Welcome to Jaylen Brown's redemption tour

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Welcome to Jaylen Brown's redemption tour



By Chris Forsberg
April 18, 2019 7:02 PM




BOSTON — If you so desired, you could compile a highlight reel of Boston Celtics players and coaches screaming at Jaylen Brown this season. It felt like nary a game passed without someone (loudly) informing Brown about a missed rotation or defensive miscue. Marcus Morris got so mad about one instance of less-than-desired intensity that he shoved Brown during a timeout in Miami and the video served as an encapsulation of Boston’s frustration-filled 2018-19 season.

Nobody is spared from tongue-lashings in the NBA — heck, cameras caught Brad Stevens giving Kyrie Irving some grief for a lack of defensive focus heading to a timeout during Wednesday’s Game 2 — but it was fair to wonder why Brown so frequently had teammates pointing out his errors.

The answer, teammates and coaches often noted throughout the season, was that everyone simply holds Brown to a higher standard because they know how impactful he can be on the defensive end.

The Jaylen Brown Redemption Tour had been rolling along for a few months now but it’s really been thrust into the spotlight in the playoffs. Brown, who was unfairly maligned for much of Boston’s early-season woes and the way the original starting unit fizzled, has been one of the team’s more consistent presences since the start of the new calendar year.

But having elevated to a starting role against the Pacers, Brown has upped his defensive intensity and has his coach gushing about his offensive decision-making, all of which has helped Boston to a 2-0 series lead.

"I just think Jaylen has shown tremendous growth,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said on a conference call before the team flew to Indiana on Thursday. "And here’s a guy that, early in the season, got a lot of flak for a small sample size where he struggled. Then he had a really really good year after that.  He just kept working, kept getting better. He’s worked hard on improving things that he needed to improve.”


Brown previously drew effusive praise from Stevens for the percipient kickout pass in the final minute of Game 2 that led to Jayson Tatum’s go-ahead 3-pointer. Brown, who had missed a driving layup that could have tied the game with 1:50 to play, was racing in transition after Al Horford’s game-saving swat of Bojan Bogdanovic when he encountered traffic near the rim.

Instead of trying to muscle home a difficult layup, Brown got the defense to commit then sent a bullet to the corner where an open Tatum canned the decisive triple.

“He had [the ball] in transition, he had to beat a point guard, he had to beat him with his left hand, his off hand, he had to raise up, get his eyes to the rim, he draws [attention], and he whips a pass across the court and puts it on a dime to his shooter in the corner,” Stevens gushed again on Thursday. "That’s a great pass for a lot of guys -- for everybody, that’s a great play by anybody.

"And I thought that pass was very indicative of [Brown’s progress]. Not only the physical delivery but also the wherewithal in that moment. [Myles] Turner had been really effective at the rim and for Jaylen to make that play was great. Then, next play down, Jayson gets the drive and Jayson’s got a chance to pull up, and he dumps it off [to Gordon Hayward for a layup]. I just thought those were really really good plays by those two guys late in the game.”

For his part, Brown shrugged off the decision to pass. He said it was the easy choice when block-maestro Turner came over with help. But Brown knew how smitten his coach was with the decision.

“[Stevens] was just smiling and said that was a helluva play, a big-time play,” said Brown. " I said to him, ‘You probably thought I was going to lay it up, didn’t you?’ He laughed, he said, ‘Nah, I knew you were going to make the right play.”

When the Celtics lost Smart to a torn oblique in the final week of the regular season, Brown was the obvious choice to elevate to his starting role. Still, Stevens left the door open to examine other options. Brown has made a strong case to stay in that spot, playing inspired defense against Bogdanovic in Game 1 and making key plays in Game 2.

Brown’s defensive numbers weren’t as glitzy in Game 2, a product of both teams’ offense finding a better rhythm than the Game 1 rock fight, but the NBA’s tracking data suggests Brown’s covers scored just eight points on 3-of-8 shooting overall. Slightly concerning is how the Pacers scored 27 points as a team in the 16 possessions that Brown defended Bogdanovic (with the wing scoring 5 points on 2-of-4 shooting, individually). But Brown’s struggles weren’t for a lack of effort.

And Brown recognizes that, particularly in trying to help fill Smart’s void, his play will be judged largely on his defensive intensity.


"That’s where series change, games change,” said Brown. "I’ve got to hang my hat on defense, whether it’s boxing out, guarding 4s, 2s, some of the ugly possessions. We have guys who can score the ball. We need guys who can grit their teeth and make plays and make things happen in the fourth quarter.

"Guys like Gordon Hayward, Kyrie, Jayson Tatum – we have a lot of offensive firepower. But we have to make sure we’re sound and solid, diving for loose balls and getting rebounds, boxing out and [being] physical.”

At the start of the season, Brown lingered near the back end of ESPN’s Real Plus/Minus stats. In mid-November, Brown ranked 417th out of the 430 players that had appeared in games to that point. By season’s end, Brown was middle of the pack, elevating to 234th out of 514 total players. He even finished in the positive for defensive plus/minus and his RPM wins — an estimate of the number of wins each player contributed to his team’s total — was plus-2.52, or identical to Marcus Morris, who drew All-Star buzz after a strong first half.

Brown has been an incredible luxury for the Celtics the past two seasons. Last year, with Irving and Hayward sidelined by injury, Brown led the Celtics in scoring while the team surged to Game 7 of the East finals. This year, with Smart out, it’s Brown trying to give the team a defensive jolt.

His teammates probably won’t stop screaming at him any time soon. But only because they know how impactful he can be. And they know they need him to reach their loftiest goals this postseason.

And the Jaylen Brown Redemption Tour has potential to help spur the redemption tour the whole team is embarking upon after an underwhelming regular season.



bob



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Yes.... again I will say, we have not hit the tip of the iceberg with Jaylen. He has so much more to give and remember, he is just a kid, 22 going on 23 years old I can only hope he is a member of the Cetics when he hits his full stride.

Time will tell

And I hope we don't trade him.

Brown was super-hyped in game 2 and probably needs to slow down just a tad.

He needs to watch getting early foul calls. I do recall he got called for his 3rd foul when he clearly beat his man and slapped the ball away from him. It was a BS call against him.

Overall he is putting out a great effort on the defensive end and Boston will need that type of effort to win.

Watch the Bucks lose their minds when Jaylen drops 30 on them again.

I kind of think alot of them were jacked up. Kyrie was out of the game when the Celtics made their big run, standing on the sidelines jogging in place just dying for the call to put him back in the game-TR was playing at a high pitch, Al was in much longer than they wanted, and Jaylen and Jason we flying.
This may have been Morris's problem, too jacked up.

They have to calm down, play at their own pace and take the young ones tool

bob


.

I can’t wait to see Jaylen show everyone why the Celtics should be ready to pony up the money and keep him in Green. I watched Curry and Thompson, Green and Durant all get paid. Why can’t we do the same thing and build a young active team ready to win

Rosalie

JB is very likely to return to playing 30 mpg.

If he has a breakout season Danny will write the check. The danger is to wait and then be forced to match or let him go or do a sign and trade.

Some team is going to throw 20 plus million a year at him and the 2020 free agency class will not be as deep. That will drive up his price as teams will be looking for a young two-way player that can play two positions.

I fully expect to see Brown get better and better this year, but I really do not see his improvement as "redemption" in any way. He did not have a great year last year, but he did many things well and was more consistent in doing them than in his second season.

In all team sports, a young player can easily be effected by the team chemistry around him. Brown could have been placed in this category last season.

But, this year is a new year and his improvements will play as very important to the team and also to him as he is now at the time when the NBA (including the Cs) will make decisions that will alter his monetary value moving forward.

Jaylen will continue to put the work in to get better.

His handle is getting stronger and he needs to continue to work on that.  He also needs to become a better shooter from the line.  Jaylen has great mechanics at the line but has a tendency to miss the first of two free throws and usually misses that one short.  Repetition will be a constant as he continues to work on his craft.  Jaylen shot 76% from the line during the playoffs and 50% on filed goals.  His shooting efficiency was 59%.   

Jaylen is a guy that needs to play at least 30 MPG and I think if you get him 14 FGA per game next he will get you 18 PPG.

I am posting a new thread about FGA

dboss,

I agree that Brown should play more, but I would like to see him be much more efficient than needing 14 shots per game to get 18 ppg. Closer to 9 or 10 shots to get 18 ppg would be better for the team.

wideclyde wrote:dboss,

I agree that Brown should play more, but I would like to see him be much more efficient than needing 14 shots per game to get 18 ppg.  Closer to 9 or 10 shots to get 18 ppg would be better for the team.

Clyde I base the 14 FGA per game on what he accomplished during the 2017-18 playoff

Also take a look at all NBA scorers who averaged at least 18 PPG.  They took between 13 and 16.6 FGA per game.

There were only 3 shooting guards in the NBA last year that averaged 18.1 to 18.7 PPG.  They took an average of 13.5 to 15.3 FGA per game.  Anything close to 9-10 FGA does not get you there.

Here is an interesting couple of stats GH, 53%, JB 52% JT 51%  .shooting efficiency

GH 1.299, JB 1.217, JT 1.200  scoring efficiency

Outside of Walker, these are the 3 guys on the team that must get a lot more looks.

Boston should not wait to extend Brown

I have a feeling he is going to be in the 18 PPG and 5-6 rebound area this year and be a solid wing defender.

With Simmons and Murray cashing in on $170 million dollar contracts, the Celtics need to make a reasonable offer to JB.   

The gamble is about upside.  JB is only 22 years old.  To me this is a no brainer.  You can be sure that he will get paid by some team if not Boston.