How good is Al Jefferson and other Celtics youngsters?

[1CenT]

Al Jefferson is looking better night by night, he is breaking out this season, barring injury and being overweight in the off season, he will be a 18 points 12 rebounds, 2 blocks player next season. He reminds me of Zach Randolph with a little more size.

Compare him with guys like Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Emeka Okafor, Zach Randolph, Pau Gasol,

how far is he from those guys?

I haven't watched him play this season, his numbers are great, i don't know what kind of defender he is,

what do you think?

Delonte West, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Kendrick Perkins, any of these guys gonna be good?

Delonte looks like he is a starter/6th man combo guard on any team, Gomes look like an efficient player,

How bout Perkins and Green? Can Green be a star? His game is quite unique, he is not the Gerald Wallace/Josh Smith athletic type, he does not remind me of a Tracy Mcgrady, Kobe Bryant type either.

[xman]

green looks like next kobe to me

[BigKaboom2]

Delonte has shown quite a bit of promise, but hasn't done anything to prove to me that he's a point guard rather than an undersized shooting guard.

Gerald is obviously very athletic, but he doesn't seem to have a basketball mind, if that makes any sense. He still plays as if the other team is a bunch of weak high schoolers who can't stop him, and it doesn't really work. He'll take a few years to mature and make better decisions on the court.

Gomes is the most aware player of all of them, which I attribute to his four years of college experience. He does all the little things and puts up huge numbers on occasion. One of my favorite Celtic players.

Perkins is an excellent rebounder, and an offensive liability. He likes to throw line-drive jump hooks off the back of the rim consistently. He'll continue to develop on D and be a solid center, in my opinion, and get his points from offensive rebound putbacks.

Jefferson seems to have no idea how dominant he is. Nobody can stop his moves, but he's not very assertive when he gets the ball. He needs the killer instinct in a big way. Then he'll get 32 and 18 (like yesterday against the Nets) and it'll feel like he was dominating - not like a subtle "Wow, he had that many?" stat line.

EDIT: NBA refs, in particular Violet Palmer, are just awful. 105-102 Celtics and Ricky Davis gets fouled on a three (well behind the line). The refs talk for two minutes and suddently decide his foot was on the line and give him two free throws. Can't they use instant replay for this crap? Not that I should be complaining.

Oh well - Garnett tied it with an amazing three anyway.

EDIT 2: Now in the second overtime they called a phantom foul on a 20-foot Garnett jumper. Nice.

EDIT 3: This was a good day to post this thread:

Delonte - 31, 5, and 10.

Al Jefferson - 20 and 14.

Ryan Gomes - 21, 17, and 5.

Gerald - 16 and 3.

[1CenT]

green looks like next kobe to me

I hope you are at least 50% right, cuz right now, i feel like hes those guys who are athletic and talented without a basketball mind and that much skillset yet.

Reminds me of guys like, Fred Jones, Smaller Maurice Evans, Trevor Ariza type.

[Sauru]

green is still young. not everyone is basketball ready like lebron was. i still have high hopes for him and i hope he pans out and the celts dont dump him without giving him a real chance.


jefferson is improving really well and i think it should continue. i love these 2 and think if they develope like i believe they will the celtics should be good real soon, specially with us getting a top pick this year(number 1 would be nice)

[Matt]

Al Jefferson just might be the East's best low post player. He's got an awkward jump hook that's really effective and he rarely takes bad shots or does things he cant. It's also important to note that he doesn't have a PG that drives and lay offs a pass where he can just throw it down. He's one of 4 elite big men that a strictly low post players. Shaq, Dwight & Curry in that list. I'd rate his offensive game above them all.

Defensively he could use some help, but he's not attrocious by any means. He is however, an excellent defensive rebounder. Not the most athletic big man you'll see but he gets his board by sealing his man off.

Other Celts

KEEPERS
West => combo guard, ideal 6th man
Gomes => SF/PF? he plays both effectively and is a do it all guy
Gerald => unlimited potential
Rajon Rondo => hustle guy that changes the pace of the game

Obviously they have to decide what to do with Pierce, but everyone else is expendable.

[[Q]]

West tore shit up last year as the undisputed starter. he was on my fantasy teams

good steady point guard that will often grab rebounds and a few steals.

Jefferson's coming into his own. too bad he's not making any noise cuz his team sucks. Numbers are impressive.

Green to me has so much potential and is not a half bad player right now, but it is important to see how he develops with Boston.

Gomes is a hustle type player that will grab boards for you. pretty decent inside scorer too. A Malik Rose-type player.

[putodelagoa]

People compare Jefferson to Moses Malone. It's pretty clear why they do so. Let's hope he devellops the same mean streak, and willingness to overpower and outrebound people despite being athletically underwhelming. I think he'll become a better player than Zach Randolph is. How good will he look playing of Oden, next year? His play and Green's blossoming could be the silver lining for a awfull year. But I will rather take awfull than mediocre... Oden, will you be there?

West should be coming off the bench, but he's a keeper, as is Rondo. Gomes is a fine role player, but Perkins is a stiff. I'm still in shock when I realize Boston could have Brandon Roy, or Foye, instead of Telfair. Pierce could be traded for a real point guard with any semblance of a shooting touch. If the kids need some guidance, why not bring along Jason Kidd, for a last hurrah? Moving Pierce would allow for Green to grow as a player. Let's just hope they don't trade him to soon for a experienced stiff, like they did when they let Joe Johnson walk for Rodney Rogers...

[Jeffx]

green is still young. not everyone is basketball ready like lebron was. i still have high hopes for him and i hope he pans out and the celts dont dump him without giving him a real chance.


jefferson is improving really well and i think it should continue. i love these 2 and think if they develope like i believe they will the celtics should be good real soon, specially with us getting a top pick this year(number 1 would be nice)

Hey Sauru, the Celts are going to screw up the Greg Oden Sweepstakes if they keep winning.

Put Oden on this young squad, and they could be scary in a few years.

[yosifun]

Scary isn't a work for it, just the thought of West, Pierce, Green, Jefferson and Oden makes my eyes pop out of their holes...
.
.
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Think what would happen if they would get Oden and than get Carter as a free agent or via sign-and-trade

[Jeffx]

Scary isn't a work for it, just the thought of West, Pierce, Green, Jefferson and Oden makes my eyes pop out of their holes...
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.
.
Think what would happen if they would get Oden and than get Carter as a free agent or via sign-and-trade

Nah, forget Carter. What this team needs is a smart, experienced veteran PG like Jason Kidd. Imagine what he could with these young boys?

[nylia]

mm. i think what the celtics need = oden. defense
and yea. i guess a playmaker like Kidd, but Oden won't hurt

they have pierce.. he's their scorer.. if they can get green to play like TMAC when he was starting out in TO, then that would be a plus...

imagine ODEN, Jefferson, pierce, green, west

thats a pretty good lineup..

west would probably have to be more of a pass-1st, shoot 2nd guard tho

[1CenT]

mm. i think what the celtics need = oden. defense
and yea. i guess a playmaker like Kidd, but Oden won't hurt

they have pierce.. he's their scorer.. if they can get green to play like TMAC when he was starting out in TO, then that would be a plus...

imagine ODEN, Jefferson, pierce, green, west

thats a pretty good lineup..

west would probably have to be more of a pass-1st, shoot 2nd guard tho

Man Green like Tmac in TO would be awsome, then you have Jefferson as the main low post player, Oden to block everything,

Oden + Jefferson, you have like incredible rebounding and inside presences. If Green was a Mo Peterson type of player, it would be good enough on that squad.

West is a decent combo guard, i love Rajon Rondo, i think he'll be great, at least he will look great as a backup PG no matter what he develops into.

Having JKidd there will require giving up Pierce. I would agree on that, can you imagine Kidd feeding Green? Oden and Jefferson getting dunks?

Remember KMart and his offence? He almost played like a 20ppg with Kidd around, Oden could be scoring at that rate in his first year with Kidd, Jefferson even more given he'll be the first option on offense.

I don't think Celtics will ever do that trade of Pierce for Kidd, maybe if Nets give up something else valuable, Pierce is still in his prime, Kidd is at least 2-3 years older than him?

Man, if only they still had JJ and added Brandon Roy, that would be sick.

[BigKaboom2]

The Celtics will only have 25% chance to get the first pick (still less than 50% for top two) if they have the worst record, which is why tanking is foolish.

[Bruce]

If i was GM of the celtics (w/c will never happen )... the first thing I'd do is trade away szczerbiak for a verteran point guard, so that ratliff can tutor the young big men, pierce w/ the tweeners/scorers, the veteran point to help out west/rondo/telfair whoever comes out on top after a few years.

the ff for me would be untouchable for trades:
jefferson
gomes
green
rondo

if a really good player would come by a trade the ff would be expendible:
(pierce) - if the trade was stellar
perkins
west
allen
telfair
allan ray
o greene

the ff would be trade bait:
ratliff

would trade for 2nd rounders, cash or a quarter pounder:
olowakandi
scalbrine

[nylia]

would trade for 2nd rounders, cash or a quarter pounder:
olowakandi
scalbrine

ill take the quarter pounder

[Jackal]

It's quite funny that pretty much every team seems to only need Oden. Every team.

[nylia]

well. cavs need oden too. hahaha

lol, actually, i think cavs might need durant more than oden.

they need someone else who can score..

anyways, back to celtics and oden... second coming of bill russell? haha jk

It's quite funny that pretty much every team seems to only need Oden. Every team.

[scrub]

Ive got a few questions:
Can Jefferson be a guy who wins championships?
Is his defense good enough at the top level?
Who will be better between him and Emeka Okafor?

[1CenT]

Ive got a few questions:
Can Jefferson be a guy who wins championships?
Is his defense good enough at the top level?
Who will be better between him and Emeka Okafor?

I think Jefferson is about 22-23 years old?
I think his offence is comparable to Okafor's defence, which is dominating.

And vice versa, Okafor's offence is quite limited, but hes got the agility and size, just like Jefferson ( lacks a little bit of height but is big enough )

if he is that young, hes still got like 8-9 years where he is playing excellent. Doesn't look like a championship calibre leader but you don't know what happens, if celtics get Oden.
Trade Pierce/Wally for a younger all-star wingman or if Green becomes one.

[scrub]

I think his offence is comparable to Okafor's defence, which is dominating.

I didn't expect him to be a dominating offensive player because he only averages 15ppg. Is he a lousy defender?

[Sauru]

i am kinda torn on this next statement but, i feel jefferson needs to get the confidence and start demanding the ball. he needs to start acting like he can do what i feel, and many others feel he can do.

the reason i am torn is, if he gets that mentality, he will probably just leave boston.

[Matt]

Is he a lousy defender?

not lousy, but theres plenty of room for improvement. However, he is an excellent rebounder.

[TheMC5]

I've heard a few highly regarded basketball pundits claim that Jefferson is the best pure low-post scorer they've ever seen. I can't disagree.

Green looks to me like he'll be a Morris Peterson type guy - can do little bit of everything, is extremely inconsistent, but will put up (and make) at least 1 ridiculous circus shot per game.

[Bruce]

I've heard a few highly regarded basketball pundits claim that Jefferson is the best pure low-post scorer they've ever seen. I can't disagree.

Green looks to me like he'll be a Morris Peterson type guy - can do little bit of everything, is extremely inconsistent, but will put up (and make) at least 1 ridiculous circus shot per game.

then i guess all that is left is to fire doc rivers...
what self respecting coach wouldn't resign after going on a 17 game skid?