Brad Stevens gave the firmest declaration yet that the NBA is going through a strategic revolution

[bobheckler]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/celtics-head-coach-brad-stevens-205600505.html



Celtics head coach Brad Stevens gave the firmest declaration yet that the NBA is going through a strategic revolution



Business Insider
Sam Belden


Business InsiderJuly 6, 2017




(Mike Stobe/Getty)

If you're a basketball fan, you've probably noticed the game undergo some significant changes over the past decade: guards are getting taller, forwards are becoming better shooters, and the idea of the traditional center is on life support.

On Wednesday, Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens fanned these flames by weighing in on the NBA's new era of positional flexibility.

"I don’t have the five positions anymore," Stevens said. "It may be as simple as three positions now, where you're either a ball-handler, a wing or a big... It's really important. We've become more versatile as the years have gone on."

Stevens has been an analytical and forward-thinking head coach dating back to his college coaching days at Butler, so perhaps it's not surprising that he would speak out about the transition to three positions from the traditional five-position system — point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center — that has long been established as basketball tradition.

The Celtics had a guard-heavy rotation last season, playing names like Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley along with more traditional big men like Al Horford and Amir Johnson. Next season's roster should feature more versatile pieces, including free agent wing Gordon Hayward, third overall pick Jayson Tatum and a more polished Jaylen Brown.

The NBA's official website still lists players as either guards, forwards or centers, though some are in gray areas between each designation (Vince Carter, for example, is listed as a guard-forward). These standard terms are less descriptive than the ones Stevens uses, which correlate with particular skills or traits: running an offense, all-purpose scoring, and exceptional height.

The NBA's new focus on versatility was noticeable in the last two drafts. This year's second overall pick, Lonzo Ball, is a 6-foot-6 point guard, and last year's top selection, Ben Simmons, is 6-foot-10 and some believe his future is as a ball-handling forward.

Meanwhile, this year's first overall pick was Markelle Fultz, a multi-purpose guard who can score as well as he can generate opportunities for his teammates.

"My mindset is a basketball player," Fultz said. "I don't think I have any position, really."



bob
MY NOTE:  Danny pioneered deals that nobody thought of before, and had those type of deals outlawed in the next CBA.   LOL.  Brad is another pioneer in basketball.  Doc knew/knows basketball, he's great with people and players, he's a great motivator but I never heard him formulate a new thesis of basketball like Brad is doing here. "running an offense, all-purpose scoring, and exceptional height."


.

[kdp59]

this story starts to put the whole off-season into perspective for sure.

why is Danny not adding a PF....because we won't be playing one anymore.

ball-handlers:(1-2 on court all times)
Thomas
Smart
Rozier

wings: ( 2-3 on court all times)
Hayward
Jaylen
Tatum
and either Bradley or Crowder

Bigs: ( 1 on court most times)
Horford
Zizic
um
um
to be determined.

[NYCelt]

Stevens pretty much quoting from the book of Krzyzewski here.

Which is also, pretty much, where he learned the concept.

Which is also, pretty much, a really good point in Stevens' favor.

Although in this type of system, you can't throw having PFs/Cs/Bigs out. The Celtics were tied for 26th in the NBA in defensive rebounds per game last season. They also allowed the fifth-most offensive rebounds in the league and finished 27th in rebound differential per game with minus-2.5 (passage cut from another topic about Boston looking for rim-protectors in free-agency). Call it a Big, a PF or a C, we still need a couple. Krzyzewski always wants and has them. I suspect so will Stevens.

[wideclyde]

With what Avery Bradley did with his rebounding improvements last year, I am not sure that players need to be only big/bigger to rebound better. Bradley was 3 rebounds above his career average last season and still finished the season at 6'2 and probably did not jump any higher than he did in the previous season.

I fully understand that you cannot be 5'9 and outrebound a 6'11 guy, but any guy should be able to hold his own on the boards if he is even three inches shorter than his opponent.

[swedeinestonia]

Isnt reach more relevant than height anyway?

[wideclyde]

Swede,

Reach is important for sure, but Bradley did not improve his reach heading into last season just as he did not get any taller.

Rebounding is coaching and a player's mental buy-in above and beyond any physical factor if you ask me.

[dboss]

Swede,

Reach is important for sure, but Bradley did not improve his reach heading into last season just as he did not get any taller.

Rebounding is coaching and a player's mental buy-in above and beyond any physical factor if you ask me.

Why do some guys rebound better than others even if they lack the height or girth to hold there position?

There is a definite athletic reason combined with an instinctual advantage.  Two perfect examples that illustrates this can be found in players like Rondo and Rozier.  Physically they have length, quickness and hops.  But they also have the innate anility to know where the rebound will end up.

There is another group of rebounders that rely on their size and girth to secure rebound.  And there is the group that lacks any substantial physical advantage but rely on basic fundamentals to rebound the ball.

In many cases a player may possess a combination of these traits


Dboss

[swedeinestonia]

Swede,

Reach is important for sure, but Bradley did not improve his reach heading into last season just as he did not get any taller.

Rebounding is coaching and a player's mental buy-in above and beyond any physical factor if you ask me.

I meant more generally speaking that maybe people should stop looking at 7 footers etc and look at what their reach is. Rebounding can probably be improved greatly not just by having good rebounders but also by rebounding schemes as a team.

[wideclyde]

Dboss,

Adding to a player's rebounding capabilities does not take great hops, extra long reach or have instinctual advantage. Yes, these attributes may very well define the truly elite rebounders, but the average player can improve his rebound totals by executing, as you said, the "basic fundamentals".

I do not believe that the Cs need to acquire the 'elite' rebounder (if there is one to get at this time) to be a much better team. Getting each of the ten guys in the team's normal rotation to get even just one more board each per game would easily raise the team from the bottom 25% of the league in rebounding to the top half of the 30 teams. Having each of the rotation players add 1.5 RPG would put the team into the top 25% of the league.

I just cannot be convinced that moving into the top quarter of the league in rebounding would not go a long way to winning 80% of the games that get lost by 10 points or fewer just because of the number of possessions increases by about 12 to 15 per game.

If Avery Bradley could almost double his RPG totals last year without growing taller, suddenly becoming an instinctive rebounder, gaining weight or getting longer, I have to believe that every other player can add at least one more rebound per game.

Desire to rebound and fundamentals, over and over and over again. Very important, very simple.

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