FanPost

Keys to 2019 championship each player.....

  1. Kyrie Irving:...........................................................> 72 games 26 ppg
    Irving has been remarkably consistent throughout his NBA career. Perhaps the stat that pops out the most is 49.1 FG% with around 2.0 turnovers a game.
    Russell Westbrook...................44.9 FG% / 4.8 Turnovers
    Stephen Curry..........................49.5 FG% / 3.0 Turnovers
    James Harden..........................44.9 FG% / 4.4 Turnovers
    All Irving needs to make the case for M.V.P. is to stay healthy. If Irving wins the MVP and the Celtics win a championship-- it is hard to see him going anywhere.

  2. Gordon Hayward: ................................................ Shoot 390%
    Last year the Celtics were 2nd to the Warriors shooting 37.7% from three-- GSW shot 39.1%. With the accession of Tatum and Brown, and Irving at the point-- Hayward should get a lot of open looks this year. He is a 36.8% shooter for career.

  3. Al Horford.............................................................. 67 games / 28 mpg
    Finally the Celtics have a good deal of depth behind Mr. Horford. The trio of Morris, Baynes and Theis comprise a remarkably well balanced trio of bigs. If the Celtics make the finals, Horford may be celebrating his 33 birthday. While he didn't show signs of slowing down last year, he will be a key player against Golden State or Houston. Additionally-- the Celtics have two intriguing big men-- Robert Williams and Guerschon Yabusele, who need playing time against NBA level competition to develop.

  4. Jayson Tatum............................................................. >1.5 ORG
    Tatum has almost all the tools he needs to be an all-star / MVP candidate. 1.5 offensive rebounds are pretty ambitious for a small forward. But Tatum's biggest weakness was being weak. Last year he showed some mental toughness-- a year of working out and adding weight should give him some physical toughness. 1.5 offensive rebounds would indicate that that weakness was address and mitigated.

    BTW-- her is how Tatum compares with some of the best Small Forwards to play the game.

    Player Comparison Finder: Gordon Hayward (through 2010-11) vs. Jayson Tatum vs. Grant Hill (through 1994-95) vs. Paul Pierce (through 1998-99) vs. Larry Bird vs. Kevin Durant (through 2007-08

  5. Jaylen Brown..................................................> 80.0 FT%
    Clearly the most ambitious improvement of the group. Brown is already one of the athletic elites in the league. While he needs to develop a better handle, he has the ability to go to the rim much more often. But when you are shooting > 67.0% from the free throw line-- you become a liability if fouled.

    Brown did a tremendous job last year adjusting to a new position. I think he is a Shawn Marion starter kit-- EXCEPT Marion had a career 81.0 FT%.
  6. Marcus Smart................................................> 40.0 FG%
    Smart is one of the most frustrating players on the Celtics. Defensively, he is a beast. There are few players in the league who can switch from Curry to Durant and do a good job on both. He is physically and mentally tough. He plays with anger--but he needs to control it a bit. Oddly-- with his strength you would think he would be able to feast posting up smaller players. But "Marcus Smart in the Low Post" is almost a punchline on par with "Drew Bledsoe in the Red Zone."

    Player Comparison Finder: Jason Kidd (through 1996-97) vs. Steve Nash (through 1997-98) vs. Marcus Smart (through 2017-18)

  7. Terry Rozier......................................................15 PPG
    Rozier's minutes may go down next year. I have always thought of Rozier as a Avery Bradley starter kit. Like Brown-- he has the athleticism and enough of a handle to blow by players routinely. If he can channel and refine his finishing drives-- he could be an exceptional player.

  8. Aron Baynes.................................................... >57.0 FG%
    Last year Baynes played more minutes than any year in his career. At 32 he is what he is. A good solid 18 maybe 20 minute a game big man. The Celtics do not need him to do much to win a championship and they will not be hurt that much if he has a down year. But a guy who averages 8 points on 6.0 shots in 18 minutes would be very nice piece to the puzzle.

  9. Daniel Theis.........................................................1.5 BPG
    Like Baynes,Theis has a limited role on the Celtics. A 14 to 20 minute big who comes in and plays with energy and intensity on defense. Like Baynes, the Celtics do not need much if anything from him-- but it would be nice if after a year of adjusting to the league's athleticism he thrived with limited minutes.

  10. Marcus Morris....................................................... 45.0 FG%
    If Hayward is 100% Morris's minutes get drastically reduced. On the plus side, with both Tatum and Hayward on the team he will not be the only front court offensive player. Hopefully that will help him become a bit more efficient.

  11. Semi Ojeleye.............................................................5.0 PPG
    Last year Ojeleye was basically a poor man's Jonas Jerebko. With Hayward back, he can no longer play offense like he just testified against Mac-the knife.

  12. Guerschon Yabusele.................................................8.0 PPG
    The Celtics need nothing from Yabusele to win a championship this year. But he has to start showing that he belongs in the league. Next year the Celtics will have between 2 and 4 first round picks. He is the opposite of Ojeleye-- in that he should be able to have a positive impact on offense but he needs to get better on defense.

  13. Brad Wanamaker.........................................................NOTHING
    Wanamaker steps into Larkin's role as the break glass in case of emergency guard. Except at Shooting guard he will be behind-- Brown, Smart, (Hayward- when the Celtics go big) and Rozier. If he turns out to be the guard version of Theis-- great. But even there-- he is a match up only player.

  14. Robert Williams...........................................................5.0 RPG
    Robert Williams is immensely talented. Media reports make him out to be immensely immature as well. The good thing players can mature-- they can not get taller, longer, faster or jump higher.

    I think the Celtics want to take it easy with the kid and let him adjust to the game. The problem is-- that as gifted as he is-- he can dominate the G-league with the same bad habits he had at A&M. Best Case Scenario-- Williams ends up being a DeAndre Jordan who can hit a free throw. While the Celtics can win a championship this year without Williams-- they will need someone cheep in 20 and 21.

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