Author Topic: The Roster Thread  (Read 8426 times)

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Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #15 on: July 30, 2016, 09:10:10 AM »

Offline Surferdad

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I'm liking the idea of Jackson making the roster right away.  Hunter I thought would take that spot but didn't really step forward as much as I thought he would in summer league. There's still preseason to go though.  Jackson is a 21 year old rookie though.  I thought he might be a stash for a bit sort of player but there is a chance he could contribute right away. 

It's tricky as far as players to put at the end of the active roster and who will be in and out of the d-league this year.  I expect jackson to be that.

I think what is ultimately going to happen is a trade before the start of the year. Young, Rj and Bentil are at the end of the list but I don't think Ainge wants to cut all 3.

You have it  right as far as the guys with the lead for spots right now.
I agree that R.J's play in the summer league wasn't up to the standards that were expected of him, but I think he did a lot better than Demetrius Jackson. The latter got outplayed by Pierre Jackson (mind you a 5'10 PG who hasn't even played a single NBA game yet) in the last game against Portland.

I really don't see how you - generally speaking - can justify keeping Jackson over R.J as Marcus could be our 3rd ball handler if needed.

1) Jackson was a better player in college than Hunter.  Hunter scored more, but he was the best player on an okay team in a bad conference.  Jackson was on a good team in a great conference.

2) Jackson is a year younger.

3) The Celtics have seen RJ Hunter for a year.  It's possible his game hasn't grown at all -- that he's still missing the same defensive rotations as he did in training camp, for example.  That he hasn't improved some practice habits, perhaps.  I don't know exactly, because I'm not management and don't get to see behind the scenes, but what I can assure you is that Jackson being ahead of Hunter was made prior to summer league, because...

4) When Jackson was drafted, the Celtics gushed about him and reporters tweeted from "sources" that Jackson would be on the roster.  This was before free agency and before summer league.  They weren't using summer league to evaluate him in terms of a roster spot -- they were using summer league to get him reps.

5) This is further corroborated by the fact that Gerald Green, the Celtics only free agent signing besides Horford, plays Hunter's position.  If they'd gone off and gotten Jarrett Jack, then that would say something different.  But they got Green, who's an athletic wing sometimes prone to defensive errors, but who can hit the three.  I agree with you that Snart can be the third ball handler -- in fact, I'd argue he certainly is, if not the second.  But it's good to have four of those guys on a roster.  Injuries can pile up quickly at that position.

6) Despite that he's never played in an NBA game, I'd argue Pierre Jackson, who in his first pro season set the (now-broken) single-game scoring record in the D-league, and holds the second-highest single-season per game scoring average in the D-league, has been a better pro than RJ Hunter.  He suffered an Achilles tear in Summer league two years ago.  Last year he didn't look good, but he looked much more explosive this summer.  I'm not surprised he outplayed Demetrious for a game.  I hope he finally gets his shot in the NBA.  It was really disappointing that New Orleans refused to offer him a contract when he was tearing up the D-league, despite only having 14 players on the roster much of the year.

Anyway, the main point is that the Celtics were not using summer league to decide about Demetrious.  If Hunter had shown up over the summer, they might not have signed Gerald Green, but they were not competing then for a roster spot, and they are not now competing for a roster spot.
The point about the Green signing is valid, but you could easily replace RJ Hunter's name with James Young and make the same argument.

Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #16 on: July 30, 2016, 06:56:37 PM »

Offline takeittotherim

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Do you realize that RJ in limited minutes off the bench last year (when it's harder to get in the flow), shot a higher percentage (46%) on open 3 pointers than Steph Curry.  The C's will regret letting him go without first testing him with regular minutes.  Plus Danny has stated RJ's best asset is his passing.  He is definitely not interchangeable with James Young.

Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #17 on: July 30, 2016, 07:40:52 PM »

Offline Eddie20

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Do you realize that RJ in limited minutes off the bench last year (when it's harder to get in the flow), shot a higher percentage (46%) on open 3 pointers than Steph Curry.  The C's will regret letting him go without first testing him with regular minutes.  Plus Danny has stated RJ's best asset is his passing.  He is definitely not interchangeable with James Young.

I like Hunter a lot, but I do feel like playing for a smaller school hurt him quite a bit. Instead of learning to play off the ball, he was the primary ball handler facilitating the offense his team. However, his athleticism/skill level doesn't allow that to translate at the next level. So now he's forced to learn a all the intricacies of moving without the ball and getting open. In addition, since he was expending so much energy at Georgia St. I'm fairly certain that he was never asked to defend at a high level, much less defend the other team's best wing scorer. Again, I would've loved to have seen Hunter go to a top school and play in a major conference.

Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #18 on: July 30, 2016, 08:15:46 PM »

Offline Evantime34

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My predictions to start the season

Starters:
Thomas
Bradley
Crowder
Olynyk
Horford

Second Unit:
Smart
Rozier
Brown
Jerebko
Amir

Will join rotation if injury occurs:
Green
Zeller
Mickey

D-league:
Jackson
RJ
DKC:  Rockets
CB Draft: Memphis Grizz
Players: Klay Thompson, Jabari Parker, Aaron Gordon
Next 3 picks: 4.14, 4.15, 4.19

Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #19 on: July 30, 2016, 08:20:33 PM »

Offline mgent

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My predictions to start the season

Starters:
Thomas
Bradley
Crowder
Olynyk
Horford

Second Unit:
Smart
Rozier
Brown
Jerebko
Amir

Will join rotation if injury occurs:
Green
Zeller
Mickey

D-league:
Jackson
RJ

Wouldn't be surprised if Green takes Rozier's minutes, especially considering both Smart and Brown aren't as good off the ball.
Philly:

Anderson Varejao    Tiago Splitter    Matt Bonner
David West    Kenyon Martin    Brad Miller
Andre Iguodala    Josh Childress    Marquis Daniels
Dwyane Wade    Leandro Barbosa
Kirk Hinrich    Toney Douglas   + the legendary Kevin McHale

Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #20 on: July 30, 2016, 08:56:40 PM »

Offline Evantime34

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My predictions to start the season

Starters:
Thomas
Bradley
Crowder
Olynyk
Horford

Second Unit:
Smart
Rozier
Brown
Jerebko
Amir

Will join rotation if injury occurs:
Green
Zeller
Mickey

D-league:
Jackson
RJ

Wouldn't be surprised if Green takes Rozier's minutes, especially considering both Smart and Brown aren't as good off the ball.
If Green is going to take someone's minutes to start the season I think it will be Brown's not Rozier's. I see Green as more of a back up 3 for this team than a 2.
DKC:  Rockets
CB Draft: Memphis Grizz
Players: Klay Thompson, Jabari Parker, Aaron Gordon
Next 3 picks: 4.14, 4.15, 4.19

Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #21 on: July 30, 2016, 09:10:23 PM »

Offline Surferdad

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Do you realize that RJ in limited minutes off the bench last year (when it's harder to get in the flow), shot a higher percentage (46%) on open 3 pointers than Steph Curry.  The C's will regret letting him go without first testing him with regular minutes.  Plus Danny has stated RJ's best asset is his passing.  He is definitely not interchangeable with James Young.
I agree with you, he is better than James Young and he deserves the same shot Young got (2 years). My point in responding to saltlover is that Green should displace Young off the roster, not Hunter.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2016, 09:22:52 PM by Surferdad »

Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #22 on: July 30, 2016, 09:42:23 PM »

Offline Csfan1984

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There has to be a trade. I'm thinking Mickey and Hunter are traded for a conditional 1st.

IT/Rozier/Jackson
AB/Smart/Brown
Crowder/Green/Young
AJ/KO/JJ/Bentil
Hordford/Zeller


Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #23 on: July 30, 2016, 11:27:38 PM »

Offline takeittotherim

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Do you realize that RJ in limited minutes off the bench last year (when it's harder to get in the flow), shot a higher percentage (46%) on open 3 pointers than Steph Curry.  The C's will regret letting him go without first testing him with regular minutes.  Plus Danny has stated RJ's best asset is his passing.  He is definitely not interchangeable with James Young.

I like Hunter a lot, but I do feel like playing for a smaller school hurt him quite a bit. Instead of learning to play off the ball, he was the primary ball handler facilitating the offense his team. However, his athleticism/skill level doesn't allow that to translate at the next level. So now he's forced to learn a all the intricacies of moving without the ball and getting open. In addition, since he was expending so much energy at Georgia St. I'm fairly certain that he was never asked to defend at a high level, much less defend the other team's best wing scorer. Again, I would've loved to have seen Hunter go to a top school and play in a major conference.


Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #24 on: July 30, 2016, 11:37:09 PM »

Offline saltlover

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Do you realize that RJ in limited minutes off the bench last year (when it's harder to get in the flow), shot a higher percentage (46%) on open 3 pointers than Steph Curry.  The C's will regret letting him go without first testing him with regular minutes.  Plus Danny has stated RJ's best asset is his passing.  He is definitely not interchangeable with James Young.

I'm a little tired of that stat.  He shot 11 of 24 on "wide open" threes, which are defined as a defender being more than 6 feet away.  46% is better than 30%, obviously, but 11 of 24 is such a small sample size that to draw any conclusion from it is folly.   For instance, Hunter shot 18% (5 for 28) on "open" threes, which are defined as a defender being 4-6 feet away.  Combine those two stats (open and wide open), and you get that he shot 31% from 3 with a defender at least four feet away.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2016, 11:46:01 PM by saltlover »

Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #25 on: July 30, 2016, 11:46:07 PM »

Offline takeittotherim

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I would have loved to see him play in a major conference also. However, he did play against the likes of Duke, BYU, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Clemson, Iowa St, Colorado St, Baylor and Xavier during his 3 yr career.  In fact, his first game his freshman year was at Duke where he had a double/double (14 pts/11 reb/5 ast).

Also for clarification, RJ was not the primary ball handler while at Georgia State.  That was Ryan Harrow (transfer and former starting PG at Kentucky) who dominated the ball.  RJ primarily ran off screens to get his shots.  In fact Harrow was the leading scorer on the team until he played hurt the last 6 games of the season (playing limited minutes and causing his PPG to dip). 

On defense they played exclusively a match up zone, so there has definitely been a learning curve for the primarily man defense in the league.

Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #26 on: July 30, 2016, 11:49:40 PM »

Offline chambers

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I would like to see Hunter and Demetrius on the final roster.

Hunter needs more time in my opinion.

This team needs scorers and Hunter is a scorer. He spent last season learning defensive rotations and working on his strength/size. Hopefully once those two things are of an NBA caliber he can go back to concentrating on scoring.

Way too early to dump Hunter at this point IMO.
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Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #27 on: July 31, 2016, 12:11:02 AM »

Offline trickybilly

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I would like to see Hunter and Demetrius on the final roster.

Hunter needs more time in my opinion.

This team needs scorers and Hunter is a scorer. He spent last season learning defensive rotations and working on his strength/size. Hopefully once those two things are of an NBA caliber he can go back to concentrating on scoring.

Way too early to dump Hunter at this point IMO.

No way RJ doesn't make final roster. Jackson is another story.

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Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #28 on: July 31, 2016, 12:20:09 AM »

Offline saltlover

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I would like to see Hunter and Demetrius on the final roster.

Hunter needs more time in my opinion.

This team needs scorers and Hunter is a scorer. He spent last season learning defensive rotations and working on his strength/size. Hopefully once those two things are of an NBA caliber he can go back to concentrating on scoring.

Way too early to dump Hunter at this point IMO.

No way RJ doesn't make final roster. Jackson is another story.

I 100% guarantee you've got it backwards.

Re: The Roster Thread
« Reply #29 on: July 31, 2016, 01:14:38 AM »

Offline trickybilly

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I would like to see Hunter and Demetrius on the final roster.

Hunter needs more time in my opinion.

This team needs scorers and Hunter is a scorer. He spent last season learning defensive rotations and working on his strength/size. Hopefully once those two things are of an NBA caliber he can go back to concentrating on scoring.

Way too early to dump Hunter at this point IMO.

No way RJ doesn't make final roster. Jackson is another story.

I 100% guarantee you've got it backwards.

Ah ha yeah, that whole guaranteed contract thingy... yuh

 still think he makes the roster comfortably though...

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