Sullinger : Steal of the 2012 draft

[Tr1boy]

another solid game by Sullinger.  Rarely have seen him getting blocked downlow now. Instead of trying to power shots in, is spinning alot, running hooks and making in hook shots. His three point shooting has been solid. Id let him shoot up to three shots a game now

Defensively has been good. Still has some issues vs Length though.

Carlos Boozer, David West are good comparisons

[Kuberski33]

He was considered a lottery talent with significant risk due to his back - and his back helped short circuit last season.  Time will tell but I love his game.  Re: the 3's the mid range 2 is an inefficient shot in today's NBA.  Rondo will never be a 3 point shooter so it's going to help if the 4 can step out and make that shot.  His form is good so I would look for him to improve over time from long range.

[kozlodoev]

Rarely have seen him getting blocked downlow now.

"Rarely" as in "only" three times on 18 shots today? That's 17% of his shots. For comparison, Glen Davis got blocked on 11% of his shot attempts last season.

[LarBrd33]

another solid game by Sullinger.  Rarely have seen him getting blocked downlow now. Instead of trying to power shots in, is spinning alot, running hooks and making in hook shots. His three point shooting has been solid. Id let him shoot up to three shots a game now

Defensively has been good. Still has some issues vs Length though.

Carlos Boozer, David West are good comparisons

I'm impressed with his post moves.  He's currently pretty fat.  If he transforms his body like Kevin Love did, he could be a serious player in this league.



Hopefully he doesn't just stay fat like Glen Davis did.

[oldtype]

I'd rather have him try out the three right now and see how it works out.

If the experiment doesn't work out, we can tell him to stop when we're actually contending (assuming he's still here). If it does, he's a much more valuable player.

[j804]

Sully has been a beast hes outplayed or neutralized some legit big men he's been up against. He's the bright spot of our young season

[makaveli]

If he can make that 3pt on a constant basis, I think he will become a similar player to Antoine Walker

[Celtics4ever]

If he can make that 3pt on a constant basis, I think he will become a similar player to Antoine Walker

1-5 last night, it is not his shot just yet.   Seems to be his pattern one hot night and few cold ones.

I think he is a better player than AW already.  Sully is much more efficient.

BTW, AW was a career .325% from 3P land if that is what you think is consistent I feel for you.

[hwangjini_1]

too many 3's. Antoine 2.0.

yes, but not quite fair assessment either. this year is an experiment for stevens and the team. they arent playing to win a championship or make the playoffs. they are playing to see who has talent, who can play, and what combinations of talent work. they are playing to see who fits into the celtics' future and how.

part of the experiment is for stevens to tell sully to shoot more threes. good. yes, he may be taking too many right now, but stevens is thinking long term for his development. if sully can get practice/experience in threes now, then later his game becomes so much better. this season is an investment in sully's future, at least in my mind.

so, back to sully, i am impressed by him. he doesnt have elite athleticism, but he is a bull under the basket on offense and defense. he doesnt hesitate to apply a hit to people.

and his offense is looking good. hook shots, jumpers, 3 pointers, put backs. he can score in a variety of ways.

someone above mentioned his ceiling as david west. it might be a fair comparison since west was chosen 18th in the draft and is reportedly the same height.

but west took 3 years to really break out, and, he does not shoot 3 pointers as well as sully does or will. (west is at 25.6%)

i think sully will be a very good nba pf for many years.

[kozlodoev]

If he can make that 3pt on a constant basis, I think he will become a similar player to Antoine Walker

1-5 last night, it is not his shot just yet.   Seems to be his pattern one hot night and few cold ones.

I think he is a better player than AW already.  Sully is much more efficient.

BTW, AW was a career .325% from 3P land if that is what you think is consistent I feel for you.

Yeah... let's not go there. His second season, Walker averaged 22/10/3 with 1.7 steals as a 21 year old -- while playing 40 minutes a night. The team had 33 wins with a roster where the second and the third most important players were Ron Mercer and Walter McCarty. Remember, that was the year in which Andrew DeClercq got 49 (!!!) starts.

Toine took way too many threes for his own good, and is entirely responsible for his slow regression in playing style and attitude, but Jared Sullinger will never be confused for Antoine Walker in terms of talent.

[ronaldo943]

If he can make that 3pt on a constant basis, I think he will become a similar player to Antoine Walker

1-5 last night, it is not his shot just yet.   Seems to be his pattern one hot night and few cold ones.

I think he is a better player than AW already.  Sully is much more efficient.

BTW, AW was a career .325% from 3P land if that is what you think is consistent I feel for you.

LOL at Sully being a better player than Antoine. You just made my day.

[hwangjini_1]

If he can make that 3pt on a constant basis, I think he will become a similar player to Antoine Walker

1-5 last night, it is not his shot just yet.   Seems to be his pattern one hot night and few cold ones.

I think he is a better player than AW already.  Sully is much more efficient.

BTW, AW was a career .325% from 3P land if that is what you think is consistent I feel for you.

LOL at Sully being a better player than Antoine. You just made my day.

antoine had terrific talent and was smart. but he never really improved his game. it was pitino who remarked that antoine was the only player he had coached who would go into practice and play hard for 3 hours. but when he left practice he had not improved any aspect of his game.

i dont see that mind set with sully.

[BleedGreen1989]

Very interesting quote I stumbled upon. This was quoted just before the draft last year...

When asked to compare his game to that of a current professional, Sullinger had the following to say:

“Elton Brand,” he told HoopsWorld.com. “But I think I’m different because I like to play with my back to the basket more.  I love to play back to the basket.  But I can face up and shoot the jumpshot as well.”

Despite the differences in their games, Sullinger would be thrilled to put together a career that mirrored that of the longtime Clipper and Sixer.

“Elton Brand was 6-8,” he said.  “People said he couldn’t jump, people said he wouldn’t be able to adjust to the NBA.  All of the sudden, he’s an all-star, he’s developed a jump shot, he’s averaged 20 and 10 some years.  Elton Brand is a great basketball player.”

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

sully will be a beast. we need two more guys to go with him and rondo and green.

[BudweiserCeltic]

If he can make that 3pt on a constant basis, I think he will become a similar player to Antoine Walker

1-5 last night, it is not his shot just yet.   Seems to be his pattern one hot night and few cold ones.

I think he is a better player than AW already.  Sully is much more efficient.

BTW, AW was a career .325% from 3P land if that is what you think is consistent I feel for you.

Yeah... let's not go there. His second season, Walker averaged 22/10/3 with 1.7 steals as a 21 year old -- while playing 40 minutes a night. The team had 33 wins with a roster where the second and the third most important players were Ron Mercer and Walter McCarty. Remember, that was the year in which Andrew DeClercq got 49 (!!!) starts.

Toine took way too many threes for his own good, and is entirely responsible for his slow regression in playing style and attitude, but Jared Sullinger will never be confused for Antoine Walker in terms of talent.

Let's not ignore how inefficient he was though, 42 FG%, 48 TS%, 45 eFG% while taking 20 shots a game.

Sully is vastly more efficient, coming off a back surgery no less. PER 36, his numbers are better across the board, except points per game which is just 1 point less.

And his 3 point shooting doesn't equate for his inefficiency, maybe in later years, but not early on. As it was, he was shooting the 3 nearly at the same rate that Sullinger was... well, maybe even a less rate if you consider the percentage of FGA that were 3 pointers.