Avery Bradley: I Want To Get My Teammates Involved A Lot More

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Post by bobheckler Fri Oct 10, 2014 2:06 pm

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2014/10/avery_bradley_of_boston_celtic_6.html#incart_story_package



Avery Bradley of Boston Celtics: 'I want to get my teammates involved a lot more'



Print Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com
on October 10, 2014 at 10:55 AM, updated October 10, 2014 at 11:09 AM



Perhaps because the brief stint ended with so little success, Avery Bradley forgot it happened. But one year ago, he was preparing to handle point guard duties.

“I was?” he asked earlier this week.

Yes. But after four regular-season games, head coach Brad Stevens realized what Doc Rivers did before him: Bradley should stick to shooting guard. He shifted back to his normal position and has stayed there ever since.

The results last season: A career high in points per game (14.9) with impressive 39.5-percent shooting from behind the arc. Bradley expanded his range late in the season, promoting optimism that he could become an even more efficient scorer in coming years.

All that was nice, and Bradley says he feels comfortable now in his bigger scoring role. But he doesn’t want to remain simply a shooter and backdoor cutter forever. He said he spent the offseason working on play-making abilities and would like to “(take) chances” throughout the preseason to experiment with his new skills.

“Pocket passing, I could go down the list,” he explained. “I want to get my teammates involved a lot more. They believe in me and I believe in them. That’s something that I wanted to work on this summer, and that’s what I’ve been trying to work on in the game, to show that I can make plays for them just like they make plays for me.”

The first two preseason games haven’t revealed much of Bradley’s progress. With just one assist, he has mostly looked for his shot. A couple of forays into the paint have ended poorly; one misguided pocket pass to Tyler Zeller scooted out of the big man’s hands, and another play Wednesday included Bradley leaving his feet in a misguided attempt to find an open teammate.

While it's still mighty early, the improvements he vows he made haven't been readily apparent. During one transition possession in the first game, though, Bradley saw just one defender back. In previous years he might have failed to attack the basket. Instead, he slashed to the hoop and drew a foul, punishing the Sixers for failing to set their defense early.

“I remember (what Kevin Garnett) told me when he first got here,” Bradley said. “He said, ‘You know, all the guys that you’re going to be playing against soon in the NBA are guys that you played against in high school.’ And he laughed. And he said, ‘Just like you killed them in high school, you’re going to do it in the NBA once you slow down and understand the game.’

"Slowly and surely, it’s true. I’m playing against guys that I know from high school and becoming more relaxed out there because you know the speed of the game and you have that confidence in your game.”

The Celtics have other guys, including Rajon Rondo when he gets healthy, to make plays. Bradley's role on this team will typically be to score and defend. He isn't a point guard. He just doesn’t have enough creativity off the bounce to routinely break down a defense, and he hasn't mastered the art of sneaking passes into small spaces. But he has spent a lot of time on his ball-handling skills and the Celtics will benefit if some of that work pays off.

“I watched film on everyone,” he said. “I was telling (undrafted rookie point guard) Tim Frazier, I even checked some film out on him.”




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Post by Sam Fri Oct 10, 2014 4:14 pm

Good attitude, Avery.  Also, good luck with that!  I'm still seeing only lateral passes and sloppy ball-handling, but why not go for it?  The more versatility any player can add, the more valuable he becomes.

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