Kanter focusing on his defense to keep Celtics glued together

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/10/01/kanter-focusing-on-his-defense-to-keep-celtics-glued-together/




Kanter focusing on his defense to keep Celtics glued together





Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics fouls Enes Kanter #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers in the last second of the first period of the NBA game as Jaylen Brown #7 and Daniel Theis #27 look on at the TD Garden on February 27, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)




By STEVE BULPETT | stephen.bulpett@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald



PUBLISHED: October 1, 2019 at 5:00 pm | UPDATED: October 1, 2019 at 8:14 pm




Enes Kanter gets merely a little defensive when the subject turns to his defense.

The fact he’s at times proved himself capable of offering proper resistance may actually make this more confusing, but the new Celtic center prefers to take a wider approach — which is what Brad Stevens will lean on even more with his smallish lineups.

“Defense is all about team effort,” Kanter told the Herald after the opening practice of training camp Tuesday.

He’s right. While it helps to have tigers the likes of Marcus Smart to sic on opponents, professional defense is largely based on schemes — and trust. The 2018-19 Celtics were severely lacking in the latter department, precipitating their embarrassing demise.


Kanter believes he’s fine in the right setting.

“So when I left the Knicks and started playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, I felt so comfortable out there because I had so much company because all the players were really good defender,” he said. “Then, of course, the coaches played a big role on that one, too, so, for me, it was great. We played in the Western Conference finals.

“I felt so comfortable out there because of my teammates. It’s a team effort. That’s why I’m really excited about this.”

Prior to that West finals run, Bleacher Report used metrics to call Kanter the worst defensive center in the league, singling out his pick and roll coverage for particular criticism.

As he replaces so versatile a defender as Al Horford, Kanter acknowledged that, his other skills aside, that end of the court will be his main priority here.

“For sure,” he said. “Sacrifice. If we want to win a championship, we’ve got to stay dedicated and disciplined, and we’ve got to sacrifice. It’s a team sport. It’s not an individual sport.”

Kanter is certain to be a beast on the boards and be more than capable with the ball. But once glance around him at practice is all he or anyone would need to know he has a lot of company in the second regard.

“We know that we’re going to be able to score,” Kanter said, taking a seat after going through a lengthy one-on-one session with Tacko Fall following the team workout. “I mean, everybody can score.

“But I think for us the important thing is just defense, and defense is all about trust and communication. We just had our first practice today, and I felt like we’ve been together for a long time, because we were communicating. We were trusting each other, and we were having fun. For me, it was really a great first day of practice.”

Kanter has had a lot of good days in the NBA, which makes it a tad surprising he’s on his fifth team. As a starter in his career, he’s averaged 15.0 points (on 54.6 percent shooting) and 9.9 rebounds in just 28.4 minutes.

“I actually asked the Utah Jazz to trade me, and they traded me to Oklahoma City,” Kanter said, explaining his first change of NBA address. “Then I got traded to the Knicks. Oklahoma City, they wanted Melo. Hey, they wanted Melo. They got what they wanted.

“Then with the Knicks, I wanted to leave that one.”

The tanking New Yorkers waived Kanter last February, and he signed with the Blazers less than a week later.

“Portland, that was an amazing run, but after that I wanted to come back to the East,” he said. “That was my decision. [Portland] wanted me back, but I just wanted to come back to the East and play with these guys.”

And it’s obviously still quite early in the process, but Kanter is showing no sign of free agent remorse.

“I feel like we have something special, because, first of all, everybody wants to be here,” he said. “That’s the most important thing. I mean, we saw last year how important that team chemistry is — here. So we are just trying to be good friends, because that’s going to translate to on the court. It’s going to make us a better teammate.

“Skill-wise, we are all NBA players. If you look on paper, we have some of the best players in the league. So for me, what I’m looking for is trying to bring positive energy, be that glue guy and try to play as a team. I feel like we have something special and we can beat every team on every floor, but, like I said, we have to stick together.”

In other words, Kanter thinks he and the Celtics will get by with a little help from their friends. And that last word could be the key.



bob
MY NOTE: Last year in the playoffs with Portland Kanter's Offensive Rating (points scored by the team when he was on the floor per 100 possessions) was 112. His Defensive Rating (same as OffRtg except points given up) was 110. So that's a positive number, +2, for him. His regular season numbers were 122 and 109, for a +13 (very nice!). It was the offense that took a hit in the playoffs, down from 122 to 112. His defensive numbers were pretty comparable. For another comparison Baynes' OffRtg and DefRtg last year, respectively, was 118 and 108. Baynes is considered a pretty good defender and his defensive rating wasn't much better than Kanter's.



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