Can someone please explain the what the issue is with Sully?

[Piasecki8]

If he winds up even close to Jamison's production, the celtics and us as fans will be very lucky. Please, please, please do not compare him to Kevin Love or any all-stars today for that matter. He is not and more than likely will not be that type of player at all in his career. The expectations of our fan base for our players is so unrealistic sometimes. Can we just let him get his 12-14 points and 7-10 rebounds and be happy with that. I'm sorry but he's not going to double his production and turn into 25 and 12(Love) because he sheds some weight. There are other players on this team that provide other roles that help complete the team. They are not all going to be all-star caliber players in their prime and Sullinger is not the exception.

I respectfully disagree with your assertion that he will never put up those type of numbers if he loses weight. His PER 36 numbers last year, when he strugglled to stay on the floor from foul trouble and conditioning issues, were:

Sullinger's 2nd season:  17.3 points and 10.6 rebounds. per 36 minutes

Love's 2nd season:        17.7 points and 13.8 rebounds per 36 minutes

If he gets in just decent shape, he has the skills to put up Kevin Love type numbers, and their game is actually pretty similar.

Sully will never be Kevin Love. Look at that rebound difference. Also height and skill is clearly an edge to Love.

Ok, but when he starts putting up Kevin Love type numbers if he gets in shape this season, I'm sure your response will be that his numbers are inflated because he's on a bad team.....well.....just like Love has been his whole career.

If he puts up those numbers then I would be ecstatic. Unfortunately by living in real life and not the PER world, I don't feel that those stats will even be approached by our buddy Sully. He literally had a great month stretch last year where he scored 30 plus a few times and had a ton of rebounds. Outside of that, he was fairly inconsistent, somewhat resembling someone who everyone on here  complains about and wants gone for some reason, Jeff Green. Why can't we just appreciate and root for this team that's comprised of ROLE PLAYERS and be happy with that. Nobody on this squad is going to put up consistent 20/10 numbers all year with the roster we have. If we go with a rotation of 7 or 8 players then maybe, but that's not happening either. Quick question: Who was the last 20/10 player for the Celtics?

[loco_91]

I've always been happy with Sulllinger's play. He's a good passer, he boxes out, grabs boards, plays decent man D... Why are people so concerned with his weight? I've seen, "he's playing his way out of the league, he's seriously gotta lose weight, etc." But if he's producing, what's the issue?

By the way, I'm not attacking anyone, instead just trying to understand alternative viewpoints.

He has been producing, but not at the level that he's capable of. Love could gain 50lb and still match Sully's production, if he did would you defend him by saying that he's still producing? It will absolutely help Sully to lose weight unless he is playing exclusively C, which unfortunately he might be given the roster situation. I don't think it's good for his development as a PF, and it also increases his injury risk.

[clover]

If he winds up even close to Jamison's production, the celtics and us as fans will be very lucky. Please, please, please do not compare him to Kevin Love or any all-stars today for that matter. He is not and more than likely will not be that type of player at all in his career. The expectations of our fan base for our players is so unrealistic sometimes. Can we just let him get his 12-14 points and 7-10 rebounds and be happy with that. I'm sorry but he's not going to double his production and turn into 25 and 12(Love) because he sheds some weight. There are other players on this team that provide other roles that help complete the team. They are not all going to be all-star caliber players in their prime and Sullinger is not the exception.

I respectfully disagree with your assertion that he will never put up those type of numbers if he loses weight. His PER 36 numbers last year, when he strugglled to stay on the floor from foul trouble and conditioning issues, were:

Sullinger's 2nd season:  17.3 points and 10.6 rebounds. per 36 minutes

Love's 2nd season:        17.7 points and 13.8 rebounds per 36 minutes

If he gets in just decent shape, he has the skills to put up Kevin Love type numbers, and their game is actually pretty similar.

Along with those 3.2 more rebounds per 36, Love in his second season had a TS% of .549 to Sully's .497. He shot .330 from the 3 to Sully's .269.

[Csfan1984]

If he winds up even close to Jamison's production, the celtics and us as fans will be very lucky. Please, please, please do not compare him to Kevin Love or any all-stars today for that matter. He is not and more than likely will not be that type of player at all in his career. The expectations of our fan base for our players is so unrealistic sometimes. Can we just let him get his 12-14 points and 7-10 rebounds and be happy with that. I'm sorry but he's not going to double his production and turn into 25 and 12(Love) because he sheds some weight. There are other players on this team that provide other roles that help complete the team. They are not all going to be all-star caliber players in their prime and Sullinger is not the exception.

I respectfully disagree with your assertion that he will never put up those type of numbers if he loses weight. His PER 36 numbers last year, when he strugglled to stay on the floor from foul trouble and conditioning issues, were:

Sullinger's 2nd season:  17.3 points and 10.6 rebounds. per 36 minutes

Love's 2nd season:        17.7 points and 13.8 rebounds per 36 minutes

If he gets in just decent shape, he has the skills to put up Kevin Love type numbers, and their game is actually pretty similar.

Sully will never be Kevin Love. Look at that rebound difference. Also height and skill is clearly an edge to Love.

Ok, but when he starts putting up Kevin Love type numbers if he gets in shape this season, I'm sure your response will be that his numbers are inflated because he's on a bad team.....well.....just like Love has been his whole career.

If he puts up those numbers then I would be ecstatic. Unfortunately by living in real life and not the PER world, I don't feel that those stats will even be approached by our buddy Sully. He literally had a great month stretch last year where he scored 30 plus a few times and had a ton of rebounds. Outside of that, he was fairly inconsistent, somewhat resembling someone who everyone on here  complains about and wants gone for some reason, Jeff Green. Why can't we just appreciate and root for this team that's comprised of ROLE PLAYERS and be happy with that. Nobody on this squad is going to put up consistent 20/10 numbers all year with the roster we have. If we go with a rotation of 7 or 8 players then maybe, but that's not happening either. Quick question: Who was the last 20/10 player for the Celtics?

+1 That is how I feel.

[timobusa]

Last time I checked Boris Diaw did just fine.

Him and Sully have pretty much the same size and shape.

[kozlodoev]

Last time I checked Boris Diaw did just fine.

Him and Sully have pretty much the same size and shape.

Diaw was a slightly different size and shape when he was Sullinger's age.

But if you think he did "just fine", then I assume we should adjust the expectations for Sullinger -- how does 9 ppg, 4rpg over 25 mpg as a spot starter sound?

[Fred Roberts]

someone was saying Love had skill and size advantages over Sully. Not accurate in regards to size. They are the exact same height, 6'7.75" barefoot, with near identical wingspan, standing reach and vertical jump. Sully has a couple inches in the wingspan dept, and Love a 1/2" in the standing reach dept.

All in all, I'd call it a wash. Sully is just fatter and needs to trim down.

[LooseCannon]

Last time I checked Boris Diaw did just fine.

Him and Sully have pretty much the same size and shape.

For what dollar amount would you be happy signing Sullinger to his first free agent contract and getting Charlotte-era Diaw-level performance for 3-4 years?