Boston Celtics Danny Ainge Learns From Past Mistake: Back Up Point Guard Plan In Place
[picappgallerysingle id="3685218"][picappgallerysingle id="9084486"]I have always felt the most mentally demanding position in the NBA is point guard. The offense should run through the point guard. Even on teams that have had point forwards like LeBron James, the point guard still needs to be able to get the ball up and get the ball in the hands of the superstar. If a guy like James gets the ball and the responsibilities of bringing it up the entire year, than that is a recipe for a tired player come playoff time. Add to the offensive responsibilities the defensive responsibilities and you have the hardest position to excel at in the NBA.
It is the point guard’s job to make sure the offense flows. That means not only does he have to know where and when to distribute the ball, but know when to call his own shots. This means that you must not only know the offense and the oppositions’ defense, but know your teammates. You must in essence be completely dialed into the game.
The Celtics have one of the best in Rondo. The problem they have had is finding a back up. Ainge has failed in that regard recently. Guys like Eddie House and Sam Cassell were great shooters and hit big time shots for Boston. In fact without these two men Banner 17 never would have happened. However, both were not capable of running the offense. (In Cassell’s defense his back was badly hurt in 08 and was unable to really play in 09) Gabe Pruit was not going to be the answer due to the fact he lacked maturity and lacked legit NBA decision making skills. Pruit never really grasped Rivers’ teachings and when he showed his immaturity during a drunken driving charge by lying, he was done. Tony Allen was more a defensive stopper at the wing than point guard. Marquis Daniels had arguably the most success before injuries derailed him. However, he was out of position. Stephan Marbury and Nate Robinson looked very uncomfortable in the Boston offense.
Bottom line is that Rondo deserves a lot of credit for being able to log a ton of minutes to keep Boston’s attack going. Problem is the team may be wearing Rondo out. No man can log that kind of workload in the NBA and not get worn out. This is especially true for a small guy that plays as fearless with regard to his own body as Rondo does. Danny Ainge knows this. This is why he has put a plan into place this offseason. Unlike previous plans this one appears solid. The two step plan was resign Nate Robinson and then develop Avery Bradley. Here is why this move will work.
Nate Robinson came in half way through the season. He had no off season or training camp to learn the offense. The man had zero time to learn his new team mates’ tendencies. He was set up to fail before he even started. People forget that when Jason Kidd was traded to Dallas from New Jersey at the trade deadline a few years ago, Dallas did not play as well with Kidd at the helm. However, a year later he was back to being a dominant floor general with a training camp under his belt. If one of the greatest ever struggled this badly, than can anyone blame Nate? I often wonder if Marbury got one more year back on this team if he would have been better. He had such unbelievable skills. Before the game during warm-ups he hardly missed. He hustled on defense. The knocks were that he did not understand the offense and did not call his own number enough. Then I watch the video of him eating Vaseline and come to my senses.
However, Nate Robinson is not the true answer either. He is a shoot first point guard like Sam Cassell. However, he will be worldly better and a nice stop gap for the real answer. The real answer is Avery Bradley. Bradley may be small, but he is incredibly talented. You do not get rated ahead of number one pick in the draft John Wall coming out of high school if you are not talented. Problem for Bradley was he went to a school with not much talent on offense and a focus on defense. He also managed to injure his ankle before the draft. This is not the sexy stuff that gets you drafted high like Wall had. Wall was surrounded by talent and had a coach with an NBA style offense in place. Bottom line is this guy has skills and the Celtics were very fortunate for him to fall to them as late as he did. Bradley will work in the shadows this year and learn from Rondo and Doc Rivers. These men will help mold him. Unlike Pruit, this guy has always been very coachable (it helps he is more talented). In Texas the emphasis was on defense. He worked harder than anyone at that craft. The result was the kid that was not considered a great defender out of high school was given praise for his defensive exploits. This kind of effort was what made Ainge pull the trigger.
A lot of experts did not understand the pick. They criticized the move in drafting a point guard. People thought the pick was to be traded. Ainge knew he found the man he was searching for. He knew a rested Rondo would be more effective and would add years to the future center piece of the franchise. Never mind the benefits of just having someone able to run the second offense, this was preserving Rondo. The damage Rondo could inflict at the end of games after a rest would be enough to secure a few more wins during the regular season. Imagine in a few years the Celtics having two great point guards. The offense would always be flowing and the team winning. If Bradley’s defense translates to the NBA, the team would have two great defenders at the guard position. Heck, if Bradley would grow out of the backup role and want to start, the trade value would be tremendous. We will find out in a few years how great or bad a plan this was. My money is this was another stroke of genius for Danny Ainge.
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