Grading the Celtics

To borrow a device from Steve Bulpett's end-of-year story in the Herald, here are individual grades for the different players on the team. Is this exactly aligned with the way the team is depicted in the previous post? No, because I'm grading different players to different standards. If you don't like it, make your own ranking.


Paul Pierce: A Still the man
Al Jefferson: A- Last year at this time there were serious questions about almost every aspect of Al's game: could he stay in shape and out of foul trouble enough to play 35 minutes a night? Could he get good enough at individual and team defense to not be a huge liability at that end of the court? When would he learn more than the two low-post moves that he went to every time? A year later he's put all these questions and others to rest. He's been averaging 18/12 with a 55% FG% since the All Star break and has been rock solid consistent for the last 80% of the season. The number of 21-year-old low post players who have put up his kind of numbers and not gone on to multiple All Star games is exactly zero. How he responds after his big contract extension is as important to this franchise as what happens on May 22. We need something close to a best case scenario out of both


Rajon Rondo: B Played about as well as I can imagine any rookie PG playing not at the Kidd/Bibby/Isiah/Chris Paul level. Hollinger recently rated him the second-bast defensive PG in the league, the only rookie to sniff that list. We all knew coming in he couldn't shoot. Yet he ended the year with a 42% FG%, which is on par with a lot of starting PGs. If his biggest weakness long term ends up being that he's average at something, the future is bright
Kendrick Perkins: B- Still the same basic physical package of athletic abilities and limitations which make him a perfect roster fit for the 1992-4 New York Knicks. A wide-shouldered, slow-footed bruiser who's future floor is probably a moderately better Etan Thomas. The encouraging news here is that he signed an extremely reasonable contract (4/$16M) and promptly 1) played hard all year, 2) played through foot injuries the visibly limited his reaction times and leaping ability, 3) showed better low-post moves on offense (even if he still has no touch) and 4) played very effective defense against some of the best big men in the league: Garnett, Duncan, JO'Neal, Howard. His work ethic, commitment and improved skills on both ends make me far more encouraged for his future than the short-term injuries. The guys is only 21. In optimistic moments like this one I'm still expecting him to be a good starting-quality NBA center in a few years


Delonte West: C+ You have to be a little dead not to root for Delonte-- a very intelligent and constantly hustling player. That said, he is what he is. His game has not improved in any noticeable way in the last three years. He can't play the traditional point guard role, since he's too slow-footed to create dribble penetration and has absolutely no right hand at all. Nor can he create his own shot against a decent defender, which is close to a non-negotiable for starting NBA SGs. He's both small and slow enough to be a defensive liability against quicker point guards and taller, more athletic shooting guards. His FG% last year (playing off double-teams of Pierce and Davis) was one of the best in the league among PGs. His FG% this year was close to the worst in the league for SGs. His ideal role on a good team is most likely a 10-15mpg stand-still shooter off the bench. Unfortunately, he's looked his worst in his career when asked to play fewer minutes behind people like Payton and Sczcerbiak. Needs to play better in short minutes. Needs to shoot better. Needs to settle for a Perk-esque, sub-MLE contract
Ryan Gomes: C+ See Delonte. The best players in the league do multiple things very well. The role players who stick for ten years often have a single exemplary skill (Bruce Bowen: defense; Kyle Korver: shooting; etc) that earns their place in a rotation. Gomes is decent at every aspect of basketball but really good at nothing. If he can add a three-point shot, defend SFs better on the perimeter and/or defend PFs better in the paint, then his value goes up. Currently on track for a solid, Kenny Thomas-like career (someone else who has only ever started on lottery teams)
Wally Sczcerbiak: C Played lousy team basketball all year, even when he wasn't injured. Invariably looked for his own shot, despite shooting like crap. Seemed to believe he could do things like take good NBA perimeter defenders off the dribble. Mugged for the camera after every made FG, waving his arms and yelling at his team-mates as if he was the only guy who was trying. An absolute turnstile on defense. Showed signs of either a very low BBIQ, megalomania, or both. The word around Boston is that he is a complete ahole as a teammate. Completely failed at his one job: playing well and staying healthy so that he'd have some trade value this off season. If it wasn't for his talent and experience he'd be graded lower. Wally is a perfect checklist for everything that Boston sports journalists traditionally despise in a pro basketball player, except that he's white and looks like a GQ model
Brian Scalibrine: C One of the few post-rookie-deal players on the squad who actually played up to his contract. Since this is Veal's ceiling, consider this grade a compliment and a sign of appreciation for a relatively good season. When Brian Scalibrine is your over-achieving vet and arguably your best acquisition in recent years, your team is in lots of trouble.
Tony Allen: C- Before his potential career-ending injury, his best run of play this year showed he could be the #1 perimeter offensive option on a horrible team. This will be very helpful for him 1) if he can get his NCAA eligibility reinstated, or 2) in Greece. He played the worst basketball of his career (selfish, dumb, inconsistent) early in the season before the better players around him got injured. If he can come back healthy can he play effectively as the forth option with Pierce, Jefferson and Wally? Will he still accept a role as defensive stopper and role player off the bench? If so, he'd have some value


Leon Powe: D+ Borderline NBA player. Small PF who can't play away from the basket at all. Hustles constantly, which allows him to look good in games when nobody on the other team cares at all or bothers with things like boxing out. Good guy to have around if you're trying to keep some fans entertained while throwing games
Gerald Green: D This year he was only the worst player on the court most nights. Last year he wasn't even very good by NBADL standards. Right now his ceiling is probably somebody like Rashard Lewis, another athletic phenom with a fantastic outside shot who went from high school to the pros and took several years to learn how to play basketball. A more likely comp is probably something close to the next Jamal Crawford: a player who can put up a ton of points in a hurry when his shot is falling but who contributes absolutely nothing and is easily the worst player on the court when its not. Gerald may be severely learning disabled, or there may be other reason why at age 21 he still looks completely lost trying to play team basketball. Friends with season tickets this year have told me that Doc, the assistant coaches and his teammates spend almost every play telling Gerald where to go and what to do. His biggest strength is supposedly shooting and yet his FG% was close to the worst among NBA SGs
Bassy Telfair: D- Barely an NBA player. Appears sincerely interested in playing team basketball, only he's not good at it. Is very encouraging of the rest of the team from the bench. Needs to stop giving interviews
Allan Ray: F I feel a little bad giving someone a low grade because a lousy team gave them a shot. Does not have a single skill that is NBA quality: can't shoot, lousy handle, awful perimeter defender, no apparent ability to recognize when teammates have a better shot and make the appropriate pass. After watching a couple weeks of preseason games I couldn't believe he was still on the team. I still can't.
Michael Olowokandi: A+ Anyone with 'Kandi's career who can still talk an NBA team into signing him to guaranteed money is clearly a brilliant brilliant motherfucker. Normally, a big man in a contract year will need to play well in a playoff series or two before a dumb team will throw money at them. 'Kandi broke a sweat in exactly two preseason games. I love that the second the team needed him to play actual minutes he came up with a random abdomen injury (he supposedly strained a stomach muscle shifting gears while driving) so he could spend the rest of the season watching TV from his beach pavilion in the Caribbean. Hands down the smartest, most successful person associated with the 06-07 Boston Celtics


Doc Rivers: C+ Not great. Not horrible. Spent another season taking chicken shit and experimenting with different poorly thought-through recipes for chicken salad that he'd then consistently botch when preparing
Clifford Ray: B+ Don't know how much credit he gets for Jefferson, but if he's responsible for even 10% of the improvement we've seen he should get an immediate 10-year extension
Danny Ainge: F See above