Following a 120-106 loss in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference playoffs, Milwaukee Bucks’ guard Eric Bledsoe issued the following proclamation about his Celtics counterpart, Terry Rozier.
Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
Clearly, Terry Rozier is the guy who put up 23-and-8 on Bledsoe in Game 2. EB undoubtedly knows this because Rozier is the same guy who buried critical jump shots in Game 1 of their series, which happened barely two days previously.
Some took this as a retaliatory shot at the third-year guard, who casually referred to Bledsoe as “Drew Bledsoe,” earlier in the series. While a fine NFL quarterback and purveyor of well-received cabernets, Drew Bledsoe is most definitely not the starting point guard for the Bucks.
The NBA is so very, very petty.
Regardless, Bledsoe’s diss opens up an interesting line of questions. For real, who the $@%# is Terry Rozier? It’s not like most folks outside the greater Boston area had Terry Rozier in the Breakout Star of the First Round pool.
And yet, Rozier has posted 46 points on 47 percent shooting with exactly zero turnovers in the first two games of the series, both of them wins for the Celtics. We might all want to get more familiar with what the $@%# this is.
Rozier was drafted in 2015, the same year the Celtics tried to move up to take Justise Winslow. The repercussions of that failed pursuit would have reverberated for years. The reported offer included as many as four first-rounders including one of the hallowed Brooklyn picks, and would have definitely included the pick that yielded Rozier.
“In the long run, maybe it’ll be for the best,” Danny Ainge said after his trade plan fell apart.
Those Brooklyn picks yielded Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kyrie Irving (not all directly, but let’s not complicate things). Rozier has taken Irving’s place in the starting lineup. Brown has been phenomenal, averaging 25 and five boards, while Tatum pulled off a Julius Erving-worthy move at a critical moment of Game 1.
So yes, things have worked out for Ainge and the Celtics.
Speaking of Ainge’s draft record, the Rozier selection was highly criticized at the time as a classic Danny reach. Most mocks had Rozier late in the first round, if not the second. Not that conventional wisdom has ever really played a role in Ainge’s process. The Jaylen Brown choice was also widely panned.
During the period of the Celtics rebuild following the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce trade, Ainge drafted Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart, Rozier, Brown, and Tatum. He also filled out the bench with players suchs as Gauerschon (The Dancing Bear) Yabasule, Abdel Nader, Semi Ojeleye, and Jabari Bird.
There were also choices that yielded James Young and R.J. Hunter, as well as a pick that didn’t result in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Ainge’s draft history is endlessly fascinating.
Rozier didn’t play much as a rookie, spending as much time in Maine with the Red Claws in the D-League as he did with the C’s. Rozier sightings were rare that year but they tended to be packed with high-wire drama that balanced between the sublime and the absurd.
One never knew what they would see from Rozier, but it was guaranteed to be something. Thus was born the Terry Rozier Experience.
He began to carve out a role in his second year as part of a crowded backcourt that also included Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, and Smart. There would be oddly brilliant performances followed by painfully abstract duds.
Rozier’s shot was inconsistent and he averaged more rebounds than assists, making him something of an enigma. But what a fascinating enigma! Rozier’s exploits gained a cult following among Celtics Twitter, which is in and of itself a weird cult, but his play went widely unnoticed by the larger basketball community.
Rozier made a massive jump in his third season, pushing his way into a prominent role. His games were still erratic, but tended to yield positive results.
In a Celtics tradition dating back to Tony Allen’s pre-Grindfather days, Rozier was a backcourt chaos conductor of the highest order. He liked nothing better than flying in for defensive rebounds and starting a one-man fast break with his shirt tail untucked and flapping behind him.
What would happen next? Who knows, who cares, something big was about to take place. Weird Celtics Twitter called him Tito for reasons no one ever bothered to explain, but then Scary Terry took and Scary Terry he became.
A funny thing happened to Scary Terry Rozier after injuries took Irving and Smart out of the lineup: he became a really solid NBA point guard. For all his high-energy work, Rozier rarely turns the ball over. His turnover ratio is comparable to that of Mike Conley, the heady Memphis guard. While still inconsistent as a finisher, Rozier’s outside shot improved dramatically.
He also really liked being a starter, where he averaged 15-6-5, and his play on a West Coast trip helped steady the Celtics while injuries piled up around them. Terry Rozier was becoming a player in this league, which should make things very interesting this summer when Smart comes up for restricted free agency.
But let’s not get ahead of things.
So, who is Terry Rozier? He’s the dude currently busting the Bucks. But you already knew that.
