Moultrie apparently hurt his stock at the combine as he was one of the worst interviews. He refused to work out at the combine because they were putting him with the centers - shows an aversion to getting down low and doing what most teams would want these days from a 6'11" athlete. And like people said, he's a guy who passes the eye test and had numbers but never really stuck out.
Now, I was hoping for Moultrie, too, because I want that big athlete that can run the floor with Rondo. Celtics haven't had a big man to run the floor in a while. Perk, Davis, Bass, Stiemsma, Jermaine when healthy, Shaq, Sheed, even post-injury Garnett, all of them are/were really below the rim players. I wanted somebody who can sky. Hopefully Melo can have enough athleticism to at least run the floor and catch some alley oops. Lord knows Sullinger doesn't.
But what does it say about the team philosophy? Everybody and their mother is talking about how the entire league is heading toward athleticism, you have to have a team of athletes to compete in this NBA. Look at Lebron, Wade, Durant, Westbrook, Rose, Howard, Griffin - that's the future. Well, maybe Ainge is just doubling down saying "no, we're sticking with a traditional style and we think basketball players can beat athletes in a basketball game." Don't know if it'll work but the fact that the guys you always saw linked to the Celtics - Sullinger, White, Nicholson, Melo, Rivers - were really basketball skill guys (except Melo, who is still about traditional size and shotblocking ability as opposed to athleticism) not athletes. Looks like Danny isn't buying into the idea that to succeed now, you absolutely have to be all about athleticism. We'll see if it works.
We're gonna slap Jared Sullinger on the block and make you commit your post presence to defending him. We're gonna have Garnett or Melo on the floor to keep you from getting to the basket. Melo may not be a polished player by any stretch but he already has two things that have known basketball value - shotblocking ability and size. A great athlete doesn't necessarily cause you any problems if he doesn't know what he's doing (maybe why Moultrie dropped). But an incredibly big player can cause problems even if he doesn't have skill (see Perk). Sullinger is a terrible athlete but he has basketball skill. He can play basketball. And that's still the game.
Will they work out? Don't know. Are they gonna run teams off the floor? No. But is there a logical strategy there? From what I can see, absolutely. And it might be the smarter strategy than just throwing a bunch of athletes who don't know how to play basketball aat Lebron and Durant. People get caught up in the idea that the game is going to be ALL about athleticism because Lebron, Durant, Westbrook and Wade have terrific athleticism. But it's the fact that they can also play basketball that makes them such weapons. I'd rather have basketball players who aren't elite athletes than super athletes who don't know how to take advantage of that on a basketball court.
Topic: Forget PJ3, Why not Moultrie? (Read 2632 times)