Welcome to Boston Chris Cenac Jr!

[Atzar]

Do people accept the "Coach told me to rebound the ball instead of blocking shots" explanation for the lack of rim protection?

I remember that trying to block too many shots was a major problem for Sean Williams, in that the analytics showed that despite elite shot-blocking numbers he wasn't that defensively effective, leaving himself out of position for stops and rebounds. 

That said, for a bouncy kid with a 7'5" wingspan, I was surprised that he got so few swats.

I generally think that Kelvin Sampson is an excellent college basketball coach who puts his players in positions to succeed.  So I suspect that the decision to prioritize rebounding over shot-blocking is a sign that Cenac is more helpful to a basketball team when he rebounds rather than trying to block shots. 

In other words... not really.  Good coaches don't do things arbitrarily.  It's pretty clearly a weakness for him, and I also agree with Who that a guy with his physical tools should average more than a half a block per game even if he's not actively hunting blocks. 

He's a project.  But I'm a believer in our player development.

[keevsnick]

Do people accept the "Coach told me to rebound the ball instead of blocking shots" explanation for the lack of rim protection?

I remember that trying to block too many shots was a major problem for Sean Williams, in that the analytics showed that despite elite shot-blocking numbers he wasn't that defensively effective, leaving himself out of position for stops and rebounds. 

That said, for a bouncy kid with a 7'5" wingspan, I was surprised that he got so few swats.

I generally think that Kelvin Sampson is an excellent college basketball coach who puts his players in positions to succeed.  So I suspect that the decision to prioritize rebounding over shot-blocking is a sign that Cenac is more helpful to a basketball team when he rebounds rather than trying to block shots. 

In other words... not really.  Good coaches don't do things arbitrarily.  It's pretty clearly a weakness for him, and I also agree with Who that a guy with his physical tools should average more than a half a block per game even if he's not actively hunting blocks. 

He's a project.  But I'm a believer in our player development.

I can't remember where I saw this, but if I remember correctly he held opponents to sub 50% shooting on FG's he directly defended at the rim. So even if he wasn't blocking a ton of shots he was at least disruptive on the contest.

It may be a situation where he has problems getting to the right spot consistently, but when he does he can be disruptive. If thats the case it may be something he can iron out.

[Celtics4ever]

I love this pick, his athletic potential and size are enticing.   Skills can be developed and improved upon, fast twitch muscles not so much.

I do believe he was told to rebound as a priority, I read you don't rebound you don't play in Houston.

[Who]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE9BmDfhc20

Compared Cenac to (1) Marquesse Chris (2) Christian Wood

Similar types of prospects. They did not work out but the analyst felt that was because of personality issues which are not an issue for Cenac. He felt Cenac's future is equivalent to what people thought the best case scenario was for M Chris or C Wood.

Strange comparisons but still interesting.

The analyst also preferred Cenac over Taris Reed Jr. Felt BOS got the better of that one.