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| CW's Wish, Seany Mo's Nightmare? I smell a retort coming. |
ED Note: This is Part 2 of Seany-Mo's Celtics Draft Preview. For Part 1,
Click Here. For valid basketball opinions, read this, then check back later this week when CW posts an educated look in at what the Celtics draft strategy should be.
Here’s who I’d like in green next year at both picks ranked from “unless every other GM
is whacked out on black tar heroin, it won’t happen even though I’d love it” to “Danny, If you have any
affection for us at all as fans, STAY AWAY!”
At 22…
PIPE DREAM
Perry Jones III, PF, Baylor- General sentiment seems to be that Jones, despite going back to school forhis sophomore season, didn’t really develop on the court as much as expected. His potential is offthe charts (6’10 power forward with fluid athleticism and a full repertoire of tools.) At times when I watched Baylor this year, Jones looks like he can do it all, from stroking threes to playing with his backto the basket to bringing the ball up in transition. At others, he looked completely lost, turning the ball over on an ill advised pass or getting charging calls when failing to read a help defender switching ontohim. At this point, picking Jones would be gambling on his massive untapped potential and at the 21 stpick, should he slip this low, it would be a fantastic steal.
HEY IT COULD HAPPEN…RIGHT?
Terrence Ross, SF, Washington- Ross is a rapidly improving jump shooter with fantastic ability operating
off the ball and tremendous speed for a wing player. Although not even close to a Ray Allen caliber of
shooting, Ross would function similarly in the Celtics offense by playing off the ball and letting Rondo
find him on the perimeter or busting his ass down the court in transition in the hopes of getting an easy
dunk. He struggles with ball handling and creating his own shot, which at this point only an aging Paul
Pierce can do, but Ross at least would give us the ability to stretch the floor and create lanes for Rondo
to operate with.
BLEND OF LIKELY AND SENSIBLE
Jeffery Taylor, SF, Vanderbilt- Taylor is a player I have actually seen the most of on this list the past two
seasons, as my Uncle Ricky has actually met him a number of times and has a signed basketball from
him. As Barney Stinson would say, “True Story.” In any case, I watched a number of Vanderbilt games
so my observations here are based more on live games than selected scouting footage and compilations
of various reports. Taylor has Tony Allen-esque defensive ability though he possess a much higher
degree of basketball IQ than Tony (which isn’t saying much, since most fourth graders could make
the same claim.) His lateral quickness was incredible, as I saw him stay right in front of the likes of
Marquis Teague and Terrence Jones on numerous occaisons. Also encouraging is the development of a
perimeter shot, which allowed him to boast a 54% field goal percentage this season (a career high.) He
can become very passive at times, but if he is asked to come off the bench and provide defensive energy
for the Celts, he should be able to make an immediate impact.
THIS IS MY NIGHTMARE
Fab Melo, C, Syracuse- Look, I know the Celtics have been struggling to find a big man since the Kendrick
Perkins abomination, but I want absolutely nothing to do with Melo. Words wouldn’t fully convey my
rage if the Celtics use one of their picks on this guy. He has great length that, as the old age goes, can’t
be taught. But in my opinion, he doesn’t use it well at all. For such a tall player, he sucks at rebounding
(Syracuse as a team was one of the worst in the country last season) as well as being extremely foul
prone, committing about 3 per contest despite only playing 25 minutes per game. Sorry, but we just
suffered through a foul prone, terrible rebounding center in Jermaine O’Neal. Not to mention this guy
didn’t have the motivation to even show up to class and was deemed academically ineligible for the
tournament. That doesn’t strike me as overly encouraging. Avoid this guy like the plague or I will break
my TV on draft night. Don’t make me do that Danny, It’s a nice TV.
