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.
“He (Stevens) doesn’t know what he’s doing with lineups; that’s the thing,” Sullinger told Comcast SportsNet’s Abby Chin on Sunday morning in Milan.
And that, Sullinger added, has everything to do with him and the rest of the Celtics players competing at a level that thus far has produced great competition with very little separation in these early days of training camp.
“That’s the unique part of this group,” Sullinger said. “We have a lot of guys that can play multiple positions very well, every night. And so he’s in a tough situation.”
Said Stevens prior to arriving in Milan: “What we’re trying to do is play groups and not necessarily individuals. I’m still much more focused on the collective than who had a good night.”
It stands to reason that figuring out which combinations work best will get easier with more practices and preseason games for Stevens and his staff to review.
But so far, the separation has been minimal.
“Every day we make it harder for him,” Sullinger said.
CSNNE – Jared Sullinger: Brad Stevens in a ‘tough situation’ creating lineups
Finally, after four months of draft, free agency and general off-season talk, the Celtics are ready to play some basketball this week. The biggest story-line to watch, the line-up combinations crafted by Brad Stevens, is indicative of the general depth of the roster.
It’s going to be tempting to look into every one of Stevens’ moves and begin to question his motives and thought process. I had to stop myself when I saw the starters for the green and white teams in the open practice scrimmage: wait a minute, where’s Sully? How far down the depth chart is he if he can’t crack the top ten on this team? He must be binge eating a pizza on the bench to cope with this.
Stevens is going to mix and match in ways that may only make sense to him, his coaching and analytics staff. Some of it may be purely experimental, while it may also spawn from performance in early practices.
One thing that’s for certain is that while the guys will make it hard on Stevens, this isn’t new to him. He’s dealt with an amalgam of rookies, cast-offs and second-chancers ever since he signed on for the rebuild in Boston. Save for Keith Bogans, guys publicly got on board, or they got traded.
The difference this year is, especially in the front-court, these guys will expect to play. Sully, KO and Zeller all played meaningful minutes on -wait for it- a playoff team last year. David Lee got Wally Pipp’d last year and hopes to re-establish himself. The Cs didn’t sign Amir Johnson to ride the pine and if early practice performance is any indication, he won’t.
Adding another layer of roster intrigue can be found below.
On Page 2, where Cs will kick the tires on extension talks
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told the Boston Globe there is “nothing imminent” regarding contract extension negotiations for Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller, but the team will continue to speak to representatives for both players.
The Celtics have until an Oct. 31 deadline to reach extensions with Zeller and Sullinger, who are entering the final seasons of their rookie contracts.
“I’m not sure how that’s all going to work out,” Ainge told the Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. “But we’ll continue to talk throughout this month.”
There’s far less intrigue in Boston around the Oct. 31st deadline this year than there was a year ago. That was when speculation flew around what would become of Rajon Rondo. The safe money this year is on the deadline to pass without fanfare, but with the cap about to skyrocket this summer, it’s possible the Cs come to terms with one of their young bigs.
I’ll go on record as saying it doesn’t happen, but if it does, I’d go with Zeller inking an extension. 7-footers don’t go on trees and his skill on the offensive end of the court is for real.
There are way too many questions surrounding Sully to go ahead and give him the offer that David Falk wants for his client. Is it possible the Cs get burned by him? Sure. The summer workouts and weight-loss could yield a season of full health in which he’s considered a potential all-star. Bottom line is, that helps the Celtics this year. I also wonder if Sully’s that type of guy to go balls out during a contract year, only to get fat (pun intended) and happy once he earns his first, big, post-rookie contract.
Keep an eye on how these talks progress.
And finally, stick to hoops, Marcus
Actually, not too shabby. While the Cs are overseas to play ball and prepare for the season ahead, it’s cool that these guys get to interact with new fans in new places. Nothing will beat Paul Pierce posing with gladiators outside The Coliseum in ’07, though.
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