Doc: "if Jared gets a smaller guy, he's going to destroy him."

[arambone]

http://espn.go.com/boston/nba/story/_/id/8418705/time-was-right-ray-allen-boston-celtics-part

Former Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger plummeted to the No. 21 pick in the draft because of questions about his back and skepticism that an undersized power forward can flourish in the NBA. Through the years, Charles Barkley has proved to be the exception, not the rule.
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"I don't worry about that," Rivers said. "I'm not saying he's going to be a star or anything. I have no idea.

"My job is to put him on the floor with a chance to succeed. If KG is on the floor with him, then the bigger guy will have to guard Garnett. And if Jared gets a smaller guy, he's going to destroy him. If he has to play some bigger guys, that will be harder. Let's see what happens."

Jared can be inserted whenever a non-center-capable forward is in the game. Destruction.

If Jared can get some successful minutes going in any one situation, it will just speed his development all the more. It won't be long until he's having at least some success scoring against much taller guys.

He's going to gradually develop Paul Pierce-like face-up skills so that he'll be able to destroy centers off the dribble and draw a ton of fouls as well. Learning from Pierce will be invaluable to Sully.

Hopefully Sully will still draw the smaller defender even when playing with Melo or Darko.

Wait until you see Sully's 270-280 pound body up against the "much bigger players of the NBA".

[2short]

Big thing for sully is can he play celtics defense (not an easy thing with rotations) and can he hit that pull up/pick and pop like Bass.  If he can do that and rebound at HIS rate then he'll make Bass expendable.  Like Bass, did a good job filling in as a starter BUT his defense is ok and rebounding ok, passing poor.  So good foul shooting, good jump shooting...think there is room for improvement if sully can step to the plate.

[indeedproceed]

I think Sullinger will have a rough few first months, until he can figure things out. But when he does I don't see anything standing in front of him being an elite backup 4 as early as the all-star break. But I'm high on him. Destroy? That seems like a bit of hyperbole, but who knows. Could be.

[SHAQATTACK]

Big thing for sully is can he play celtics defense (not an easy thing with rotations) and can he hit that pull up/pick and pop like Bass.  If he can do that and rebound at HIS rate then he'll make Bass expendable.  Like Bass, did a good job filling in as a starter BUT his defense is ok and rebounding ok, passing poor.  So good foul shooting, good jump shooting...think there is room for improvement if sully can step to the plate.

agree !!  Sulls comes from a good BB family and  coach , he'll play hard and figure out how to get his shot on the taller guys.... Sully seems to have that Bird, Love type instinct to being in the best possible postion  to control a rebound , even if he isn't the tallest or highest jumper on the court.  He has good hands , and I see him and KG  passing inside some .  I also think Sully will do good immediately or get off to fast start , because other teams will lay off him at first, make him prove his game.  Once they see he can play he'll be on the other teams radar and things might get bogged down a bit , he may catch some of the Garnet attention...to which hopefully  he can pass out of to the open man or to Garnet inside.

Its always fun to watch new guys .  With all his new experienced practice buddies , Fab Melo should make great strides this year as well.

[arambone]

Sully is smart. Smart smart. He's been working out in Boston all summer and will have a full training camp and pre-season. He's learning from Pierce and Garnett already.

He's not your typical rookie big man, not by a long shot.

It's exciting to hear Doc showing such confidence in Sully's scoring, and not just saying that Sully will be asked to rebound and not much else. I can't see KG shutting down Sully completely in their workouts, and playing against KG is ideal practice for learning how to score against inferior versions of KG.

I do worry about Sully's back, and the bigger impact Sully makes, the more his back may be targeted by opposing teams. Lots of yoga\pilates and he might be fine.

I can't wait until Doc gives Sully the green light to operate extensively from the elbow, using his new Pierce moves. That might not happen for a year or two, but it could happen sooner.

If Sully is only used as the go-to guy against undersized forwards, that is still a good role. But if Sully is excelling against undersized guys, chances are he'll be just as good or better at scoring on bigger forwards than Bass will be.

In any event, Sully's role will probably be limited simply because he doesn't seem to have great stamina, especially during all those back-to-backs.

If Sully does major damage in only 10-15 mpg for a while, I'll still be thrilled.

[arambone]

You think playing against 6'5" skinny guys is going to be better preparation for Sully to learn how to score against height?

I'm sure playing against KG improved Big Baby's skills. Even Perk.

Obviously no way to prove one way or the other, nor will they in Sully's case.

But learning how to score against one of the best and longest big man defenders in the game would do loads for Sully's confidence. Getting shut down would still not be an insult, considering KGs reputation as a premier defender.

No better way to make a statement to Doc in training camp, that's for sure.

We'll see if Sully's up to the challenge. Being a rookie, he might be more deferential and passive in his shooting attempts.

I think he'll be good enough against KG to become a killer passer out of the post, at the least.

So excited. 270 wisely moved pounds probably gets you some respect from lighter teammates in practice.

[mmmmm]

In college, Sully routinely ate up taller players unless they were very good, savvy defenders.  Sully is very crafty and that hip-bump, twist and under move is really hard for a lot of big men who are used to playing over the top to stop.  Basically, Sully would just go under & around them with that flip layup.

Teams that have shut Sully down have usually done so with double-teams, swarming him.  This is not likely to happen to Sully if he has KG on the court.  But he is smart and as we saw in the SL, even if he can't get his shot off in those double-team situations, he knows how to turn that situation into free throws.

Sully could quickly be our second-best player, behind Pierce, at drawing fouls.

I'm not at all worried about Sully becoming an NBA-caliber scorer.  The only real question is how he'll fit in defensively.   I think if he's on the court with a mobile, long defensive big man like KG he should be just fine - Sully should definitely be able to play the role of strong post / weak side help defender behind KG.   The bigger question is how well he'll fit with our other bigs.  Fab, of all folks, might be his next most complementary defensive partner in the long run (after KG).   I try to envision how Sully will fit defensively with Bass or Wilcox and I just don't see it.  Not enough horizontal defense there.   We can probably get away with putting him out there with Darko or Collins, against deep bench units and just see how it develops.   I'd want some fast, good perimeter defenders surrounding them though.

[bfrombleacher]

Teams that have shut Sully down have usually done so with double-teams, swarming him.  This is not likely to happen to Sully if he has KG on the court. 

If Jamar Smith and the other guy (more so the other guy) would have ran the offense instead of jacking up 3's, I think he would have gotten less double teams.

Is it just me who thinks our SL roster was just full of bad teammates and really affected how our 3 draft picks and Christmas played? The guards were terrible after Moore left (outside of Christmas).

But he is smart and as we saw in the SL, even if he can't get his shot off in those double-team situations, he knows how to turn that situation into free throws.

He's a freaking truck.

[Celtics4ever]

If? Why let the cat of the bag.   If he doesn't his record shows some struggle here and there.   

As for the college hype, I have seen mediocre guys like the Whitley kid from Kansas block his shot five times.   They give Sully fits but Sully doesn't quit he is relentless.  Block him and he tries again, sometimes it works and sometimes not.  Anyone in Summer League who was big owned him and he struggled.   I do think he has a great nose of the ball and superb hands.   He was a very productive college player and that bodes well for the next level usually.   He has a definite lack of lift but he is smart and clever.

One thing during Summer League, I thought was dumb was the three pointers.  He has nice touch but it was obvious that he only hits them occasionally and this is not his shot.  The guards in summer league were awful at setting up bigs.   I think Rondo will help immensely in this regard.

I think he will be fine but expect some Big Baby type blocked shots on him by more athletic players.   It's going to happen from time to time folks.

[SHAQATTACK]

It would not be hard to imagine Sully leading the way to freethrow line for the C's if he can push Bass out of the way eventually.  Sully is a decent freethrow shooter, you hack him and your gonna pay.  He is foul drawing machine.

Big issue is in the NBA is...the officals won't give him any respect as a rookie and thus cheat him out  of his being fouled 50% of the time as he is hacked to death under the basket.

I think Sulls and Fab are gonna be alright.

[snively]

Maybe Doc is thinking of a lot of the back-up 4s in the league.  In our division: Ed Davis, Steve Novak, Thaddeus Young, Teletovic.  I can see Sully having a lot of success against such players

[raynman]

I want Sullinger to destroy bosh and lewis right off the bat! 

[Celtics4ever]

I think he could impose his will on Bosh right away.  Bosh isn't the toughest fellow out there.

[Moranis]

Maybe Doc is thinking of a lot of the back-up 4s in the league.  In our division: Ed Davis, Steve Novak, Thaddeus Young, Teletovic.  I can see Sully having a lot of success against such players

Heck look at the starting PF's in the division: Kris Humphries, Amare Stoudemire, Spencer Hawes, Andrea Bargnani

Clearly Sully isn't as good as any of them, but Hawes is the only guy that will really give Sully fits when Sully has the ball. 

[indeedproceed]

Maybe Doc is thinking of a lot of the back-up 4s in the league.  In our division: Ed Davis, Steve Novak, Thaddeus Young, Teletovic.  I can see Sully having a lot of success against such players

I think Young gets the better of him both sides of the ball considered. Teletovic is an unknown quantity for me.