I thought that this game was interesting to watch, there were things I saw many unexpected things from this Celtics squad that I feel need to be pointed out as food for thought.
1. RJ Hunter: This game was the polar opposite of what I and many other fans were expecting from the rookie. It felt like the man his offense in bed at the hotel, he did not score a single point in the 20 minutes Ihe played. But his defense was on point tonight, he was in the passing lanes getting his hands on everything he could, quick hands stripped the ball out from Exum and he did a solid job staying in front of the offensive players. His defense was by no means perfect but it definitely drew my attention because he seemed very competent on that end. If he pulls his shot together, which I expect he will, he could very well be a bit of a 3 and D type player. That could help the Celtics squad immensely.
2. Marcus Smart: The Marcus Smart we saw tonight felt completely different from the one we saw last season, he was very aggressive on offense, driving to the rim. drawing fouls, making 12-13 of he free throws. . He seemed a whole lot quicker in general as well, which does lead me to believe that ankle injury really did bother him last season. Still, he shot 2-10 on threes, he chucks them up like Antoine Walker still and I feel like if he shot less from deep he could put together games like this more often. Also, I might be showing a little bit of a homer mentality here but to me the refs were not very fair with Smart, they should not be letting Jack Cooley slam into him like they did without calling something. Even though he only shot 6-20 Smart managed to put up 26 points 8 assists 5 rebounds and one hell of a block. Very promising signs from the young man.
3. Jordan Mickey: Mickey seems like the type of player that Celtics fans are going to love should he make the roster, which he should if he plays at all like he did tonight. Mickey quietly had a solid 16 point game with 3 blocks, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal, shot a very efficient 7-8. He could be a nice second round steal if he keeps this up.
4. Terry Rozier: Even I was starting to feel the Rozier hype, super quick guard with nice handles and a bunch of potential. Tonight his play seemed rather uninspiring however. He put up 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. But he did play some solid defense and got two steals. I'm definitely not ready to throw him under the bus yet, it's one summer league game and I hope he learned from this game and bounces back tomorrow.
5. James Young: He looked like the James Young of last year until the 4th when he turned it on a little bit. Like Rozier there was some hype going for him gaining the 20 pounds of muscle and rumors of him being impressive in practices. But up until the 4th I was unconvinced much had changed with him, but he started to make a few shots at the end of the game. I really want him to become a great scorer like everyone else here so lets hope he got his feet wet enough in the 4th tonight to jump in and help the team win tomorrow.
6. Jonathan Holmes: Only played 12 minutes tonight, he was projected to be picked in the first round but went undrafted and ended up on the Celtics Summer League squad. But he was not very impressive although he did show NBA 3 point range draining a 3. Interestingly enough he went +1 overall though.
7. Phil Pressey: As a shocker to us all (not really) he did not play this game. Probably telling of his future with the Celtics.
8. Marcus Thornton: Thornton was only on the floor for 5 minutes. I would like to maybe see him a little more because he seems to have potential.
Those are just a few observations I had while watching tonight and I feel we learned a lot about the young guys on our team.
Topic: Celtics vs. Jazz Utah Jazz Summer League Observations (Read 2540 times)