Should Aaron Nesmith play more in the NBA Finals?

[Alleyoopster]

When Butler hit his 3 pointer near the end of game 6 with 2 seconds on the time clock I said to myself, why isn't Nesmith guarding him in that situation? He's taller and has a much higher reach than Smart. It's likely he would have made it more difficult for Butler to get that shot off.

In the upcoming series the Warriors have numerous great outside shooters such as Curry, Thompson, Poole, Green(at crunch time) and Wiggins. Even their backups are good shooters,e.g., Bjelica, Porter Jr., Looney.

Keeping them in check may end up being a Herculean and tiring process. The Celtics are going to have to protect that line! My feeling - Nesmith might do a decent job defending against the 3 pointer.

I recall last season (before he got hurt again) Romeo Langford's reach often made outside shooters think twice before
letting it fly. Perhaps Nesmith, who possesses a similar physique and greater verticality, may make it just as hard to shoot over.

I realize his lateral movement isn't all that good. Yet, almost every player on the court gets screened anyways. Even Marcus Smart gets picked off and needs to recover or switch on almost every pick.

When White gets screened he sometimes recovers and tries to swat the ball from behind. Nesmith's athleticism and reach could prove even more distracting. He's also blocked a number of layup attempts this year making him a possible momentum changer. 

On the offensive front Nesmith can drive to the hoop and hit the open mid-range jumper. Having an extra slasher on the court could relieve some pressure off Brown and Tatum.

Unfortunately, Ime will likely stick with his short rotation regardless of how the team is doing. I believe he should at least experiment with letting Aaron get more playing time. 

[Celtics2021]

No, he should not.

[Roy H.]

I like Nesmith, but I can’t think of many situations where I’d trust him over Smart, White, Brown, Tatum or Grant right now.  He’s still too undisciplined, and his offense is quite inconsistent.

[ozgod]

Probably unwise to throw someone in after they haven't been an active part of the core team for the entire playoffs. The Finals is not the best time to experiment.

[Goldstar88]

He could barely get minutes in the regular season, so he’s clearly not ready to play in the Finals. I’d like to watch him in the summer league, though. Haven’t given up on him, yet.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Sorry but this gets an "lol" from me, due to the reasons stated above by other posters.

[droopdog7]

Wut?

[Alleyoopster]

Another angle I hadn't thought of.

Curry will likely match up pretty well guarding Smart, White and Prichard. But, if Boston went with a bigger lineup and substituted another forward like Grant Williams they might be able to overpower Curry in the paint. 

Could Nesmith's height and straight-away speed provide a similar mismatch possibility? I'm not so sure?

[colincb]

No.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Another angle I hadn't thought of.

Curry will likely match up pretty well guarding Smart, White and Prichard. But, if Boston went with a bigger lineup and substituted another forward like Grant Williams they might be able to overpower Curry in the paint. 

Could Nesmith's height and straight-away speed provide a similar mismatch possibility? I'm not so sure?

Nesmith can't even get up the court without tripping over his own shoelaces basically at this point.

He's talented but somehow so raw in a way, despite being an older draftee.

[Alleyoopster]

Another angle I hadn't thought of.

Curry will likely match up pretty well guarding Smart, White and Prichard. But, if Boston went with a bigger lineup and substituted another forward like Grant Williams they might be able to overpower Curry in the paint. 

Could Nesmith's height and straight-away speed provide a similar mismatch possibility? I'm not so sure?

Nesmith can't even get up the court without tripping over his own shoelaces basically at this point.

He's talented but somehow so raw in a way, despite being an older draftee.

I'm not saying Nesmith is super talented or should be starting or anything like that. Just that with his height and ranginess, he could make it difficult for the Warriors to pass the ball to whoever he is defending and he could make it difficult for them to take shots. Thus, they'll waste time on the clock if they pass the ball to whoever he's guarding.

I also feel he could provide energy primarily when the starters are in the game. Offensively, Ime shouldn't have him hanging out in the 3 point area all the time. He does nothing there. That's the coach's fault. And, defensively he should work a lot harder for rebounds.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Another angle I hadn't thought of.

Curry will likely match up pretty well guarding Smart, White and Prichard. But, if Boston went with a bigger lineup and substituted another forward like Grant Williams they might be able to overpower Curry in the paint. 

Could Nesmith's height and straight-away speed provide a similar mismatch possibility? I'm not so sure?

Nesmith can't even get up the court without tripping over his own shoelaces basically at this point.

He's talented but somehow so raw in a way, despite being an older draftee.

I'm not saying Nesmith is super talented or should be starting or anything like that. Just that with his height and ranginess, he could make it difficult for the Warriors to pass the ball to whoever he is defending and he could make it difficult for them to take shots. Thus, they'll waste time on the clock if they pass the ball to whoever he's guarding.

I also feel he could provide energy primarily when the starters are in the game. Offensively, Ime shouldn't have him hanging out in the 3 point area all the time. He does nothing there. That's the coach's fault. And, defensively he should work a lot harder for rebounds.

I think we had him go at it in the post that one game in the regular season (or maybe during these playoffs). Could be someone else. I think he might have just been dominating the offensive boards rather than posting up in any meaningful way.

Yea he's kind of big in a way.

But there's a reason there's only one of Jimmy Butler today, maybe a few of Markeiff Morris (I think the younger Marcus Morris plays more in the perimeter). Being strong isn't enough.

For one you just don't really see wings (and bigs for that matter) post up too much because it's not efficient.

And even back then in the 90's when everyone was posting up their wings, playing in the post at the NBA level required a ton of skill. Nesmith has shown none of that. Smart's post game came in his 7th year, I think only in the past couple years has he consistently gone to the post.

If Nesmith even sniffs the floor, him shooting the 3 at 30% and spacing the floor is probably more valuable than him fumbling the ball and losing it 80% of the time in the post.

[ozgod]

Another angle I hadn't thought of.

Curry will likely match up pretty well guarding Smart, White and Prichard. But, if Boston went with a bigger lineup and substituted another forward like Grant Williams they might be able to overpower Curry in the paint. 

Could Nesmith's height and straight-away speed provide a similar mismatch possibility? I'm not so sure?

Nesmith can't even get up the court without tripping over his own shoelaces basically at this point.

He's talented but somehow so raw in a way, despite being an older draftee.

I'm not saying Nesmith is super talented or should be starting or anything like that. Just that with his height and ranginess, he could make it difficult for the Warriors to pass the ball to whoever he is defending and he could make it difficult for them to take shots. Thus, they'll waste time on the clock if they pass the ball to whoever he's guarding.

I also feel he could provide energy primarily when the starters are in the game. Offensively, Ime shouldn't have him hanging out in the 3 point area all the time. He does nothing there. That's the coach's fault. And, defensively he should work a lot harder for rebounds.

The problem is, there's a thing called chemistry, and synergy...and this 8- to 9-man lineup has spent pretty much since January trying to develop it. Making sure that they know exactly how each person operates on the court, their tendencies, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to get guys the ball in areas that they like, and to cover for each other defensively, to the point where the communication is almost telepathic. Inserting a new player who hasn't been in the rotation into a game against another team that has also developed that in the Dubs, whose core has been playing together longer than we have, is really not setting Aaron up to succeed. It's not like NBA2k where chemistry and combinations don't play a part in things. The issue with Aaron is not with his talent, but in the fact that he is often out of position defensively and has to scramble, especially making the right reads on switches, which is why people notice him because he's always rushing to get into position or rushing to close out on a shooter after the team got put in rotation.

If there were no other choice I'm sure he would do an ok job, but if Ime and the brains trust had plans for him to play a major role they would have prepared for it much earlier. If we see him with major minutes in this series it probably means that bad things have happened (i.e. injury or someone else is playing terrible  )

That said, I think Aaron has a future with the Cs. He just needs to be patient. It took Timelord 3 years to integrate himself into the team. Aaron's role is as a practice player and a backup right now.

[gouki88]

If we're up 20 with 90 seconds to go, sure. But he plays in such a manner that would play right into the foul baiting of three point shooters such as Curry or Poole

[Drucci]

I don't know if he should but I have a feeling Ime will use him in at least one game, and not necessarily in a "break in case of emergency" situation.