The Celtics Dominate Golden State In Their Summer League Tournament Opener, Advance To Play Undefeated Dallas
There’s one thing we know for sure after watching the Celtics absolutely manhandle the defending champ’s fringe NBA players in their opening round tournament action. Whether it be the regular season or the fake Summer League season, the Celtics continue to be one of the only franchises in the league who can compete and beat GS. H8ers will say that’s not true, but may I remind them who hasn’t lost in Oracle in two years? May I ask them who did this yesterday?
And you know what, it wasn’t even this close! Mind you the Celtics did all this WITHOUT Jaylen or Jayson Tatum or Abdel Nader. That’s #depth like you read about. What we got was a wire to wire win to advance to the quarterfinals against an undefeated Dallas squad lead by rookie Dennis Smith Jr who has been absolutely ridiculous this summer. Anyone who says Summer League is boring isn’t paying attention. Sure the basketball might be offensive, but the entertainment is there.
Considering the real Warriors probably won’t lose too many games this season, I’ll take what we saw yesterday. This was by far the best the Celtics have played in either league and I came away from this game feeling a nice little title run on the horizon. We have a lot to get to so let’s dive right in
The Good
– If not for the offensive brilliance of Jayson Tatum so far this summer, Ante Zizic would be the clear favorite for my heart. Talk about a goddamn turnaround for the Croatian Wilt. Another double double (14/10/2/1/3) in just 17 minutes, he also went 8-10 from the line which we all know I have a soft spot for. It’s impossible to see how Zizic has played in Vegas and not think he immediately helps. Again we ALL (myself included) got a little too ahead of ourselves after what we saw in Utah. I’m ready to give him 15-20 minutes on that second unit and actually have someone who will rebound
You can tell by those highlights he’s simply feeling more comfortable. He’s adjusting to the speed of the “NBA”, and what I’m most impressed with so far this summer is his ability to catch the ball at the top of the three point line, put it on the floor, and finish at the rim. Finally his teammates started to look for him when he rolled to the basket and gave him actual passes he could handle, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he actually was productive.
Something we got in this game that I wasn’t really sure he could do was pass out of the post to an open shooter. You may know this but the Celtics love to shoot threes, so if they can throw out this monster who can attract bodies and he has the presence of mind and skill to pass out of it and find the open man, how can you not love that? I am ALL IN on Zizic if you can’t tell already soley due to basketball that doesn’t mean anything. Imagine if he does this in a preseason game? Raging Zizic in my pants 100%.
– With guys out, the Celtics needed others to step up in the biggest game of the summer. We got that from Ante, but you know who else stepped up and is finding himself experiencing a rapid rise in the Summer League Crush Standings? Jabari Bird. Following up a solid performance last time out, he threw in a 17 point effort on 8-10 shooting. I think what we’re seeing is a guy making a strong case for one of those Two Way contracts. At 6’6 his size/shooting make him an interesting prospect. He’s shown he can stroke it from the outside, but this move right here had me jumping out of my seat. It’s common knowledge that I am a sucker for any sort of good hesitation move (see Isaiah Thomas) and this right here was downright filth
Jabari led all starters in scoring and is certainly showing why he could potentially be a steal being taken 56th. With rosters expanding it would not surprise me if he sticks around and fills that James Young seat some nights, and you never know with guys taken this late in the draft, but so far I have been impressed with what I’ve seen.
– Celts shot 54% from the field and 52.6% from deep. The took nearly the same amount of 3PA as the Warriors made baskets (19 vs 21). Scoring 93 points in 10 minute quarters without your best players is impressive I don’t care when it happened. I forgot what it feels like to see the Celtics unable to miss a shot, and yup it feels great for those wondering.
– Another game, another rebounding battle won. This time it was 46-34 and this stood out to me because the Celtics did a great job in limiting Jordan Bell. Bell had been an absolute monster on the glass in previous games, yet came away with just 6. We will not experience this a whole lot once the season starts, so cherish how the Summer Celtics are rebounding the basketball, and don’t think that doesn’t have a lot to do with why they are undefeated in Vegas. Sometimes basketball isn’t that complicated.
– When the Celts drafted Semi, they did so by passing on Jordan Bell. Both have had strong summers so I was excited to see them face off against each other, and now that the scores are in, I’d say Semi won the battle. His 9/9 in 17 minutes beat out Bells 4/6, and while Bell played better defense (3 steals and 2 blocks) Semi didn’t turn the ball over, and he continued to show his outside range. I think both teams are going to be VERY VERY happy with their second round picks.
To make things even better, Semi is now almost a lock to make the NBA roster since Jordan Mickey was officially waived. Semi and Yabu are going to be a thing and I for one cannot fucking wait.
– Out of nowhere Rosco Allen turned in the performance nobody saw coming. His 18 points on 7-8 shooting (2-2) from deep led all Celtics and when you factor that performance with the dunk he had earlier this summer, I’m starting to develop feeling for him. I’m not sure how he fits into the roster, but he was clearly waiting until the tournament to show what he’s capable of and I don’t hate that one bit.
– Vegas Gino is the best kind of Gino and I’m not really sure that’s debatable.
The Bad
– Maybe I’m being too harsh, but I wasn’t thrilled with what we saw from DJax. His shooting has sneaky been bad all summer, and frankly I expected a little more from him yesterday with everyone out. He does continue to show the quickness needed to get by his primary defender and get to the rim which is nice, but I’m really curious as to what his future might be. It wouldn’t shock me if he was included in some sort of trade or something, but it also wouldn’t shock me if he had the exact same role he had last year, going between Maine and the NBA roster.
– If there’s one thing the Summer Celtics and the real Celtics have in common, that’s a love for turning the ball over. They absolutely love it. Personally, there’s nothing I love about another game that consisted of 18 turnovers, but I suppose when you’re up by a billion it doesn’t really matter.
– I’m going to need to see more minutes for Scoochie. You can’t have a name like that and play just 12 minutes. Do what’s right Walter and play the man.
– I know the injuries are fake, but hearing Right Patellar Tendonitis being thrown around with your prized 19 year old rookie isn’t great. I’m going to need everyone (maybe minus Jaylen) back against DAL because they’re undefeated as well and I really want to see Tatum vs DSJ. Each time Tatum has gone up against another highly touted rookie, he’s had some of his best games, so I’d like to see that trend continue.
The Ugly
– Come on you know how this works. Beat GS by a billion, this section gets the day off.
Celts get a few days off with their next game not until Sunday, so I fully expect them to be rested and focused as we continue our march for a second consecutive banner raising summer.
God I love the Summer Celtics.