Jordan Mickey dominant in last practice

[SHAQATTACK]

He plays hard with same sort of mindset as Crowder , no nonsense , in your face .

The guy actually shots decent from mid range for somebody that has obviously been trained to play down low and. Work on defense.

I think he has a nice jump shot for a man his size , he is confident , like Crowder .....he thinks he can make it and it's going down.  he actually leaves the floor with his release , like a guard .   Unlike Sully who shoots off his toes.

I agree , Mickey is a tuff hombre and can play against guys 1-3 inches taller .  He is very QUICK for his size and beats opponents to the ball or out jumps and hustles them.

Sully keeps gaining weight , really need to let him go.

[KeepRondo]

He plays hard with same sort of mindset as Crowder , no nonsense , in your face .

The guy actually shots decent from mid range for somebody that has obviously been trained to play down low and. Work on defense.

I think he has a nice jump shot for a man his size , he is confident , like Crowder .....he thinks he can make it and it's going down.  he actually leaves the floor with his release , like a guard .   Unlike Sully who shoots off his toes.

I agree , Mickey is a tuff hombre and can play against guys 1-3 inches taller .  He is very QUICK for his size and beats opponents to the ball or out jumps and hustles them.

Sully keeps gaining weight , really need to let him go.

Yep. If it came down to Sully or Mickey, I would keep Mickey.

[Big333223]

I've also liked what I've seen for him but I don't expect him to have much of an impact this season. He's still a rookie and there are too many other bigs on the roster that are better than him today. If we hang on to him (which I think we should) as the roster thins out, he can be a really nice role player next year and in the future but I'm not going to rush his development.

[Smartacus]

Not too much of a stretch to think that he can be something like a bigger, longer 09/10 era Taj Gibson.

Fist big off the bench and can spot start without losing much of a talent droppoff. A sneaky good aspect of the Amir Johnson signing would be the potential positive effect it'll have Mickey's development.

Bet Amir can teach him some of the nuances and tendencies of the pro style power forward on both ends of the floor.

[Celtics4ever]

If it came down to Sully or Mickey, I would keep Mickey.

We may but I doubt it, Mickey can safely be sent to Maine.   But Sully has sqaundered his potential and Mickey has a lot of room to grow.   Sully came into the league a better player with a higher skillset than Mickey but Mickey has physical tools that Sully will never possess.   Once his skills grow into that body, and they may not, this won't even be up for conversation.

[Rondo9]

He plays hard with same sort of mindset as Crowder , no nonsense , in your face .

The guy actually shots decent from mid range for somebody that has obviously been trained to play down low and. Work on defense.

I think he has a nice jump shot for a man his size , he is confident , like Crowder .....he thinks he can make it and it's going down.  he actually leaves the floor with his release , like a guard .   Unlike Sully who shoots off his toes.

I agree , Mickey is a tuff hombre and can play against guys 1-3 inches taller .  He is very QUICK for his size and beats opponents to the ball or out jumps and hustles them.

Sully keeps gaining weight , really need to let him go.

Yep. If it came down to Sully or Mickey, I would keep Mickey.

After what? One practice?

[Celtics4ever]

After what? One practice?

Perhaps 3 years of waiting on a guy to play himself in shape, has something to do with it.   Sully can't even come into camp in a contract year when he would get rewarded for playing well in good shape.

If he can't do it then when will he do it?

[Future Celtics Owner]

Its not like we are the '08 Celtics....we should have no problem keeping young players that we all think have potential and are playing well. Why? So we can compete for a chance to get swept again?

[Rondo9]

After what? One practice?

Perhaps 3 years of waiting on a guy to play himself in shape, has something to do with it.   Sully can't even come into camp in a contract year when he would get rewarded for playing well in good shape.

If he can't do it then when will he do it?

I would take a "fat" Sullinger over Mickey right now and probably in the future.

[chambers]

He has done really well so far considering his lack of experience.
As have all our rookies.
I've loved RJ'S lobs to him.

Mickey though has done a great job defending from the weak side and staying aggressive on the offensive end.
He .has the potential to be a solid big man off the bench. Learning from Amir and David Lee is going to be great for him.

I just love our younger rookie/sophomore core of Smart, Rozier, Hunter, Mickey and I'm glad that Young has at least made an effort in the off season to bulk up and improve his defensive game.

Those 4 guys + a nice Brooklyn pick will be an excellent young core for the next 5 years if we can't trade for a star.

Last two games Young has been good and all the young guys have done well throughout but can you see DA keeping all of them? Its not a knock on them just that DA can't ever stop himself from trading.

Highly unlikely we keep all of them, but the better they become, the more value they'll have in a trade for a star. We have so many picks over the next few years that either those players, or future picks, will be traded at some point right?

I guess it's a remote possibility that we don't end up getting a star in the next 2 seasons and Ainge blows it up and keeps only rookie contracts and young 'talent'. He's definitely left that as a last resort option looking at the structures of all the contracts he's given up.
I was actually going to make a topic about this recently regarding the flexibility Ainge has to go ultra young if no trade opportunities come up.
After 2016 the only guys we have under contract will be:

Smart
Young (if we pick up his option for next year, this year).
Rozier
Mickey
Hunter
Dallas pick 16'
Brooklyn pick 16'
Boston pick 16'
If those Dallas and Brooklyn picks are both top 10, and Lebron and the Cavs look dominant for the next 3-5 years, then I can definitely see us trying to build around an experienced young core.

[Celtics4ever]

I would take a "fat" Sullinger over Mickey right now and probably in the future.

Now, I agree but future, once Mickey gets stronger and works on his game, I think you take the two way player.   He may never reach the elite skills in rebounding that Sully possesses but he will be competent on both ends.

[chambers]

While Mickey has hops, no doubt, what seems to distinguish him from other leapers and could make him elite as a shotblocker, is his ability to lift a second and sometimes even a third time, with little or no refractory period.

That's especially what I've noticed, and I found this article which corroborates and explains why:


https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/08/10/celtics-rookie-jordan-mickey-getting-jump-nba-career/59OeRsdiFp1ipSZx3k1AhI/story.html

Mickey noticed how players such as Amar’e Stoudemire and Dwight Howard were often most dangerous as shot blockers on their second jumps, meaning that if their first attempt was mistimed or otherwise unsuccessful, they could leap again before opportunity vanished.

So Mickey made that a focus of his training, spending hours with a jump rope and practicing his leaps in a flurry, as someone might do if they were standing on hot pavement.

“I seem to catch a few people off guard not knowing I’ll be able to get off the floor that quickly a second time,” he said. “Players think they have me off one pump fake, and then I’m able to get back off the floor before they can get their shot off. It’s something that’s tough to adjust to.”

That's an awesome tidbit. TP.

[SHAQATTACK]

He has done really well so far considering his lack of experience.
As have all our rookies.
I've loved RJ'S lobs to him.

Mickey though has done a great job defending from the weak side and staying aggressive on the offensive end.
He .has the potential to be a solid big man off the bench. Learning from Amir and David Lee is going to be great for him.

I just love our younger rookie/sophomore core of Smart, Rozier, Hunter, Mickey and I'm glad that Young has at least made an effort in the off season to bulk up and improve his defensive game.

Those 4 guys + a nice Brooklyn pick will be an excellent young core for the next 5 years if we can't trade for a star.

Last two games Young has been good and all the young guys have done well throughout but can you see DA keeping all of them? Its not a knock on them just that DA can't ever stop himself from trading.

Highly unlikely we keep all of them, but the better they become, the more value they'll have in a trade for a star. We have so many picks over the next few years that either those players, or future picks, will be traded at some point right?

I guess it's a remote possibility that we don't end up getting a star in the next 2 seasons and Ainge blows it up and keeps only rookie contracts and young 'talent'. He's definitely left that as a last resort option looking at the structures of all the contracts he's given up.
I was actually going to make a topic about this recently regarding the flexibility Ainge has to go ultra young if no trade opportunities come up.
After 2016 the only guys we have under contract will be:

Smart
Young (if we pick up his option for next year, this year).
Rozier
Mickey
Hunter
Dallas pick 16'
Brooklyn pick 16'
Boston pick 16'
If those Dallas and Brooklyn picks are both top 10, and Lebron and the Cavs look dominant for the next 3-5 years, then I can definitely see us trying to build around an experienced young core.

Nice post !    Some how I Think Danny is building slow with NO knee jerk star signing ....like Mello

......patiently waiting for LeBrons skills to wane enough , to get serious about top 10 talented players .........right now LeBron has a lock on the East ....no matter what team you throw him on .....Heat , Bucks , Bulls , Washinton ,  even the Celtics .....that team goes to head of the class in the east.

LeBron owns the NBA east

[nickagneta]

Couple things:

1. Get as excited about Mickey as you want but don't expect more than a handful of minutes this year. There's 5 players on this team that are better than Mickey and Mickey can be sent to the D league and the other 5 can't. So Mickey will either be inactive or in the NBDL almost all season.

2. The Celtics aren't blowing this team up for a Philly like rebuild. Its not happening. People really need to let go of this pipe dream. They have 4-5 possible lottery picks coming to them over the next 3 years that aren't their picks. Danny can build through free agency, trading and the draft trying to obtain that transcendent star he talks about while still putting a playoff team on the court. The time for trading away players for picks and deconstructing this team is over. Just accept that.

[Jon]

I agree with the sentiment that the original post is overkill. Mickey seems like a good value pick where we got him. But so were guys like Big Baby, Leon Powe, and Ryan Gomes. And while all three certainly had their moments, none ever amounted to anything more than nice rotation players.

So maybe Mickey ends up being the huge exception to the rule and becomes a stud. But it's way too early to tell and the likelihood is that even his best case outcome is something along the lines of BBD or Powe (in terms of talent, not in terms of style), which would be nice, but not transformative for the franchise.