The Celtics Center Thead

[carlucho]

Ok coach whatever you say , I did not know you are part of the Celtics staff of coaches (because you looks so sure about what the coaches think about players )Oh and next time don't try to sell me Grant Williams as a good 3 point shooter ,because his % is .159 with 7 in 44 .It's funny but now everybody say they knew Jaylen Brown was good since he was drafted (They boo him ,but that was joking)

[nickagneta]

Ok coach whatever you say , I did not know you are part of the Celtics staff of coaches (because you looks so sure about what the coaches think about players )Oh and next time don't try to sell me Grant Williams as a good 3 point shooter ,because his % is .159 with 7 in 44 .It's funny but now everybody say they knew Jaylen Brown was good since he was drafted (They boo him ,but that was joking)

Over the last 11 games Grant is shooting the 3 at a 36.8% rate. He struggled to start the year but has shown after his drought that he actually can hit threes at a decent level.

Oh, and you can doubt me all you want regarding Brown and Wanamaker but if you click my name you will be brought to a page with a link to every past post I have made. Go check for yourself what I have said regarding Brown and Wanamaker.

[carlucho]

And keep your confidence in those great minds (coaches,gms and scouts) that were responsable for selecting Nikola Jokic in the second round, Mark Gasol number 58 ,Rudy Gobert 27 and the Greek Freak 15 and after Kelly Olynyk, Draymond green after Fab Melo and Jarred Sullinger and many others that probe how good they are evaluating players from Europe (I still remember Michael Smith before Vlade Divac and Tim Hardaway , great minds for sure)

[hwangjini_1]

Ok coach whatever you say , I did not know you are part of the Celtics staff of coaches (because you looks so sure about what the coaches think about players )Oh and next time don't try to sell me Grant Williams as a good 3 point shooter ,because his % is .159 with 7 in 44 .It's funny but now everybody say they knew Jaylen Brown was good since he was drafted (They boo him ,but that was joking)

do you know for certain that everyone stated this at draft time that he would be good? and that these same people have been consistently saying what you wrote above?

Or, are you implying that "everybody" said one thing at one time, but now say something different about him? If so, once please show me who and how many posters do this.

If you cannot, then your statement has a very weak, or no, basis.

It is better, I believe, to avoid broad brush strokes when commenting on CS posters as a whole. We are a very varied lot of people. I also believe that most posts are made better when they draw upon some firm bases or data.

Without support most posts do not rise above the level of conjuncture or feelings.

[Somebody]

Ok coach whatever you say , I did not know you are part of the Celtics staff of coaches (because you looks so sure about what the coaches think about players )Oh and next time don't try to sell me Grant Williams as a good 3 point shooter ,because his % is .159 with 7 in 44 .It's funny but now everybody say they knew Jaylen Brown was good since he was drafted (They boo him ,but that was joking)

p--- off with the bolded, there were a good amount of people banging the Jaylen Brown drum after he was drafted and liked the pick.

[Fierce1]

I think that Vincent Poirier needs a fair opportunity to show what can he do to help the team.We are talking about a 7'1 center with good mobility and who was the leading rebounder in the Euroleague.

Well, he is injured and still expected out for several more weeks. Also, he has shown to be clearly inferior to Theis, Kanter and Robert Williams so, not sure he is even deserving of minutes

Again ,How can you say he is inferior than the other centers if he doesn't play ? First you have to give him a fair time of play( not 2 minutes of garbage time )Then you can judge if he is good or not.I can stand to see Grant Williams playing 20 minutes and grabbing 2 rebounds ,while Poirier is on sitting on the bench,Grant Williams is not a center,and anybody can see that.

I can say that because:

1. In every minute he has played in this season and preseason he has looked completely lost defensively and vastly inferior to Theis, Kanter and Williams on defense. Also, all three have shown that they have more to offer offensively than Poirier.

2. The coaches have almost never given Poirier any meaningful rotation minutes. Stevens has even decided that an ultra small lineup with Grant Williams, a rookie, at center is better than what Poirier, who has the size of a more "normal" center,  can provide. So the coaching staff feels there are 4 guys ahead of Poirier in the center rotation. Unlike some, I trust this coaching staffs player evaluations and when and how to use players. I am not one to call for some end of bench player to get minutes simply because I need to see more video on a player to come to the same conclusion as the coaching staff that the player deserves to not get minutes.

3. I have seen bunches of vids of Poirier from his time in Europe and even over there he showed next to no offensive talent(other than dunking) and limited upside as a player. I can feel confident saying that once Poirier's Celtic contract is over I think he will head back to Europe because he just doesn't look or seem like an NBA talent.

Your point number 2 validates my point...2 The coaches have almost never given Poirier any meaningful rotation minutes.That is exactly what I am saying and by the way you are wrong because I have seen Poirier playing 6 minutes and grabbing 5 rebounds with 3 assists and 2 blocks and a plus 10.Grant Williams will need at least 4 games to get 5 rebounds.Stevens and his staff love to have new players on the bench and we have the examples of Jaylen Brown,Robert Williams, Brad Wanamaker and even Daniel Theis.If he is such a bad player that even doesn't decerve an opportunity why they tried to bring him last year and sign him to a 2 year contract, nobody gives 2 plus millions and a 2 year contract and more important a roster spot to a lousy player.

Celts were just desperate.

Watching Poirier in preseason and in the regular season, there's just no indication that he's an NBA player.

Poirier is just an athletic 7-footer who got a lot of dunks in the Euro League.

He's not a rebounder like Kanter or a rim protector like RWill.

And he's nowhere near Theis' defensive abilities.

Fierce 1 Did I say he is better than Kanter , Theis or Williams ? But my point is that he needs a fair opportunity to show if he belongs to the team's rotation of bigs or not,If I see him playing between 15 and 20 minutes and he play as bad as you think, so let it go, cut or trade him ,but don't judge him without a real opportunity.Time will tell who is right or wrong, in February they will have to show is they  believe in him or not.You kow what I remember about a game in pre season when the Celtics were ahead by almost 50 points and Stevens did not put him until the last 2 minutes, I don't know about you but to me that's not fair.

The coach sees the players everyday in practice.

It just doesn't make sense if Poirier plays well in practice and he is not being used in actual games.

Also, if he's not better than Theis, Kanter, and RWill then you have your answer.

Remember, Theis, Kanter, an RWill are not really starting caliber Centers in the NBA.
They would be backup Centers on another team.
That really says a lot about Poirier abilities if he's not better than the 3 other Celtic Centers.

So why would the coach give a player 15-20 minutes of playing time if he's just 4th best among the 4 Centers?

[droopdog7]

Trying to wrap my mind around the Poirier discussion?  Do people think he is, or might possibly be better than what we have?  I agree that BS knows best and there is a reason he doesn't get playing time.  But on top of that, SOMEBODY has to be on the end of the bench.  BS can't just give everyone minutes.  He's needs to establish his rotations and I think in this day and age two legit centers (plus Williams if he comes back) is more than enough. 

I have virtually zero need to see Poirier and lose no sleep over him being at the end of the bench.

[Spicoli]

Kanter has earned the right to start on this team. He is a far superior player to Theis. Once RWIII is healthy he should supplant Theis on the depth chart as well. My wish is for Kanter to start, RWIII to back him up, and for Theis, Ojeleye and Wannamaker to be traded.

[Jiri Welsch]

Kanter has earned the right to start on this team. He is a far superior player to Theis. Once RWIII is healthy he should supplant Theis on the depth chart as well. My wish is for Kanter to start, RWIII to back him up, and for Theis, Ojeleye and Wannamaker to be traded.

Even if Kanter has earned the starting role, he's more valuable off the bench I think. We need offense and the stability Kanter provides with rebounding when the 2nd unit is out there.

[Spicoli]

Kanter has earned the right to start on this team. He is a far superior player to Theis. Once RWIII is healthy he should supplant Theis on the depth chart as well. My wish is for Kanter to start, RWIII to back him up, and for Theis, Ojeleye and Wannamaker to be traded.

Even if Kanter has earned the starting role, he's more valuable off the bench I think. We need offense and the stability Kanter provides with rebounding when the 2nd unit is out there.

I would be fine with Kanter staying with the second unit and starting RWIII. I guess my biggest issue is Theis. He has absolutely no business starting on an NBA team. I think Theis is better than a third stringer but i'm way higher on RWIII. I think it makes the most sense to package some of these veterans and make room for the younger guys with higher upside.

[nickagneta]

Kanter has earned the right to start on this team. He is a far superior player to Theis. Once RWIII is healthy he should supplant Theis on the depth chart as well. My wish is for Kanter to start, RWIII to back him up, and for Theis, Ojeleye and Wannamaker to be traded.

Even if Kanter has earned the starting role, he's more valuable off the bench I think. We need offense and the stability Kanter provides with rebounding when the 2nd unit is out there.

I would be fine with Kanter staying with the second unit and starting RWIII. I guess my biggest issue is Theis. He has absolutely no business starting on an NBA team. I think Theis is better than a third stringer but i'm way higher on RWIII. I think it makes the most sense to package some of these veterans and make room for the younger guys with higher upside.

Timelord is injured and the type of injury he has at his age could mean bigger problems down the line. He also has not shown he can be as effective and consistent as Theis is currently being. Theis playing with the starters also has some truly amazing numbers, some of the best in the league as a 5 man unit.


I do think Williams is the best option to be a starting center next year sometime but he needs more seasoning and it's probably best to get it coming off the bench and being put into the game at the time where Timelord is used to the best of his abilities.

For these reasons, I think you leave the rotation as it is and let RW learn and develop from the bench while Theis kicks ass as a member of the starting 5. Then next year, after another jump forward with lots of development during the summer, you give Williams his shot at the starting job. Makes no sense to remove Theis from the starters when they have such great chemistry with some of league's best stats.

[NKY fan]

Kanter has earned the right to start on this team. He is a far superior player to Theis. Once RWIII is healthy he should supplant Theis on the depth chart as well. My wish is for Kanter to start, RWIII to back him up, and for Theis, Ojeleye and Wannamaker to be traded.

Even if Kanter has earned the starting role, he's more valuable off the bench I think. We need offense and the stability Kanter provides with rebounding when the 2nd unit is out there.

I would be fine with Kanter staying with the second unit and starting RWIII. I guess my biggest issue is Theis. He has absolutely no business starting on an NBA team. I think Theis is better than a third stringer but i'm way higher on RWIII. I think it makes the most sense to package some of these veterans and make room for the younger guys with higher upside.

Theis and Kanter are a few tiers above TimeLord and Poirer. Unless we acquire a clear upgrade we should be playing those two ahead of TL.
And Theis can start on a modern NBA team as most centers are not as smart as him or as good shooters.
Time Lord may not even be healthy enough for long periods of time to develop his game if there is still hope for his development.

[greg683x]

were playing like one of the best teams in the league right now, the teams showing a lot of chemistry.

why would we make a change to the starting 5 just for the heck of it? 

[SDceltGuy]

I have always liked Theis and feel comfortable with him starting against any team but 6er.  I hope the Cs just stay status quo and build continuity over the rest of the season. 

[gouki88]

Kanter has earned the right to start on this team. He is a far superior player to Theis. Once RWIII is healthy he should supplant Theis on the depth chart as well. My wish is for Kanter to start, RWIII to back him up, and for Theis, Ojeleye and Wannamaker to be traded.

Even if Kanter has earned the starting role, he's more valuable off the bench I think. We need offense and the stability Kanter provides with rebounding when the 2nd unit is out there.

I would be fine with Kanter staying with the second unit and starting RWIII. I guess my biggest issue is Theis. He has absolutely no business starting on an NBA team. I think Theis is better than a third stringer but i'm way higher on RWIII. I think it makes the most sense to package some of these veterans and make room for the younger guys with higher upside.

Theis is easily our best defensive big man (and proving to be one of the more versatile ones in the league) and is solid at everything else. Kanter is (and has been for years) an elite bench-big who can start, but has glaring weaknesses.