Boston Celtics Select JR Giddens at #30

TheCelticTruth · Post #141 » by **TheCelticTruth** » Sun Jul 6, 2008 4:15 pm

Blurb by Marc Spears about Giddens:

"But the Celtics don't have to worry about the 30th overall pick in the draft working out on his own. Giddens is a gym rat.

While in Los Angeles preparing for the draft, Giddens would work out in the morning with former NBA player Don MacLean. And the 6-foot-5-inch, 215-pound Giddens would often come back to the gym twice afterward to work out on his own. After working out four straight days for four teams, MacLean once actually sent Giddens home when he showed up to work out again. And it's not out of the ordinary for Giddens to get in extra shooting late at night.

While playing at the University of New Mexico, Giddens often asked the video coordinator to give him tape of NBA players at his position, such as the Celtics' Paul Pierce and the Lakers' Kobe Bryant. Giddens also has a very competitive nature that should suit him well with the Celtics.

"He's talented. He's very, very gifted," said New Mexico assistant coach Craig Neal, a former NBA player. "He's got a great body. He's long. The biggest thing that people don't understand about him is he's super competitive. He hates to lose in Scrabble. We harnessed some of that.""

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... er/?page=3

Man_Up · Post #142 » by **Man_Up** » Tue Jul 8, 2008 3:57 pm

TheCelticTruth wrote:Blurb by Marc Spears about Giddens:

"But the Celtics don't have to worry about the 30th overall pick in the draft working out on his own. Giddens is a gym rat.

While in Los Angeles preparing for the draft, Giddens would work out in the morning with former NBA player Don MacLean. And the 6-foot-5-inch, 215-pound Giddens would often come back to the gym twice afterward to work out on his own. After working out four straight days for four teams, MacLean once actually sent Giddens home when he showed up to work out again. And it's not out of the ordinary for Giddens to get in extra shooting late at night.

While playing at the University of New Mexico, Giddens often asked the video coordinator to give him tape of NBA players at his position, such as the Celtics' Paul Pierce and the Lakers' Kobe Bryant. Giddens also has a very competitive nature that should suit him well with the Celtics.

"He's talented. He's very, very gifted," said New Mexico assistant coach Craig Neal, a former NBA player. "He's got a great body. He's long. The biggest thing that people don't understand about him is he's super competitive. He hates to lose in Scrabble. We harnessed some of that.""

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... er/?page=3

Gidden just keeps sounding better and better. As of right now i'm really happy with our picks from all the interviews that i've seen, and articles I read. When you have a super talented player with a great worth ethic good stuff is bound to happen.

Both Giddens and Walker seem to be players who work hard to perfect there games.

GuyClinch · Post #143 » by **GuyClinch** » Tue Jul 8, 2008 10:18 pm

I would be a ton happier if we signed these guys and they were playing in SL. I could sound great in an interview. that doesn't mean I can play. <g>

TheCelticTruth · Post #144 » by **TheCelticTruth** » Wed Jul 9, 2008 12:49 am

GuyClinch wrote:I would be a ton happier if we signed these guys and they were playing in SL. I could sound great in an interview. that doesn't mean I can play. <g>

cant help but agree

LongTimeFan · Post #145 » by **LongTimeFan** » Wed Jul 9, 2008 12:35 pm

Gidden has a 42 inch vertical according to today's Globe, page 5.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... st/?page=5

That stacks up pretty well compared to this draft class. Actually, it matches the highest measured leap.

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-dra ... os=&sort=9

It looks like DA has done it again. This puts the kids hand two feet over the rim.

TheCelticTruth · Post #146 » by **TheCelticTruth** » Wed Jul 9, 2008 3:34 pm

wow, alford said he thought giddens was the best athlete on the draft

LongTimeFan · Post #147 » by **LongTimeFan** » Wed Jul 9, 2008 4:22 pm

I wouldn't of posted it but he got the wingspan right, Giddens published body fat is comparable to the other 42 inch guy and DA is getting notorious in my mind for drafting guys who aren't measured.

A 42 inch vertical is three inches greater than Gerald Green's. He gets higher at the top of his jumping reach than Big Al, 6 inches higher. This is a shooting guard. With all the other things opponents have to worry about, they better put a body on him or he's going to have a field day rebounding.

I'm beginning to like this pick more and more.

GuyClinch · Post #148 » by **GuyClinch** » Wed Jul 9, 2008 7:32 pm

GG said his vertical got up to 46" I think.. But who really cares. As it stands the C's haven't even SIGNED him. Who knows if they will

MyInsatiableOne · Post #149 » by **MyInsatiableOne** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:24 pm

GuyClinch wrote:GG said his vertical got up to 46" I think.. But who really cares. As it stands the C's haven't even SIGNED him. Who knows if they will

And we all saw how much that meant when it came to GG's talent on the court... :roll:

TheCelticTruth · Post #150 » by **TheCelticTruth** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:35 am

jr giddens is way more established already than gerald ever was. gerald didnt even have a big time hs career, he rose in the draft due to his athleticism and basically one good season.

giddens dropped from being a long time lottery prospect, but still had an accomplished career.

MyInsatiableOne · Post #151 » by **MyInsatiableOne** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:54 pm

^^Agree completely...was just saying that some people here translate a jump or a shot into stardom, and as we've seen firsthand that's not always the case...

GuyClinch · Post #152 » by **GuyClinch** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:28 pm

jr giddens is way more established already than gerald ever was. gerald didnt even have a big time hs career, he rose in the draft due to his athleticism and basically one good season.

Oh come on now. This is friggin RIDICULOUS revisionist history. I think Giddens could well be better then Green. But Gerald Green was a MCDONALD"S ALL AMERICAN who scored a team high 24 points. That's by any standard a sign of a fantastic High School Career. If anything GG FELL In the draft.

The high riser was Kedrick Brown.

Pete

TheCelticTruth · Post #153 » by **TheCelticTruth** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:52 am

GuyClinch wrote:
jr giddens is way more established already than gerald ever was. gerald didnt even have a big time hs career, he rose in the draft due to his athleticism and basically one good season.

Oh come on now. This is friggin RIDICULOUS revisionist history. I think Giddens could well be better then Green. But Gerald Green was a MCDONALD"S ALL AMERICAN who scored a team high 24 points. That's by any standard a sign of a fantastic High School Career. If anything GG FELL In the draft.

The high riser was Kedrick Brown.

Pete

a little over excited there pete? revisionist i dont agree with, let alone friggin ridiculous. gerald came out of nowhere his senior year. yes he was a mcdonalds all american, so was giddens. gerald was barely heard of before his senior year so i dont see how outlandish my statement was. the tmac comparisons came as much from his late blloming as anything else. did he fall in the draft? depends on how you want to measure his stock. if you go by the fact that we all thought portland would take him at the spot they took martell webster, then he fell. i dont recall even seeing him on a draft board before march of that year though.

and giddens was big 12 roy and an all american and conf player of the year. does that not seem more decorated than gerald's two dunk contest championships? it does to me

GuyClinch · Post #154 » by **GuyClinch** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:48 am

a little over excited there pete? revisionist i dont agree with, let alone friggin ridiculous. gerald came out of nowhere his senior year. yes he was a mcdonalds all american, so was giddens. gerald was barely heard of before his senior year so i dont see how outlandish my statement was

He was on Rivals.com. He was an McDonald's All American. Your just wrong. You don't go from "nowhere" to McDonalds All American. Gerald had a "big time" HS career. You need that to be McDonald's All American. That's kind of how they pick it...

and giddens was big 12 roy and an all american and conf player of the year. does that not seem more decorated than gerald's two dunk contest championships? it does to me

But umm Gerald didn't GO TO COLLEGE. <g> So of course he wasn't big 12 anything. Both guys were well decorated. Gerald was rated even higher then Giddens.. The GG pick was not seen as a reach. It was widely regarded as a steal.

Pete

TheCelticTruth · Post #155 » by **TheCelticTruth** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:23 am

GuyClinch wrote:
a little over excited there pete? revisionist i dont agree with, let alone friggin ridiculous. gerald came out of nowhere his senior year. yes he was a mcdonalds all american, so was giddens. gerald was barely heard of before his senior year so i dont see how outlandish my statement was

He was on Rivals.com. He was an McDonald's All American. Your just wrong. You don't go from "nowhere" to McDonalds All American. Gerald had a "big time" HS career. You need that to be McDonald's All American. That's kind of how they pick it...

and giddens was big 12 roy and an all american and conf player of the year. does that not seem more decorated than gerald's two dunk contest championships? it does to me

But umm Gerald didn't GO TO COLLEGE. <g> So of course he wasn't big 12 anything. Both guys were well decorated. Gerald was rated even higher then Giddens.. The GG pick was not seen as a reach. It was widely regarded as a steal.

Pete

tell me im just wrong, but it may be just a matter of opinion, and partly what scouting weve read. gerald was never highly touted except as an athlete who had the beginnings of every tool you might want, sure, but had very little idea how to use said tools or play basketball all that well. which is very different from any scouting and playing ive read or seen with giddens. i dont think a guy who was rated as a top lottery talent for a year (not refuting that he was) and yes dropped in the draft as I said, so obviously i get the concept that it was a steal in terms of potential at the time, is as "big time" in that regard as a player like giddens or walker, who was mentioned as a lottery talent even as early as when we first read about oj mayo.

so disagree if you will, but because gerald accomplished little in my eyes, and giddens has played at a higher level for a longer period of time, i find him to be, in my estimation a more established player

armageddon · Post #156 » by **armageddon** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:26 am

We are getting a little off topic, but I just watched the first quarter of the Dallas summer league team with GG. Same game, great steal for a breakaway dunk, 3 forced jumpers, no rebounding. Still stands around waiting for the ball, then goes one on one. No team involvement but still very athletic. He's peaked and what you see is what you'll get.

LongTimeFan · Post #157 » by **LongTimeFan** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:51 am

I think the far more interesting takeaway is the maturing in DA's selection criterion. Banks and Perkins was his first draft. And he got abused in part by this board on the Banks pick. DA was a rookie.

Green slid and DA thought he had a steal. He was projected much higher. But he had not really scouted him. They saw him play in the All Star game and that was about it.

Now there is a much greater effort on whether they are coachable. They work them out and give them tasks. Are they Celtics by nature?

How they are going to "develope" is now backed into who they "draft".

Post #158 » by **darrendaye** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:27 pm

LongTimeFan wrote:I think the far more interesting takeaway is the maturing in DA's selection criterion. Banks and Perkins was his first draft. And he got abused in part by this board on the Banks pick. DA was a rookie.

Green slid and DA thought he had a steal. He was projected much higher. But he had not really scouted him. They saw him play in the All Star game and that was about it.

Now there is a much greater effort on whether they are coachable. They work them out and give them tasks. Are they Celtics by nature?

How they are going to "develope" is now backed into who they "draft".

I don't know if I necessarily buy into the concept of Ainge "maturing" as a drafter in relation to his GG selection to now. I think his philosophy has been fairly consistent. What I perceive is Ainge likes to target players who have some degree of grit and toughness to their game. It's plausible that Banks may not have been as heavily scrutinized as he should have been given Ainge was fresh on the job. Or, it could simply have been a miss. It happens.

As for Green, I believe it was a deviation from this strategy for the simple reason that Green was an elite athlete sliding substantially from where he was projected to go. You don't get those opportunities often.

Giddens is more in line with the Tony Allen and Delonte West type picks. He's a guy who plays with an element of toughness. If he can show he can play in the league, this is a fantastic pick in light of what the team needs going forward. He has a solid passing game at the college level and reputed to play good defense. If he can evolve into a scorer and can operate adequately as a combo guard, he's a great fit and allows the Celts to work with lesser backup point guards. Meaning, you may get by with an Eddie House type if Giddens can facilitate the offensive flow.

GuyClinch · Post #159 » by **GuyClinch** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:14 pm

tell me im just wrong, but it may be just a matter of opinion, and partly what scouting weve read. gerald was never highly touted except as an athlete who had the beginnings of every tool you might want, sure, but had very little idea how to use said tools or play basketball all that well

It's not opinion if he was an all-american. He wasn't all american in track and field but basketball. <g> Gerald is a bust so now your using revisionist history to make it seem like he was only an athlete.. In fact he was the leading SCORER on that All-American team. He was a highly touted prospect who SLIPPED to us.

There is no need for this. It's quite possible that ONE all american makes it and another feels. You don't need the revisionist history. Also the fact that he succeed some in college is a plus - but not that huge when you consider Banks was a stud in the same conference.

Pete

TheCelticTruth · Post #160 » by **TheCelticTruth** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:34 pm

GuyClinch wrote:
tell me im just wrong, but it may be just a matter of opinion, and partly what scouting weve read. gerald was never highly touted except as an athlete who had the beginnings of every tool you might want, sure, but had very little idea how to use said tools or play basketball all that well

It's not opinion if he was an all-american. He wasn't all american in track and field but basketball. <g> Gerald is a bust so now your using revisionist history to make it seem like he was only an athlete.. In fact he was the leading SCORER on that All-American team. He was a highly touted prospect who SLIPPED to us.

There is no need for this. It's quite possible that ONE all american makes it and another feels. You don't need the revisionist history. Also the fact that he succeed some in college is a plus - but not that huge when you consider Banks was a stud in the same conference.

Pete

where did i state that he WASN'T an All American? tell me that walker and giddens werent both touted for a longer period of time. jonathan bender was the leading scorer in a mcdonalds game, is that an accomplished player? giddens and green were both all americans, so lets cancel that out in terms of comparing accomplishments. gerald has won dunk contests, giddens has actual awards in both a mid major and major conference.

so my opinion may be that giddens was a bigger hs prospect, but i find it a little closer to fact that giddens has a more accomplished career to this point, besides the fact that gerald has ridden NBA pine already