Avery Will Get His Shot

by Jeff Clark on Nov 29, 2010 5:58 AM EST in Boston Celtics Articles

Boston hasn't been a very opportunistic place for rookies since Ray and KG came to town. Win-now has rightly been valued high above develop-for-later. But when injuries happen, sometimes you are forced to look down the end of the bench and call in the kids. Semih Erden has been a surprising addition to the regular rotation and we've even seen some Luke Harangody lately. Now with Delonte out and Rondo still a little banged up, we might see a little of Avery Bradley.

Bradley’s shot may be a first for Celtics’ rookies - The Boston Globe

That said, he turned 20 Friday and he only has three full practices under his belt. His ability isn’t a question to coach Doc Rivers, but his handle on the system is obviously missing. Rivers said he probably knows "10 percent of what we know offensively or defensively. But he can play. "I think defensively, as a player, I don’t think he’ll be a good NBA player — I think he’ll be a great defensive guard,’’ Rivers said.

That's high praise. Doc goes on to say that he could become a "lockdown defender." All of which points to the big reason why he could make an impact where guys like J.R. Giddens and Billy Walker couldn't. Defense.

Coaches love to preach to most young players that the way to get on the court is to play great defense in practice. Well, that's right in Avery's wheelhouse. He'll still have to pick up the system, but in a pinch Doc can throw him out there for short stretches and have the team run the 10 percent of the playbook (on offense and defense) that he knows - similar to the way Doc got Nate Robinson going last year.

Personally, I'm looking forward to it. It has been tough waiting for this kid to get healthy enough to get on the floor. It must be tearing him up to not be out there playing. He's finally (relatively) healthy and as the 19th pick in the draft, he comes with a higher pedigree than most of the rookies that we've seen in here the last few years. He should be able to help. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

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I hope he doesn't blow this opportunity to showcase his skills.

If he plays well, who knows what can happen next even if Delonte comes back.

"The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot." - Bill Russell

by Marjun Raposon on Nov 29, 2010 7:21 AM EST reply actions

They say he only knows 10% of the plays.

I don’t think DWest’s BBIQ is being threatened, let alone Rondo’s.

by clover on Nov 29, 2010 8:16 AM EST reply actions

Dude's a rookie who's participated in three practices....

by theBird on Nov 29, 2010 11:08 AM EST up reply actions

I doubt he gets a shot. Doc will rather play Ray for 48 minutes...

by thebirdman on Nov 29, 2010 8:25 AM EST reply actions

Very unlikely.

Doc has proven time and time again, rest for the veterans is more important than Wins.

Maybe early in the season he’s ran them out more than he’d like to, but really, what choice did he have? With Bradley hurt, and West suspended the first ten games, Paul and Ray saw big minutes. Doc tried to get Wafer out there, but that was just not working out.

Defense is the key, Wafer can’t play any, hasn’t been bringing that energy, so he sits. Bradley can bring you that, so even if it means letting Marquis run the point and have Bradley play the 2 (if Nate gets in foul trouble, or we just need a defensive upgrade) it gives you options defensively. A backcourt Daniels/Bradley very possible may be the most bothersome defensive guard combo in the league. Both those guys have length, speed, and ability defensively, they could really cause some problems.

by Sizzlack on Nov 29, 2010 10:53 AM EST up reply actions

+1

"The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot." - Bill Russell

by Marjun Raposon on Nov 29, 2010 11:54 AM EST up reply actions

In the last few appearances, Wafer has looked a lot better

and rightfully earned some praise from Doc. So he hasn’t been a complete waste.

Otherwise, I pretty much agree.

by mmmmm on Nov 29, 2010 4:42 PM EST up reply actions

Ya, maybe I did jump the gun on Wafer.

We’ll see, it’s clear the team is committed to sticking with him at this point, and I did read the article on Celtics.com today with Doc’s quotes about Wafer.

Apparently the short of bodies practice today (only 11 with Shaq MIA) saw a lot more reps for Wafer, who earned some praise from Doc for his effort. Doc seems to be saying that Wafer is putting in the time, and his defense is improving. I guess only time will tell, but boy we could certainly use him now that West is out…

by Sizzlack on Nov 29, 2010 5:36 PM EST up reply actions

Necessity being the mother of invention

and the fact that Doc has been singing Avery’s defensive praises, I think he will get some time. It worked for Erden…and with the need for a backup for Ray and also for Rondo, and seeing how ineffective Wafer, just maybe…..

by thirstyboots18 on Nov 29, 2010 8:39 AM EST reply actions

I thought necessity was the mother of strange bedfellows

or was it the mother of all wars?

When he’s on the court, I’ll open my eyes 10% of the time.

"People don't understand, if you can't live the rest of your life off one year in the NBA, you can't live off 21." -- Keon Clark

by Eeyore III on Nov 29, 2010 9:45 AM EST up reply actions

Haha. Nice.

by Sizzlack on Nov 29, 2010 10:53 AM EST up reply actions

Very much looking forward to it

as well. I doubt very seriously it’s out of necessity though but, more so Doc thinks he can play. If they thought he couldn’t they could get by with Rondo and Robinson along with Pierce and Allen.

"Do you know that nonbelievers create the most positive energy?" Davis said

by Birdbrain on Nov 29, 2010 9:16 AM EST reply actions

Well, he'll try.

But Robinson is extremely limited defensively, so when he’s not scoring, he’s really not helping your team. He goes in spurts when his ball pressure is great, and he’s not a complete liability defensively, but that’s rare. There will be nights when you need Bradley to come in and give you a quick spark defensively, create some turnovers and pick up the energy. Nate can do that with his scoring, Bradley can do it with his defense, having both options could serve the team well.

Bradley gives you a whole different dimension, he can shut down either guard position. If he can learn some of the offense, or at the least gets his shot going and become a catch and shoot player, while Daniels runs the point, there’s a lot he can bring to the game. But as with all Rookies, the talent is always there (they wouldn’t be in the NBA if it wasn’t) but that certainly doesn’t mean… anything. Only time will tell if he can put it together.

by Sizzlack on Nov 29, 2010 10:58 AM EST up reply actions

Sounds good to me

can’t disagree with anything you mentioned. I just think it’s more he CAN play and not we need a body to bring the ball up.

"Do you know that nonbelievers create the most positive energy?" Davis said

by Birdbrain on Nov 29, 2010 11:27 AM EST up reply actions

You only learn by doing...not watching!

By all means, play him.

Hopefully, Delonte`s loss {injury} becomes Avery`s gain….just like Drew Bledsoe`s loss became Tom Brady`s gain.

by Title 18 on Nov 29, 2010 9:47 AM EST reply actions

+1

Agreed. Doc really needs to give him a chance

by OsirusCeltics on Nov 29, 2010 10:01 PM EST up reply actions

I am excited to see some minutes from Bradley

since he was rated #1 over Wall (#2) coming out of high school.

by GetYourSoxOn on Nov 29, 2010 9:51 AM EST reply actions

The talent is there, no question.

But Bradley really struggled to learn to be a Point Guard, he’s been a natural 2 guard most of his life, never a pure facilitator, and it will take time for him to change things about his game that have been ingrained in him for years. Not that it can’t be done, Westbrook has done quite well doing almost the exact same thing, and Bradley is a player in the exact same mold. He could become a dangerous combo guard.

It’s interesting to me why everyone wants to force him to be a PG, I don’t really understand that mentality, if I’m not mistaken he’s 6’4, only an inch shorter than Ray, and he has great length. I don’t see any reason why he can’t play the 2 guard, and I’m not really sure why there seems to be this mentality that he needs to learn to play point or he can’t succeed in the NBA.

by Sizzlack on Nov 29, 2010 11:02 AM EST up reply actions

+1

by mmmmm on Nov 29, 2010 4:51 PM EST up reply actions

Ideal would be that he's a Delonte-type...

… combo guard off the bench. I thought he was 6’2", anyway? That’s what Yahoo! Sports has him listed at.

Delonte’s a guy that came into the league very much as a 2-guard, and while he’s still certainly not a natural “1” he’s gotten much better at that position over the years. Bradley’s a bit small to play the SG position full-time, but he’s got good size for the point. I think they’d love to see him develop his point guard skills enough to be able to at least back up at that position – I mean, it’s not like we need a starting PG ;)

by theBird on Nov 29, 2010 11:13 AM EST reply actions

I stand corrected.

NBA.com has him at 6’2 as well. Makes a bit more sense than I guess, that is pretty small to play much at the 2. On this team he could, with Daniels ability to handle the ball, you don’t need him to play the point. But at 6’2, he may struggle to guard some of the bigger 2 guards in the league, and it would be tough to put him and Nate on the floor together.

Makes sense then that it would be important for his career (whether or not he stays in Boston) to learn the PG position.

by Sizzlack on Nov 29, 2010 11:22 AM EST up reply actions

his reach is 6' 7"

And he’s only two inches shorter than Tony Allen who we all seem to feel was a great defender of even larger 2s and 3s.

Defending at the 2 is not so much about height because it isn’t a post-up game. It is about the ability to front your man and move & fight through screens. The long reach still allows shot contention and definitely helps tremendously with pass disruption.

by mmmmm on Nov 29, 2010 4:56 PM EST up reply actions

If ypui

by theBird on Nov 29, 2010 5:03 PM EST up reply actions

grr....

“If you’ve got the wingspan…” was what I started typing. You can get by with being a little short and play the 2 guard if you’ve got those wings. I’m thinking of Tony Delk, who was a pretty effective combo guard and could play some pretty decent defense at the 2, despite being short, because he had those freakishly-long arms. I hadn’t picked up that AB had a particularly long wingspan, if he does that’ll help him out a lot.

Still think he’s best served working on his PG skills, it’s a lot more valuable to be a combo guard than a (still undersized) offguard.

by theBird on Nov 29, 2010 5:06 PM EST up reply actions