Celtics player power rankings: Jaylen Brown is living up to the hype

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2017/03/01/celtics-player-power-rankings-jaylen-brown-is-living-up-to-the-hype



Celtics player power rankings: Jaylen Brown is living up to the hype



The Celtics have dropped three of their last four games thanks to a slumping offense


Celtics forward Jaylen Brown got fans going with an emphatic dunk against the Raptors at TD Garden. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown. –Barry Chin/Globe Staff




By Brian Robb  2:47 PM




The Celtics have surprisingly been one of the best offensive teams in the NBA for the first half of the NBA season, largely thanks to the stellar play of Isaiah Thomas, as well as some improved 3-point shooting throughout the roster.

Boston’s first few games since returning from the All-Star break have shown signs, however, that the Celtics’ high-powered attack could be on the verge of regressing to the mean. The Celtics have shot under 43 percent in three straight games for the first time all season, leading to two ugly losses to the Raptors and Hawks and another tight contest against the Pistons. Boston’s offensive rating in those performances was 98.6 points/100 possession, a bottom-five mark in the league.


With a five-game road trip looming against some high-powered offenses out west (LA Clippers, Golden State, Denver) the Celtics will need to get back on track quickly if they want to hold onto their No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Let’s examine which players need to step up their production in this week’s edition of the player power rankings.

15. Demetrius Jackson — The shooting slump has continued for Jackson in the D-League in recent weeks, as he’s hitting just 30 percent of his attempts from the field and 8 percent from downtown in his last five games.

14. Jordan Mickey — The emergence of James Young in the past couple weeks has made Mickey the top candidate to be waived for a free agent addition in the coming days. With Andrew Bogut spurning Boston for Cleveland though, Mickey’s odds of staying with the team for the full season have increased.

13. Gerald Green — A heel injury suffered in the last game before the All-Star break has sidelined the swingman for the past three games. With Boston lacking adequate offensive punch in that stretch, Green’s return to health could be welcomed with open arms by Stevens.

12. James Young — The third-year wing played his most consistent stretch of basketball in his Celtic career over the middle of February. However, the return of Avery Bradley to the lineup put him back on the bench against the Hawks Monday night for his first DNP in weeks. With Jaylen Brown thriving, minutes for Young are going to be hard to come by.


11. Tyler Zeller — It may feel like the center is out of Brad Stevens’ rotation, but he’s actually played in 11 of 16 games since returning from his sinus infection. The seven-footer has barely made an impact in those contests though, failing to crack double-digit minutes in any game since Feb. 1.

10. Jonas Jerebko — After shooting just 5-for-21 with a mask to protect his broken nose during the month of February, the Swedish power forward ditched the headwear on Monday against the Hawks. The early returns were promising: Jerebko went 2-for-2 from the field, helping him to snap out of his lengthy slump.

9. Kelly Olynyk — The big man’s hot shooting has quickly come to an end since the All-Star break. Instead, the seven-footer has been unproductive in three straight games, shooting 28 percent from the field while piling up six turnovers and 10 personal fouls in just 46 minutes of action.

8. Terry Rozier — 3-point shooting is not considered the strength of the second-year guard, but Rozier was among the team’s leaders in the category (44.8 percent) in February. The athletic reserve was actually more accurate from downtown than inside the arc (35.2 percent), which serves as a painful reminder of how much the 22-year-old could improve his finishing.  

7. Amir Johnson — Boston’s defense in the last week has fallen apart without the veteran center on the floor. The Celtics have a superb 89.3 defensive rating when he’s in the game since the All-Star break, but that figure nosedives to a team-worst 116.6 when Johnson is on the pine. That gap should strengthen Johnson’s case for more minutes as the C’s struggle offensively.


6. Al Horford — The $26.5 million dollar man is starting to get some grief for his lack of production, and it’s understandable. The 30-year-old has not scored in double digits for four straight games and has gone ice cold from 3-point range (1-of-12) during that stretch. While his contributions in other facets of the game (4.0 APG) remain consistent, the C’s need more from him offensively with Isaiah Thomas falling back to earth.  

5. Avery Bradley — The shooting guard looked sharp in his return Monday (6 points in 15 minutes) after missing 22 of the past 23 games with an Achilles injury. The challenge now for Brad Stevens is finding the best way to manage Bradley’s minutes limit without taking away from the team’s rhythm. “I wish it was split up for the second half, but it is what it is,” Bradley said of sitting out the second half of the Hawks loss Monday. “I just have to play as hard as I can, no matter how many minutes it was.”

4. Jae Crowder — An ankle injury limited Crowder’s explosiveness during first half of the season, but he’s starting to return to form on that front as evidenced by his ability to get to the free throw line in February. The small forward averaged 4.2 FTA per game during that stretch, a sharp jump from his season average of 2.7 FTA/G.  

3. Jaylen Brown — No player benefited more from the lengthy absence of Avery Bradley than the No. 3 overall pick. After being handed consistent sustained minutes for the first time since November, Brown has played the best basketball of his pro career, averaging 10.4 points per game in February. An improved jump shot (45.5 percent from 3-point range) has also been on display, making the 20-year-old look like one of the best rookies in his draft class.  

2. Isaiah Thomas — The point guard’s franchise-best streak of 43 straight games with 20+ points came to a halt during Monday’s loss against the Hawks, but that did not concern the two-time All-Star. “I’ll break it again,” Thomas said Monday night. “I’m not worried about it. I’ll break it.”

1. Marcus Smart —  Offensive consistency has always been one of the issues holding the defensive-minded guard back, but that has started to change in recent weeks. Smart has scored in double-digits in 10 of his last 12 games, averaging a career-best 13.7 ppg during the month of February. More importantly, he did it efficiently (45.2 percent shooting) making him the kind of dangerous two-way player the Celtics have been hoping he’d develop into.  



bob
MY NOTE:  Marcus Smart shooting 45%!?  That's all I've ever asked for.  Break 40% on limited fgas or 42-43% with moderate fgas and his usual defense and ganas and I'm a happy guy. I can live with Smart shooting north of 40%.  45%?  Sell my clothes, honey, I've died and gone to heaven.  As far as Jaylen Brown goes I've said it before, give him 2 years for the game to slow down and for him to get 2 summers of working on specific skill sets and he is going to make a lot of eyes pop.  He was playing 3 today vs Cleveland but played 2 when Bradley was out.  Remember when Bradley figured out how to back cut effectively, how much that elevated his game because defenders had to play off him and widen their stance to prevent that?   Now imagine an even more athletic 6'7" Bradley doing that.  They play off Brown in the corner and he'll hit 45%.  They play up on him or not widen their stance so they can watch the ball without losing sight of him and it's Dunk Time for Jaylen or an inattentive team defender.


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I heard Doug Collins compare Smart to Dennis Johnson, it was good to hear someone else see that and say it.

I like how Jaylen took the challenge to defend The King a few times last night. The kid is really stepping up and is quickly becoming a no-trade player (with Smart) on my list.

in fact I am starting to lick my chops a bit thinking about Smart, Brown and our top pick this year developing into our next big three (or maybe a little three).