JAYLEN’S DEFENSE IS MORE THAN MAKING UP FOR LOSING AVERY BRADLEY

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JAYLEN’S DEFENSE IS MORE THAN MAKING UP FOR LOSING AVERY BRADLEY






Posted by John Karalis on November 20, 2017








Over the summer, Danny Ainge was forced to make a trade in order to clear enough space to sign Gordon Hayward. With few options and future free agency to consider, he moved Avery Bradley to Detroit for Marcus Morris.


No one liked the move, but it had to be done. Experts spent the immediate aftermath of the trade trying to figure out just how badly this would hurt the Celtics’ defense moving forward.


It turns out, it didn’t hurt it at all.


Jaylen Brown has assumed a lot of the perimeter defensive matchups that would have been handled by Bradley, and he’s exceeding expectations. He’s more than making up for Bradley’s impact by becoming an indispensable two-way player.

Jay King

@ByJayKing

[ltr]Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are No. 1 and No. 2 in defensive win shares this season across the NBA. Not an end-all, be-all stat, but still crazy.[/ltr]
















4:05 AM - Nov 20, 2017



 266 people are talking about this

I took a dive into the numbers for Boston.com  (https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2017/11/20/how-jaylen-browns-defense-is-making-up-for-the-loss-of-avery-bradley)

After the Hawks game and the Celtics’ 15th straight win, Boston’s defensive rating with Brown on the court is 94.7. With him off the floor, it jumps to 98.5. Last season, the Celtics’ defensive rating with Bradley on the court was 107.5, and it dropped to 103.8 when he sat down. Again, the overall Celtics defense is much better than it was last year, but the defense gets worse when Brown sits while it got better when Bradley was on the bench.

Players are shooting 36.5 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from three when being defended by Jaylen Brown. Last year, players shot 45.3% percent from the field and 33.6 percent from three when defended by Avery Bradley.

But beyond the numbers, I have some video breakdowns to show how Jaylen’s size is making a huge difference defensively.

We talk about switching all the time… look at how often Jaylen switches on this play alone.




Go check out the full piece on Boston.com (https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2017/11/20/how-jaylen-browns-defense-is-making-up-for-the-loss-of-avery-bradley) for more examples, including a super athletic block of Kevin Durant, and a couple of other plays you may not have noticed.



bob
MY NOTE:  I expected Jaylen's defense to take an uptick this year, with a year of experience under his belt, but I didn't expect it to take this much up a bump up.  What is astonishing is his edge over Bradley on the offensive and defensive rating.  A caveat with Bradley's defensive rating is that the total points given up by the team when he was on the floor included a lot of minutes with defensive-liability Isaiah Thomas.  Still impressive, nevertheless, but to put up comparable (even slightly better) scoring and rebounding numbers than the player who was our #2 scorer last year AND #2 rebounder?  Avery Bradley was First Team NBA All-Defense last year.  His replacement is giving up fewer points (10 points less/100 possessions!  That's a HUGE delta) and is on the #1 defensive team in the league.

..............................................min......ppg......pts/36.....fg%.....3ptfg%.....reb.....reb/36.....off rtg.....def rtg.....net rtg
Jaylen Brown (2017-2018)-------32.6----16.2----17.9------46.6----40.2-------6.7----7.4-------107-------98--------+9
Avery Bradley (2016-2917)------33.4----16.3----17.5------46.3----39.0-------6.1----6.6-------105-------108--------3


.

A 6' 7" guard with a monster wingspan and excellent agility, Brown is certainly built to defend. And Jaylen is playing some serious D.

The overall makeup of the team and its ability to defend is substantially better than last year. Brown getting the minutes he's getting are an important part of the improvement.

I don't think many people wanted to see Bradley go, but this is working out just fine.

Thus far Brown looks like an upgrade over Avery.  His size is impessive and he is very physical.  His shooting seems to be improving.  Once he settles in at the line he will become a more complete player.

Him and Kyrie are destined to be the best back court  combo in the league.  

Dboss

And at a much lower price that IT and AB would be commanding next year.

worcester wrote:And at a much lower price that IT and AB would be commanding next year.

Worcester,

Such a deal!


bob


.

Oy Vey!

Jaylen has the length to guard guys who could easily shoot over Bradley, and the quickness to keep up with smaller guards. He also has the mindset in that he takes on the challenge of defending the best guy on the other team.


KJ

Yes, KJ, that is Jaylen.

Jaylen, the Greek Freak and Porzingis are probably the early leaders for Most Improved Player.

Jaylen Brown's improvements this year have gone quite a bit further than I originally expected.

He is smart, works hard and is humble. Looks like a long time all star type player in the making.

Withthis added recognition he is going to start getting calls when fouled from the refs - and not getting calls when he's defending,

steve3344 wrote:Jayen, the Greek Freak and Porzingis are probably the early leaders for Most Improved Player.

The Freak is on a track for MVP, not Most Improved.  Porzingis makes sense, except he's on the Knicks and the Knicks suck.  Team record is part of the story too and Jaylen replaced the #1 defensive guard in the NBA and the Celtics' defense went to #1, and their W-L record is #1 with Jaylen.  That's a compelling story.  


bob



.

Jaylen would have been a nightmare for opposing guards and forwards back before they changed the rules of how you can play defense.


KJ

He is still a nightmare.

Jaylen is quite the package. He is a combination of size, strength, length and athleticism. Add in the all important basketball IQ, determination and confidence and you have the making of a star.

dboss

Is it possible that because of his age ( and others on the team) that Stevens almost feels like he's coaching a college team perhaps?

We know of his coaching success at Butler and now are seeing it with this bunch even with only 4 returning players.

Horford certainly is the senior vet on the team and it would have been very interesting to see what chemistry would have been like with Hayward added to the mix. Obviously without him opportunity for his 30-35 minutes a game has gone to our youth Brown and Tatum.

18-1 over our last 19 games. Unbelievable
and we haven't played really any great games for the full 48 either.

beat

Don't forget Jaylen's stellar work ethic either.

beat wrote:Is it possible that because of his age ( and others on the team) that Stevens almost feels like he's coaching a college team perhaps?

We know of his coaching success at Butler and now are seeing it with this bunch even with only 4 returning players.  

Horford certainly is the senior vet on the team and it would have been very interesting to see what chemistry would have been like with Hayward added to the mix.  Obviously without him opportunity for his 30-35 minutes a game has gone to our youth Brown and Tatum.  

18-1 over our last 19 games.    Unbelievable
and we haven't played really any great games for the full 48 either.

beat

beat,

After all the years of having shorter back courts

IT-Bradley (5'9", 6'2")
Rondo-Bradley (6'1", 6'2")
Rondo-Allen (6.1" - 6/4")
Rondo -West (6'1", 6'4")

we now have a back court that is sized more competitvely for the NBA.  We have 6'3" Kyrie Irving, who isn't that tall but is a wizard on offense and is taller than any other PG we've had in >10 years, and Jaylen Brown. 

Some of the top SGs in the league:

DeMar DeRozan - 6'7", 220#
Klay Thompson - 6'7", 215#
James Harden - 6'5", 220#
Danny Green - 6'6", 215#
JR Smith - 6'6", 220#
Bradley Beal - 6'5", 207#
Jimmy Butler - 6'8", 235#
Jaylen Brown - 6'7", 225#

All stats basketball-reference.com

Only Jimmy Butler has a physical edge, height and/or weight, over Jaylen.   This is a wonderful thing.


bob


.

beat wrote:Is it possible that because of his age ( and others on the team) that Stevens almost feels like he's coaching a college team perhaps?

We know of his coaching success at Butler and now are seeing it with this bunch even with only 4 returning players.  

Horford certainly is the senior vet on the team and it would have been very interesting to see what chemistry would have been like with Hayward added to the mix.  Obviously without him opportunity for his 30-35 minutes a game has gone to our youth Brown and Tatum.  

18-1 over our last 19 games.    Unbelievable
and we haven't played really any great games for the full 48 either.

beat

Stevens has been coaching in the pros for 4+ years now and he has coached a lot of veterans and rookies. I think the dynamic has not changed from his days at Butler. He is as smart as they come and he has remarkable demeanor. He NEVER speaks ill of his players. He is not a screamer and players love that whether they are experienced vets or new to the pros.

He works harder than anyone and does his homework. He is a great communicator and decision maker.

All great coaches in any sport are able to maximize the abilities of their players and he does that as well as any coach out there.

The league knows that he is a good coach but they still cannot figure out why Boston is this good. Referring to the Celtics as a well coached team is really an understatement when it comes to Brad Stevens.

dboss