Why didn't Avery Bradley spend more time in the D League?

[FrDrake]

I looked up Bradley's stats with the Maine Red Claws and was surprised to see that he only played in nine games and started just six. 

http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/avery_bradley/index.html?nav=page

I know the Cs had a lot of injuries, but Doc certainly wasn't playing him in Boston and usually DA likes to give rookies at least 20 games in the D-league to simulate another year of college.

I wonder how much this guy will be able to contribute next year considering how little playing time he got especially with the lockout looming which will affect his off-season training.

[Roy H.]

I think the company line in cases like this usually is that the team thought they'd learn more going through NBA practices than in the D-League.

Personally, I would have liked to see Bradley get a lot more run in Portland, especially with Austin Ainge fully capable of providing coaching consistent with our system.

[CFAN38]

I was at the last regulare season game agaisnt the knicks and thought avery looked alot better then he did early in the year. Part of that was probebly the fact that he wasnt dealing with teh ankel injury but hopefully its also his growth as a player.

I think he will give us some good minutes next year driving pgs nuts with his preasure. He just needs to keep working on his offence and he could become a good delote type first wing off the bench

[pearljammer10]

Because we virtually had no back up point guard all season.

[LiamB]

I remember he got called back up after quis's injury in February.
He was playing pretty good as well, I think he had 9 steals in one game...

[Mr October]

Because we virtually had no back up point guard all season.

Yup. Lots of revolving doors on the bench this past season. Bodies were needed for insurance in the least.

[Eeyore III]

I would have left him in the D-League all year.

I like Bradley a lot, but if the Cs are serious about turning him into a combo guard, he needs PT at that spot, and he's way too horrendous at PG to develop at that in the NBA.

He does not see the game like a PG at all, so combo guard is the most we can hope for.

But man, that kid (1) can get his shot off at will, NBA or anywhere else, (2) is a force of nature on defense, and absolutely can defend two NBA positions, and(3) has elite NBA athleticism.

I'd be tempted to accept that he's a dynamic undersized 2, not entirely disakin to a more athletic Ben Gordon with a streakier shot but who defends.  As a 2, he can play with the varsity starting next season, if there is one. 

But if they want to turn him into a combo guard, the D-League is absolutely the place for him to make his mistakes.  That'll be an uphill battle, though, IMHO. 

[FrDrake]

I would have left him in the D-League all year.

I like Bradley a lot, but if the Cs are serious about turning him into a combo guard, he needs PT at that spot, and he's way too horrendous at PG to develop at that in the NBA.

He does not see the game like a PG at all, so combo guard is the most we can hope for.

But man, that kid (1) can get his shot off at will, NBA or anywhere else, (2) is a force of nature on defense, and absolutely can defend two NBA positions, and(3) has elite NBA athleticism.

I'd be tempted to accept that he's a dynamic undersized 2, not entirely disakin to a more athletic Ben Gordon with a streakier shot but who defends.  As a 2, he can play with the varsity starting next season, if there is one. 

But if they want to turn him into a combo guard, the D-League is absolutely the place for him to make his mistakes.  That'll be an uphill battle, though, IMHO. 

I agree.  Of course, the Cs were decimated by injuries on the bench but Avery could have used at least 20 games in the D-League this year.   Now you have Doc saying things to the media along the lines of....we can't just sign a bunch of veterans for the minimum and expect the big three to win it for us....we need quickness to the ball in the playoffs.

hello?!   That means you need draft picks to produce, which means you need young players to develop, which doesn't happen when a guy sits on the bench all year.

[LooseCannon]

I remember people cringing when Bradley got some first half minutes.

I think there were two periods where Bradley got some playing time.  First, when Rondo and West were injured and Nate Robinson was the temporary starter.  Second, after Lil Nate was traded and West was still not playing.

Doc clearly deemed playing Bradley 5-10 mpg a better option than breaking the glass on the Ray Allen, Emergency Point Guard option.

[mgent]

I think the company line in cases like this usually is that the team thought they'd learn more going through NBA practices than in the D-League.

Personally, I would have liked to see Bradley get a lot more run in Portland, especially with Austin Ainge fully capable of providing coaching consistent with our system.

I think in this case it had more to do with the fact that we simply struggled at dressing players.

Bradley is actually one of the few guys that I think would be better off in the D-League than sitting through practices.  How many times have we heard Doc say he's already an NBA-ready defender?  His main problem was that he couldn't find his offensive groove to save his life (and the one time he did he actually put on a pretty good show).  The D-League definitely could've helped his confidence.

[BASS_THUMPER]

d league

what the d stand for

dump

dumb

denied