Celtics Las Vegas Summer League Update: Bounced By Cleveland
It’s been a while since we’ve last gathered to discuss our beloved Celtics and form ridiculous opinions based meaningless games, and overall, things have been mixed. From a win/loss standpoint, the Celtics time in Vegas is disappointing. After falling to CLE and getting knocked out of the tournament, they’re now forced to play in the sad consolation bracket (who hasn’t been there) in their final game of the summer on Friday. After a nice win on Tuesday against Dallas, for the most part the momentum carried into last night’s game. It sucks that they lost this game and a chance to keep fighting for the title simply because of mental mistakes, but there are still a ton of positives to take away not only from this game, but the entire summer.
If you read the exclusive leak of Tuesday’s blog, you should know exactly where we are starting. Jaylen Brown followed up his best performance of the summer with an effort even greater. The easiest way to describe his night comes in just one word: complete. Another example of his aggressive style (11 FTs), Jaylen showed us the full arsenal. Fast forward to the regular season, how do we all honestly think Jaylen makes an impact? Like every other super athletic wing who has shooting issues on this team, defense and scoring in transition.
Defense and scoring in transition.
But that’s not all! I mentioned the aggressive style of play. What’s interesting about Jaylen is the variation in which he attacks the rim. There are drives where he utilizes a pump fake to clear the lane for him to take it strong, and others where he takes on a big and bodies him
What makes Jaylen unique is that he can switch it up, and instead of using his body, he can on a dime change the plan and use his quickness and athleticism, like this
With a game to go, I’d say that Jaylen Brown’s summer is for the most part what I hoped it would be. We knew his shot would be a work in progress, but his form looks great and at least he’s finishing the league strong. He confirmed the hype about his dunking and ability to get to the rim which was nice, and I’m excited to see what he can do while on the floor with a lineup of like Smart/Avery/Brown/Jae/Horford. That is fucking nasty. You don’t score on that lineup.
Oh, and don’t tell me he doesn’t have handles!
If we’re talking excitement, then it’s time to talk about Abdel Nader. Perhaps the best 58th pick in NBA history. In all honestly, he’s the surprise of the summer without a doubt. I know I keep saying it, but he’s such an intriguing player. Don’t look now, but he could be stealing a roster spot once this season is over. His 13/5 was right in line with what he’s done during his entire time in Vegas, and last night we got a look at a little bit of everything. Nader made threes
You want my attention, you have it. Throw in his ability to make plays off the dribble, an Nader is finding himself skyrocketing up the Summer League Crush standings. There were rumors he accepted a year in the D-League, then other rumors that he in no way agreed to that, and shit why would he. I said it on draft night that I loved Danny’s second round, little did I know that Nader would be the best of the bunch.
I don’t want to rush into anything, but Terry Rozier is looking at a wire to wire win for the race for my heart. Just another 24 point performance on 7-10 shooting, hitting step backs, hitting floaters, and destroying dudes off the dribble Terry is playing on another level
And it’s not just me, Rozier has won over the most important person in his basketball life. I don’t know what a second unit looks like with Smart and Rozier both on the floor, other than I love the defense. If Rozier’s jumper translates to the regular season, I’ll feel much better.
A couple of other notes…
– I’m ready. It’s time. Give Yabu 20 min a game. Chances are he still probably gets stashed, but I just call that an embarrassment of riches. Play him in pick and pop since he’s shown he can hit a midrange jumper, or just give it to him at the top of the key and get the fuck out of the way
– Sucks to see RJ get hurt. Especially since it’s a wrist, and you know, he’s a shooter. He’s had a weird summer, where his shot has been OK from deep (44%), but his defense is still lightyears away. I’d just rest him and have him ready for preseason.
– Hey James, help me help you would ya? Jesus
P.S
Someone should probably tell Marcus that Sully isn’t on the team anymore and he doesn’t have to do this
