Celtics Heart Showing In Transition Defense

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4711724/celtics-heart-shows-in-transition-defense



Celtics' heart shows in transition defense
March, 18, 2014
MAR 18 9:24 PM ET
By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com



For the past three seasons, the Boston Celtics ranked dead last in offensive rebound percentage, subscribing to a theory that the team benefited more from getting set on defense than chasing second-chance opportunities. Maybe that’s why it’s so striking to find Boston in the top 10 for offensive rebound percentage this season.

The joke, of course, is that the Celtics are missing so many shots this year that it’s only natural they’d see an uptick in offensive caroms. But the truth is that Boston’s transition defense has progressed so well that coach Brad Stevens can enable his bigs to go for second-chance opportunities without fear of allowing points at the other end.

Consider this: The Boston Celtics rank fifth in the league in transition defense this season, according to data logged by Synergy Sports. Of the top 15 teams in the league in transition defense, 14 of them are playoff bound, with the Celtics the only outlier.

GETTING BACK
During Doc Rivers' tenure, the Celtics shunned offensive rebounding in favor of getting set in their half-court defense. Brad Stevens has shunned that approach in his first year on the bench. A look at the past three seasons with points allowed per play (and NBA rank) for the season, in half court and in transition, and Boston's offensive rebound rate:

Season..........PA/play...........Half court...........Transition..........Off. reb. rate
2013-14.........0.936 (14).......0.91 (18)...........1.072 (5)...........27.6 (tied for 8th)
2012-13.........0.905 (7).........0.853 (5)...........1.229 (30).........20.1 (30)
2011-12.........0.856 (1).........0.813 (1)...........1.155 (19).........19.7 (30)

Boston’s placement defies logic. Teams with poor transition defense usually reside at the bottom of the league standings, unless their half-court sets are stingy enough to make up for it, which is how Boston operated in past seasons. Of the 11 worst transition defenses in the league this season, nine comprise a who’s who of lottery-bound squads and the two playoff hopefuls are teams currently clinging to the final spots in their conferences (Dallas, Atlanta).

Often needing second-chance opportunities to just hang around in games given their often-anemic half-court offense, the Celtics have been able to flip their script because of their strides in transition defense.

“I think my biggest thing, personally, is that you have to balance [offensive rebounding] well with transition defense,” Stevens said. “Transition defense, you can’t give up on that. That has to be a huge part of what you do. Right now, our transition defense has gotten significantly better in the last two months and, overall, been pretty good. Really since [Rajon] Rondo has been back we’ve been pretty good.”

In the 28 games that Boston has played since Rondo returned on Jan. 17, the Celtics are allowing only 1.007 points per play in transition, according to Synergy data. That number would lead the league by a fair margin if maintained. (Indiana is tops for the season at 1.053.)

One area the Celtics have found success is causing giveaways in transition. Boston generates turnovers on a league-best 15 percent of transition opportunities.

It’s not hard to see Rondo’s impact there. The point guard is one of the key players in Boston’s transition defense, often tasked with picking up the ball-handler and forcing him to make a quick decision on the break.

The Celtics appear to do a good job on the basics of transition defense, often trying to get a guard to stop the ball, while a big fills the lane and a wing picks up another body.

It also comes down to pure hustle, and when you’ve got someone like Kris Humphries busting his tail to get back into a play or racing for a chasedown block, that’s infectious.



AP Photo/LM Otero
Having players with a nose for offensive rebounds such as Jared Sullinger and Kris Humphries has contributed to the Celtics' change in philosophy.


The Celtics have aided their cause by driving down their own turnover rate. Fewer giveaways means fewer transition opportunities. Think back to a lopsided loss to Golden State earlier this month in Boston, when the Celtics’ sloppiness ignited a Warrior layup line. The Celtics’ turnover rate is 15.3 percent since the All-Star break, down from 16.1 percent before the break. There still are strides to be made there, but Rondo’s presence has aided the process.

Even Stevens admits that offensive rebounding has become a necessity for his team, particularly when the Celtics have players such as Jared Sullinger and Humphries, who have a nose for offensive caroms.

“Offensively, there’s going to be games when you’re not making shots and if you can get a putback or two to kind of stem the tide, it’s important,” Stevens said. “And we do have guys, especially in Humphries and Sullinger, that are really good offensive rebounders and you certainly don’t want to take that away from those guys.

“Anything we can do to get a basket, I think we need to try to do it.”

Stevens noted that the Celtics’ transition defense is still a work in progress. The biggest key is really just getting his guys comfortable enough to react to situations, including when a big should chase an offensive rebound or what roles players occupy when falling back in transition.

“Every [team] does it a little bit differently, but on the shot, everybody needs to do their job,” Stevens said. “Then it’s about communicating, and we’re still not as good as we need to be at that. But we are getting better.”

The bottom line to Stevens is that the encouraging numbers on transition defense and on the offensive glass resonate for one reason: They show effort. Despite their season struggles, the Celtics are fighting for second-chance opportunities and hustling to get back on defense.

Stevens complimented his team on both aspects after Monday’s loss in Dallas and paused a bit when he realized who his next opponent was.

“I think it’s a good indicator that our team has been fairly good in transition -- knock on wood as we get ready to play Miami -- and very good on the glass,” Stevens said. “I think those are indicators that you are playing the game the right way from an effort standpoint.”

The Heat feast on transition opportunities, ranking third in the league at 1.223 points per play. Former coach Doc Rivers used to implore his players to throw the ball seven rows deep into the crowd rather than give the Heat a chance off a turnover.

But Boston can most certainly build off its play in Dallas. The Mavericks rank fourth in transition offense, but didn’t generate a single transition basket over the first three 37 minutes of Monday’s game, missing two shots and committing two turnovers on four transition opportunities over the first three quarters. Dallas finished with only four points in six transition chances (0.667 points per play).

Yes, in a transition year, Boston’s progress with transition defense remains one of the biggest positives.



bob



.

We all know the Celtics' deflated shooting percentage this season is leaving more potential offensive rebounds available, which has a hand in inflating the pure number of offensive rebounds the Celts are grabbing per game:

-------------FG percentage----Missed shots/game------Off. rebounds/game
2013-14--------43.1%----------------47.9-----------------------12.2
2012-13--------46.4%----------------42.7-------------------------8.1
2011-12--------46.0%----------------41.5-------------------------7.7

However, that doesn't affect the stats shown in this piece, because those stats are based on what happens with each missed shot (regardless of how many missed shots there are).  Therefore, I believe the stats in this article are pretty good indicators of changes in the Celtics' offensive rebounding and transition defense effectiveness.

Of course, a lot of the credit should go to
Without going into great detail, I believe the Celtics (no doubt as coached by Brad) have discovered how to upgrade their offensive rebounding effectiveness while also upgrading their transition defense effectiveness.  That's a very healthy combination of ingredients and an encouraging sign of true development that can be passed on to next season's Celtics (whoever they may be).

Obviously, a large share of the credit in the offensive rebounding department must go to the players.  Following are the four players who have collectively corralled 75% of the Celts' offensive rebounding totals.  Notice, in particular, who is currently #2 on the team on the basis of both offensive rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per 36 minutes:

-----------OR/Game-----OR/36 min.
Sully----------3.4-----------4.5
Olynyk--------2.1-----------3.9
Humph -------1.9-----------3.3
Bass ----------1.8 ----------2.4

For those who don't relate to the per 36 minute stat because some players play less than 36 minutes per game, that's not the point, just divide the figures in the right-hand column by 36 and you'll have stats per minute. Either way, the stats per 36 minutes or per one minute have the same degree of comparability among players, which is the value of the "per ____" stat.

Although the players are making the offensive rebounds happen, Brad deserves major kudos for coaching the team on how not to let offensive rebounding impinge on their execution of transition defense.  Earlier in the season, we were informed (somewhere) that he had pretty much the same "fall back" philosophy as Doc.  If so, Brad deserves even more credit for adjusting his philosophy to the pro game.

Sam

sam wrote:We all know the Celtics' deflated shooting percentage this season is leaving more potential offensive rebounds available, which has a hand in inflating the pure number of offensive rebounds the Celts are grabbing per game:

-------------FG percentage----Missed shots/game------Off. rebounds/game
2013-14--------43.1%----------------47.9-----------------------12.2
2012-13--------46.4%----------------42.7-------------------------8.1
2011-12--------46.0%----------------41.5-------------------------7.7

However, that doesn't affect the stats shown in this piece, because those stats are based on what happens with each missed shot (regardless of how many missed shots there are).  Therefore, I believe the stats in this article are pretty good indicators of changes in the Celtics' offensive rebounding and transition defense effectiveness.

Of course, a lot of the credit should go to
Without going into great detail, I believe the Celtics (no doubt as coached by Brad) have discovered how to upgrade their offensive rebounding effectiveness while also upgrading their transition defense effectiveness.  That's a very healthy combination of ingredients and an encouraging sign of true development that can be passed on to next season's Celtics (whoever they may be).

Obviously, a large share of the credit in the offensive rebounding department must go to the players.  Following are the four players who have collectively corralled 75% of the Celts' offensive rebounding totals.  Notice, in particular, who is currently #2 on the team on the basis of both offensive rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per 36 minutes:

-----------OR/Game-----OR/36 min.
Sully----------3.4-----------4.5
Olynyk--------2.1-----------3.9
Humph -------1.9-----------3.3
Bass ----------1.8 ----------2.4

For those who don't relate to the per 36 minute stat because some players play less than 36 minutes per game, that's not the point, just divide the figures in the right-hand column by 36 and you'll have stats per minute. Either way, the stats per 36 minutes or per one minute have the same degree of comparability among players, which is the value of the "per ____" stat.

Although the players are making the offensive rebounds happen, Brad deserves major kudos for coaching the team on how not to let offensive rebounding impinge on their execution of transition defense.  Earlier in the season, we were informed (somewhere) that he had pretty much the same "fall back" philosophy as Doc.  If so, Brad deserves even more credit for adjusting his philosophy to the pro game.

Sam

sam,

Thanks for adding some meat, and validating the underlying point I suppose, to the Forsberg article.  Maybe he wasn't born to be a Hollywood reporter after all.

One of the things we heard about Brad, and from Brad directly, early on was that his goal was to try to put the players in a position to play to their strengths.  At the time I considered that a throwaway line.  I mean, what else would you expect him to say, right?  However, what these stats are saying to me is that he is, in fact, doing exactly that.  A lot of his plays are producing good, open jump shots.  The fact that we are not a killing our jumpshots is not his fault, the shots are being taken where they should.  Bass and Hump are getting shots at their sweet spots, especially with the return of Rondo.  If they are not knocking them down (and I'm talking mostly about Bass now) that's not Brad's fault.  

We're not going to overpower other teams but we can use the quickness of our frontcourt to force their bigs to gang rebound.

Kelly tried to offensive rebound the first half of the season but was getting hurt by a combination of rookie calls and that he was half a beat slow.  I'd love to see the splits between pre all-star game (his performance actually started his uptick a week or two before that, but this doesn't have to be a work of perfection) and post all-star game.  I'd also be willing to bet his "points off of offensive rebounds" (which would include, IMO, any free throws awarded).  My gut is telling me that he's not just getting more boards but he's finishing better after gaining possession of them too.


bob


.

sam wrote:Earlier in the season, we were informed (somewhere) that he had pretty much the same "fall back" philosophy as Doc.  If so, Brad deserves even more credit for adjusting his philosophy to the pro game.

Sam

Sam,

It was reported in many articles over the past summer that he preferred the same "fall back" or "get back" philosophy as Doc. I provided many of the links to these articles. Many of the articles even included quotes from Coach Brad that stated such was his preference. I am also glad that he was able to adjust to the strengths of his roster.

gyso

Bob, ask and you shall receive.

Kelly Olynyk before the All Star Game: 3.48 offensive rebounds per 36 minutes
Kelly Olynyk after the All Star Game: 5.05 offensive rebounds per 36 minute

I tried to find his points off offensive rebounds but was told to go screw myself (or words to that effect).

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/olynyke01/splits/2014/

Sam

sam wrote:Bob, ask and you shall receive.

Kelly Olynyk before the All Star Game: 3.48 offensive rebounds per 36 minutes
Kelly Olynyk after the All Star Game: 5.05 offensive rebounds per 36 minute

I tried to find his points off offensive rebounds but was told to go screw myself (or words to that effect).

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/olynyke01/splits/2014/

Sam

sam,

Thanks.  I thought it'd be something like that.  5.05 offensive rebounds/36?  Very, very nice.

The top offensive rebounder/minute is Drummond, with .17 OR/min.  Sully is 5th, with .12.  HOWEVER, there is a 250 OR minimum to make the list.  So Kelly, with only 116 ORs, doesn't make the list.  

116 ORs/1080minutes played = .107

The calculations are to the 2nd figure, so .107 would, presumably, be counted as .11.

At .11, Kelly would be somewhere in between Kosta Koufos (with a .12) at #7 and Joachim Noah (with a .10) at #14.  The players whose OR/minute is also .11 and are currently at #8 - #14?

DeAndre Jordan, Dalembert, Hickson, Blair, Faried and Speights.  That's pretty decent company, ESPECIALLY Jordan and Faried.  

And, as you point out, his OR rate is about 50% better post all-star game.  I don't know how that translates into this chart, since I don't know how the others did in that time period, but I'd bet money he'd move up.

http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/player-stat/rebounds-offensive

To figure out the points/OR, I think you'd have to look at every game log. Maybe, if I get tired of watching the paint dry, I'll take the time to do that.

The kid is really coming along nicely.  We were so excited after his summer league splash, #1 on the rookie ladder and all, then were disappointed in his lack of athleticism and strength, and now he's looking more like what we expected in the beginning.  His shooting, which was supposed to be his strength, sucked.  Since 2/7/14, though, Kelly's shooting 48.5% from the field and 81% from the line.

And just to be clear I'm not showing favoritism with my kids, I'm ecstatic that Sully is #5.


bob


.

Not last night

dboss,

I'm taking the liberty of adding a bit of clarification, in case anyone needs it, about your "Not last night" comment.  Kelly had five rebounds last night—none of them at the offensive end.

Sam