A sad day has fallen upon us, as now we, dedicated people who pledge our allegiance to the Green & White, have to wait until October to again watch Celtics basketball (que sad violin). But, as we fill the rest of our summers with Jayson Tatum summer workout videos and still experiencing sleepless nights until we know what happens to Marcus Smart, we should take this time to reflect the Celtics’ run through the Summer League circuit. What were the goods? What were the bads?
Winner: Jabari Bird
The obvious winner was Jabari Bird. As players like Semi Ojeleye and Guerschon Yabusele were competing for rotation minutes in the regular season, Bird was competing for a spot on the team. Bird played sparingly last year, spending time in both Boston and Maine. While with the big boys, Jabari produced 3 points (58 fg%, 43 3-pt %) and 1.5 rebounds over 13 games, averaging about 9 minutes over said games. Over the last few weeks, he averaged 16.8 ppg, 6 reb, 3 ast and 1.8 stl. Jabari had more than his share of big plays, including two ridiculous dunks against the Denver Nuggets, a game in which he scored 24 points. Jabari did enough to make the final roster as a potential Shane Larkin replacement, but his minutes will be decided on how well he performs during camp.
Loser: Kadeem Allen
Most of these players were not going to make the team. Some of them regardless of how well they played. Kadeem Allen was one of the handful of players to have played in Boston last year. While spending most of his days up north, he did play with the Celtics due to a string of unfortunate injuries, especially at the wing positions. In these past few games, Kadeem only got 14 minutes per game, and didn’t shoot very well at only a 39% clip. They ran him at point at times, but he lacked play making skills, dishing out less than two assists a game. When you aren’t showing that much improvement, and a younger player at your position cements himself as a solid option, that is the definition of a bad time.
Winner: Semi Ojeleye
Semi impressed tremendously in my, and a lot of others, opinion. On paper, he averaged 12.4 ppg, 4.2 rebounds, and that is decent. But Semi impressed so much more than what paper can explain. His spot up shooting was tremendous, as his three point shooting was up from his troubling first year. Also, his shooting off the dribble is something that impressed me a lot. Last year, Semi was asked to sit and wait on offense, as he was always the last scoring option whenever he was on the court. In summer, he was asked to run the show, and he proved he can. He would pull up at the elbow, walk the ball up and initiate the offense, and just create for himself. I don’t expect him to do that a lot this year, but it is nice to know that he has the ability to. Also, the reason he made the team last year was his defensive ability. He showed it this summer. Kevin Knox came in averaging 23 points per contest in the first round of the tournament. He went home with just 15 on 5-20 shooting with Semi draped all over him. One moment that stood out to me was with 10 seconds left in the first half, Knox with the ball, iso at the top of the key, and drove left right into Semi, and he just fell over because Semi played the best possible defense for that situation. Good work buddy
Loser: Robert Williams III
The first selection the Celtics made was for a young, athletic, potential game-changer in Robert Williams III. As I sat in disbelief in the chair in my grandmother's living room, I turned the volume up and said to myself, ‘how the hell did he slip this far, he has to be an axe murder to get to us.’ He might not have killed hundreds in a small farm town, but he is “lazy”, which in the world of professional basketball, is almost as bad. He has the talent, but he is raw and his work ethic has been called into question. This was on display not even 24 hours after he was drafted, as he missed his introductory press conference the morning after. Then, he missed his flight from Louisiana and missed the first day of practice. Already red flags. Then the reports came out about a leg condition he had after getting a big ol’ bruise on his knee, causing him to miss all but seven minutes of Summer League play. So, with the combination of being late and lazy, with the factor he had no time to make up for that, he is dubbed a loser on this list. Especially because he could have played himself into some really good minutes because of his rim protection and rebounding abilities. This one really stings for the young fella.
Up in the air: Guerschon Yabusele
The reason the Dancing Bear finds himself in this middle ground area is because yes, he did play well, but there are just so many players ahead of him I don’t think it really matters. The one thing that I was super impressed about was his playmaking ability. I saw him at least four times in the last two games alone move from the block to the elbow, post up, snag an entry pass, and sling a bounce pass perfectly to a cutting wing on the opposite side. The english translation to that is he had some great passes. His switchability on defense makes him the first guy off the bench if they really need it, and he will play more minutes against opponents the Celtics easily handle or if there is an injury (Lord, if you can hear me, please please please please pleeeeeease, no more of those. Thank you).
Overall, the Celtics finished 4-2 during the last two weeks. There were ups, and there were downs. A lot of these players were basically trying out for other teams, and they knew that. But those who had a shot at the Celtics roster definitely did not disappoint.
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