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Enemy Chatter: The Celtics do not have a young, future star

Chuck - Red's Army January 31, 2015 Enemy Chatter, Marcus Smart, Marcus Thornton 16 Comments

We often wonder what opposing teams, their beat reporters and bloggers are saying about the Celtics. Here’s a look at some enemy chatter from Houston.

The Celtics have played so reliably hard that they have been able to scrape together more wins than the other teams going nowhere. But after moving Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green largely for picks, the Celtics have a roster filled with players with the potential to be good, solid rotation guys. They do not have a young, future star to make the pain of losing seem likely to pay off. While the Sixers and Timberwolves hope that there are game-changers on the roster with the potential to grow into the role, the Celtics cannot expect that from Jared Sullinger, Tyler Zeller or even Marcus Smart. All seem likely to have good, long careers. Smart especially could be a key piece of a top team. But the team playing under all those banners has to hope that some of the great many draft picks the Celtics have collected pay off big time. Until then, the Celtics have the start of a foundation, but no star to build around.

Ultimate Rockets – Houston Chronicle

Half of me thinks this guy is right, the other half wants to tell him to f-off.

I think it’s a bit premature to define Marcus Smart’s career 40-something games into his rookie season. The kid has defensive player of the year potential, a better than we thought 3 point shot, and cajones.

James Harden couldn’t get anything going and ended with just 14 points on 4-21 shooting. The Celtics are a team built to stop players like Harden because they have a handful of athletic wings who are exceptional defenders. Rookie Marcus Smart specifically frustrated Harden down the stretch. The Beard also recorded 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 turnovers in a disappointing performance.

For Boston, Marcus Thornton (out of all people) had the hot hand. He just chucked up tough shots and they were falling — it was just that kind of night for Thornton. He gunned his way to the tune of 17 points in 23 minutes. For a good majority of that time, James Harden was guarding him. Just saying.

Dream Shake

I’m not quite sure why he’s doubting Marcus Thornton’s scoring ability. If there’s one guy on this team who can score 17 points in 23 minutes, it’s Thornton.

Kevin

He’s not wrong. I truly believe Marcus Smart is going to have a great career. However, I think his max scoring ceiling will be a ~15ppg and that he will make at most 2-3 all-star games. He will never be a perennial superstar like Pierce was and doesn’t have the potential to be one like Embidd or Wiggins does. So in a way, he’s right. Those teams are set up better for the future than we are. The NBA is a league of superstars– a team can have no bench and a superstar can still carry it to victory. Our team has some potential all-stars, but no future superstar.
- Sean
  
  I don’t think those teams future is better than the Celtics. Maybe easier. I’d rather have a team of solid role players than one star and a bunch of scrubs. Plus Minny plays in the west.
  - Kevin
    
    Well, granted you don’t want a superstar and scrubs forever, once you have a superstar, you have a foundational piece to build the rest of your team around. When you have solid role players, the players are very interchangeable. The only team in the last decade I can remember to win a championship without a superstar are the ’04 Pistons. A team needs a superstar to think about competing for a championship.
  - Kevin
    
    What Phili is doing is working, albeit painfully.
    
    1. Michael Carter-Williams –> all-star potential
    2. Nerlens Noel –> solid starter, maybe all-star potential given the lack of big men
    3. Joel Embiid –> superstar potential
    4. Dario Saric –> europe’s best player; heard he’s got all-star potential
    
    2015 top 5 1st round pick
    
    Give that team 5 years and they’ll be at the top of the eastern conference as the older teams fade.
    - RedwasKing
      
      I just have this feeling Embiid is going to be a bust because he won’t have the work ethic, especially in a losing environment
    - bill_nair
      
      Half those players may not even be half way developed in 5 years. Lets not anoint them yet.
  - CFH
    
    Minny also has the problem of being Minny. If Wiggins is a perennial all-star or a game-changing talent, Minny still won’t win with him because the organization is incompetent from the top down. The Celtics are always in a better position than the Wolves because the owners aren’t morons.
- Chief_00
  
  I’d rather 4 potential all stars than one superstar, ask the Knicks how that’s working out for them.
  - bill_nair
    
    That’s only led to 1, maybe 2 championships in the NBA’s history. You need hall of fame caliber players to win a chip, not a bunch of few time all stars. Using the Knicks as an example for anything other than how to be incompetent and mediocre is a poor example.
    - Chief_00
      
      ” a team can have no bench and a superstar can carry them to victory” I thought I gave a good example regardless of said organisations incompetence…ok this years Lakers team then, and using that reasoning KG should have won multiple championships when he was in Minnesota.
      Look at Atlanta? Whose their superstar?. They seem to be doing ok….a superstar would be nice but I think I’d prefer a team with 4-5 good to great players than just one guy.
      anyway bill that’s just my opinion I guess if it brings another banner to Boston I don’t care how we do it.
      - Kevin
        
        Well, granted you don’t want a superstar and scrubs forever, once you have a superstar, you have a foundational piece to build the rest of your team around. When you have solid role players, the players are very interchangeable. The only team in the last decade I can remember to win a championship without a superstar are the ’04 Pistons. A team needs a superstar to think about competing for a championship.
Jake Gruber

This seems like a good place to put my comment regarding Jared Sullinger. I haven’t totally understood the amazing optimism some have had regarding him. Though he certainly isn’t a bad player, and could probably help an already established contender (like the way big baby or leon pose did, max), I do not see a whole lot of upside. He shoots a pretty bad percentage, doesn’t play great D, takes a lot of threes that he doesn’t make, has complained to referees just incredible amounts since day one in the league. He’s not a bad rebounder for his size, but he’s also not a great rebounder either. I would almost liken him to a really poor man’s Antoine Walker. And I mean really poor.

Having said that, I loved Antoine Walker when I was younger, but now I realize that he had ridiculously bad shot selection and definitely was far from the best player on a contending team. As Sullinger seems like a poor man’s version of him, and many many people did NOT like Walker, why are people so high on Sullinger? Just because he is young?
- Chief_00
  
  I guess it’s a matter of opinion, I think if he loses the weight and stops trying to shoot so many three’s he could average 20-10 which in today’s nba he would be considered a “star” player.
  Maybe not a franchise player but a damn good 2 or 3rd banana on a contender. The optimism comes from the fact that he had missed time with the back and that his still young and improving. I do agree he shoots too many 3’s I would like him to shoot less of them and go inside more, which would help his percentages but everyone wants a strech 4 these days.
- Chief_00
  
  And walker ugghh never tried to improve his game, always and I mean always chucking up Ill advised 3’s. So much potential but he didn’t want it enough. The only thing I kinda liked was the shimmy….
bill_nair

Well……there right.
Mike C

Understatement of the Year!!