Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Who’s the winner when the Celtics play the Celtics? The American public, that’s who.
Snippets from coverage of last night’s soft open for the 2016 season:
Jaylen Brown’s throwing down highlights…
Jaylen Brown tomahawk dunks on his teammate Tyler Zeller in the Celtics’ Green and White Scrimmage…https://t.co/GOtY7H16X3 #nba
— Ball Highlights (@bb_Highlights) October 1, 2016
…And looking a little lost
In more crowded areas, he didn’t always know exactly what to do. His first drive ended with the ball sliding out of his hands, and he forced the action too often off the bounce. Once, Jae Crowder swatted Brown from behind. Another time, Brown spun past his defender in the paint — a beautiful move — but didn’t loft his floater far enough.
While Terry Rozier’s looking sharp
Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart both starred in the first 10-minute scrimmage, which pitted the starters vs. the second unit, plus subs for both teams. It’s starting to feel like Rozier is earning more and more playing time by the day. He really looked comfortable, as you can read about here.
After one of the guard’s 3-pointers, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said on CSNNE: “I think that guy that just hit a three right there is going to eat a lot of (Evan Turner’s) minutes up. … Evan was a terrific player for us but Terry’s really biting at the bit for this opportunity.
MassLive (same article as the previous snip)
It’s early enough in training camp that every observation feels like an overreaction, but Rozier operated with a heightened level of control during summer league a few months ago and looked similar to that version of himself Friday against much better competition. The second-year pro didn’t just make shots; he wheeled around pick-and-rolls with assertiveness behind every repetition; pitched the ball to open teammates spotting up on the perimeter; and slapped the ball out of Thomas’ hands a couple of times with a pesky defensive performance. The Celtics don’t need Rozier to emerge as a starter, but for an hour, at least, he looked ready to establish himself as a badly needed creator off the bench.
More Highlights:
Page 2: Where Al Horford’s making things easier for everybody
But, in Horford, the Celtics found a player who slides seamlessly into Stevens’ system. Horford is also an All-Star who appears happy to cede the spotlight to Thomas.
“It’s so crazy to have a guy like that on the team that — we shot together a couple days ago and he was just like, ‘Man, I’m here to make things easier for you. So just let me know what you need,'” Thomas said of Horford. “That’s just wonderful, especially a guy that has that much talent. My job is just making things easier for others, and he’s making it easier for me already.”
It shouldn’t be hard for the Celtics to adjust to having Al Horford on the team. And if Horford is not directly the reason for the Celtics’ palpable enthusiasm in this training camp, he’s at least an indirect cause of it. Horford choosing to sign with the C’s marked a tipping point in the rebuild. If the Celtics strike out on Horford and Durant, then there’s a real question of what happens next.
Page 3: Where Amir went to Atlanta to workout with Al
“I took it upon myself when I saw Al was part of the team, I automatically wanted to go down to Atlanta and work,” said Johnson who added that he brought his daughter along for the trip and they went to dinner with Horford’s family during the visit. “I thought it was great just to get that chemistry going. I just wanted to get to known him, make him feel comfortable.”
It’s still early in training camp, but Johnson and Horford seem to be meshing quite well on the floor.
“The chemistry’s definitely coming along,” Johnson said. “I know when Al wants to roll or pop, and just working my way around it. Al’s more of a popper and eventually he’ll roll. It’s up to me to read whether I stay up or work the baseline.”
I’m liking this Amir Johnson/Al Horford front court, in theory. Back when we were all doing our preseason picks, I went with this starting lineup instead of the Horford/Olynyk combo. I think Stevens is just a bit too much of an ‘our defense sets up our offense’ guy to put a comparative defensive liability like Olynyk out in a position that puts a lot of demand on defenders (think about it: you can earn starter’s pay in the NBA as nothing but a stopper on defense if you play center–it’s very rare to see that at any other position). And with Horford’s injury history, I doubt that he or Stevens want to see Al logging a lot of minutes defending the other team’s five.
Finally: Boston’s loss was Amir’s gain
Johnson was quite happy when Ainge hit one out of the park with the addition of four-time All-Star Al Horford, but only found the warning track in the high-profile pursuit of Kevin Durant.
“I salute Danny for keeping it real with me,” Johnson said before Wednesday’s second team workout of the day. “He called me ahead of time and was like: ‘Listen, hey, we’re going for two big free agents. If we get two, you’re probably not going to be here. If we get one, you’ll probably be back.’ He told me that straight up.”
You have to think that Ainge made a similar call to Jonas Jerebko.
These guys aren’t idiots. They know how the cap works, they knew their contracts weren’t guaranteed, and they knew that if the Celtics signed two big guys, they were probably not going to be sticking around. Still, it’s to Ainge’s credit that he leveled with these guys, even though they almost certainly knew the situation.
Basketball is a kids’ game. James Naismith invented it because it was cold out and he was under orders to come up with “an athletic distraction.”
But that’s no excuse for the childish way in which some coaches and front offices manipulate their players, fans and the media.
I’m not trying to sell some notion that Ainge, Stevens and the ownership haven’t made mistakes–or that they’re not above dissembling to the press when it suits them. I’m just pointing out that they run a professional operation, and that reputation for fair and forthright dealing is one of the reasons why a guy like Kevin Durant even sits down with them in the first place.
The rest of the links:
CSNNE: Crowder: Worked on outside shooting, handling in off season
Boston Herald: Celtics Notebook: James Young in battle for his NBA life | Celtics notebook: New guys Al Horford and Jaylen Brown enjoy first taste of Green Garden
Providence Journal: Gerald Green looking to make most of his second shot with Celtics
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