Avery Bradley

[BudweiserCeltic]

Bradley needs to improve his ball-handling and build from there. I really don't envision him becoming much more than what he currently is, but the last game should be a bit of a confidence booster, so let's see where he goes from here. At the very least he's a solid defender, which is nice to have in the bench.

[wiley]

hmmmm.....I think he's getting overly trashed in this thread.  I'm in the camp who says he's not a PG, certainly not yet and that could take a few years....but there are a heck of a lot of non PG's with similar size who stick in this league......

I personally think he could turn into a Lou Williams type scorer next to a ball handler.  I also think he'll eventually be stronger and be able to just play the backup 2 spot......he's got the long arms he just needs more strength.....

And next to a guy like Delonte West, for example, Avery can guard the 1 while Delonte handles the ball on offense.

I don't see the doom and gloom on this guy as valid....

[myteamisbetterthanyours]

The kid has a breakout performance, albeit against the NY Knicks bench, but nonetheless a breakout performance.. and you guys are trashing him like this.. We were given glimpses of what this kid CAN BECOME.. not what he currently is, as he is currently a work in progress.. But if you can't see the upside in this kid, then you probably shouldn't be posting on this site. This is just ridiculous to me.  Most of you in here are trashing him because you think he can't handle the ball, and he seems "uncomfortable" at times.. of course hes going to be uncomfortable at times.. do you guys think that all NBA players just get right into the league and play at a high level? if you do, you might be retarded.. He played one year at Texas. He should be a college sophmore right now.  He obviously hasn't fully developed his game yet. Give the kid a chance. HE'S LEARNING. You guys are like some scavenging hyena's tryna nit pick this kid's game, like he's supposed to be an all-star at this point in his career. "GIMME A BREAK" - Tommy Heinson

[moiso]

He went all the way to the rim in the half court a few times, which is a nice development if he can do that against real defense.  And a couple shots dropped that he has missed in the past.  His athleticism is off the charts and he is awesome at stealing the ball.

The things that he hasn't improved on are the ball handling and it's apparent now that he has a very low bball IQ at this point.  He doesn't see the court, and I can't recall a guard so unable to judge if he has room to get his jumper off.  He gets his jumper blocked an aweful lot.

He has elite physical ability and is young, so I hope he comes back a new player next year.

[Chris]

Avery Bradley had a nice game last night, but that does change the fact that he still has a LONG ways to go.  He is still well below average ball handler for a guard, he still have very questionable decision making, and he still has a ways to go on his overall court sense. 

The kid does have talent, but I don't think we can take too much from a game like last night, where absolutely no defense was played.

[Senninsage]

He's got incredible speed. He gets to the basket with incredible ease a lot of the times, and he has a great shooting touch. The primary problem is that he was afraid to shoot it enough in a game that actually mattered.

We never got a chance to see how good he was because of how hesitant he was being.

The same is true for Jeff Green. For example, did people see how fantastic a shooting touch Jeff Green has when he's really letting the shots go? Isn't it a [dang] shame we don't see him taking those nice mid range jumpers more often?

I would hope that more people feel this way, I seriously do. Look at Pavlovic last night. A lot of people were looking at that guy like a waste of a signing. Didn't look so last night, did he? He can look like that every night when he's just going out there and playing the game.

Pavolovic can be our team's Hedo Torkoglu.

Avery Bradley has average ball handling, but the kid is crazy fast, and he can score the ball. Sometimes we need a guy like that entering a game, and providing us with a bit of offense.

[Chris]

He's got incredible speed. He gets to the basket with incredible ease a lot of the times, and he has a great shooting touch.

I disagree with this.  Last night he got to the basket, but that is because the Knick's were not even trying to keep him in front of them, and they had no help defense.  Even Sasha and Troy Murphy were getting to the hoop.  However, he has not showed any kind of first step against normal defenses. 

That is one of the biggest things he needs to work on.  His handle is just not strong enough, and his footwork needs a lot of work before he is able to take advantage of that speed to consistently beat guys off the dribble.

As for the shooting touch, he does seem to have a decent one, but again, he needs to get more consistent.  Right now he is VERY streaky, and when he is not locked in, he is liable to miss by 4 feet.  While some of that is confidence, a lot of it is his footwork.  Particularly when he is facing real pressure, his feet are all over the place, and he doesn't get good balance when shooting.  Last night he looked better because the Knicks never closed out on him, so he could shoot as if it were practice. 

Basically, he is just a work in progress.  Unlike a guy like Giddens, he is still very young, and seems willing to learn.  But until he can work out some of those real, fundamental problems, he is not going to be anything more than a D-leaguer.

[OsirusCeltics]

Remember Joe Johnson in Boston? We shouldn't let anyone slip out of our hands because of one season

I rest my case

Bradley's performance is much closer to JR Giddeons and Bill Walker than Joe Johnson.

Did you see how horrible Joe Johnson or Billups were in their rookie season?

I rest my case

Both showed more than Bradley, btw how many times are you going to rest your case?

Infinite times lol
You can't predict the future on what you have seen in someone's rookie season

[Emmette Bryant]

I'd say that it's too soon to say whether Bradley can play or not.  But that's not going to stop me from enjoying what he did last night.

[clover]

hmmmm.....I think he's getting overly trashed in this thread.  I'm in the camp who says he's not a PG, certainly not yet and that could take a few years....but there are a heck of a lot of non PG's with similar size who stick in this league......

I personally think he could turn into a Lou Williams type scorer next to a ball handler.  I also think he'll eventually be stronger and be able to just play the backup 2 spot......he's got the long arms he just needs more strength.....

And next to a guy like Delonte West, for example, Avery can guard the 1 while Delonte handles the ball on offense.

I don't see the doom and gloom on this guy as valid....

This seems like one of the few balanced assessments I've read on Avery.  My guess is that his jumper is farther along than we've seen for most of the season, because he's been playing like a crazed man when he's in there.  Not a natural or likely 1, but I think he could become an interesting 2, primarily, with that sort of shared-1 responsibility you describe.

[jr_3421]

I actually was pleased with the way he handled the ball last night. If you remember earlier in the season when he was playing, he had a tough time simply bringing the ball up the court. I thought he looked a lot more confident but he was looking for his own shot and didn't set up the offense.

[Evantime34]

Remember Joe Johnson in Boston? We shouldn't let anyone slip out of our hands because of one season

I rest my case

Bradley's performance is much closer to JR Giddeons and Bill Walker than Joe Johnson.

Did you see how horrible Joe Johnson or Billups were in their rookie season?

I rest my case

Both showed more than Bradley, btw how many times are you going to rest your case?

Infinite times lol
You can't predict the future on what you have seen in someone's rookie season

Faf, they both showed more than Bradley because they were playing on a crappy team and getting more minutes. It's a difficult comparison to make because of how many vets are on this team and how few there were on that one.

The premise that we can't write a player off after his first year is reasonable. Especially when he's 20, and doesn't show enough because he's playing on a bad team.

You're right he didn't show as much as them but 1. he didn't have the opportunity 2. they were both all stars at one point so he can still be a valuable player and not show what they did.

[Boris Badenov]

Remember Joe Johnson in Boston? We shouldn't let anyone slip out of our hands because of one season

I rest my case

Bradley's performance is much closer to JR Giddeons and Bill Walker than Joe Johnson.

Did you see how horrible Joe Johnson or Billups were in their rookie season?

I rest my case

Both showed more than Bradley, btw how many times are you going to rest your case?

Infinite times lol
You can't predict the future on what you have seen in someone's rookie season

Faf, they both showed more than Bradley because they were playing on a crappy team and getting more minutes. It's a difficult comparison to make because of how many vets are on this team and how few there were on that one.

The premise that we can't write a player off after his first year is reasonable. Especially when he's 20, and doesn't show enough because he's playing on a bad team.

You're right he didn't show as much as them but 1. he didn't have the opportunity 2. they were both all stars at one point so he can still be a valuable player and not show what they did.

Well, if you're going to discount what the other guys did because of the quality of the team, you must discount what Bradley did because of the quality of competition. His "breakout game" came against a version of the Knicks that wouldn't win 10 games over the course of a full season.

Pavlovic, Arroyo and Murphy - three guys who were CUT by their teams this year - shot a combined 13/21 in the same game.

[Fafnir]

Remember Joe Johnson in Boston? We shouldn't let anyone slip out of our hands because of one season

I rest my case

Bradley's performance is much closer to JR Giddeons and Bill Walker than Joe Johnson.

Did you see how horrible Joe Johnson or Billups were in their rookie season?

I rest my case

Both showed more than Bradley, btw how many times are you going to rest your case?

Infinite times lol
You can't predict the future on what you have seen in someone's rookie season

Faf, they both showed more than Bradley because they were playing on a crappy team and getting more minutes. It's a difficult comparison to make because of how many vets are on this team and how few there were on that one.

The premise that we can't write a player off after his first year is reasonable. Especially when he's 20, and doesn't show enough because he's playing on a bad team.

You're right he didn't show as much as them but 1. he didn't have the opportunity 2. they were both all stars at one point so he can still be a valuable player and not show what they did.

He certainly could still become a very good NBA player, but he hasn't shown us anything of note this season.

He hasn't shown us nearly the promise that Joe Johnson or Billups did, considering his draft position I think it is fair to say he's regarded as a lower level of prospect as those two were. Of his opportunities to show us something he hasn't delivered.

[Fafnir]

Remember Joe Johnson in Boston? We shouldn't let anyone slip out of our hands because of one season

I rest my case

Bradley's performance is much closer to JR Giddeons and Bill Walker than Joe Johnson.

Did you see how horrible Joe Johnson or Billups were in their rookie season?

I rest my case

Both showed more than Bradley, btw how many times are you going to rest your case?

Infinite times lol
You can't predict the future on what you have seen in someone's rookie season

You most certainly can predict the future from a player's rookie year. Its not perfect, especially from a very young player. But we have a year's worth of data to work with both at the NBA and D-League level. Its foolish to discount it off hand because other players have been late bloomers too. Late bloomers are the exception.