The Boston Celtics aren’t getting much from their second unit bigs in the preseason
The Boston Celtics have one of the most uncertain rosters in the NBA, and the second unit front court may be in a class of its own. As is stands right now, it appears as though Al Horford and Aron Baynes will get the starting nods, and everything behind that is quite the mess right now.
The hope is that Marcus Morris will change that once he returns, and open up some competition for that starting position next to Horford. He was a favorite to start before he missed all the time with his trial, but he now has a lot of ground to make up with how well Baynes has played.
Brad Stevens did not believe that Morris was ready to suit up against the Philadelphia 76ers, meaning he obviously did not get any opportunity to show the Celtics what he is capable of.
For the rest of the second unit bigs, it was not much better. The group of Guerschon Yabusele, Semi Ojeleye, Daniel Theis and Abdel Nader all played between 13-18 minutes, and none of them stood out for more than one play here or there.
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In the first preseason game, Theis brought the kind of spark they are hoping more of these young bigs will provide, but they were all lackluster against the 76ers, and nobody really did anything to gain some ground in the rotation race.
Theis was the only player to hit more than one shot, but 2-7 is not going to be earning him any more minutes. He did bring some decent rebounding, with six in just 13 minutes. Unfortunately, rebounding is not going to be the difference maker for an undersized big, unless it really is game changing.
Theis was not bad on the court, but he failed to recapture the magic he brought in the first preseason game.
Yabusele was quite similar to Theis. He shot just 1-5 for four points, and collected eight rebounds in 18 minutes. The two steals he added are a nice sign of his defensive activity, but he was not a game changer on either end in this affair.
Yabusele is yet to really impress on either end so far in this preseason, and it would be difficult to justify sending a lot of minutes this way, if it wasn’t for the fact that no one else has been much more impressive yet in the preseason and he has more experience with his time overseas.
Nader did manage to generate some excitement in the first preseason game, He was aggressive and effective on the offensive end, looking like a real option for the second unit. Then he went and thew up a 1-8 dud against the 76ers, suggesting that consistency is not going to be his strong suit this season.
Add on that Nader had three turnovers, and there is a real chance of him hurting the team on that end. If Nader is not able to establish safe and consistent offense, I’m not sure what he offers that will earn him minutes.
Ojeleye then managed to have the least productive game out of all of them. He hit just one of his five shots, had one rebound and one turnover. Ojeleye did not look comfortable, and it often felt as though he was just taking up space on the court.
Expecting much offense from Ojeleye would be unrealistic at this point, but if he is not rebounding and is not a presence in the paint then he will be a complete non factor. There was excitement about his potential to guard opposing centers, which could transform the second unit defense.
Unfortunately, there has not been much in the preseason to suggest he is ready to take on that defensive responsibility, in which case there is a good chance there will be better options.
Realistically, this should have been expected from this front court. They are all rookies and they are all expected to take on a dynamic role in the future. Right now, it does not feel like any of these guys are really going to have that kind of dynamic impact on a consistent basis.
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The game against the 76ers really did not do much to change the status of any of these players, for good or bad. At this point, I guess you can still give Theis the edge, because his performance in the first preseason game is more impressive than everything that was done by anyone in this game.