James Young article

[Evantime34]

James Young has added 15 plus lbs of muscle, 3 inches on his vert and has been in the gym as much as any player on the C's.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4719574/james-young-working-to-silence-the-doubters

[BudweiserCeltic]

Lies! He's a lazy bum! Someone said so somewhere!

[tarheelsxxiii]

Wow. Well, I've been adamant that he needed to gain 15-20 lbs to see the court. Kudos to him. Would be a very pleasant surprise for me to see him succeed. Would help the team out a lot, too.

[hwangjini_1]

a very upbeat article on young. good to see such things being said, and even better to know he actually working on his shortcomings, such as going to his right, defense, and strength.

who knows? he may yet become a very good nba player.

oh, and tp to et for the thread. thanks, the article was a good read.

[Atzar]

It's almost like this kid wants to succeed.

[Maurice98]

It's almost like this kid wants to succeed.

Hope so because his physical tools are very good and the only thing that can stop James Young is James Young. Anyway it's nice to hear that he's working hard, bulking up and I really think that he's gonna prove the doubters wrong. I think he has that "it" factor.

Last thing I want to say is that I really hope he's gonna be an all around player rather than just a good to very good shooter.

[LGC88]

Stevens and Ainge always said good things about him (as opposed to Sully for example), and it didn't sound like small talk to me.
Only fan base were saying bad things about Young because of what Wallace said early last season. Last time I check, Wallace is not a trainer, coach or GM. In fact, since he got here he always (diplomatically) said bad things about the entire roster.

[krumeto]

TP, nice positive article!

I've been probably the most pronounced Young-hater around here. I hated the pick, the defense, the interviews. I've been suggesting to use him in trades to move up all the time.

Still, I hope he fulfills his potential and I hope it is with the Celtics. Working hard, staying around the team and the coaching staff is the way to go. Come on, Mr. Young! Make me eat my hat!

[rollie mass]

added 3 inches to vertical leap thats fantastic, shows what upside he has physically in future,his core strength will improve,jamesdid look like he didn't really work out so his upside is huge in this area
the right hand and being able to create was so poor that his improvement should again be huge-again three inches to vertical should really improve his game and i imagine his lateral movement and speed will be picking up from conditioning and specific drills

[LilRip]

great article TP

[BornReady]

I want see how he plays in an nba game rather than working out
as that's the easier part of his development (getting stronger, fitter to acclimate to the nba level)

I want to see whether he's defence and shot creation has improved as despite his physical tools he did not look like a good defender in college

[Who]

So he is almost 230lbs now? 

6-7 height, 7-0 wingspan, 8-8 standing reach. 230lbs.

That is a legit size for a SF. His perimeter shooting would be a major asset at SF. Not many shooters of that caliber (volume & accuracy) at that position who can defend their position competently.

[footey]

Would we package him with 16 in a trade to 9 to grab WCS?  I bet Charlotte would bite.

Seems like this article is an attempt to increase his trade value...

[Vermont Green]

His draft measurements from 2014 were 6'-5.25" w/o shoes, 6'-6.75" with shoes, 213 lbs.  Add 15 lbs to that and he is pretty close to what Pierce was at similar age (For comparison, Pierce was 6'-6" w/o shoes, 229 lbs).  Pierce was 20 years, 8 months old when drafted, Young is currently 19 years 10 months.

I have no problem giving Young a mulligan on his rookie "development" year.  He won't even be 20 years old until August.  He still has a ways to go to prove he is an NBA player but he has more promise than most of the players that will be drafted this year.

It is funny how impressions of a draft pick vs. an actual player change.  Compare Young to Stanley Johnson or Winslow.  Does anyone know that either will be better than Young in say 2 years?  If you could pick any of the 3, who would you pick?  It is tough to say but I think I would stay with Young.

[Sketch5]

I want see how he plays in an nba game rather than working out
as that's the easier part of his development (getting stronger, fitter to acclimate to the nba level)

I want to see whether he's defence and shot creation has improved as despite his physical tools he did not look like a good defender in college

I want, I want I want. Geez you sound like my five year old.

I think everyone wants to see this kid play and do well in games. You can see the crowd light up when he's in. People have a feeling this kid, and I stress KID, could be special. But he has to work at it at this level and he's coming to terms with it now.

Last season he had an awful start with missing the Summer League and pre season. So development of the weak parts of the game didn't happen, he was playing catch up with everything else. He played well in the D-League, but struggled with the big boys, mostly because he got pushed around, and had limited moves, but did show some flashes of what he may be able to do.

Working on the small parts of the game isn't the easy part, I don't know were you get that from. Adding 15lbs and adding 3 inches on his vert at the same time is impressive. It's hard to work on those parts of your game with out playing, you don't know how you are progressing. And I bet a bunch of CB'ers will roast him his first game if he doesn't play well the first couple of games. Let him catch up, he's going to be barely 20. Smart took a 3rd of a season to look decent on the offensive end.

The fact he's working should excite people, it means he gets it and wants it, and if it all comes together could be the steal of the draft and DA nailed that draft if Smart pans out as well getting two good players were he had to draft.

I've heard DA and Stevens both say Young at times dominates practice on the offensive end. Sounds like a confidence issue, adding the strength and athletic ability will help with that, he'll feel good, and have a bounce in his play. IF he can become a solid defender I'll be happy, he doesn't have to be lock down like Smart or AB, heck I'll settle for Ray Allen defense. But if he can get to Jordan/Kobe level, this kid will be special.