The Two Guards Not Named Rajon Rondo

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The Boston Celtics are showing some life once again. Just when things were looking grim for the veteran squad, General Manager Danny Ainge was making declarations that he was taking ten games to evaluate the team and the offense was putting up 71 points against a historically poor defensive team like the Phoenix Suns, the Celtics took their play to a level we haven’t seen in two years. The Green followed up the embarrassing performance against Steve Nash and the Suns with a “grind it out” victory over the hapless, yet semi-talented John Wall led Washington Wizards. And that is when things really took off. Down guys like Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Jermaine O’Neal and Keyon Dooling, the Celtics’ defense put up arguably its best effort since the beginning of “The Big Three” by holding an above average Dwight Howard led Orlando Magic team to 56 points, a franchise low. Then, just as it looked like the consistency would be an issue again and the Magic would erase the shellacking that took place just a few nights before, Paul Pierce fueled a 27-point comeback…IN ORLANDO. And to top it all off, the next night in what a lot of fans had already conceded as an all-but-certain letdown game, the Celtics were able to take down the white-hot Indiana Pacers on the back end of a back-to-back. Ladies and gentleman, your new and improved 2011-2012 Boston Celtics?

While the resurgence of the captain Paul Pierce and the revival of Kevin Garnett have been keys to the recent Celtics success, the bench has been just as important. One the major issues for this team through the first month of the season had been the fact that the bench players were really struggling to create a chemistry needed for success when asked to step in for the starters. They were playing effectively with other bench players, but not when mixed in with the starting five. Well, while injuries can never be described as positive thing for any team, a positive that has come out of the recent stretch of games has been the ability for the bench players to show that they are indeed capable of playing critical minutes in games going forward with the starters.

And there are two bench players in particular that deserve the most praise for their efforts recently (okay, maybe Brandon Bass deserves the praise too, but for the sake of this article…). Rajon Rondo has been by all accounts the best player on this team in the early part of the season, so one could understand why it would probably be difficult to replace a player of his caliber when he goes down. However, the young point guard duo of Avery Bradley and E’Twaun Moore has been able to do just that. When they have been called upon, Bradley and Moore have been able to each provide quality minutes as fill-ins for the injured Rondo and have shown that they can be trusted on the court by coach Doc Rivers. But should we really be surprised by this? Not really if we take a closer look at the journey that brought each player to where they are today.

Avery Bradley

Anyone who read my recent article knows my feelings regarding Avery Bradley. And they are not without merit. When Celtics nation, or any fan of the NBA for that matter, hears the name Avery Bradley, they more than likely say one of two things: 1) “Who?” and 2) “What an insignificant role player he has been since being drafted”. However, if we go back to 2009 we can get an idea for the kind of talent that the floor general possesses. Oh how quickly people forget that Bradley was the star for Findlay Prep, a high school team that is considered a national powerhouse year in and year out. With Bradley as their leader, the Pilots went undefeated in Bradley’s senior season in which he averaged 19 points, 4.4 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals per game. Across the board, AB was ranked as the top player at his position, and was considered a top five talent in the draft class by every major scouting service. From scout.com regarding the high school prospect:

“Very skilled and athletic young guard. Handles well, good slasher and leaper. Can create own shot. Good, not great, shooter. Good quickness and bounce. As a sophomore, scored 52 points in a triple-overtime victory against Mount Tahoma. It is believed to be a single-game scoring record for Bellarmine Prep.”

Avery Bradley went from one winner to another when he signed his letter of national intent to play for Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns for the 2009-2010 college basketball season. While people would argue that Texas tends to underachieve come tournament time, it has always been the philosophy of Barnes that it is his job to get his players ready for the next level. And he has proved to do so with players such as LaMarcus Aldridge, D.J. Augustin and Kevin Durant to name a few. So, while in good hands at Texas, Bradley was able to make the most of his one season. The overall numbers are not impressive (11.6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a little over a steal per game), but there was an obvious improvement over the course of the season as he became more settled into the college basketball environment. At one point during the season, Barnes referred to AB as the best freshman in the country because “he can do things on both ends of the court”. And that he could. What Bradley probably took most from his experience on the college level was not so much the improvement offensively as the one locking down the other team’s best player.

After being selected 19^th in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics, it was unclear what the Celtics could expect from AB. The hope was that he would be able to return to his more consistent form from his days at Findlay Prep and become an dependable backup point guard for Rondo who could also play a little at the shooting guard position if need be. But as has been the case with any 19 year old in their first year in the NBA, the transition from playing high school ball just two years prior to starting a career in the NBA did not go smoothly for Bradley. It was difficult for Bradley to fall in favor with coach Doc Rivers, leading to the first round pick’s appearance in just 31 games all season with numbers not even worth noting. The rumblings were heard all season about how Ainge had wasted another draft on a kid too young and too inconsistent to ever contribute on the NBA level.

Coming into this season, not much was expected from AB other than potentially eating up some late game minutes and a couple of expanded roles when players went down. It had to be discouraging and a sign of zero confidence for Bradley to see the Celtics draft E’Twaun Moore too. However, Bradley has made the absolute best of the situation to this point, providing the shutdown defense he was able to improve in his time at Texas and running the offense effectively as he did so well at Findlay Prep leading to extended minutes and a spot in the starting lineup since the Rondo injury. As the confidence continues to grow for the 20 year old (20.YEARS.OLD.), one has to think that his ability to develop into the point guard the Celtics were hoping for when they drafted him will continue to flourish. The future is bright for AB, and we have seen flashes of what that future may hold during Rondo’s absence. But the injury to Rondo has also opened the door for another guy who has run things his own way when in the ball game…

E’Twaun Moore

Just as anyone who has read my work knows that I love the direction of Avery Bradley, anyone who knows me personally knows just how much I love Purdue Boilermaker basketball and how ecstatic I was to see the Celtics draft not one, but two stars from such a prestigious university. E’Twaun Moore started to become the player he is today in East Chicago, Indiana where he played basketball for Central High School. Similar to Bradley, Moore was a star high school player. In his senior season, he led the way for the Bears with 21 points, 5.5 boards and 3.3 assists per game. Moore, the second ranked prospect in the state, fueled his squad to a 2007 4A state championship in Indiana defeating the number one prospect in the state, Eric Gordon and North Central High School. There were high hoped for the point guard, as he was ranked as a top ten shooting guard by all the scouting websites. Scout.com had these high remarks for the 6-3 recruit:

“Improved his perimeter game from junior to start of senior summer. Long bodied shooting guard has always been capable of playing good defense. Could make a move to be considered a Top 50 prospect with a strong 2006 spring/summer.”       

After completing a stellar career at Central High, Moore decided to stay in-state for college, travelling the short distance to West Lafayette, Indiana where he attended Purdue University. As a member of a draft class that included JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel, Moore may have been considered the third best recruit for Purdue head coach Matt Painter’s Boilermakers. However, Moore quickly established himself as the go-to scorer at the end of games for Purdue over his four year career, averaging 13, 14, 16 and 18 points per game from freshman year through senior year. Fans, players and coaches loved the energy he played with every game, and when he got hot he could light it up from anywhere in the arena. More than anything else, E’Twaun Moore was a winner during his time at Purdue, a quality that not a lot of star college athletes can say that they are. There was no reason to believe that when it was finally time for Moore to move on to the NBA that he would once again win. Prior to the draft, Painter had nothing but praise for his star guard:

“E’Twaun has really improved in other areas outside of scoring,” Painter noted. “He can score in a variety of ways but I think his decision making is better and his defense is better this year.”

          “From the feedback I’ve gotten from his workouts, people have been very impressed with his ability to handle the basketball and his ability to defend.”

So it should come as no surprise to anyone what E’Twaun Moore has been able to do in his short time in the NBA at this point. After being drafted in the second round of last year’s draft by the Boston Celtics, Moore knew he would have to work to make the roster. It must have been a combination of Moore’s winning mentality, hard work and constant desire to improve as a player that caught the eye of Ainge and ultimately landed him a spot on Doc Rivers’ team. And just as has been the case with AB, Moore has greatly benefited from the injury to Rondo, and has been given a great opportunity to show what he is capable of while splitting Rondo’s minutes with Bradley. The overall numbers on the season are not impressive (just 3 points, an assist, and a half a steal per game in about 10 minutes), but the shades of the instant offense he can provide show just what a great compliment he can be to traditional point guards like Rondo and Bradley as a scoring point guard. There is no greater example of this than what Moore was able to do in the historic comeback in Orlando where he went off for 16 points on 4-4 from beyond the arc. And, if Moore shapes into the kind of player he was in college, all the evidence suggests that he will continue to improve, and may become a valuable asset come playoff time this season for the Boston Celtics.

So, while we all fear the worst in Boston Celtics nation when we hear that Rajon Rondo is out of the lineup with an injury, you can count on two guys being ready to answer the call. Avery Bradley and E’Twaun Moore have stepped up in a big way for the Celtics, especially in the last week or so. There is something to be said for two point guards so different in the way they play, but yet so alike in their ability to seize the opportunity. Something tells me that there are big things in store for these two guys for many years to come. Hopefully it will be in a Celtics uniform…

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