Carsen Edwards will be a perfect fit in Brad Stevens’ offensive system

https://hardwoodhoudini.com/2019/07/23/boston-celtics-carsen-edwards-perfect-fit-brad-stevens-offensive-system/




Carsen Edwards will be a perfect fit in Brad Stevens’ offensive system



by Mark Nilon

8 hours ago






With the offensive scheme coach Brad Stevens prefers to run, rookie guard Carsen Edwards should prove to be a perfect fit with the Boston Celtics.

With his fantastic Summer League play, Boston Celtics’ second round selection Carsen Edwards has landed himself a four year, $4.5 million contract, giving the franchise a fantastic scoring option off the pine for years to come.

Though Edwards has yet to suit up for the Celtics in regular season action, if his collegiate and Summer League play is any indicator, he’ll be a a perfect fit in coach Brad Stevens’ offensive scheme right off the bat.

Throughout his three-year stint with the Purdue Boilermakers, Edwards made a name for himself as an elite scoring guard, averaging 17.8 points on 37% shooting from deep. In his final season at the college level, Edwards brought his game to even greater heights, as he upped his scoring average to an impressive 24.3 points on 36% shooting from outside the arc.

With his slightly smaller-than-average frame of 6-1, 200 pounds, coming into the draft many teams were weary over how well the guard’s game would translate on the next level, thus having him slip all the way to the second round. However, with his 19.4 points per game average on 52% shooting from the field and 40% shooting from downtown, it appears as though Edwards has all but put these questions to rest.

Now, while we all should be excited to see the guard consistently knocking down his shots against NBA caliber talents, quite possibly the most important takeaway from Edwards’ performance this summer is his ability to productively play off the ball.

In college, though Edwards was the predominant ball handler for his team, he proved capable of making a positive impact off ball as well. Though only 12% of his possessions were spot-ups, he managed to convert at a 1.048 point clip per possession, ranking him within the 75th percentile. When working with a secondary ball handler, the guard was able make shots off screens at a similar rate and showed a strong ability to get open for kick-outs.

Now, while these stats alone may just seem like useful attributes to have for a basketball player, in a Brad Stevens run offense, these traits are everything. The Boston Celtics finished the 2018-19 season with the third most catch-and-shoot attempts in the league, averaging 29.7 attempts from the field and 25.5 from deep.

Just from watching how the Celtics operate, it is apparent that their offense is predicated on setting screens and finding the open man. It is also evident that the team relies heavily on their guards ability to move off-ball. This was the type of offense run by Scott Morrison during the team’s Summer League action, and this was the type of offense that landed Edwards his guaranteed contract with Boston.

Though he may have been the team’s third selection in this year’s NBA Draft, the point guard could very well find himself being the team’s number one rookie contributor during the 2019-20 campaign. In regards to Carsen Edwards’ fit within coach Brad Stevens’ offensive scheme, it appears to have all the makings to end up as a wondrous pairing.

A match made in heaven if you will.



bob
MY NOTE:  I wasn't able to watch any summer league games because I was traveling, but I did watch every highlight film I could find.  Edwards proved he could shoot off the dribble, which is an NBA skill that come to young players later, rather than sooner.  Brad used catch-and-shoot and dribble handoffs a lot last year.  One of the reasons why he used catch-and-shoot so much is because we had a bunch of players who couldn't shoot well off the dribble but could if they just went to the perimeter, rotated around the arc and shot (e.g. Brown, Smart, Horford, Baynes, Theis, Semi).  So, of course you design plays to accommodate their strengths and move away from their weaknesses.  I predict Edwards will be deadly off dribble handoffs since DHOs almost always come with a pick to slow the defender down.  That's all Edwards will need.  The option off the DHO is the handoff man rolling to the rim.  It will be interesting to see how well Edwards plays the point guard position on those pnrs (Kanter or Poirier rolling to the rim? Wow. Cannot wait to see that!).  I don't know how well 6', 200# Carsen Edwards will do on defense, a switch will put him against a bigger player since virtually every player in the NBA will be bigger than him, but I'm predicting he is going to be a crowd favorite on offense.  The steal of the draft.  Our Microwave.



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