What if Bradley doesnt pan out?

[Reyquila]

What if he doesnt? And why have you been expecting anybody from traying to change your beliefs after such a lenghty dissertation about being a devils advocate? Nobody should be that disrespectful. You are free to believe whatever you wish; nothing wrong with that.

[arambone]

What if some people wrote Bradley off way, way too soon, and want to see him gone to avoid the secret shame?

 

[lightspeed5]

its all the people who called him a bust too early. still clinging on to that idea that hes a bust, even though when the entire world, including d wade, now know the name avery bradley.

[KGs Knee]

My current guesstimation on Bradley's ceiling is that he'll end up being a smaller version of Tony Allen, but without the frequent mental lapses.  I've yet to see anyone explain to me why I should think otherwise.

I'd say Bradley isn't really that comparable to TA at all.  

Sure both are known for their defense, but I don't think Bradley will really be as good as TA in that regard.  Bradley is good, but his size will limit him some.

Bradley is already better on offense though.  Sure his overall shooting percenatges this season weren't great, but you can see he has good form.  TA still has poor form.  Also, Bradley, even though it was just for a short(ish) stretch of games, was hitting threes and mid-range shots with relative ease.  TA never did that, his points were always from his ability to get to the basket.

Ultimately, I don't expect Bradley to be a star and it's definitely still up in the air if he'll ever be all-star material, but I just fail to see how he won't be at least a solid starter.  TA would be his floor in my opinion.

[lightspeed5]

lol at the guy who said avery's ceiling is a smaller tony allen

He ALREADY IS  a smaller version of tony allen, so how can that be his ceiling? 

[GreenFaith1819]

Avery Bradley, IMO, will most certainly pan out - like miners striking Green Gold .

Anytime a young player, only 21, is recognized defensively FIRST by the league he is already special.

The man has rcvd props from none other than Dwayne Wade. Wade is most certainly a top 5-10 player in the league.

And AB has played the man WELL, to say the least - no fear in him at all vs the league Superstars.

AB will be key for us going forward. If Danny doesn't blow this up (please don't do it Danny), then AB will be our Anti-Derrick Rose, Anti-Wade, Anti-Westbrook....just KG, Rondo and AB alone will be enough to keep us in the top tier defensively next year.

His offense will most certainly come, too. He even showed flashes of this as the season progressed.

Let's contrast the kid from NJ - MarShon Brooks. He is a nice talent, but after those few offensive outbursts from him, we didn't hear much else from him, did we?

Once AB got consistent playing time, his star began to shine, and seemed to shine brighter and brighter.

If this kid continues to work hard - I still stand by my early assessment than we could have another Joe Dumars on our hands. And that would be AWESOME.

But he must work hard and stay hungry.

[indeedproceed]

If Avery Bradley's shoulders don't derail his career, and his drive remains constant, he's already panned out. Way out.

[LarBrd33]

My current guesstimation on Bradley's ceiling is that he'll end up being a smaller version of Tony Allen, but without the frequent mental lapses.  I've yet to see anyone explain to me why I should think otherwise.

Bradley is already better on offense though.  Sure his overall shooting percenatges this season weren't great, but you can see he has good form.

Are we really sure that Bradley is better on offense than Tony Allen?  We are basing this off like 5 games where he scored double digits?  Look at the 14 game stretch Tony had in 2007 prior to his injury:  http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/allento01/gamelog/2007/ ...

I don't know.  Maybe you guys are right.  Bradley got 3 all-defense votes this year (FYI, Tony Allen finished 1st team ALL-Defense this year)... Bradley scored 28 points once.  Hopefully he's a future star.  Doubt it, though.

Projection:  Poor man's midget Tony Allen with less offensive ability and less mental lapses.  

Or maybe he's the next Jordan.  Here's hoping.

[arambone]

"I don't know.  Maybe you guys are right."

this.

[cman88]

you act like Bradley put up double digits for 5 games when in reality it was for well over 2 months until his shoulder injuries started affecting his shot/cutting ability

Bradley was known for his good shot, the kid was #2 behind john wall coming out of high school...it was a confidence thing...once he calmed himself down it came naturally

now, if the surgery fixes his shoulder problems i expect him to continue growing and getting better...hes only 21

[LarBrd33]

you act like Bradley put up double digits for 5 games when in reality it was for well over 2 months until his shoulder injuries started affecting his shot/cutting ability

Bradley was known for his good shot, the kid was #2 behind john wall coming out of high school...it was a confidence thing...once he calmed himself down it came naturally

now, if the surgery fixes his shoulder problems i expect him to continue growing and getting better...hes only 21

I'm just telling you that I've seen countless young players impress in short bursts only to let down their fanbases.  "He's only 21... he's still improving... he was great for a month"... these are all things we said about Gerald Green... who eventually pooped himself out of the league.  That's not to say Avery Bradley is going to fail.  I have to imagine he'll be a solid role player off the bench in the Jason Terry mold (less offense/more defense).  It's just to say that Gerald Green at 21 seemingly has far more star potential than Avery Bradley at 21... and it didn't amount to squat.  I recognize that Bradley was solid this year.  7 points... 50%... 40% from three... 80% from the line.  Played excellent defense.  The bulk of his production came from late March-April.  We're talking a solid month of inspired play and excellent shooting.  52% Fg... 55% from three.  IS that who he is?  Was it just a hot streak?  Probably somewhere in the middle.  He averaged about a steal per game during that time and played solid aggressive defense.  He wasn't very good during the playoffs, but we can blame his injury.  Long-term he smells like a role player to me. There just aren't that many successful 6'2 180 pound shooting guards.

But I'm an admitted pessimist.  When Rondo first showed up and averaged 6 points and 3 assists while shooting absolutely dreadful percentages... everyone here anointed him a future star.  I didn't see what all the fuss was about initially (we're talkin summer league, folks).  Granted he showed flashes, but I wanted to temper my enthusiasm until he proved it.  To me, he was just another potential Gerald Green, Kedrick Brown, Jiri Welsch, Chris Herron, Orien Greene, etc.  I said, "i'll believe it when I see it".  Flash forward 3 years and he eventually established himself as the second coming of Jason Kidd.  My favorite player on the team to watch.  He converted this stubborn skeptic.   It's extremely rare, but the overhyping and unrealistic expectations of late 1st round Celtic rookies eventually does have the capacity to pan out

[pearljammer10]

you act like Bradley put up double digits for 5 games when in reality it was for well over 2 months until his shoulder injuries started affecting his shot/cutting ability

Bradley was known for his good shot, the kid was #2 behind john wall coming out of high school...it was a confidence thing...once he calmed himself down it came naturally

now, if the surgery fixes his shoulder problems i expect him to continue growing and getting better...hes only 21

Yeah but thats the thing. He didnt put up double digits for "well over two months" and this is prettty much why i posted this.

He played in 64 gmaes this season... He only had 20 double digit scoring games. His "break out game" was march 25th... There were only 19 games after that game, and he had double digits in 14 of the 19... so for the other 45 games on the season, he only had six in which he scored double figures...  He had a great great april. But that was by far his best month, and is only a small sample size of what people are predicting. I just dont want our expectations too be too high for this kid.

[LarBrd33]

you act like Bradley put up double digits for 5 games when in reality it was for well over 2 months until his shoulder injuries started affecting his shot/cutting ability

Bradley was known for his good shot, the kid was #2 behind john wall coming out of high school...it was a confidence thing...once he calmed himself down it came naturally

now, if the surgery fixes his shoulder problems i expect him to continue growing and getting better...hes only 21

Yeah but thats the thing. He didnt put up double digits for "well over two months" and this is prettty much why i posted this.

He played in 64 gmaes this season... He only had 20 double digit scoring games. His "break out game" was march 25th... There were only 19 games after that game, and he had double digits in 14 of the 19... so for the other 45 games on the season, he only had six in which he scored double figures...  He had a great great april. But that was by far his best month, and is only a small sample size of what people are predicting. I just dont want our expectations too be too high for this kid.

It's a fair concern, man.  Put your expectations somewhere between my doom peddling and the gleeful optimists.  I think he's going to be a quality player who can help a team... just not sure how much.  The last month of a season is notorious for making average players look outstanding.  If I was a Wizards fan, I'd be saying the same thing about Kevin Seraphin... 22 years old... 2nd season (17th pick)... after being a complete non-factor for his entire rookie season and 3/4ths of this one, he spent April averaging 15 points, 7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks on 53% shooting and 32 minutes per game.  Not only that, but the Wizards closed out the season winning 6 in a row.  Is he the next Dwight Howard?  Who knows...  maybe?...  probably not.  If I'm a Wizards fan, I'm tempering my expectations a bit until we see a larger sample size.  

Then again maybe that draft will be one of the deepest in history when we look back at it in retrospect.  John Wall, Evan Turner and Derrick Favors are all future stars.  Demarcus Cousins is a beast of a human being... Sac fans think he's the next Shaq if he focuses.  Greg Monroe is an outstanding big man already.  Jazz fans think Gordon Hayward is a future star.  Pacers fans think Paul George is a phenom (they wouldn't trade him for Paul Pierce)... and that's before we talk about The Great Kevin Seraphin picked 17th and The Great Avery Bradley picked 21st.  Sick Draft.

[chambers]

My current guesstimation on Bradley's ceiling is that he'll end up being a smaller version of Tony Allen, but without the frequent mental lapses.  I've yet to see anyone explain to me why I should think otherwise.

Bradley is already better on offense though.  Sure his overall shooting percenatges this season weren't great, but you can see he has good form.

Are we really sure that Bradley is better on offense than Tony Allen?  We are basing this off like 5 games where he scored double digits?  Look at the 14 game stretch Tony had in 2007 prior to his injury:  http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/allento01/gamelog/2007/ ...

I don't know.  Maybe you guys are right.  Bradley got 3 all-defense votes this year (FYI, Tony Allen finished 1st team ALL-Defense this year)... Bradley scored 28 points once.  Hopefully he's a future star.  Doubt it, though.

Projection:  Poor man's midget Tony Allen with less offensive ability and less mental lapses.  

Or maybe he's the next Jordan.  Here's hoping.

Well, other than Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce both saying things along the lines that he 'kills it' in practice, I'd say just from what he's already shown that he's going to be a much stronger overall player than Tony Allen.

I'm not sure how you think he'd be a less effective offensive player than Tony Allen of all players but that's your opinion.
It's funny because you use the argument that he hasn't played enough games to defend your criticisms of him and then use the same to say that we really can't be sure about his potential or upside.

If I recall you called him and 'Stinksma' complete busts and bums during the rough new year stretch of games.
You're still leaning towards him not living up to expectations when he's already risen above expectations- I'm not sure why but it's probably because like most people, you don't like to be wrong. That's okay too I guess.

[chambers]

its all the people who called him a bust too early. still clinging on to that idea that hes a bust, even though when the entire world, including d wade, now know the name avery bradley.

+100.
He's already beaten the majority of Celtics fans expectations.
Now the bar has been raised again in hope of failure or something in some twisted kind of way. Kid plays out of skin and basically fires our team up with KG for a completely epic playoff run.
Even Pierce said his energy and attitude is infectious and spreads in the locker room and on the court. Combine that with his results and he's becoming a complete stud.