James Young's improvement

[Eddie20]

I realize there is a thread about him starting, but that's a different discussion entirely. I think he is earning minutes on the team and it sounds as though he is putting in work at practice.

@ByJayKing
But after practice Sunday, the second bus was leaving. Stevens told everybody they had to pack up if they were going to take the bus.

Zeller asked if he could stay and keep shooting. Young stayed too. Two guys who could be sick of the season just wanted to work a bit more.

It was neat to hear how pumped James Young's teammates were about his success. He has had a tough season and a half.

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/12/boston_celtics_analysis_james.html

Young's solid night

Less than a week ago, James Young was seconds away from boarding a flight (literally) to join the Maine Red Claws. He was going back to the D-League, but a couple of Celtics were banged up. Head coach Brad Stevens decided, ya know what, let's keep this kid around.

Three days later, Young (four points, three rebounds) had the most meaningful stretch of his NBA career. He scored 13 points once last season, but the barrage of jumpers came in a lopsided loss.

"James has had a rough go about it because there have been times when he hasn't played as well," Stevens said. "And R.J. (Hunter) and Terry (Rozier) actually came in and have done a lot of good things for us on given nights. So it's been tough. But he's just kind of stayed the course. He's worked.

"And I just have kind of sensed that on this trip, he's been -- he's just ready. I don't know why I say that. I thought he played well in practice. I thought he shot the heck out of it every time I watched. And then we needed a body, and I just felt like with their big guards, and the fact that we were switching Anderson, he made the most sense."

Young's first shot jammed into the area where backboard meets rim. He missed all three of his 3-pointers and both of his free throws. He admitted he was nervous for a while. Still, in the first non-garbage time minutes of his season, he left a dent on the game. Nobody expects him to be great yet, but he helped.

The highlight was either an athletic fast-break bucket at the end of the third quarter, or the following steal, which came after a 20-point lead had dwindled to 11:

"He kind of late-switched onto Davis and stole the ball, and it was huge," Stevens said, "because they were kind of making a run. ... And we went down and scored (when Young assisted Evan Turner), and it separated the game."

Interestingly, Young spent a chunk of time guarding Ish Smith, one of the NBA's fastest point guards. The Celtics youngster still didn't play like an All-Star, but for the first time in about a year we saw -- in a real NBA game -- how he might one day be able to impact winning. That he did it on a poor shooting night was impressive. And his teammates loved it.

"I'm happy for him," Sullinger said. "He deserves it. He's been working really hard. He's been doing his job. And he played great."

Added Kelly Olynyk, who scored 21 points: "It's hard to gain confidence in practice, especially when you practice once a month. So for him it's just huge. He played well. Made some plays defensively that helped us keep that lead. I think he was big out there.

"He's playing the right way (in practice). He's really adapted, learning a lot. You can see stuff really starting to sink in and click with him. So it's good to see that. I think he has a shot to be real good as long as he keeps working. And he's going to get his opportunities."

[rollie mass]

key to kellys quote practice once a month-
time for some home games and a maine commute-young must get his reps up north and work on getting to the hoop with right hand--rozier and rj deserve his minutes-

[The One]

Stay the course, young fella!

You can do this.

[apc]

Maybe it is just me, but i didn't see anything special from Young last night.
It is nice that the team is being supportive, but i think that is all it is.

[chambers]

Maybe it is just me, but i didn't see anything special from Young last night.
It is nice that the team is being supportive, but i think that is all it is.

I get what you mean. He looked like an ordinary role player that had a poor shooting night-but he did play hard. I think many of us have questioned if he really 'wants' it at times.

Hearing this from Stevens means he really is working very hard to get better.

The other possibility is that he's on the trade block. (unlikely)

[GzUP617]

Maybe it is just me, but i didn't see anything special from Young last night.
It is nice that the team is being supportive, but i think that is all it is.

Pretty much every sentiment about James Young has been about his play-ability, he showed that last night. I don't think anyone's overrating him, but if you want someone to trend you hope its trending upwards. 

Obviously it's just one game,we'll take it for now.

[Evantime34]

What impressed me from Young last night
1. Was in good help defense position the entire time he was on the court.
2. He contested everything
3. In the pick and roll he used his length to disrupt passing lanes.
4. Cut hard through the paint, causing the defense to move
5. Drove close outs very well.

Last night gave me hope that at some point he will be a rotation player. Playing young at this early stage in his development could really help him down the road.

[spikelovetheCelts]

What impressed me from Young last night
1. Was in good help defense position the entire time he was on the court.
2. He contested everything
3. In the pick and roll he used his length to disrupt passing lanes.
4. Cut hard through the paint, causing the defense to move
5. Drove close outs very well.

Last night gave me hope that at some point he will be a rotation player. Playing young at this early stage in his development could really help him down the road.

He missed his shot but I thought he is stroke was pure.

[Eja117]

I think we should wait till he has had more good games than Anthony Bennet before we start coming to conclusions. I think Bennet has had like 8 good games in his career. Lets wait till Young has had at least that many

[positivitize]

He looked like an ordinary role player that had a poor shooting night-but he did play hard.

This is huge, cause before now he's looked like a dude in a green jersey who had know clue how to play defense and was afraid of getting passed to on offense.

James Young's 2nd year is just starting, and he's grown by leaps and bounds. The sky is the limit for this kid.

[Roy H.]

I don't think anyone's overrating him...

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=81567.0

 

[Rosco917]

He looked like he was comfortable, like he belonged...he didn't hurt the team in any one area. If this keeps this up he can get minutes, and work on his entire game, and further develop. He can score well, as we've seen in the D league.

At the very worst, he will up his trade value.

[Atzar]

What impressed me from Young last night
1. Was in good help defense position the entire time he was on the court.
2. He contested everything
3. In the pick and roll he used his length to disrupt passing lanes.
4. Cut hard through the paint, causing the defense to move
5. Drove close outs very well.

Last night gave me hope that at some point he will be a rotation player. Playing young at this early stage in his development could really help him down the road.

Agree with all of this.

He still needs a ton of work on his feet.  Poor footwork is the reason why he looks out-of-control when he drives.  Still, he was an asset on defense last night, and in the second half he was active on offense - or perhaps CBS started working him into the scheme rather than leaving him in the corner. 

Very encouraging sign. 

[sofutomygaha]

He was very active on D, and he was talking. He wasn't really in flow in the half-court offense, but ran hard in transition. All good signs, nothing bad. The Pelicans didn't seem to find a way to go after him.

The two things we know is that he can knock down weakly-contested threes and he can drive into guys and finish going to his left. His two buckets were nice reminders of the latter, but nothing to really get excited about.

[footey]

Last night renewed hope for his future either with this team or as a decent trade asset.