Picks 'n Pops: Launch angles, almost having a different owner, and regrets?

Every week, I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I'm offering a special Black Friday deal of 2,000 words for the price of 1,500! 

- Since Hugo Gonzalez is too good for my plan, I’m going to give it to Amari Williams. Honestly, I think it will fit him better anyway. 

He was decent against Detroit, but I didn't like what happened after he tried and failed to block shots. They all led to offensive rebounds, which he has to recognize. I don’t think he finished those plays well. 

So I say take that note, some film on the pick-and-roll timing and whatever else the team shows him back to the G League to work on for a while whenever Neemias Queta is back. Then the Celtics should bring him back after a few games to throw him back into the NBA mix and see how that stuff is progressing. 

I liked what I saw enough to say he should be getting some NBA reps to see how much was real and how much was a product of the Pistons just being confused. I think a little ping ponging between the G and the NBA could prod his growth a little. 

- I think the Celtics stumbled onto a really good plan of going big for stretches and then going small to throw different looks at teams. I think that should be how they proceed moving forward. It’s like playing two different teams in the same game and I think, for this year, it can be something that works for them. 

- I highlighted Jaylen Brown's box out here, but Williams keeping the ball alive, as well as Payton Pritchard's crash from the top, were just as important. 

- Baylor Scheierman is shooting 8-11 (72.7%) from the corners and 5-13 (38.5%) from above the break this season. The samples are too small to see a trend yet, but I think he has a smoother stroke from the corners. I think the above-the-break shot has a more violent release. 

I actually don’t think the release issue is exclusive to corners or above the break, it just happens more on the above-the-break shots. I feel like his release angle is just a bit higher on his makes than his misses. 

The makes tend to have a higher release and smoother follow-through. The misses seem to come at a lower angle and a stronger follow-through. 

There's a part of me that thinks he struggles to get the longer shots there sometimes. When he just shoots it, it looks good. It looks bad when he’s almost catapulting it towards the rim. I’m not 100% sold on my own theory here, but I do think there's something to it. 

- Stephanie White put it perfectly when describing the foul on Cade Cunningham at half court that was ruled a shooting foul. Players are coached to foul on the downward dribble, this way there's no way the player can gather and argue that it was a shot. 

The Celtics fouled when he had the ball in his hands, so he went up with it. In that situation, that's a shot attempt. Marcus Smart once explained the same concept when he was going for steals.

“I was always taught that the ball has to come back down. Gravity. It’s gonna come back down and between that gap and when the ball hits the ground, there’s a gap between where his hand is off the ball.

“So that next dribble when he [puts his hand back up], my hand is right there [underneath], cause I know the ball has to come back [up] and he has to go get it. Some guys, it’s hard for your brain to register that quickly. It’s like hitting that blind spot and you just try to attack them.”

Just like that being the spot where guys can go for steals, that's also when you go for a foul so he doesn’t gather and argue that he was shooting. 

Those are the finer details of basketball. That’s the different between winning or losing sometimes … or at least needing to catch a lucky break on a missed free throw. 

- The free-throw miss actually distracted from Cunningham’s turnover a couple of plays earlier. That was a rough ending to the game for a guy in the early MVP conversation.

- That win over Detroit assures the Celtics no worse than a .500 record when we hit the quarter pole in a couple of games. That keeps them in the playoff mix, and pretty much where I thought they’d be: too good to tank, not good enough for home court in the playoffs. 

- This photo of Bill Chisholm (via David Butler II-Imagn Images) is making the social media rounds.  

Pretty nice to see an owner sitting courtside and getting into the game like that. 

- A new report reveals that Chisholm’s group won the bidding process to buy the Celtics by less than $100 million. So it turns out the point-one part of the $6.1 billion offer was really important. 

- I miss ONE game and THAT'S the one Steve Carell goes to?  Well, well, well … how the turn tables. 

Actually based on that sentence, it’s probably best I didn’t see him in person.

- Jaylen Brown admits that Tracy McGrady essentially talked him out of leaving Boston when the trade rumors were getting hot a few years ago. 

I get why Brown was tired of hearing his name in rumors, but I don’t think the team was (a) ever close to moving him or (b) actively shopping him. There were certainly at least on deal for Anthony Davis in New Orleans that would have happened had the salary cap rules allowed it. But other than that, I don’t think Boston ever got close to moving Brown. 

But when a star wanted out, Boston was seen as the team with the assets and willingness to make a trade. When a team mentioned Brown as part of the deal, the leaks from other teams immediately became “Jaylen Brown has been discussed in trade talks.” 

Teams can try to poison the water by mentioning the player they want to their friends in the media. Those people run with their sources and the player in question, in this case, Brown, get fed up and tell the team they're open to moving.

It almost worked. Good thing McGrady let Brown know that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. 

- This info, as well as seeing how hard Brown has to work to score, changes my mind about how Brown will react to having an All-NBA season on his own in Boston. I think he’ll be happy to welcome Jayson Tatum back so they can take the pressure off of each other. 

I think this is actually going to work wonderfully for Boston because now we know Brown can handle things on his own, so that takes the pressure off Tatum. JT doesn’t have to be the guy with the ball in his hands all the time. The Celtics can run some of Jayson’s plays for Jaylen now trust that it will work. 

- Funny exchange at Celtics practice on Tuesday. 

In the scrum, Joe Mazzulla was asked about Queta’s status for Wednesday’s game. 

“Haven’t seen him,” Mazzulla said. 

After another follow up, he reiterated, “I haven't seen him.” 

Pressed on not seeing his starting center, despite going through a full practice and film session, Mazzulla said “I haven't seen him or spoken to him.” 

Alright. Everyone knew he was lying.  A little while later, Queta walked out of a room and down the court. When Mazzulla appeared about 30 feet behind him, half the press corps pointed at Queta and said “hey Joe, there he is!” Mazzulla chuckled and said “and he’s walking!” 

I think Mazzulla is a good coach, and he’s doing a good job with this team, but some of the idiosyncrasies associated with preventing the other team from gaining some kind of advantage, even if it’s the most paper-thin advantage you can imagine, are over the top. If there's even a hint of a potential for a possible advantage, Mazzulla will try to prevent whatever that is from happening. 

- I still expect the Celtics to explore every trade avenue when it comes to Anfernee Simons, but I also can’t rule out keeping him at a reduced contract. Something like a three-year, $45 million deal that fits nicely into the mid-level exception slot would work for me. The Celtics have his Bird Rights, so they don’t need to use the exception to sign him, but teams can use the exception to acquire players via trade now, so keeping him as a valuable bench scorer with the option of using him in a trade later makes sense. 

Of course, his agent doesn’t want to put his player in that kind of position, but I think the new CBA is forcing everyone in that range’s hand. Simons might not have a choice but to accept mid-level money anyway. If that ends up being the case, why not stick around Boston and contribute to a potential championship contender?

- The worst thing to happen on social media this week is saying Gilbert Arenas was better than Ray Allen, as if Ray Allen only came into existence in Boston and his Milwaukee/Seattle days didn’t happen. 

There is no world where I’d take Arenas before taking Allen, and that's before I factor in how gigantic a Richard-head Arenas has always been. Arenas has never come close to winning anything, and the fact that he’s trying to leverage his Goatse-level personality into a mainstream gig is revolting because it’s possible it can happen. 

- Klay Thompson lit into Ja Morant after the two went face-to-face after a game this week.

It’s funny how quickly Morant went from NBA darling to this. He chose guns and internet clout over being one of the faces of the NBA. 

I can’t wait to hear a 45-year-old Morant express regret over his actions because they're costing him a lot of money. 

- The OKC Thunder are 18-1 and have won 10 in a row. And they're only JUST getting Jalen Williams back. Yeesh. 

Maybe this gap year wasn’t so bad for Boston. 

- The Celtics (10-8) have a better record than the Warriors (10-10). Hate to say this, Al Horford, but I think this might be another case of running from Boston before seeing the whole picture. 

He left at the Kyrie Irving mess, partly because of that situation and partly because the Sixers were offering a ton more money. Then he basically admitted that if he knew Irving was leaving that he might have done things differently. 

Now he left because of Tatum’s injury and the Warriors were offering more money. I wonder if Horford will express regret again if Tatum comes back this season and the Celtics look like a team that's a center away from making a run. 

- Derrick White busted out of his slump in a big way against Detroit, getting the “hotter than fish grease” line from Mark Jones at the end of the game. White needed a hot, high-volume night like I needed an antacid after the Thanksgiving meal. So for that, I’m saying White is having the Best Week Ever!

- Here’s my latest podcast, if you’re bored.