Kanter Bullies Bulls with Another Strong Interior Effort

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/post-010420-kanter-bullies-bulls-another-strong-interior-effort?sf227463517=1







Kanter Bullies Bulls with Another Strong Interior Effort



By Taylor Snow |  @taylorcsnow
Celtics.com
January 5, 2020



CHICAGO – There aren’t many elite back-to-the-basket players left in the NBA, but Enes Kanter is one of them.

The veteran center has made a career out of his physical, interior offensive play and his ability to rebound at a high rate on both ends of the floor.

“If you look at the league, there’s not many big men left playing with their back to the basket,” Kanter said Saturday night in Chicago. “But hey, I love that tough, back-to-the-basket game – rebounds, just like the old days.”

Kanter has displayed those traits throughout his first season with the Boston Celtics, and particularly during the last three outings, which have each featured a double-double performance.

The latest such effort – a 17-point, 12-rebound, two-block showing Saturday night at United Center – was one of the most impressive outings Kanter has had in a Celtics uniform. He bullied the Bulls inside the restricted area, where he bucketed seven shots and grabbed six boards on each end, while helping to lead the Celtics to a 111-104 win.

“We were trying to post him,” C’s coach Brad Stevens explained after the game. “That allowed us to sit a couple of our other wings a little longer, which was good. And he just kept scoring and making the right play down there.”

The third quarter was when Kanter made most of those plays, as he tallied nine points during that frame alone. His most impressive stretch was a personal 8-0 run near the end of the quarter, which included two and-one layups that helped Boston stretch its lead from four points to 12.

“It makes the other team have to make a decision when you’ve got a guy going like that,” Stevens said in reference to Kanter’s third-quarter effort. “And they did a good job. They changed personnel at first and brought (Wendell) Carter in, and then when [Kanter] scored again, they fronted him and were a lot more aggressive on him … But his physicality was a separator in us getting that lead in the third for sure.”

Gordon Hayward, who played with Kanter during his first few NBA seasons in Utah, suggested that some of Kanter’s low-post skill set on the block may have rubbed off from former Jazz teammate and former Celtic Al Jefferson.

“I don’t know if Enes will say that Al helped him, but certainly I think you can see some of Al’s game through Enes,” Hayward said. “To have a guy like Enes where you can throw it and slow the game down and he can get a bucket for you is huge. When we went to him tonight, he was big-time.”

Hayward and the rest of the group also played a role in helping to get Kanter going, according to the 6-foot-11 center.

“My teammates gave me a lot of confidence,” Kanter claimed. “They said, ‘Hey, if you’re down there, go one-on-one. If they come at you with a double-team, make the pass and make your teammates better.’ I appreciate my teammates always give me that confidence and it makes me feel very comfortable out there.”

When Kanter is comfortable, that typically means he’s wreaking havoc in the low post and showing why he’s one of the few remaining elite back-to-the-basket players in the NBA.


bob



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“But hey, I love that tough, back-to-the-basket game – rebounds, just like the old days."

And that's why he's a Celtic.  And why Danny picked him up.  

As hard as the Celtics try to change with the times with a small ball coach like Stevens with analytics and 3's and everything, the Celtic organization knows that nothing has changed.  They will continue to march to the beat of a different drummer and stick with what brought them a majority, if not all of their championships.  They will live and die by that until someone other than the Lakers supersedes them.  Yes, you can sprinkle in the 'new wave, new age" systems but the hamster working out on the wheel in the cage is the same.  Those two organizations have shown two different ways you can accumulate copious championships.  One goes with superstar(s) and flash while the other goes with above average underrated team players.  Both REALLY work.  Nothing else has even come close.  You can throw the Bulls in there but that was just around one mind-bending incredible guy who single handedly changed the league.  Maybe the Spurs but just not as prolific and all done with the same coach.  The Celtics and Lakers have managed to do it over generations.

One has to look no further than this year's current Lakers and Celtics teams.  2nd verse same as the 1st.  If it ain't broke...

db

Kanter brings balance to the force, lol

How well our big guys play will ultimately determine how far Boston goes.

I have always been a strong supporter of an effective post offense.  We did not have that with AH.

EK is starting to find his niche.  Our wings and guards have been playing great all year.

Our bigs are good enough to keep us competitive against teams with other large bodies.

If Boston continues to improve as this season moves forward I do believe that they are contenders.

Kanter has outright told our shooters "go ahead and shoot. I'll clean up the misses". This isn't my opinion, I remember reading somewhere he actually told them that.

That's awesome.


bob


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Enes has made Al more than expendable,