Is Avery Bradley destined to be a Bust?!

[ssspence]

He cannot shoot. He cannot run the offense, his handle is suspect too. He has the tools to defend, but I was at the game on Thursday and his defense was not inspiring, let's chalk it up to a lack of practice time due to injury and little opportunity. He lacks the size to play SG full time IMO.

I guess medium case scenario is Tony Allen with less size, but more brains and better handle?

These declarations are premature, to say the least. He's a rookie on a champ caliber team who got no training camp and no preseason.

If nba executives judged players so hastily -- and in such blanket, black and white terms -- they'd be gone about as quick as the body of work we've seen from this kid before pigeon-holing him here.

[Sizzlack]

Guys, seriously? You need to relax on this stuff.

Anyone remember watching Rondo in his first year, when he was barely able to wrestle playing time away from Telfair?

He seemed to work out ok.

It takes time, relax on the kid. He hasn't even logged 100 minutes on an NBA court and people want to call him a bust? Good lord, make yourself some tea, do some yoga, and RELAX!

[Bankshot]

Avery Bradley is just another example of a kid who should have stayed in college to work on his game.  IMO he is a pro player, something I never saw in Giddens but I thought Pruitt had what it took to be a pg/sg sub. 
Remember at one pt in preseason when Luke couldn't hit the backboard much less a jump shot and was horrible at defense,deer in headlight syndrome.  Well as someone put it Avery hasn't had preseason, injured etc.  I wouldn't consider him this year at all.  I do think he should be getting minutes now with the injuries, unless he kills us, which he has been.  If he is going to be a pro player he needs to work through this.  Yes d league will do him well but we are going to need 5 minutes until delonte and rondo get back due to fouls.  Also our starting pg is nate and backup marquis, while both are doing nice jobs (and ray & paul w/ assists) neither is a pg.  So doc needs to play him in situations and its up to him and his teammates to work him through having no confidence.  Even if it works out to have daniels bring the ball up so bradley can defend the opposing pg only.
As far was #19 in draft...where were reggie lewis & rick fox? 

How is it your opinion that he is a pro player?  I'm not saying he's not, but I haven't seen any indication that he is.  Nor do I see any indication that he is a smarter player than Tony Allen, again not saying he's not, but there has been no indicators one way or the other.  Gabe Pruitt looked better than Bradley does now.  I do hope he develops into a player though.

[Sizzlack]

Avery Bradley is just another example of a kid who should have stayed in college to work on his game.  IMO he is a pro player, something I never saw in Giddens but I thought Pruitt had what it took to be a pg/sg sub. 
Remember at one pt in preseason when Luke couldn't hit the backboard much less a jump shot and was horrible at defense,deer in headlight syndrome.  Well as someone put it Avery hasn't had preseason, injured etc.  I wouldn't consider him this year at all.  I do think he should be getting minutes now with the injuries, unless he kills us, which he has been.  If he is going to be a pro player he needs to work through this.  Yes d league will do him well but we are going to need 5 minutes until delonte and rondo get back due to fouls.  Also our starting pg is nate and backup marquis, while both are doing nice jobs (and ray & paul w/ assists) neither is a pg.  So doc needs to play him in situations and its up to him and his teammates to work him through having no confidence.  Even if it works out to have daniels bring the ball up so bradley can defend the opposing pg only.
As far was #19 in draft...where were reggie lewis & rick fox? 

How is it your opinion that he is a pro player?  I'm not saying he's not, but I haven't seen any indication that he is.  Nor do I see any indication that he is a smarter player than Tony Allen, again not saying he's not, but there has been no indicators one way or the other.  Gabe Pruitt looked better than Bradley does now.  I do hope he develops into a player though.

We've seen the defensive chops in Bradley though, so I think he has a better chance of success. He's just trying to find a way to let the game slow down and let it come to him. When I watch him on the floor, it just looks like he's going 100 miles an hour while everyone else is doing the speed limit.

He hasn't learned how to let the flow of the game come to him yet, he's got the natural talents, he's got the athleticism. The rest is going to take time, and I know he'll learn it, he's a hard worker and has earned high praise from a lot of the veterans; he's going to figure it out.

[Brendan]

He cannot shoot. He cannot run the offense, his handle is suspect too. He has the tools to defend, but I was at the game on Thursday and his defense was not inspiring, let's chalk it up to a lack of practice time due to injury and little opportunity. He lacks the size to play SG full time IMO.

I guess medium case scenario is Tony Allen with less size, but more brains and better handle?

These declarations are premature, to say the least. He's a rookie on a champ caliber team who got no training camp and no preseason.

If nba executives judged players so hastily -- and in such blanket, black and white terms -- they'd be gone about as quick as the body of work we've seen from this kid before pigeon-holing him here.

How is that black and white? The only absolute statements are he cannot shoot or run the offense (right now.) I'm not saying he won't ever. BTW - being as good as TA would be quite a feet, many players drafted in the low teens never get that good or hang around for that long (and play key roles on some very good teams.) And I said that's mid case scenario. As of right now he's not bringing much to the table, including defensively (while there may be very good reason as to why) no one has indicated that its not a true statement.

[Bankshot]

Avery Bradley is just another example of a kid who should have stayed in college to work on his game.  IMO he is a pro player, something I never saw in Giddens but I thought Pruitt had what it took to be a pg/sg sub. 
Remember at one pt in preseason when Luke couldn't hit the backboard much less a jump shot and was horrible at defense,deer in headlight syndrome.  Well as someone put it Avery hasn't had preseason, injured etc.  I wouldn't consider him this year at all.  I do think he should be getting minutes now with the injuries, unless he kills us, which he has been.  If he is going to be a pro player he needs to work through this.  Yes d league will do him well but we are going to need 5 minutes until delonte and rondo get back due to fouls.  Also our starting pg is nate and backup marquis, while both are doing nice jobs (and ray & paul w/ assists) neither is a pg.  So doc needs to play him in situations and its up to him and his teammates to work him through having no confidence.  Even if it works out to have daniels bring the ball up so bradley can defend the opposing pg only.
As far was #19 in draft...where were reggie lewis & rick fox? 

How is it your opinion that he is a pro player?  I'm not saying he's not, but I haven't seen any indication that he is.  Nor do I see any indication that he is a smarter player than Tony Allen, again not saying he's not, but there has been no indicators one way or the other.  Gabe Pruitt looked better than Bradley does now.  I do hope he develops into a player though.

We've seen the defensive chops in Bradley though, so I think he has a better chance of success. He's just trying to find a way to let the game slow down and let it come to him. When I watch him on the floor, it just looks like he's going 100 miles an hour while everyone else is doing the speed limit.

He hasn't learned how to let the flow of the game come to him yet, he's got the natural talents, he's got the athleticism. The rest is going to take time, and I know he'll learn it, he's a hard worker and has earned high praise from a lot of the veterans; he's going to figure it out.

I'm sure there are tons of D-leaguers who can play defense, so I wouldn't say he is an NBA player because he can play defense.  Let's see if he can develop any other aspects of his game first.

[clover]

The kid looks good on the defensive end. Having said that, he looks horrible on offense. How many times has he got his pocket picked? When Delonte comes back, Danny needs to send the kid to the D-League for the rest of the year.


I think pg is a crucial position for our championship run. Maybe Danny should look at Rafer Alston or Jamaal Tinsley for our 3rd string. I'm sure those guys would play for the vet min. for a shot at the title.


***Cut Von Wafer***

Eh... Tinsley is too much of a sketch and Rafer's not that good. I like the guard rotation of Rondo, Allen, West for the playoffs, with Nate available in case of injury or when match ups allow us to play small on the wings.

Our pg depth is fine as follows: RR, NR, DW, MD.

But I agree, Bradley and Luke both really belong in ME.

[Birdbrain]

How can he be a bust when he was the 19th pick in the draft.

Being a role-player on any team would be an accomplishment for players picked that low.

Mainly because he was considered a lottery level talent except for the injury. Also because he was also rated as the best player coming out of high school by many.

The point is that if it wasn't for our injuries, he wouldn't be a role player on this team. That's what has me concerned. As many have agreed with on here his offense looks horrible and his ball handling skills are terrible. He's supposed to be one of the fastest guys in the NBA but he can't get it over half-court?! I praised his potential on defense. I think he tries real hard although he really hasn't done anything per se on that side of the ball either.

I'm not saying that he WILL be a bust. I am just saying that what I see right now makes that seem more likely than him being the star many suggested. At best the guy is a small 2 guard. Not a playmaker by any stretch. That is VERY clear right now.

Even if he was 100% healthy coming into this season he would be getting the same amount of minutes.

[xmuscularghandix]

A couple of times yesterday Glen Davis had the ball, went to swing it, saw that Avery Bradley was there, and then decided to just make a play by himself. Baby did this again on a fast break, it’s the one where he handled the ball himself instead of pushing it ahead to Avery… Glen obviously turned it over.

Davis is clearly avoiding giving him the ball theres no way that’s good for this kids confidence.

Avery will get it.

And he definitely should have stayed in college, but the only problem is he went to Texas for their history, despite the fact that their system doesn’t fit his style at all. If he went to a situation like John Wall (where he would be used as the center of the offense) this kids confidence would be through the roof. His story is very similar to Rondo’s except he doesn’t have that “arrogance” or otherwise known as “confidence”.

[Bankshot]

A couple of times yesterday Glen Davis had the ball, went to swing it, saw that Avery Bradley was there, and then decided to just make a play by himself. Baby did this again on a fast break, it’s the one where he handled the ball himself instead of pushing it ahead to Avery… Glen obviously turned it over.

Davis is clearly avoiding giving him the ball theres no way that’s good for this kids confidence.

Avery will get it.

And he definitely should have stayed in college, but the only problem is he went to Texas for their history, despite the fact that their system doesn’t fit his style at all. If he went to a situation like John Wall (where he would be used as the center of the offense) this kids confidence would be through the roof. His story is very similar to Rondo’s except he doesn’t have that “arrogance” or otherwise known as “confidence”.

Not good for his confidence, but good for the Celtics, because Bradley stinks right now and I don't want to see the ball in Bradley's hands. Terrible handles. 

[moiso]

Most people (including myself) believe he just needs playing time to develop. Perfect example is bill walker. im not saying hes now a superstar (or even in their rotation), but last year when he got consistent minutes with the knicks, he did produce. that kind of production would ahve been perfect for 10 min a game behind pierce for us.

2 things haunt the young players on the celtics:

1. because we're trying to win now, doc doesnt care about getting the young guys decent minutes to develop. hes trying to put the best team out there each night to simply win and get us home court for the playoffs. these guys are learning and i dont think doc wants to experiment too much with bradley. with erdin, he really had no choice because theres nobody left on the bench to play center. doc does have other options to run the plays (nate, pierce, allen, daniels).

2. think about the guys on the roster: kg, allen, pierce, shaq, rondo, j'oneal. these guys were all nba all stars and leaders of teams at some point in their careers. bradley must be really scared of the fact that hes being asked to go in and spell some minutes for rondo or ray. its alotta pressure on a young kid so hes confidence is gonna be low. its not like 2006-07 where gerald green was allowed to do whatever he wanted on offense cause we had nothing to really play for and had a bunch of no name guys around pierce.

as long as bradley plays hard and continues to shine on defense, he'll get his minutes in due time.

I dunno.  Bill Walker has never contributed to a decent team.  I don't think there is a spot for him in our rotation for ten minutes a game as long as Daniels is healthy.  Kind of like Bradley, Walker struggles to dribble more than a couple times in a possesion.  Short guys who can't dribble isn't a good combination.

[Birdbrain]

He cannot shoot. He cannot run the offense, his handle is suspect too. He has the tools to defend, but I was at the game on Thursday and his defense was not inspiring, let's chalk it up to a lack of practice time due to injury and little opportunity. He lacks the size to play SG full time IMO.

I guess medium case scenario is Tony Allen with less size, but more brains and better handle?

These declarations are premature, to say the least. He's a rookie on a champ caliber team who got no training camp and no preseason.

If nba executives judged players so hastily -- and in such blanket, black and white terms -- they'd be gone about as quick as the body of work we've seen from this kid before pigeon-holing him here.

How is that black and white? The only absolute statements are he cannot shoot or run the offense (right now.) I'm not saying he won't ever. BTW - being as good as TA would be quite a feet, many players drafted in the low teens never get that good or hang around for that long (and play key roles on some very good teams.) And I said that's mid case scenario. As of right now he's not bringing much to the table, including defensively (while there may be very good reason as to why) no one has indicated that its not a true statement.

Yes no one can prove to you that he will be great because he hasn't been great.  Right on.   

[droopdog7]

I made this point earlier but I see some are missing it. If Bradley is  going to succeed in this league, it more than likely will have to be at PG. So anyone saying that he shouldn't be played there are off. He will get it or he won't make it. Plain and simple.

And yes, he looks awful trying to run the point. Absolutely awful. As others have said, he probably should be in Maine and that may be the only way to help him. And he better be playing pg if he gets there becuase Bradley simply does bot have the scoring ability of other undersized two guards like arenas, AI, or even Nate.

So will Bradley be a bust? I certainly wouldn't make that statement now. But I see that he has a looooooong way to go. I wouldn't bet on him, that's for sure.

[Vermont Green]

You never know how much someone is going to develop, no matter where they are drafted. I remember Billups looked like a bust for what  5 years?  I think people are temped to look at Rondo and figure that Bradley should be better already.  I still see plenty of potential and I would stick with Avery Bradley.

[Chris]

You never know how much someone is going to develop, no matter where they are drafted. I remember Billups looked like a bust for what  5 years?  I think people are temped to look at Rondo and figure that Bradley should be better already.  I still see plenty of potential and I would stick with Avery Bradley.

Lets be honest, Bradley has been a rare sort of bad in his minutes so far this season.  Its not that we are comparing him with Rondo, he looks bad when you compare him to just about any player to ever play rotation minutes in the NBA.

With that said, he has barely practiced, and been forced to play out of his comfort zone early.  While the early returns are not looking good, it is way too early to call him a bust...especially since I think if Doc had his druthers, he would not have seen a court south of Portland until at least February, and most likely next year.