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.
Nobody showed the ability to stop Jamal Murray during his workout with the Boston Celtics, mostly because nobody tried. Instead of competing in a group environment, like most prospects, the former Kentucky guard went through an individual workout Wednesday.
“He’s a lot better than a chair,” cracked Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge.
…
“We try to push them a little bit (in individual workouts),” Ainge explained. “Try to get them out of their comfort zone, try to probe some weaknesses, put them in some situations where — I’m speaking hypothetically — if we didn’t think you were great at finishing with your left hand, let’s do some of those. We always test conditioning and toughness, so we always push the guys pretty hard. That’s kind of what we’re looking for. It’s really all you can do.”
So, yeah, Jamal Murray came and sank a bunch of three point baskets and did the ‘I’m a top five pick so you only get to see so much of me’ thing that is simultaneously annoying and completely understandable.
What’s interesting to me is to see the institutionalized value that the Celtics place on scrappy players. I don’t believe that Doc Rivers was ever as sympatico with this philosophy as Stevens is. However, being scrappy only goes so far in a game where the outcome is decided by the number of times you put the ball through the hoop. The blatantly obvious truth of last year’s team is that they won 48 games and had a top ten offense while shooting the ball at a truly atrocious rate. The mind boggles at the thought of what one or possibly two pure shooters could do on this team (IT is great at getting to the line, and superb when he gets there, but his FG shooting is just average).
Which isn’t to say that Murray is poised to make an immediate impact. Ainge said that the same Cs that can’t hit the broad side of a barn during the game can routinely make 80 or more threes per 100 in practice, which puts the superficially amazing Murray stats (79 of 100) in context. Now it’s possible that Ainge was lying about all that, but why? It’s not like he’s trying to lower Murray’s draft stock so that he’ll ‘fall’ to the Celtics at the three spot. Unless, somehow, the Lakers are planning on drafting Murray instead of Ingram.
Page 2: Where, what?
After shooting 61.1 percent last season mainly inside, Sabonis is trying to improve and display a more distant touch.
“It’s one of my main focuses, to extend my range and prove to teams that I can shoot,” he said.
Note: Mike Dynon posted a link to this article yesterday in the Morning Dump. I’m bringing it up again because of these two brief paragraphs.
I have absolutely no idea what to do with these guys anymore. It’s two weeks to the draft and I think I’m throwing in the towel. This is a 6’10 guy who’s got a legit post game and shot 61% last year (equivalent to >40.7% from 3, better than all but 56 D1 players with a qualifying number of attempts), and he’s worried about improving his draft stock by developing his outside game and I just can’t even. I mean, forget about trying to guess the career potential of these guys based on stuff you can find on the internet, I’m still scratching my head over the teams today that would pass on Kevin McHale because he wouldn’t stretch the floor or pass out of the post.
Granted, Sabonis needs to put on weight to play in the NBA, but I guess I never thought I’d see the day when a >60% FG percentage wasn’t enough of a selling point.
Page 3: Where why not talk about Thon Maker too, while we’re at it?
There have been lingering questions about Maker’s age and whether he’s truly 19. When asked how he responds to that accusation, Maker dipped into New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s lexicon and offered, “It is what it is.”
Maker says he never cared about being the nation’s top recruit, but he’s clearly trying to sell himself to NBA evaluators since he skipped the college path.
So, is this a case where you’re looking at getting a “Greek Freak” style bargain? According to Ainge he played hard and he apparently likes playing basketball, so you know, he doesn’t sound much like Fab Melo. But do the Celtics need another guy that can play multiple positions with a high motor and a limited ability to score? And isn’t Antetokounmpo best described as a black swan at this point? How often have these mid-first round picks of players who neither played in college nor in competitive overseas leagues paid off big time?
Finally: Felger and Mazz make fun of other languages
You kidding me? I ain’t posting a link to that crap.
The rest of the links
CSNNE: Blakely: Celtics absolutely have to make a run at Kevin Love | ‘I’m pretty good’
Boston Globe: This trip to Boston all business for Mamadou Ndiaye | Thon Maker an intriguing talent in NBA Draft
