CelticsStrong
Celtics Basketball => Celtics Talk => Topic started by: KG Living Legend on October 07, 2012, 10:50:20 PM
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Before the start of training camp, Celtics coach Doc Rivers was recounting all the moves his team made this summer to restock their roster when he got to first-round draft pick Jared Sullinger.
"The middle of last college season, I don’t even think we would have looked at film on Sullinger because we would have thought we had no chance to get him," Rivers said. "Then [Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny [Ainge] released the health report on him, and he fell to us. So that was terrific."
AP Photo/Luca Bruno
Jared Sullinger didn't seem to be intimidated playing in the Celtics' star-studded starting lineup.
Rivers chuckled before adding, "That’s not true, everyone, I’m just joking. Or maybe it is, who knows? It’s been that type of summer, it’s been good."
Once a player with lottery potential, Sullinger slipped all the way to Boston at No. 21 because of concerns about bulging discs in his back that left him red-flagged before June's draft. A solid two-week showing at summer league suggested Boston had a steal on its hands and two preseason games overseas have only solidified that notion.
Coming off a 16-point, 8-rebound effort in Friday's loss in Turkey, Sullinger was elevated to the starting lineup Sunday and chipped in nine points and seven rebounds over 18 minutes during Boston's 105-75 triumph over Emporio Armani in Milan.
Sullinger has looked nothing like a fresh-faced late-round pick during this European trip, blending well with any lineup. Some first-year players would be overwhelmed playing alongside Boston's Big Three and a veteran such as Jason Terry as part of Sunday's starting unit, but Sullinger simply did the little things -- finishing around the basket and cleaning up the glass -- and he's well on his way to establishing himself as a rotation player in his first NBA season.
There's room for growth in his game and it's clear the Celtics like the idea of pairing him with the likes of Kevin Garnett as he improves his defense. It does make you wonder if, down the road, Sullinger could make a strong case for more time with the starting unit.
Rivers cautioned against reading too much into Sunday's lineup change. Brandon Bass, the incumbent starting power forward, knocked down all five shots he took and quietly put up 11 points and eight rebounds over 24:36 off the bench.
Of course, that may only fuel the notion that Bass could have a bigger impact off the pine. Remember that Boston brought Bass here last offseason as a reserve contributor. He spent much of the first half of the season in a sixth-man role before ascending to the starting lineup and aiding Boston's second-half turnaround after Garnett shuffled to center.
The bottom line for Celtics fans: These are phenomenal problems to have. Or maybe options is the better word, as Sullinger's ability to immediately play at this level -- while providing a key element in offensive rebounding, something Boston has sorely lacked -- will only give the Celtics more versatility and depth with which to operate.
We still haven't seen Sullinger against honest-to-goodness NBA talent, but Boston has to be encouraged by what it's seen so far. On a European vacation with plenty of positives, Sullinger's ability to make an immediate impact is at the top of the list.
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I love Doc's sense of humor.
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If this is true then Danny was most definetly learning from Red
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You gotta get really lucky to land a long-term difference maker outside the lottery. Seems like we've been lucky a few times now.
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I love Doc's sense of humor.
Exactly, stop hating on Doc nothin wrong with what he said
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I love Doc's sense of humor.
Exactly, stop hating on Doc nothin wrong with what he said
This. I feel like this is one of those threads made out of boredom...
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Docs the man. I love how sarcastic the celts are towards the media... The people that don't get the sarcasm, not so much.
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Rondo is actually hilarious and has a real quiet, droll sense of humour when talking to the press, it's the Celtic way....nothing in it!
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I love Doc's sense of humor.
Exactly, stop hating on Doc nothin wrong with what he said
This. I feel like this is one of those threads made out of boredom...
[Edited. No personal attacks.]
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Great stuff from Danny and Doc. Hook or crook , LoL glade we landed Sully. I'm sure the HEAT are not. ;D
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This is a pretty funny joke but even if it was true, good for Danny. You pulled an Auerbach on the rest of the league and they fell for it.
I don't think its true and I love Doc's sense of humor and his ability to try to play mind games with the media and fans.
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Rondo is actually hilarious and has a real quiet, droll sense of humour when talking to the press, it's the Celtic way....nothing in it!
Rondo is probably my favorite player to listen to when talking to the media. He has a complete dry sense of humor is a borderline sarcastic jerk. And i just love it.
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Kind of an aside, but didn't the team say the day after the draft that Sullinger might need back surgery before playing? Maybe they were trying to throw everyone off the scent of their phony medical records :D
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nothing wrong with that, it just means that Danny is smart. If this is true, I'm glad Danny did it cuz we ended up getting a lottery pick in Sullinger
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Broken sense of humor thread.
Great comment by Doc. Funny guy.
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This is absolutely something Danny would do...leaking this info, in order to kill the buzz on a player he wants to drop.
...with that said, I believe the medical report was from the combine, and was something that all of the teams had access to. So, I am not sure Danny really did all that much. He just helped it along a bit (if this is true).
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The thing is, if Danny really did leak confidential medical information, there could be some serious ramifications. Not to mention, he screwed the guy now on his team out of millions of dollars. Not exactly you want to send agents and players in the league. If true, it really could have a ton of potential negative ramifications for the team going forward and I'm not happy about it.
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The thing is, if Danny really did leak confidential medical information, there could be some serious ramifications. Not to mention, he screwed the guy now on his team out of millions of dollars. Not exactly you want to send agents and players in the league. If true, it really could have a ton of potential negative ramifications for the team going forward and I'm not happy about it.
Well, I think all that was leaked was that he was Red Flagged on the physical for his back. That's not really confidential medical information, it is just results from a league run screening process.
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The thing is, if Danny really did leak confidential medical information, there could be some serious ramifications. Not to mention, he screwed the guy now on his team out of millions of dollars. Not exactly you want to send agents and players in the league. If true, it really could have a ton of potential negative ramifications for the team going forward and I'm not happy about it.
Well, I think all that was leaked was that he was Red Flagged on the physical for his back. That's not really confidential medical information, it is just results from a league run screening process.
Doesn't really matter though. Additionally, he screwed a player out of millions of dollars. How exactly do you think that will be looked at around the league by players and agents?
It was poor form to do and a much worse idea to even joke about.
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It was poor form to do and a much worse idea to even joke about.
Most guys who fall for medical reasons have those reasons leaked. Sullinger's camp had ample time to deal with it if it was misinformation anyways.
Your point is better when in the past players have dropped due to rumored medical red flags rather than actual ones.
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The thing is, if Danny really did leak confidential medical information, there could be some serious ramifications. Not to mention, he screwed the guy now on his team out of millions of dollars. Not exactly you want to send agents and players in the league. If true, it really could have a ton of potential negative ramifications for the team going forward and I'm not happy about it.
Well, I think all that was leaked was that he was Red Flagged on the physical for his back. That's not really confidential medical information, it is just results from a league run screening process.
Doesn't really matter though. Additionally, he screwed a player out of millions of dollars. How exactly do you think that will be looked at around the league by players and agents?
It was poor form to do and a much worse idea to even joke about.
Again, I don't think Danny actually did anything. If he did do anything, it is just slipping out the idea that teams are scared off by the red flag. But every team in the league was given the medical information themselves.
As for screwing a player out of Millions...well, I would argue (and Sully's agent would very likely agree), that coming to a team like the C's, who have a system that compliments his game, a bunch of guys that will demand attention and are great passers, allowing Sully to roam free a bit, and a ton of open minutes in the front court, is the best possible thing to happen to Sully's career.
Any agent will tell you that for a player that is actually talented, the first contract is irrelevant, it is the second contract that matters. And Sully "slid" to a spot where he has a tremendous shot at maximizing his value.
The thing is, Sully had already dropped towards the bottom of the lottery (at least) by the time the reports of his health came out. And the money between the 14th pick and 21st (or was it 20th?) pick is just not that dramatic.
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The thing is, if Danny really did leak confidential medical information, there could be some serious ramifications. Not to mention, he screwed the guy now on his team out of millions of dollars. Not exactly you want to send agents and players in the league. If true, it really could have a ton of potential negative ramifications for the team going forward and I'm not happy about it.
Well, I think all that was leaked was that he was Red Flagged on the physical for his back. That's not really confidential medical information, it is just results from a league run screening process.
Doesn't really matter though. Additionally, he screwed a player out of millions of dollars. How exactly do you think that will be looked at around the league by players and agents?
It was poor form to do and a much worse idea to even joke about.
Again, I don't think Danny actually did anything. If he did do anything, it is just slipping out the idea that teams are scared off by the red flag. But every team in the league was given the medical information themselves.
As for screwing a player out of Millions...well, I would argue (and Sully's agent would very likely agree), that coming to a team like the C's, who have a system that compliments his game, a bunch of guys that will demand attention and are great passers, allowing Sully to roam free a bit, and a ton of open minutes in the front court, is the best possible thing to happen to Sully's career.
Any agent will tell you that for a player that is actually talented, the first contract is irrelevant, it is the second contract that matters. And Sully "slid" to a spot where he has a tremendous shot at maximizing his value.
The thing is, Sully had already dropped towards the bottom of the lottery (at least) by the time the reports of his health came out. And the money between the 14th pick and 21st (or was it 20th?) pick is just not that dramatic.
Exactly. Sullinger's play last season, especially in the tournament, which gets overrated every year, had dropped him out of the top 10. Suppose he went #12 -- that would have earned him $700K more this year, and a trip to the rookie quagmire that is Houston. Instead, he's in Boston, and is going to get significant minutes playing on a veteran squad that looks to go deep into the postseason. This should really help contract #2, and keep him out of the MLE and minimum salary purgatory for much of his career.
And yes, Doc was clearly being sarcastic, just like Rondo is feeling at 74.3%, because reporters are foolish sometimes. The most Danny could do is leak that Sullinger had a red flag. This would put public pressure on other GM's to not draft him, but would not provide those GM's with any additional true or untrue information. If they don't feel secure enough in their jobs to have egg on their face if Sullinger really does prove ineffective, they pass. They did. The jury is still out as to whether they made a mistake for doing so, although the early results are clearly promising for the C's.
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Uh guys, use your heads for a moment here.
Sully never came in for a workout in Boston. So that means Boston's doctors never got a chance to look at him. Any screening Boston's medical team did was the same every other team in the NBA did, working off his physicals from the draft combine.
It's, quite literally, impossible for Danny to have released anything confidential, as his Doctor's only had access to the exact same medical information that every other team in the league did.
Doc was obviously kidding, anyone who knows anything about the pre-draft process knows his "insinuation" is literally impossible.
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Came out from Doctors. So did Danny influence the doctors (whisper in their ear - the back look at his back). I don't get it. Doc is always joking like that - is pretty common.
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I love how Doc is constantly trolling the media. It's one of the reasons that I always try to read what he says.
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if this was serious (and i doubt it is), every team has an incentive to do this with ANY PLAYER they want in the draft. no chance danny "leaked" that info, because that info was something EVERY GM knew anyway.
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this is a joke, leaking the infor could not guarantee that Sully would drop to 21. There were many teams that could have taken him. It wasnt as if the Cs were piking at 12-15.
A better conspiracy theory is that Sully wanted to go to a contender so he leaked/faked a back problem.
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Where has all the humor gone, long time passing.
Where has all the humor gone, I really don't know.
Gone to jokes that Doc has said
That most of the fans don't get,
That most of Celticsblog didn't get!
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Dang, if Danny was going to purposely leak red flagged medical info on a player to get him to fall to the Celtics draft spot, why didn't he choose Anthony Davis instead?
That's it. Fire Danny. He doesn't even know which player to choose to leak bad medical information on so we can land a lottery type talent while picking in the 20's.
;D