Ex-NBA Head Coach Send Warning to League Over Celtics Defense

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/ex-head-coach-warning-league-celtics-defense/



Ex-NBA Head Coach Send Warning to League Over Celtics Defense


By Adam Taylor
Updated Mar 24, 2022 at 5:47pm


Nobody can believe how far the Boston Celtics have come in such a short space of time.


Looking back on the final months of last season, and the opening months of this basketball calendar, the Celtics were a totally different team. Previously, Boston was heavily reliant on high pick-and-roll offense and would struggle to contain shifty guards on the defensive end.


Fast forward to the present day, and the Celtics are vastly improved on both ends of the floor, boasting a top-five offense since January 1, and the best defense in the league throughout the season.


Former NBA head coach Jim Boylen believes that the Celtics showed how their defensive scheme has propelled them to the upper echelons of the NBA with their commanding victory over the Utah Jazz.




“They’ve committed to the defensive end of the floor, since around Christmas. They have a predominantly switching scheme. They gave up eight made three’s by Utah, and Utah lives by the three. In their scheme, they put Robert Williams on a non-scorer, it’s a simple scheme, guard the best players, with your best players,” Boylen said.


Tweaking Robert Williams Defense Was a Turning Point

Robert Williams has always projected to be a significant defensive building block. The Lousiana native is blessed with otherworldly athleticism and can deter or alter shots at will. And of course, his ability to time his blocks to perfection also bodes well for the Celtics rim protection.

Williams has been ever-present in the rotation this year, meaning he was also part of the early-season struggles and collapses. But, since Udoka tweaked his defensive scheme to have Williams guarding the opposing team’s worst shooter, things have begun to change.

By placing Williams in a “free safety” role, the bouncy big man is able to help off his man and rotate over to contest shots at the rim. Or, the Celtics can ask their best rim protector to slide over and contest passing lanes or stifle drives. Such a small adjustment to where Williams is positioned seems to be paying huge dividends.


Matt Esposito
@MattEsposito_
(THREAD!) You've probably heard about Robert Williams playing "free safety" to protect the rim. Here's what we mean:

The premise: Put Rob on the corner shooter, NOT the big man. The wings switch into Nurk, allows him to ditch the corner spacer and block the shot.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1494651417394499587


“What they’ve done, is they’ve taken people out of the pick-and-roll. And what happens with switching is it takes the creativity out of your offense. And now you’re playing five-on-five and you’re playing in the mud. I think it’s great how they can put Robert Williams on a wing, and remember, 80% of NBA basketball is pick-and-roll, and 40% of that is spread pick-and-roll.

So if you can figure out how to put your five on somebody who’s not involved in the action, you’re going to have success. And Boston is doing that. And you get better at that, people wonder why earlier they weren’t better, it takes a while, you gotta figure that out. They’ve got a new coach, a new system, they got some guys who haven’t played in that system. So, you gotta give them credit,” Boylen said on NBA Gametime.


Celtics Chasing Top Spot in The East

Currently, the Celtics are fourth in the Eastern Conference and just 1.5 games back from the first seed. The Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers are both tied with the Celtics, while the Miami Heat sits atop of the leaderboard.

Still, with eight games left to play, the Celtics have every opportunity to reach the mountain top and secure an easier route to the conference finals as a result. As things are currently constructed, the Celtics would face the Chicago Bulls in the opening round, but if they could dislodge the Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers would be the team’s most likely opponent.

Jared Weiss
@JaredWeissNBA
Jaylen Brown on the Celtics chasing 1 seed: "It's crazy, right?...I knew the energy was about to shift, so I'm glad we're here now."

He explains that the energy shift tweet was that things weren't going right for the Celtics cause Mercury was in retrograde.
7:42 PM · Mar 23, 2022


Of course, when you get to the post-season, there aren’t usually any easy outs. However, the Cavaliers are playing with house money at this point, after most people considered them to be one of the lesser teams in the conference to begin the season.


Bob
MY NOTE:  I googled Mercury in retrograde in 2022 and it turns out there are 4 times it happens.  The last one ran 1/14-2/3, with the post-retrograde shadow (whatever tf that means) ending 2/23.   We started on our tear heading into the All-Star game, with a 9 game winning streak broken by the Pistons just before the ASB.  When was the ASG?  2/20. So we began our run as the Mercury Retrograde ended and got stronger as the post-retrograde shadow faded. I guess. To be honest, I don't know, I'm just trying to match up actual results with the astrology. For the record, I don't believe in any of this stuff, but I guess Jaylen does and it's his performance that matters if we're going to go deep.  

The next one?

May 10 to June 3: The pre-retrograde shadow begins April 25, post-retrograde shadow ends June 18.

The NBA Playoffs begin on April 16th and end with the Championship Series, which is usually early June.  This upcoming Mercury Retrograde, therefore, is very evilly timed for us.  Some good news, I suppose, is that the retrograde actually ends 6/3 and diminishes every day after that.



.

Going into this season I stated that the Celtics could be a top defensive team.

It took some time for the team to get there.  The switch everything schemes does require switchable players and we had a lot of guys out so it became more difficult for them to execute Ime's schemes.  

It did not work well in all cases especially when Freedom was in the game.  Ime would then go to switching maybe 1-4 or 1-3 but not switching at 5.

The players already had some experience in switching under Brad's defense (like their triple switch)

The big difference is probably in having Rob and Al.

Rob went from an 18 MPG rotation center to a full blown 30 mpg starter.  Al returns to the Celtics, rejuvenated and is a perfect fit with Rob.

We have debated about using a two big lineup.  That debate has been settled.  Ime clearly knows how his bigs fit into the system.  It works on both offense and defense.  And now we are seeing Daniel Theis fitting into what Ime wants to do.

Basically we have the best defensive frontline rotation in the NBA.  No team has 3 high end defensive centers.  No team has 2 high end defensive PG's.

At a time when offense has driven the narratives about what teams are good, the Celtics have put the 'D"  back in Defense just like every previous Celtics Championship Team.

I don't remember the date but I know when Smart was out for a while I was thinking I hoped he was watching games and seeing the failure of ISO/hero ball. Smart is smart and he did. When he came back it was like he suddenly realized what we needed was Smart defense and floor awareness. I hadn't thought he was really capable of being the PG we needed but he proved me wrong. The next mile mark was the trade deadline. Bringing in White and Theis (and losing Schroder) was exactly what was needed. Our nine man rotation is looking very good. Sure it would be nice if White were making a few more 3s or Pritchard were six inches taller. But I challenge anyone to improve on that nine roster for the same money.

dboss wrote:Going into this season I stated that the Celtics could be a top defensive team.

It took some time for the team to get there.  The switch everything schemes does require switchable players and we had a lot of guys out so it became more difficult for them to execute Ime's schemes.  

It did not work well in all cases especially when Freedom was in the game.  Ime would then go to switching maybe 1-4 or 1-3 but not switching at 5.

The players already had some experience in switching under Brad's defense (like their triple switch)

The big difference is probably in having Rob and Al.

Rob went from an 18 MPG rotation center to a full blown 30 mpg starter.  Al returns to the Celtics, rejuvenated and is a perfect fit with Rob.

We have debated about using a two big lineup.  That debate has been settled.  Ime clearly knows how his bigs fit into the system.  It works on both offense and defense.  And now we are seeing Daniel Theis fitting into what Ime wants to do.

Basically we have the best defensive frontline rotation in the NBA.  No team has 3 high end defensive centers.  No team has 2 high end defensive PG's.

At a time when offense has driven the narratives about what teams are good, the Celtics have put the 'D"  back in Defense just like every previous Celtics Championship Team.

Dboss, you also said that this would be a bridge year but I forgive you. :>)

I thought it was going to be a bridge year too, great points dboss about being 3 deep at 5, and all 3 can play both 4-5 and bring different elements. Theis and Al can defend and stretch the floor with legit 3 point shots, and we know what a twitchy freak with length the Timelord is. We are 2 deep at point and unconventionally are doing it on defense, while the rest of the league is still enamored with the 3 point game, we said fu(k this, we’ll add more defense. Our points can also take on wings and our wings eat up and spit out points on the switches. By the way how menacing is Tatum’s defensive stance waiting beyond the 3 point line in a horse stance, long arms wide? Bring it!!!! This team is fun and now he’s even blowing kisses.

Have to give a ton of props to Ime and Brad, we couldn’t just sign another superstar to make a legit Big 3, like that’s easy; but under the radar signings for borderline starters White and old friend Theis have been brilliant. With GWill and the emerging 3 point god Pritch, we have a damn good deep 9 man rotation, even without Nesmith. If Nesmith ever gets it going, even more gravy and sauce for Sunday dinner!!

Ktron wrote:

dboss wrote:Going into this season I stated that the Celtics could be a top defensive team.

It took some time for the team to get there.  The switch everything schemes does require switchable players and we had a lot of guys out so it became more difficult for them to execute Ime's schemes.  

It did not work well in all cases especially when Freedom was in the game.  Ime would then go to switching maybe 1-4 or 1-3 but not switching at 5.

The players already had some experience in switching under Brad's defense (like their triple switch)

The big difference is probably in having Rob and Al.

Rob went from an 18 MPG rotation center to a full blown 30 mpg starter.  Al returns to the Celtics, rejuvenated and is a perfect fit with Rob.

We have debated about using a two big lineup.  That debate has been settled.  Ime clearly knows how his bigs fit into the system.  It works on both offense and defense.  And now we are seeing Daniel Theis fitting into what Ime wants to do.

Basically we have the best defensive frontline rotation in the NBA.  No team has 3 high end defensive centers.  No team has 2 high end defensive PG's.

At a time when offense has driven the narratives about what teams are good, the Celtics have put the 'D"  back in Defense just like every previous Celtics Championship Team.

Dboss, you also said that this would be a bridge year but I forgive you. :>)

ktron

When I ask for forgiveness I hope you will be so accommodating.

I did think it would be a bridge year but I had no doubt that we had the makeup of a team that would be a top defensive team.

I'll take solace in the fact that the owners also thought it was a bridge year. Otherwise, why would they chop Brad's fingers off each time he reached for the company checkbook.

I'm happily wrong and proud of it.

dboss wrote:

Ktron wrote:

dboss wrote:Going into this season I stated that the Celtics could be a top defensive team.

It took some time for the team to get there.  The switch everything schemes does require switchable players and we had a lot of guys out so it became more difficult for them to execute Ime's schemes.  

It did not work well in all cases especially when Freedom was in the game.  Ime would then go to switching maybe 1-4 or 1-3 but not switching at 5.

The players already had some experience in switching under Brad's defense (like their triple switch)

The big difference is probably in having Rob and Al.

Rob went from an 18 MPG rotation center to a full blown 30 mpg starter.  Al returns to the Celtics, rejuvenated and is a perfect fit with Rob.

We have debated about using a two big lineup.  That debate has been settled.  Ime clearly knows how his bigs fit into the system.  It works on both offense and defense.  And now we are seeing Daniel Theis fitting into what Ime wants to do.

Basically we have the best defensive frontline rotation in the NBA.  No team has 3 high end defensive centers.  No team has 2 high end defensive PG's.

At a time when offense has driven the narratives about what teams are good, the Celtics have put the 'D"  back in Defense just like every previous Celtics Championship Team.

Dboss, you also said that this would be a bridge year but I forgive you. :>)

ktron

When I ask for forgiveness I hope you will be so accommodating.

I did think it would be a bridge year but I had no doubt that we had the makeup of a team that would be a top defensive team.  

I'll take solace in the fact that the owners also thought it was a bridge year.  Otherwise, why would they chop Brad's fingers off each time he reached for the company checkbook.

I'm happily wrong and proud of it.

I’m more than happy that you were wrong about this one.