Will Sullinger keep his good play up? or just running hot?

[chambers]

Sully's been solid so far this year. Tiny sample but he's been one of our best players so far IMO.
I think he really is making an effort. He's been seen at the Celtics gym on the stairmaster after everyone has gone home for the night.

He seems to be running the floor much better and not getting too gassed. He is also playing one minute less per quarter which may help.

I'm not gonna hold my breath but I am impressed with his efforts so far.
The big question now is whether or not he can maintain the discipline like this needed for the rest of the season.

I really think David Lee and Amir coming has lit a fire under his big, wide ass. (his rebounding weapon).

Anyone else happy or pleasantly surprised?

[BudweiserCeltic]

What lit a fire under his ass was his stress fracture and his evident poor effort last year. Nothing more and nothing less, but he's still has ways to go.

That said, he's always been a productive player. His effort is the inconsistent part above anything regardless of the weight he's playing at.

[rollie mass]

did you see him trying to track down a breakaway-it was like a turbo charged frieght train -
nice effort-
-one night a grizzlie the next a charging rhino-

[PhoSita]

Sully has impressed me.  I had pretty much written him off after his very poor pre-season (it was poorer than the box score, even).

He looks like he's gotten back to focusing on the things that made him successful his rookie season.

At the same time, he's got some unsustainable hot shooting going on. 

I think Sully can continue to succeed in a rebounding / energy / incidental baskets and open jumpers type role.  I think keeping his minutes shorter and forcing him to work at 100% effort every time he's on the floor is the way to maintain his success.

[moiso]

Agree with PhoSita.  I think he can be very good for us this year.  But he seems to be a bare minimum kind of guy, and he saw in the preseason that he was playing himself out of the rotation and out of millions of dollars.  My worry, like a lot of others, is that after he earns his payday he will go right back to the lazy Sullinger.

[Evantime34]

He won't keep this shooting up he's shooting 46% from 3 right now. The other improvement he made this year is his defense which I think will keep up.

With his history though, I'm really worried about an injury and paying a guy who is often overweight after the season is over.

My prediction is he plays very well until he is dealt at or around the deadline.

[86MaxwellSmart]

C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T  Year.

[Vermont Green]

Tiny sample

I am not so sure I agree that it is a such small sample size.  To me, he isn't showing us anything he hasn't shown all along.  When healthy, he has shown talent.  If he stays healthy, he will continue to play well and even improve.  Injuries could derail him of course.  I see this as much more of a healthy run than a hot run.  I have no idea though if he can stay healthy.

Now the 46% 3Fg% someone quoted will not continue of course but I mean more his play in general.

[Celtics4ever]

He always starts hot.   I think this year he may have got the memo, which would be a good thing.   But if he starts packing on weight during the season, then I think he will falter.   So far, this year, he has got slimmer which should help.   The real issue is will he do it when it is not a contract year.

[CelticSooner]

You let him start hot as usual and deal him before his weight wears him down. Then an injury is right around the corner.

[The Oracle]

  Sully is being showcased and will likely be traded very soon.  I have no idea where people are getting the idea that his defense has been good.  His defensive #'s look very Kanteresque so far.

[SHAQATTACK]

Sully is one of the top talents on the C's .

He has best big man hands in league .  It's like he has suction cups on his fingers.  Soft shooting touch ....and I don't know who get better position for rebounds ......with a nose for the ball like Bird did .  He is I the correct place to grab a rebound 80 percent of the time.

He could be Around for a long time , not a super star , but a big Al , Zebo type.  ......if he can take care of his weight , eating , work out habits .

[PhoSita]

Agree with PhoSita.  I think he can be very good for us this year.  But he seems to be a bare minimum kind of guy, and he saw in the preseason that he was playing himself out of the rotation and out of millions of dollars.  My worry, like a lot of others, is that after he earns his payday he will go right back to the lazy Sullinger.

That concerns me.  I'm also worried that he simply won't stay healthy, especially if he becomes complacent and relaxes his focus on better fitness.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Agree with PhoSita.  I think he can be very good for us this year.  But he seems to be a bare minimum kind of guy, and he saw in the preseason that he was playing himself out of the rotation and out of millions of dollars.  My worry, like a lot of others, is that after he earns his payday he will go right back to the lazy Sullinger.

That concerns me.  I'm also worried that he simply won't stay healthy, especially if he becomes complacent and relaxes his focus on better fitness.

That's a legit concern, with pretty much anyone really, but more with him because of fitness issues. I do think he has a bit of a drive to be good, to compete and win, but that's just an opinion. Alongside that, we've seen he can be a useful player EVEN when he's not in shape, so the concern lessens with that regard as well.

From a sidelines perspective it's unfortunate that the stress fracture occurred a few months prior to the start of his contract year season so we could tell for sure. I for one am on the camp that his main motivation came after that injury above anything, but can't dismiss the contract year angle regardless. That's ALWAYS going to be a factor.

I don't know if it's lip-service, but Sullinger has made mention in prior years that he'd accept a weight clause in his contract, so we'll see how that goes.

He's still fairly young, so we'll see.

I do think his shooting will continue to be good. Not sure if he can keep up the 3-point shooting though, but I'm confident in the rest. He has a good stroke, it's always been about shot selection above anything... maybe better conditioning is helping as well, and along with it confidence level?

As for preseason? I think it was mainly rust. His shot mechanics looked a bit off to me, it was weird watching it. He made mentioned that he touched very little the basketball court while he was in the Houston camp, so maybe that had a bit to do with it. Who knows. But whatever, glad he's knocking them down now.

But offense wise is the least of my concerns, it's his improved defense (much like we saw in the later portion of the season of his rookie season) that has me a bit more excited about his role on this team and reliability. Hope he keeps THAT up, and much like that first season, that his rotations improve over time as well. The effort has been there at least, so that's something.

[Smartacus]

For Sullinger to remain on this team I think we need a player who is indisputably better than him.

One of the most frustrating parts of last year was that right this team started clicking and just as Oly/Zeller/Jonas/Bass were completely settled into their roles, Sullinger clumsily forced himself back in the roster, playing so well at times that he ate into other's playing time.

By the time we hit the Cavs, Sulley was back to being out "best big man" but in the process threw everyone else off their game and we were back to losing despite Sulley's strong stats. (not saying we would have beat the Cavs but I'd take 11 guys on the same page over 12 and everyone looking over their shoulder.)

What we need IMO is a big like Al Horford, Demarcus Cousins or Lamarcus Aldridge. Someone who can see Sullinger starting to turn it on in a reserve role and know that no matter how well he does, their playing time is safe.

If we can get that guy and Sullinger establishes himself as one of the league's best 6th man we'd have a tremendous asset to spell the starters and change the offensive output for stretches of important games. If not all we'll have is more questions and frankly IMO we've reached the point in the rebuild where it's time to start finding answers.