Brown: "coach Stevens says I'll spend some time this season guarding 1s and 2s"

Jay King‏Verified account

Jaylen Brown said Brad Stevens told him he'll spend some time guarding 1s and 2s next year.

https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/884241929759629312

This is great news. THAT'S how you fix the Celtics rebounding woes, letting Hayward handle point guard duties with big help from Tatum and Brown, and having Jaylen guard PGs, Hayward guard SGs, Crowder guard SF, Morris 4, Horford 5.
Not a single sub-6'7" tall guy in the lineup. Sure, we'll see lots of IT4, but we have other very appealing options, especially when it matters in the playoffs.

2s? Yes. 1s? Ugh.

Does anybody think Jaylen Brown can stay in front of John Wall, Kyle Lowry, Kyrie Irving, Dennis Schroder, et al? And if he's staying in front of them by playing off him he can stay close enough to hamper their shot? Brad is trying to do to other teams what other teams have been doing to IT, put length on him, but IT is 5'9" (at most) and the above players are a minimum of 5" taller and just as quick.

I think Rozier is going to get his shot, big time, because he is the only halfway decent defender in the back court that can guard those players and almost every team has one now.


bob


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Agreed Bob, Rozier is the X factor, he can guard the quick points that we relied on AB to guard and that are also too quick for Smart. I thought Jaylen covered 2's fairly well last year, I expect that to improve and he can cover the big points like Harden and Lonzo Ball. We know Lebron can cover any position, maybe Jaylen can further develop and be our 1-3 defensive stopper.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Agreed Bob, Rozier is the X factor, he can guard the quick points that we relied on AB to guard and that are also too quick for Smart. I thought Jaylen covered 2's fairly well last year, I expect that to improve and he can cover the big points like Harden and Lonzo Ball. We know Lebron can cover any position, maybe Jaylen can further develop and be our 1-3 defensive stopper.

Cow,

Good point, he can cover the big points like Harden, Ball, Simmons (if/when he ever actually plays). It's the smaller, quicker ones he'll struggle with.


bob


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This is why I also don't think IT is a max player, even though I know how hard he plays and how clutch his offense is, you have to constantly design schemes to hide him on defense. I know who I would attack/go right at if I was coaching against us.

cowens/oldschool wrote:This is why I also don't think IT is a max player, even though I know how hard he plays and how clutch his offense is, you have to constantly design schemes to hide him on defense. I know who I would attack/go right at if I was coaching against us.

The reason our defensive numbers sucked so bad last season was due to our heavy use of the 3 guard set. The numbers should improve now that we are transitioning to the 3 wing set.

Just wait and see the difference it makes in the long run.

gyso

Gyso great point, we obviously don't have a Mr Intimadator/board monster, so to have mini guards starting, 5'9" and 6'2" also contributed to our weak rebounding and defense last year.

Is this another step by Stevens to accelerate much more small ball for this season?

Having Brown trying to facilitate much more offense in summer league may tie in to this approach.
He (Brown) is not smooth yet with being a ball distributor, but you can see that he is willing to work
at it now to be better later.

3 wing set

I like it...but maybe it'll be a FOUR wing set.

I don't think Stevens is suggesting anything about Brown playing point or as a distributor of any kind. It looks like Brown is just talking about defending 1s. That doesn't necessarily make him a ball handler on the other end.

The concept of positionless basketball would seem to suggest that everyone needs to be able to play defense against the 1.  That will happen as a result of defensive rotations.  Unfortunately we only have one player on this roster that has the speed and quickness to check those ultra quick point guards as their primary assignment.   His name is not Thomas and his name is not  Brown.  His name is Terry Rozier.

I can see Brown defending at both the 2 and 3 positions.

You have to be able to defend the point of attack from the other team.  That task becomes increasingly difficult when defending teams that run their offense through a player that is not a PG.    Who checks Lebron James?

My biggest worry is defending the traditional PG generated offense.  The Celtics will have to figure that one out.  

dboss

NYCelt wrote:I don't think Stevens is suggesting anything about Brown playing point or as a distributor of any kind.  It looks like Brown is just talking about defending 1s.  That doesn't necessarily make him a ball handler on the other end.

NYCelt,

Taken by itself I'd agree, but Jaylen said that his role in summer league this year is to be a playmaker.

Multi-tasking like a crazy man today.


bob


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That's right Bob, I was looking for that link about Brown being a playmaker. (not the same as a pg) It will probably often be a 3 and at times a 4 wing set. Brown is strongest against 2s and 3s but has shown he can guard the 4 in a small ball lineup. So at times he will surely guard 1s as well. His length will really help him. He gets beat but he recovers very quickly and often still makes a play. (as well as fouls too lol) Kadeem was drafted for his defense. He played well and is a 4 year player I think so he has more maturity and experience then the one and done crowd. Probably not a factor early in the season but by spring he may be able to help Rozier and Smart. This is shaping up to be a tough team that can defend the ball with many different schemes and still attack the basket quickly. I think we are going to love the pace of the game more this season and I expect much better defense and much much better rebounding.

bobheckler wrote:

NYCelt wrote:I don't think Stevens is suggesting anything about Brown playing point or as a distributor of any kind.  It looks like Brown is just talking about defending 1s.  That doesn't necessarily make him a ball handler on the other end.

NYCelt,

Taken by itself I'd agree, but Jaylen said that his role in summer league this year is to be a playmaker.

Multi-tasking like a crazy man today.  


bob

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Yeah, I saw the bit about Jaylen's added role in summer league as well. It could be what is throwing him off his game after the impressive first half of the first game in Utah.

gyso

kdp59 wrote:3 wing set

I like it...but maybe it'll be a FOUR wing set.

At times it probably will be. I'll bet Brad is thinking that way.

kdp59 wrote:3 wing set

I like it...but maybe it'll be a FOUR wing set.

kdp,

Makes sense. They seem to come in pairs. :-)



bob


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gyso,

I would bet that trying to learn to be a 'ball handler' when it was not a big part of his game last
season has definitely interrupted Brown's flow.

This is not bad thing because he will eventually add this skill to his game (at least better than
he is now), and there is no better place to get the experience than eight summer league games.

This kid is going to be an exceptional NBA player.

so far I have to think Tatum has the better upside. I really like his game (in summer league at least) and can see why Danny and Brad feel in love with the kid.

kdp59 wrote:so far I have to think Tatum has the better upside. I really like his game (in summer league  at least) and can see why Danny and Brad feel in love with the kid.

Tatum has been given isolations, but Brown has brought the ball up and led the offense in sets.