Avery is our starting shooting guard. always has been, always will be.

[vinnie]

Avery Bradley is not "great." If Avery Bradley is the starting 2 guard now and forever, then the next Celtics' championship is forever and a day away. They need to upgrade at the 2 and have Avery playing 20-25 minutes a game off the bench.

[Evantime34]

Avery Bradley is not "great." If Avery Bradley is the starting 2 guard now and forever, then the next Celtics' championship is forever and a day away. They need to upgrade at the 2 and have Avery playing 20-25 minutes a game off the bench.

So a team can't succeed by having a top 10 defender (at the age of 22) starting? Don't think about what you saw in the playoffs last year, think about how good a hard working athletic player can become if he already is a great defender at 22.  Do you think he will be better than TA or Sefolosha? I do and they both started for contending teams.

[slamtheking]

Avery would be best suited to be the pitbull defender off the bench to harass a tired starter or outplay a backup.

C's need a SG that's a genuine offensive threat in order to be competitive

[kozlodoev]

as long as avery is on our team, he is our starting shooting guard. so enough with suggesting he is our back up point guard.

No, I dont care how tall avery is, neither did doc or danny when they said he is our pure 2.

Sure. That doesn't mean he's a very good starting shooting guard, though.

[Evantime34]

as long as avery is on our team, he is our starting shooting guard. so enough with suggesting he is our back up point guard.

No, I dont care how tall avery is, neither did doc or danny when they said he is our pure 2.

Sure. That doesn't mean he's a very good starting shooting guard, though.

It doesn't mean he isn't either.

[Evantime34]

Avery would be best suited to be the pitbull defender off the bench to harass a tired starter or outplay a backup.

C's need a SG that's a genuine offensive threat in order to be competitive

So Memphis started TA, and I believe they were competitive. OKC started Sefolosha and they were also competitive.

[kozlodoev]

as long as avery is on our team, he is our starting shooting guard. so enough with suggesting he is our back up point guard.

No, I dont care how tall avery is, neither did doc or danny when they said he is our pure 2.

Sure. That doesn't mean he's a very good starting shooting guard, though.

It doesn't mean he isn't either.

It doesn't. That part is fully covered by his recent atrociousness anyhow

[Evantime34]

as long as avery is on our team, he is our starting shooting guard. so enough with suggesting he is our back up point guard.

No, I dont care how tall avery is, neither did doc or danny when they said he is our pure 2.

Sure. That doesn't mean he's a very good starting shooting guard, though.

It doesn't mean he isn't either.

It doesn't. That part is fully covered by his recent atrociousness anyhow

Are we ignoring his elite defense in the regular season or that his poor play came primarily at the point guard spot? or that he was coming off double shoulder surgery? Or that he is 22 and will improve?

[slamtheking]

Avery would be best suited to be the pitbull defender off the bench to harass a tired starter or outplay a backup.

C's need a SG that's a genuine offensive threat in order to be competitive

So Memphis started TA, and I believe they were competitive. OKC started Sefolosha and they were also competitive.

Memphis and OKC have more offensive options than the C's do so they have the luxury of having a "non-scorer" starting for them.  Besides, TA and Thabo are a bit better offensively than AB.

[Boris Badenov]

Avery would be best suited to be the pitbull defender off the bench to harass a tired starter or outplay a backup.

C's need a SG that's a genuine offensive threat in order to be competitive

So Memphis started TA, and I believe they were competitive. OKC started Sefolosha and they were also competitive.

Sefolosha is a very good 3 point shooter, and an efficient offensive player overall (with low volume, but that's probably more a function of playing with KD and Westbrook). He's also big enough to guard any SG in the league.

Tony Allen is more limited offensively but still more effective than Bradley, and also has the size to cover anyone.

That said, I think Bradley has the potential to be a starter - just not next to Rondo. I think Bradley paired with Steph Curry or Kyrie Irving - bigger PGs who are good offensively - would be great.

That might have been slam's point - that the Celtics in particular need an offensive-minded SG because we have more of a pass-first PG who's no threat from 3 point distance, and who doesn't himself have the size to regularly cover SGs if Bradley is taking the PG (which is when he's most disruptive).

I agree with you though that if Bradley develops a reliable corner 3 (36-38% from there would be good enough I think), he can play a bigger role. Combine that with his baseline cutting speed and I think you have a useful offensive player.

I'm no expert but his form seems fine, and he has had stretches of good shooting before. There's hope.

[CelticD]

while we on the topic of avery bradley...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDAyUBAbU-w

tryna get these views up.

[Evantime34]

Avery would be best suited to be the pitbull defender off the bench to harass a tired starter or outplay a backup.

C's need a SG that's a genuine offensive threat in order to be competitive

So Memphis started TA, and I believe they were competitive. OKC started Sefolosha and they were also competitive.

Sefolosha is a very good 3 point shooter, and an efficient offensive player overall (with low volume, but that's probably more a function of playing with KD and Westbrook). He's also big enough to guard any SG in the league.

Tony Allen is more limited offensively but still more effective than Bradley, and also has the size to cover anyone.

That said, I think Bradley has the potential to be a starter - just not next to Rondo. I think Bradley paired with Steph Curry or Kyrie Irving - bigger PGs who are good offensively - would be great.

That might have been slam's point - that the Celtics in particular need an offensive-minded SG because we have more of a pass-first PG who's no threat from 3 point distance, and who doesn't himself have the size to regularly cover SGs if Bradley is taking the PG (which is when he's most disruptive).

I agree with you though that if Bradley develops a reliable corner 3 (36-38% from there would be good enough I think), he can play a bigger role. Combine that with his baseline cutting speed and I think you have a useful offensive player.

I'm no expert but his form seems fine, and he has had stretches of good shooting before. There's hope.

On his form, his shot is a little flat but other than that it looks good to me as well. Thabo, earlier in his career was not as good a three point shooter. He had years of shooting 24% and 27% I think Bradley will end up being a much much better offensive player than Thabo.

I know this isn't a commonly held opinion but I believe Rondo will continue to improve as a 3 point shooter a la Jason Kidd which will lessen the need for a pure scorer at the two.

Avery would be best suited to be the pitbull defender off the bench to harass a tired starter or outplay a backup.

C's need a SG that's a genuine offensive threat in order to be competitive

So Memphis started TA, and I believe they were competitive. OKC started Sefolosha and they were also competitive.

Memphis and OKC have more offensive options than the C's do so they have the luxury of having a "non-scorer" starting for them.  Besides, TA and Thabo are a bit better offensively than AB.

You said the C's need an offensive threat at the two in order to be competitive (I'm assuming you meant in the future not just next year). Who is to say that in the future Boston doesn't add the offensive options Memphis or OKC has? Thabo and TA are both veterans and finished products offensively, Bradley is still going to get a ton better. Maybe last season TA and Thabo were better offensively but I doubt this is the case going forward

[Evantime34]

while we on the topic of avery bradley...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDAyUBAbU-w

tryna get these views up.

Great job on the video, really like the song. I just subscribed.

[kozlodoev]

as long as avery is on our team, he is our starting shooting guard. so enough with suggesting he is our back up point guard.

No, I dont care how tall avery is, neither did doc or danny when they said he is our pure 2.

Sure. That doesn't mean he's a very good starting shooting guard, though.

It doesn't mean he isn't either.

It doesn't. That part is fully covered by his recent atrociousness anyhow

Are we ignoring his elite defense in the regular season or that his poor play came primarily at the point guard spot? or that he was coming off double shoulder surgery? Or that he is 22 and will improve?

No, it's just not enough to offset being a complete liability in all aspects of the offensive game. Also, his defense this season became considerably less effective once the league figured out his shtick (it's not that hard, really, set a pick in the back court, and Bradley turns from an elite into a mostly irrelevant defender).

Will improve? No, may improve. Or he may also regress. No guarantees, especially with a player whose performance has fluctuated so much when taken out of the specific structure designed to hide his flaws.

Also, Bradley's 12-13 season pretty much disproves the theory that you can force-feed youngsters with playing time  into improvement. He got all the reps in an unfamiliar situation (having to be a lead guard for at least parts of the game), and there wasn't even the faintest sign of improvement over the course of the season.

[Tr1boy]

No. You cant be a legit starting sg, that is great defensively but nothing consistent offensively. You also cant shoot around 400 , and remain a starter in the nba. Bradley has to get back to cutting to the basket again and like tommy said stop shooting threes.