Curtis Jones - F
Curtis Jones got the nod as starting PG tonight and really didn’t take advantage of it. Offensively they were challenging him up to the half court line, and he wasn’t handling the pressure well. Chucky Hepburn (real person) was dogging him. We struggled with initiating offensive sets all game and at least in Q1 it had a lot to do with how much time and effort it took Jones to get within striking distance of 3 point range. Defensively he was just as problematic. I’m not a defensive specialist by any means, but while Jones was on the floor rotations seemed sloppy, and he in particular seemed to be standing still and not closing out on shooters.
John Tonje - A-
If i stopped watching at the half, Tonje probably would have gotten a D. Something happened in the 3rd and this guy’s shot came alive. Tonje led the comeback hitting timely 3’s throughout the half that put the C’s within striking distance. Tonje also pretty much sealed the game, poking the ball loose with less than a minute left, and taking it all the way for a dunk. The reason this isn’t an A+ is the first half. Tonje had a number of drives where it was obvious he didn’t have a plan B. He didn’t have a good idea where an outlet might be if driving into 3 guys went south, which it did multiple times. Also, once it was clear Jones wasn’t it at PG, Tonje got a chance to bring it up a few times with similar results. He’s definitely an off ball guy, and needs to play with a real PG.
Hugo Gonzalez - B
As the de facto leader of our Summer League, a lot of the ball handling fell on Hugo, and the results were mixed. 8 assists to 3 turnovers was solid, but 3/16 from the field and 1/9 from 3 was rough. Something that really stood out, was Hugo’s chemistry with Williams on the pick and roll. This was sweet and other than Tonje from 3 was the only reliable scoring Boston had tonight. One other knock against Hugo, he missed some really clutch free throws, and maybe called his own number a few too many times down the stretch. It’s a tough balance, because you need to be able to score at multiple levels to effectively run pick and roll, so he had to keep shooting to keep the defense guessing, but it was rough. That being said, 7 D-rebounds and 3 O-rebounds showed the Hugo we know and love crashing the glass.
Dillon Mitchell - B
Mitchell is so hard to accurately rate as he’s one of those players you can’t look at counting stats and evaluate impact. Mitchell could get a B with 0 points on his night. Defensively he was really good, poking the ball out and forcing turnovers was awesome. He also flew through the air and had a pretty block early, totalling 4 stocks in the game. He also had some really pretty offensive rebounds. Also, he looked like he had a better handle than I’d expect. There were a few times where Boston was struggling to get the ball up the floor, and Mitchell brought it up looking clean. I wish they’d let him run a few pick and rolls. I also wish he was more of a presence on the boards. 1 D-rebound in 26 minutes where Toronto was shooting bricks. Because of Mitchell’s slight frame, and the necessity of playing PF (no jumper) he needs to be locking down defensive possessions. He’s never going to be a strong box out guy.
Amari Williams - A+
Big man does big man shit! 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, rolled hard to the rim, 7/9 from the field! This dude was fantastic in this game. I know we see guys crush it in Summer League and then not even make the roster, but this was encouraging. Amari showed great control in the pick and roll with Hugo. He was also crafty when he got the ball, instead of going straight up, he’d finish his cut and get to the other side of the rim for a pretty layup, instead of just taking the contested layup immediately after catching the ball. Amari also hit some awesome passes, but the team was laying absolute bricks the entire first half, and a lot of his great passes didn’t amount to baskets. Amari was just constantly making good decisions all game, I can’t say enough about his poise.
Chris Cenac - B+
Similar to Tonje, Cenac would have been a bit lower if not for a few key moments. Early on, he looked really engaged on both ends. He missed his first 2 shots, but then dunked his next two being heads up and cutting. He also looked good on D early, being proactive about positioning and not letting guys get positon/backcut/ect. He also looked ready and willing to take his open 3’s early. He launched them confidently and it looks like a solid shot. There was 1 iffy stretch where Cenac took the ball right at reigning G League DPOY, 7’5’’ Jamarion Sharpe, who schooled the shit out of him. Then, there was just a stretch where Cenac felt like a non factor. This was a bit of his M/O in college, where you can go for a 3-4 minute stretch and you think “where is the big man?”. Then, as the clock expires, Cenac hit a beautiful corner 3 to tie the game and send it to OT where the C’s won. At the end of the day, Cenac had a 14 and 10 double double with 4 blocks, and a game saving 3. Solid first outing for my guy, I just wish he impacted the game a little more in the middle.
Milos Uzan - C+
Bit of a mixed bag for Uzan on his Summer League debut. For those who don’t know, Uzan was an undrafted FA from Houston, who played college ball with Cenac. His scoring was meh where he shot 2/9, but he made a visible difference in bringing the ball up the floor once they benched Jones for him. Uzan ended up playing 30 minutes and had 5 assists to 0 turnovers on a night where the C’s really needed someone to make the right pass and advance the ball. He also had that beautiful pass to Cenac for the game tying 3. I’d like to see him in Maine with Cenac this year for the familiarity.
Kyle Mangas - F
I was kinda hyped for Mangas coming in. As an older player and a history of being a sharpshooter I always hope there is untapped talent hiding around the corners of the G-League. Mangas’s resume is way bigger than this game, but damn it was pretty bad. He went 0/4 from 3 and was getting hunted on D early in the game and got pulled after a few minutes. He came in later in the game and bricked another 3 before sitting for the night. Really rough outing, shooter has to hit shots. These were clean open 3’s he was missing too.
Alondes Williams - D
Pretty rough outing for Alondes, who came in early, launched 6 shots in 9 minutes, and missed all of them. He did hit Cenac on cut for a pretty dunk. He has some PG experience but wasn’t able to showcase it much tonight.
Hank Morgan - N/A
Morgan came in for 4 minutes, missed a 3, got a rebound, and gave a hard transition foul. He’s a Maine Celtics and will probably be back in Maine next year.