If You Can't Build Around 5'7'' IT B/C He Shot 39% in the Playoffs

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Then you can't build around 6'2'' Damian Lillard who shoots 37% during the playoffs.

Lillard's limitations on defense and from 2 point range have been on full display during the playoffs, just like IT. If IT was 5 inches taller with the same productivity, there wouldn't be any question that we can build around IT. 

[Moranis]

false premise

[Snakehead]

Lillard needs more help too.

[PhoSita]

Really my only concern with IT as a core piece of our team is that he may only have three or four years left as a starter caliber player. Maybe fewer.

Guys like IT fall off a cliff around age 30.

[hwangjini_1]

false premise

agreed. and isnt the difference in height 7 inches, not 5 inches?

IT is simply not a superstar who can carry the team to a championship without another scorer/shooter. that is not a knock on IT, simply an understanding that he is a very good, not super start type of player.

put another scorer or two on the celtics and i think his shooting percentages would go up since they other team would not be able to focus entirely upon him.

[dannyboy35]

Really my only concern with IT as a core piece of our team is that he may only have three or four years left as a starter caliber player. Maybe fewer.

Guys like IT fall off a cliff around age 30.

  I love IT but this is the reason I'd be willing to do Lilliard and #3. But I must admit I know little about college hoops.

[PhoSita]

false premise

agreed. and isnt the difference in height 7 inches, not 5 inches?

IT is simply not a superstar who can carry the team to a championship without another scorer/shooter. that is not a knock on IT, simply an understanding that he is a very good, not super start type of player.

put another scorer or two on the celtics and i think his shooting percentages would go up since they other team would not be able to focus entirely upon him.

I have to say, I wonder about this.

IT has a 30% usage rate with the Celts.

Would his offensive production still justify his limitations elsewhere if he had a significantly lower usage rate? This is where the sixth man debate comes back in.

[pearljammer10]

I love IT and what he has done with us during his short time...But I take Lillard over IT all day every day.

[Evantime34]

I'm not really big on the idea of "building around" a player. I think you should put the best team together possible with pieces that fit together. You build a team to fit a style of play or a system not one player.

[jpotter33]

false premise

agreed. and isnt the difference in height 7 inches, not 5 inches?

IT is simply not a superstar who can carry the team to a championship without another scorer/shooter. that is not a knock on IT, simply an understanding that he is a very good, not super start type of player.

put another scorer or two on the celtics and i think his shooting percentages would go up since they other team would not be able to focus entirely upon him.

I have to say, I wonder about this.

IT has a 30% usage rate with the Celts.

Would his offensive production still justify his limitations elsewhere if he had a significantly lower usage rate? This is where the sixth man debate comes back in.

Exactly. This has been my argument the whole time with IT. We were the absolute perfect storm for him to reach his full offensive potential, because we needed him to have an absurd usage rate on the offensive side of the ball to give us a chance.

[IDreamCeltics]

Really my only concern with IT as a core piece of our team is that he may only have three or four years left as a starter caliber player. Maybe fewer.

Guys like IT fall off a cliff around age 30.

I agree just because his body will definitely start breaking down at some point.  He takes a serious pounding going inside.  I think he'll probably be quicker than pretty much everyone until he retires.

[chilidawg]

I'm not really big on the idea of "building around" a player. I think you should put the best team together possible with pieces that fit together. You build a team to fit a style of play or a system not one player.

True, unless you have a truly exceptional talent like Durant or James.  For the rest of us, absolutely.

[PhoSita]

I'm not really big on the idea of "building around" a player. I think you should put the best team together possible with pieces that fit together. You build a team to fit a style of play or a system not one player.

I think the "build around" idea is a little bit confused at times in how we talk about it.


Some players are so good they make constructing a roster much easier, because the players around them don't have to do as much to succeed.

I don't agree that only super-duperstars like Durant and LeBron fit in that category.  There are at least 10-15 guys in the league, I'd say, who make roster construction much easier because they are so all-around good.


Other players -- most players -- do some things well, but also have significant limitations, so they only work as components of a whole, not as a centerpiece.


Then you have guys that have such pronounced strengths and weaknesses that the team's gameplan must be tailored to them in order for them to contribute at all.  Typically it's a primary ball-handler without a jumpshot, or a post-scoring big man who struggles with rim protection and team defense.  Those players make roster construction harder, even though their talent may be worth it.


I think IT fits in the "component" category.  His defensive limitations are an issue, but I think he could fit on any team whether as a starter or in a bench role, especially because he has shown he can have success off the ball as well as on.

[jambr380]

Then you can't build around 6'2'' Damian Lillard who shoots 37% during the playoffs.

Lillard's limitations on defense and from 2 point range have been on full display during the playoffs, just like IT. If IT was 5 inches taller with the same productivity, there wouldn't be any question that we can build around IT.

Probably best to call IT 5'9" since that is what he is listed at, but I wholeheartedly agree - people only think less of IT because of his height and his draft position. His actual production is just about as good as Lillard and Irving.

I have to say, I wonder about this.

IT has a 30% usage rate with the Celts.

Would his offensive production still justify his limitations elsewhere if he had a significantly lower usage rate? This is where the sixth man debate comes back in.

Lillard had over a 31% usage rate with Portland this year, but you don't hear anybody talking about him being a 6th man.

IT is a scorer and a playmaker - this is why he isn't just a 6th man.

[TheTruthFot18]

false premise

agreed. and isnt the difference in height 7 inches, not 5 inches?

IT is simply not a superstar who can carry the team to a championship without another scorer/shooter. that is not a knock on IT, simply an understanding that he is a very good, not super start type of player.

put another scorer or two on the celtics and i think his shooting percentages would go up since they other team would not be able to focus entirely upon him.

Thought you were talking about Lebron, Wade, or even Kobe. We all know how those teams fared when they were the only true star talent on the roster. Thinking 03-09 Cavs, Heat between Shaq and Lebron, Kobe between Shaq and Gasol.