The case to start Nesmith (video)

[KG Living Legend]

https://youtu.be/jhV5WtvrMKc

I don't necessarily agree here, but interesting concept. Would be great to add a knock down shooter with the Jay's,  Nesmith would only shoot when open and certainly wouldn't take the ball out of the other starters hands much.

 Defense is what they failed to talk about.  Hrs not starting if he's messing up on that end. 

 Pretty exciting to think that the Celtics could bring Schroder,  Richardson,  Horford,  Prichard  off the bench this year.  We should win a lot more games with that type of Quality depth.
 

[nickagneta]

https://youtu.be/jhV5WtvrMKc

I don't necessarily agree here, but interesting concept. Would be great to add a knock down shooter with the Jay's,  Nesmith would only shoot when open and certainly wouldn't take the ball out of the other starters hands much.

 Defense is what they failed to talk about.  Hrs not starting if he's messing up on that end. 

 Pretty exciting to think that the Celtics could bring Schroder,  Richardson,  Horford,  Prichard  off the bench this year.  We should win a lot more games with that type of Quality depth.

Good vid but I disagree he is ready for such a role. Maybe next season.

I love his upside and game. After Ty Haliburton, he was the guy I wanted in that draft. Reports are his work ethic is next level. He is going to have a very high floor, IMHO

[nickagneta]

Regarding Richardson starting or being on the bench, Richardson might not even get a starting nod because the team might want more ball handling in a more fluid passing offense, like San Antonio has run for year's.

Schroder, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford could easily be the starting unit. That should make a great ball movement offense to start games.

Could that unit have each player average 4 assists per game? Probably not....but it could be very close

[KG Living Legend]

Regarding Richardson starting or being on the bench, Richardson might not even get a starting nod because the team might want more ball handling in a more fluid passing offense, like San Antonio has run for year's.

Schroder, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford could easily be the starting unit. That should make a great ball movement offense to start games.

Could that unit have each player average 4 assists per game? Probably not....but it could be very close

 Yes that's not bad,  and really helps with the minute crunch at PG. By starting both you can now play Prichard 20 to 25 minute a night no problem.  Which is great for him and the team.

[Csfan1984]

I'm still for starting PP. His chemistry with Tatum and TL is good and he helps spacing. He maybe the weakest guard defender but he has 4 good defenders around him if he is with the starters. This also makes the bench bigger and gives solid vet support. With JR at the two and Nesmith at the three this means not trying to use Schroder or PP at the 2 off the bench. If you try unit substitution it again keeps the bench bigger and more flexible.

PP, Smart, Brown, Tatum, TL
DS, JR, Nesmith, JH, Al

[BudweiserCeltic]

Right now Pritchard, Nesmith, Langford [and Grant and Bruno] have a long battle ahead just to wear the uniform... Having a tough time seeing them getting rotation minutes, even less starting.

Not sure if the Covid protocol remains in place with a 15 active roster for game nights though, but you get the point. They'll have to beat out some of the vets and really earn it.

[Roy H.]

Right now Pritchard, Nesmith, Langford [and Grant and Bruno] have a long battle ahead just to wear the uniform... Having a tough time seeing them getting rotation minutes, even less starting.

Not sure if the Covid protocol remains in place with a 15 active roster for game nights though, but you get the point. They'll have to beat out some of the vets and really earn it.

It will be interesting to see what Ime's philosophy is.  As a new coach, is he going to lean heavily upon his veterans?  Or, as a guy with a history in player development, is he going to try to force feed some of the younger guys to see what they've got?

I think that there's room for two of Pritchard, Nesmith and Romeo in the rotation.  I tend to think of Pritchard as a given, as we have a clear need for his shooting, but that's probably my own bias.  Nesmith is my draft binkie, so I'm pulling for him, but I could see the Celts trying to give Romeo the first shot at a role.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Right now Pritchard, Nesmith, Langford [and Grant and Bruno] have a long battle ahead just to wear the uniform... Having a tough time seeing them getting rotation minutes, even less starting.

Not sure if the Covid protocol remains in place with a 15 active roster for game nights though, but you get the point. They'll have to beat out some of the vets and really earn it.

It will be interesting to see what Ime's philosophy is.  As a new coach, is he going to lean heavily upon his veterans?  Or, as a guy with a history in player development, is he going to try to force feed some of the younger guys to see what they've got?

I think that there's room for two of Pritchard, Nesmith and Romeo in the rotation.  I tend to think of Pritchard as a given, as we have a clear need for his shooting, but that's probably my own bias.  Nesmith is my draft binkie, so I'm pulling for him, but I could see the Celts trying to give Romeo the first shot at a role.

The thing is that we got veterans that can actually play. I think Pritchard is a given as well, but we have Smart, Schroder, Richardson, Brown already getting the bulk of PG/SG minutes... so what realistic minutes is he getting on any given night? Maybe when we suddenly need shooting, but then we're talking about situational roles.

As for Nesmith, we have again Brown, Tatum, Richardson, even Smart (and maybe Hernangómez) at times getting some of the SF minutes.

The problem is that our vets are also young players that also have room to get better, but have already proven they can play in the NBA. So it's not like we have some old dudes getting the minute solely based on career credentials... I think our oldest for those spots would be Richardson and Schroder at 28. For all the "experience" we brought in this year, we're still quite a young team.

At least in the early going I don't see room for our younger players, maybe if we extend the rotation to give everyone some play. We'll see I guess.

[Celtics4ever]

I would not mind having some more scoring pop off the bench.   The starters have the Jays and this could work.    Reliable bench scoring was a big issue for us last year.  We were 28th in bench scoring last year.

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/teamstats/21/7/pts/1-1

Once the Jays came out it was a big issue and we all know it.   So I for one think having Schroder and Richardson coming off for scoring pop is not a bad idea.

The problem is that our vets are also young players that also have room to get better, but have already proven they can play in the NBA. So it's not like we have some old dudes getting the minute solely based on career credentials... I think our oldest for those spots would be Richardson and Schroder at 28. For all the "experience" we brought in this year, we're still quite a young team.

That is one way to look at it, another is maybe they took stock and don't think guys like Romeo or Grant is going to get it and took steps to keep the Jays happy.   I still think that Romeo is a very good defender and maybe he can learn from Richardson.   I think Nesmith will be fine with some more active coaching.

[Goldstar88]

Nesmith has a ways to go on both ends of the court before becoming a starter in the NBA. No way he should be in there over Smart, Richardson or Schroder.

[dannyboy35]

  I can see the case to spread the floor but I have no idea if he’s ready. I’m curious myself how the Celts will dole out the minutes and see what combos Ime uses.
  This is a really fun defensive bunch . At least on paper. A lot of “ dawgs” that get after ball handlers. I love that.
  Smart defenders too (for the most part )understanding schemes etc . At least they were with Brad up until last season where guys didn’t even get back on defense a lot.
   Where I have zero clue is how the Celtics will run offense. They will have 3 non shooters on the court at the same time a lot with sone of our best guys being Timelord / smart /Richardson / Schroeder .