Got it. I know who Von Wafer is for us.

[KG Living Legend]

 He's a poor man's JR Smith coming off the bench for us.

 Suspect defense, Can shoot the ball, Really athletic, lightning fast, Thunder dunks, So-So ball handling.  Six foot five, and they are both coming off the bench. As they should.

 Jr is still much better. But Von's talent is eye popping.

 The reason I'm happy about him being here is, When Ray is on fire we are almost unbeatable. And when he's stone cold, it's usually tough for us  to beat good teams.

 But if this kid can play well, and be a spark plug off the bench, and Doc actually plays him 15 minutes every now and then, I think we will be tough to beat when Von catches fire as well.

 Either way having two shooting guards who can fill it up, is better than one. And we still have Avery for when Defense is the call of the day.

 Right now the Roster is at a 9.5 overall Rating. I.M.O. the best roster top to bottom Danny has assembled.
 

[Tai]

I hope you're right.

[MF Doom]

I think he will suprise alot of people. He has all of the tools to be the ideal backup for Ray. Hopefully it will click on the defensive end

[Meadowlark_Scal]

I hope so....but i still think we are gonna miss TA's defense...big time.....that is the guy we need to replace. Lebron, kobe and wade didn't go away.......

[Sizzlack]

I hope so....but i still think we are gonna miss TA's defense...big time.....that is the guy we need to replace. Lebron, kobe and wade didn't go away.......

TA learned to play defense through plenty of time in the system. TA was not a lock down defender early on, part of that was injury maybe, but the guy bit on every ball fake on the court. Honestly sometimes it seemed like he just jumped for the sake of jumping and the shooter didn't even fake.

Wafer has never been in a defensive system like the Celtics have, he's never really had to play defense. But he knows that's the key to consistent playing time with Doc Rivers. He'll learn the lesson Nate learned, you want to step foot on Doc's court, you learn to play defense.

He could end up being pretty good, he certainly has all the athletic gifts to do so.

[cdif911]

I hope so....but i still think we are gonna miss TA's defense...big time.....that is the guy we need to replace. Lebron, kobe and wade didn't go away.......

TA learned to play defense through plenty of time in the system. TA was not a lock down defender early on, part of that was injury maybe, but the guy bit on every ball fake on the court. Honestly sometimes it seemed like he just jumped for the sake of jumping and the shooter didn't even fake.

Wafer has never been in a defensive system like the Celtics have, he's never really had to play defense. But he knows that's the key to consistent playing time with Doc Rivers. He'll learn the lesson Nate learned, you want to step foot on Doc's court, you learn to play defense.

He could end up being pretty good, he certainly has all the athletic gifts to do so.

I disagree, I think TA came into the league as a lock down 1 on 1 defender, his big problems were with defensive schemes, which he finally figured out once KG showed up

[celticsclay]

 He's a poor man's JR Smith coming off the bench for us.

 Suspect defense, Can shoot the ball, Really athletic, lightning fast, Thunder dunks, So-So ball handling.  Six foot five, and they are both coming off the bench. As they should.

 Jr is still much better. But Von's talent is eye popping.

 The reason I'm happy about him being here is, When Ray is on fire we are almost unbeatable. And when he's stone cold, it's usually tough for us  to beat good teams.

 But if this kid can play well, and be a spark plug off the bench, and Doc actually plays him 15 minutes every now and then, I think we will be tough to beat when Von catches fire as well.

 Either way having two shooting guards who can fill it up, is better than one. And we still have Avery for when Defense is the call of the day.

 Right now the Roster is at a 9.5 overall Rating. I.M.O. the best roster top to bottom Danny has assembled.
 

I like your optimism and think you could be right to a point on von wafer, he could be a lot better then expected. However, saying bradley, a mid round pick rookie will be put in for defense? That just seems really hard to believe.....who was the last rookie that was great at defense for the celtics?

[CelticHooligan3]

Who is... Rick Fox

[celticsclay]

If that is your final answer, and i was not evaluating defense as closely in those days, its still a long time ago and kind of makes my point. If we accept rick fox as the last good defensive rookie (although he may have just gotten a lot of steals) then we are talking 18 years here. Considering we picked in the lottery for at least half of that and its not a very promising oddline for mr bradley to be a defensive presence...

[Celtics4ever]

Defense is a mindset and staying low and in front of your man.  Its not as skilled a thing as some would make it.   Its an internal desire and from what I read Bradley is the real deal on it.

[GreenEnvy]

I hope so....but i still think we are gonna miss TA's defense...big time.....that is the guy we need to replace. Lebron, kobe and wade didn't go away.......

TA learned to play defense through plenty of time in the system. TA was not a lock down defender early on, part of that was injury maybe, but the guy bit on every ball fake on the court. Honestly sometimes it seemed like he just jumped for the sake of jumping and the shooter didn't even fake.

Wafer has never been in a defensive system like the Celtics have, he's never really had to play defense. But he knows that's the key to consistent playing time with Doc Rivers. He'll learn the lesson Nate learned, you want to step foot on Doc's court, you learn to play defense.

He could end up being pretty good, he certainly has all the athletic gifts to do so.

I disagree, I think TA came into the league as a lock down 1 on 1 defender, his big problems were with defensive schemes, which he finally figured out once KG showed up

Even if that is true (which I don't recall honestly, I remember him being good, but not "lockdown"), didn't we just draft someone who by ALL accounts is already excellent on defense?

Bradley may be an inch shorter, but he is definitely more athletic and has more length. TA came into the league stronger, but that is the easiest thing to gain in the NBA, strength. Remember, he is still very young. O yeah, and he can actually do something on offense.

[jdub1660]

I almost fell out my chair when I saw we signed him(and for the vet min) b/c I was positive that he was due a 4-5 mil contract 2 years ago after a nice season in Houston. Guess they saw something different or are blind to real talent/potential.

GO VON!

[moiso]

Defensive systems don't create defenders like Tony Allen.  Tony came into the league wanting to shut people down.

[guava_wrench]

Defense is a mindset and staying low and in front of your man.  Its not as skilled a thing as some would make it.   Its an internal desire and from what I read Bradley is the real deal on it.

I dunno. Getting a hand on a ball for a strip feels like a skill to be when I play ball. Some people (like TA) have an uncanny ability to get their hand on the ball when it is shown to them by the penetrator.

Timing blocks is definitely a skill.

Being able to stay in front of you man is definitely a skill and players vary greatly on that ability. Desire is a minor factor.

The NBA is so fast that players who lack these skills can fake it on desire. Instead, they are exposed.

Everything is a mindset when we are talking about premier athletes. They have to put in serious effort to be good at anything. But the mind isn't enough. Determination only goes so far.

The only argument to be made is that Wafer has those skills, but was too unmotivated to use them in the past. Considering Hou was a strong defensive team, I am skeptical of that.

[2short]

I don't know if Von can do this but the main thing on a TEAM is knowing your role.  Tony didn't know it right away, or Davis etc.  Tony figured out through his own brain  , vets and doc that when he came in it wasn't to do everything because as cousy said he's a 2 dribble driver/keep it simple on offense.  Tony would come in (knowing his role) for defense and energy.  Nate hopefully has it down this year, offense, ball pressure and team offense ie don't jack too many shots. 
Can Von understand he isn't coming in to take the starting sg spot from Ray?  Can he play team defense and know that he is in for however many minutes...work HARD on the defensive end.  Yes he is on the team for offense but if he can make wade or whomever work hard while he's in on BOTH ends of the court it will benefit the celtics team.