively for the playoffs) and the 2015 DPOY in Leonard. I don't think we have a player on the level of those 4.

So you don't think we have a player of the caliber of a 38 year old Ginobili, a 38 year old Duncan, or a 34 year old Parker?

I'd like to hear somebody explain what Parker does better than Isaiah Thomas, because I've got nothin'. 

Shoot over 33% in a playoff series?

Anyway, Parker turned 32 midway through the 2014 Playoffs.  He won't be 34 until next May.  I think you can make a good case that Thomas is better than Parker going forward, since he's far younger and Parker showed significant slowing after his hamstring injury, but it's kinda hard to argue Thomas could be relied on to match what Parker's done in the Spurs' championship runs.

[Vermont Green]

I seem to start a lot of posts with "I know I am probably in the minority" but here I go again.  I don't think a rim protector is all that important.  I think it is far more important to have 5 good defenders who play good team defense.  A "rim protector" can be important if you play sloppy perimeter defense but playing better perimeter defense would probably be better for the team's overall defense.

Unless you consider Bogut a "rim protector" GSW don't have one.  Cle doesn't have one.  Spurs when they won?  Duncan is a very good defender but not someone who shows up on the rim protector lists.  Miami when they won had Bosh?  These are/were all good defensive teams.  You can be a good defensive team with a "protector" but you can also be a good defensive team without one.

Just get good 2-way players at every position.  There is no need to be so focused on getting the mythical rim protector.  If you get one, fine, but keep it in perspective.

[fairweatherfan]

I seem to start a lot of posts with "I know I am probably in the minority" but here I go again.  I don't think a rim protector is all that important.  I think it is far more important to have 5 good defenders who play good team defense.  A "rim protector" can be important if you play sloppy perimeter defense but playing better perimeter defense would probably be better for the team's overall defense.

Unless you consider Bogut a "rim protector" GSW don't have one.  Cle doesn't have one.  Spurs when they won?  Duncan is a very good defender but not someone who shows up on the rim protector lists.  Miami when they won had Bosh?  These are/were all good defensive teams.  You can be a good defensive team with a "protector" but you can also be a good defensive team without one.

Just get good 2-way players at every position.  There is no need to be so focused on getting the mythical rim protector.  If you get one, fine, but keep it in perspective.

I agree.  The infatuation with rim protectors is about having an elite "last line of defense", but the better the rest of the defense is, the less relevant the last line becomes.  And as 3 pointers become more and more central, it becomes even less crucial.  It's a great asset to have but the notion that it's an essential one is overblown. 

Historically, don't forget those Bulls teams - as great a defender as Rodman was, he never even cracked 1 block a game, and Longley/Wennington weren't exactly putting shots into the stands.  Those teams did their defensive work before the shots went up, not after.

On a side note, I never understand how people don't think of Duncan as a rim protector - in addition to being a strong post defender overall, he's #6 in all-time blocked shots, and #16 in blocks per game, despite playing as many seasons after 30 as before it.  And even in his late career, he's averaged around 2 bpg the last 3 years running.  Probably because like everything else he does, he makes it seem effortless.

[littleteapot]

The Thomas discussion and the rim protection discussion show what we need as a team.

Having 5 good defenders is great, but when you get a player like Isiah Thomas who is going to be a liability on D, what are you supposed to do? Not play him because of your ideal of 5 good defenders? The bottom line is that we need all start caliber players, because there is no such thing as a "team of role players" - you end up with a team of players with very unique talents and very unique flaws. In order to take advantage of all the things Isaiah Thomas does well, we are going to need a guy who is great at multiple things to make up for all the things Thomas does poorly.

[Evantime34]

The Thomas discussion and the rim protection discussion show what we need as a team.

Having 5 good defenders is great, but when you get a player like Isiah Thomas who is going to be a liability on D, what are you supposed to do? Not play him because of your ideal of 5 good defenders? The bottom line is that we need all start caliber players, because there is no such thing as a "team of role players" - you end up with a team of players with very unique talents and very unique flaws. In order to take advantage of all the things Isaiah Thomas does well, we are going to need a guy who is great at multiple things to make up for all the things Thomas does poorly.

I think the way you get the most out of Thomas' talents is to play him off the bench so that he doesn't have to guard elite starting guards. I don't really think we should be drafting players based on their fit around a 6th man (or anyone else currently on this team besides Smart for that matter).

[littleteapot]

I think the way you get the most out of Thomas' talents is to play him off the bench so that he doesn't have to guard elite starting guards. I don't really think we should be drafting players based on their fit around a 6th man (or anyone else currently on this team besides Smart for that matter).

No, we should draft really good assets so we can get superstars on D and O and Isaiah Thomas isn't required to be a help defender. Unfortunately you basically need to be 7 feet tall to (with like 2 exceptions) be a superstar defensive player.