I think one of my labels within a label will be called "Future Celtics". It's really what I'm most interested in discussing.
This first Future Celtics will go over the pieces that the Celtics will need in the future to win championships. The future refers to after the PP and KG era in Boston. So basically 2-3 years down the road.
Starting from the top down....
The Big Three.
The Celtics are a Big Three team: Dave Cowens, John Havlicek, Jo Jo White; Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish; Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn; Kevin Garnett, Paul Peirce, Ray Allen. So it's obvious that the Future Celtics need a Big Three too.
My proposal for this Big Three include Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green, but I believe the third member is not yet on the team. The third member would have to be a post player, Jared Sullinger could be this guy but I think Sullinger contributes better as a role player not a Big Three star. Therefore the third member needs to be a Center.
Each member of the Big Three would contribute offensively and defensively to the system.
On offense Rondo will be the floor general and leader, Green will be the perimeter scoring punch, and the unknown Center would be the post scoring punch.
On defense Rondo's job would be to get into passing lanes, Green's job would be to guard the main option on the other team, and the unknown Center's jog would be to clog up driving lanes and protect the rim. With these six duties the main force of the Celtics will be strong, now it is up to the rest of the team to fill in the gaps.
Support Two.
The Support Two is the name I give the two other starters on the team that help The Big Three on the front line. In my vision, I see Avery Bradley and Jared Sullinger filling these roles. Similar to The Big Three, the Support Two would also have offensive and defensive duties.
On offense Avery Bradley will have to grow from what he is now. He needs to dig for his old notes that he took watching Ray Allen practice and incorporate it into his game. Bradley will need to expand his game in the shadows, he already does backdoor cuts well but he needs to learn how to come off screens and curls and a variety of other Shooting Guard movements. He also needs to dramatically improve his catch and shoot shooting percentages from all places on the floor. Bradley will be a shooter from the shadows with Green and the unknown Center taking the spot lights on the offense, he needs to make sure he can be reliable from there to be effective. On defense his job would stay mainly the same as it is now. He is really good at shutting down entire offenses by shutting down the point guard of the opponent. Bradley will need to become stronger to keep up with the amount of work that he will put out on the floor - working on his cardio and frame will really help him become a star of a Support Two.
On the other hand, Sullinger will not have as big of a role as the second Support Two as he is already very good. Sullinger needs to be the prick on the team that frustrates the opponent with his hustle on both ends of the court. His rebounding on both ends will greatly compliment all on the offense and the unknown Center on the defense. On offense Sullinger will need to keep improving the tools he already has - low post scoring and a mid-range jumper. The jumper will help the offense flow and the low post scoring will be valuable (teams with two good low-post players are unstoppable - more on that later). On defense Sullinger may need to expand into a help side shot blocker.
Bench.
The Bench needs to be comprised of all Natural Defenders, players that have a passion for defense. On the offensive end they should have a lot of easy scoring capabilities by passing well and playing together with hustle.
The Bench is a big group of guys (8) so I'll split this into post players and perimeter players. There should be at least three rotational post players on the Bench and at least three perimeter players.
The Bench is a big group of guys (8) so I'll split this into post players and perimeter players. There should be at least three rotational post players on the Bench and at least three perimeter players.
The three post players need to be able to do different things so that they can come into games and produce specific results depending on the opponent team.
Two of the players should be back ups to starters, basically being able to take the duties on the glass and defensive end from the starters. That means one should excel in rebounding and the other in shot blocking and lane clogging. In our team right now I see Shavlik Randolph and Fab Melo filling these roles (though they may not actually in the real Future Celtics). Randolph is a great rebounder and hustles, and Melo is projected to be a good shot blocker and defensive Center.
The third post player needs to have special capabilities: quickness and size. These days rosters don't have two traditional post players, instead one is more of a large Small Forward. This allows for the team to out speed the opponent. This third post player, would have the size to match such a player and the quickness to guard him. In our team right now, that's Brandon Bass. In the 2013 playoffs he did a great job on Carmelo Anthony who is a larger Small Forward but was playing the Power Forward position. Bass's combination of size and speed were able to frustrate Anthony by prevented Anthony from getting to the rim and making it difficult for him to create clean, open shots. I highly doubt that Brandon Bass will be on the Future Celtics, but we need that type of player.
The three rotational perimeter players would serve as back ups to the starters but their main job would be to move the ball on offense and hustle on defense. All three should be good passers, shooters and defenders and have a great motor to be able to play hard while on the floor. I chose this over the super sixth man approach because I think this reflects a Celtics bench better. A bench that works hard, plays together, and gets the energy up. For names, Terence Williams currently fills the backup Point Guard spot but the 2013 Draft Class features Dennis Schroeder who is exactly the type of player I just described. In the backup Shooting Guard Courtney Lee currently fills the roll and I think should keep the role if he plays well enough. As the backup Small Forward I really see a mature Jordan Crawford-like player taking the spot. He passes really well and when he gets hot he's a scoring machine. He'd be a great addition to the Bench.
End Bench and Inactive.
The League allows for an average of 14 players on a roster - meaning teams can have 13, 14 or 15 players. The Celtics should try to have 14-15 players on their roster, the end of the Bench and the Inactive list are for those Future Celtics that are in development.
The three-four players that the Celtics chose to have here can be anyone at any position, but they should be completely focused on developing into the next Bench or Support Two players for the team.
And this is my vision for the Celtics. A talented Big Three, a strong Support Two, a together Bench and a group of high-upside, young players. How this will all be done is up to the GM, and that's for another Blog.
Innovating Life
~ASKalburgi