C's Will Feature More Traditional Play from Centers

[Celtics4ever]

Jared Sullinger is the second

Thanks for the laugh.  Sully is out of the league, and Horford was still better than Jared and all NBA execs would take him over Sully even down low.  Even Old man Al is better than Sully ever was in this league.   Sully's D was terrible too, and he was lazy.   I agree Kanter is better but so was Al by a long shot.

For a guy whose name is DefenseWinsChamps you don't seem to value it by touting Jared "Sluginer" Sullinger.

[SHAQATTACK]

i say Lob it in to Tacko

foul out every player on the opponents team

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Jared Sullinger is the second

Thanks for the laugh.  Sully is out of the league, and Horford was still better than Jared and all NBA execs would take him over Sully even down low.  Even Old man Al is better than Sully ever was in this league.   Sully's D was terrible too, and he was lazy.   I agree Kanter is better but so was Al by a long shot.

For a guy whose name is DefenseWinsChamps you don't seem to value it by touting Jared "Sluginer" Sullinger.

Several things. First, don't know why you needed to lob a semi-personal attack. Focus on the issue.

Second, I never said anything about Sully's defense. That post was about low post offense. Not overall game. Not defense. His team defensive numbers were actually pretty good his last year in Boston, but I always thought that was more scheme than actual ability.

Third, I would take Horford overall over Sullinger any day of the week. I'm just saying that between the two, Sullinger arguably had more post up game than Horford did over the last few seasons. I'd still probably rather throw it to Horford inside, but Sullinger's main skill coming into he NBA was his low post ability.

Goodness the internet is becoming a more and more frustrating place for conversation. If you say one thing that could be taken out of context, misrepresented, twisted, and then maligned, then you will be jumped.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

In fairness, Enes Kanter is the best low post big Stevens has ever coached at any level. Jared Sullinger is the second, but he isn't on the same level. Horford and Baynes were servicable if they got it on the block, but not great. After that, you are looking at players like Tyler Zeller, Brandon Wright, etc. who were soon out of the league after their tenure with the Cs.

Heck, Williams, Prorier, and even Fall (potentially) might be a few of the most effective low post bigs Stevens has coached.

I've always agreed with Stevens coaching style. If you can't dominate the low post, you shouldn't be clogging the lane. The NBA rules give advantages to quick, smaller guards, but you negate their effectiveness if you are in their way all the time. Horford, Baynes, Theis, Sully, Olynyk, Johnson, Zeller, etc. could put the ball in the basket some down low, but they couldn't break the defense or demand double teams through their postups. It's much better to build a scheme around players that can break a defense down and demand double teams or help. That's why he spread the court and gave the ball to Thomas and Irving. That creates the most pressure on the opposing defense.

Most teams still don't double the low post, but I could definitely see Stevens developing a part of the Cs offensive scheme around Kanter's unusual effectiveness inside. If he scores so efficiently that one defender cannot make it difficult on him and it starts breaking the integrity of the defense, the entire court will open up.

Still, watch the training camp videos on youtube. Many of them include the bigs taking corner and top-of-the-key threes. I was pleasantly surprised with Prorier and Williams stroke in the corner. Grant Williams looks like a 40% three point shooter. Kanter has a nice little compact motion that seems extremely effective.

If you think Stevens won't ask his bigs to shoot some, you are wrong. That opens the court for Tatum, Brown, Hayward, and Walker.

I suspect that guys like Kanter, Poirier and R. Williams will take the 3 occasionally to keep the defenses honest when they play outside. Even a post up center will go out sometimes to do that. That is how Baynes' 3 point shot was used, particularly his first season with Boston.

Still shocked to see R Williams making 3 point shot.  That would be pretty awesome if he really developed one.

I agree on usage and on Williams shooting. He isn't leaning back as far when he shoots and his form is much smoother. Given, it's not in an actual game, but still that's promising.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

To be honest, I am not sure what Stevens is saying.  He is not really saying anything other than that it will be different.  He mentions that they will "post" Kanter some and says the others will play "the same" but doesn't say how they will play.

My sense from this is Stevens is saying "holy cr@p, we don't have any good bigs and I am not sure what the heck we are going to do.  Kanter can play a little; Theis, Ojeleye, RWilliams, Poirier, Fall, and GWilliams are all "the same" meaning not that good.

I certainly don't think this means they are planning to run the offense through the low post.  I expect to see a lot of pick and roll with Kemba and Brown, Tatum, Hayward, all sitting in the corners waiting for a 3.

He really wasn’t vague at all, you need to see the entire video. You have to hear everything in context when he speaks on how we played with Al and how the bigs will play now. He mentioned Kanter will post up, because he is the only one, atm, who is highly skilled at it. The other guys will be doing a lot of rim running and getting the wings open. Specifically mentioned how long it takes for bigs to develop because they have to know how and when to set screens for each guy to free them (different for each wing) and that he’s impressed with how much Rob has grown in that regard.

I take, from what he said, that is a good thing our bigs are less offensively gifted because of how much our wings are. he basically said that we have so much offensive talent on the wings all the bigs need to do is be an ornament. which should, in theory, make the wings happier because they will have most of the offensive load.

People are saying Al but are forgetting that Morris was a chunk of offense too. Now, those shots/plays for those 2 bigs can move away from the bigs to the others. Kanter will get plays called for him, he’s too talented not to, but other than that the bigs just need to know where to be, that’s why we went with picking up and keeping Poirier and Theis, bigs who are already developed and already know positioning and good at just getting the more talented guys open. They think Rob will be able to do at a high level eventually, but I think CBS may be a little shocked at how much better he already seems to be at it.

[Big333223]

I wonder what kind of ceiling Kanter has as a passer. I don't think he's ever been called on to do much playmaking but if a dangerous inside threat could open things up for the other 4 guys.

And having someone who actually knows how to rebound on the offensive glass will be refreshing.

[Phantom255x]

I'm excited about Kanter's ability to score, and especially rebound which will be a treat to watch.

But yeah, the defense from our front court might not be that great, which is not encouraging when going up against the likes of Horford/Embiid/Giannis/Gasol, etc.

[Bobshot]

I saw a quote from Stevens today, saying Kanter would be playing close to the basket to take advantage of his rebounding skills.  That was contrasted to a quote made earlier in the summer where he would focus on the 3P shot.

That's a big change. As I suspected, Danny and Austin didn't bring four centers into camp to play them on the perimeter.

Anybody who saw Davis, Howard, McGee and James dominate the small Warriors tonite can see that "big ball" is back--to a degree.

It takes a balanced game to win in the NBA.

[Fierce1]

I saw a quote from Stevens today, saying Kanter would be playing close to the basket to take advantage of his rebounding skills.  That was contrasted to a quote made earlier in the summer where he would focus on the 3P shot.

That's a big change. As I suspected, Danny and Austin didn't bring four centers into camp to play them on the perimeter.

Anybody who saw Davis, Howard, McGee and James dominate the small Warriors tonite can see that "big ball" is back--to a degree.

It takes a balanced game to win in the NBA.

Reason why "big ball" is back is because of the new freedom of movement rule.

When it was the GSW dynasty from 2015 to 2018, Draymond could contain the bigs, like Aldridge of the Spurs, because Draymond was allowed to push, shove, and grab the bigs.

But because of the freedom of movement rule, the bigs now have the advantage because they can't be manhandled anymore.

[Somebody]

I saw a quote from Stevens today, saying Kanter would be playing close to the basket to take advantage of his rebounding skills.  That was contrasted to a quote made earlier in the summer where he would focus on the 3P shot.

That's a big change. As I suspected, Danny and Austin didn't bring four centers into camp to play them on the perimeter.

Anybody who saw Davis, Howard, McGee and James dominate the small Warriors tonite can see that "big ball" is back--to a degree.

It takes a balanced game to win in the NBA.

The Warriors had all of their centers injured lol.

[Fierce1]

I'm not totally convinced Brad will finish the season with a traditional big man.

By January, Celts will be able to make a big trade once Theis can be traded.

Celts could end up trading for Kevin Love if Love returns to All-Star form.

[Fierce1]

I saw a quote from Stevens today, saying Kanter would be playing close to the basket to take advantage of his rebounding skills.  That was contrasted to a quote made earlier in the summer where he would focus on the 3P shot.

That's a big change. As I suspected, Danny and Austin didn't bring four centers into camp to play them on the perimeter.

Anybody who saw Davis, Howard, McGee and James dominate the small Warriors tonite can see that "big ball" is back--to a degree.

It takes a balanced game to win in the NBA.

The Warriors had all of their centers injured lol.

But you can see from last season that the bigs of the league had an increase in production.

[SparzWizard]

I'm not totally convinced Brad will finish the season with a traditional big man.

By January, Celts will be able to make a big trade once Theis can be traded.

Celts could end up trading for Kevin Love if Love returns to All-Star form.

Isn't Kevin Love as washed up as Dwight Howard lol

[Somebody]

I saw a quote from Stevens today, saying Kanter would be playing close to the basket to take advantage of his rebounding skills.  That was contrasted to a quote made earlier in the summer where he would focus on the 3P shot.

That's a big change. As I suspected, Danny and Austin didn't bring four centers into camp to play them on the perimeter.

Anybody who saw Davis, Howard, McGee and James dominate the small Warriors tonite can see that "big ball" is back--to a degree.

It takes a balanced game to win in the NBA.

The Warriors had all of their centers injured lol.

But you can see from last season that the bigs of the league had an increase in production.

I'm not arguing against "big ball" lol, in fact I'm a huge advocate of stacking size and length. I was just saying that the Lakers dominating the Warriors was more due to the Warriors not having any centers at all for this game than the Lakers somehow being a magical top tier squad.

[Fierce1]

I'm not totally convinced Brad will finish the season with a traditional big man.

By January, Celts will be able to make a big trade once Theis can be traded.

Celts could end up trading for Kevin Love if Love returns to All-Star form.

Isn't Kevin Love as washed up as Dwight Howard lol

Maybe or maybe not.

We'll have to see this season.

With Horford gone, Kevin Love fits a need.