Interior Defensive Struggles Cause C’s to Fall Short in San Antonio

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/post-012821-interior-defensive-struggles-cause-celtics-fall-short-san-antonio








Interior Defensive Struggles Cause C’s to Fall Short in San Antonio



By Taylor C. Snow | @taylorcsnow
Celtics.com
January 28, 2021



The Boston Celtics finally had their full starting lineup available for the first time this season Wednesday night, only to have it fall four points short of a victory in San Antonio.

Despite the game coming down to the wire in a 110-106 defeat, the C’s blamed the loss on how they performed in the second quarter. They had been up 41-32 with a little more than six minutes remaining in the first half before San Antonio caught fire, closing out the frame on a 29-6 run.

Head coach Brad Stevens didn’t mince words after the game, calling that stretch “terrible.” He pointed toward the interior defense as the main issue, after it allowed the Spurs to shoot 27-of-33 inside the paint, including 9-of-10 during that difficult second-quarter stretch.

“We’re not holding down the fort,” Stevens said of the defense. “Like, we’re not guarding the lane. We’re not protecting the rim. We’re not at the basket. I’m not talking about our bigs, I’m talking about everybody … Everybody needs to protect the rim better. We’re just letting guys lay it in and this team is too good to beat if you lay it in. I thought we did a decent job guarding the 3, but they were just having their way at the rim.”

As Stevens alluded to, Boston’s 3-point defense was terrific in this game, holding the Spurs to a 28.6 percent clip on 28 long-range attempts. But San Antonio didn’t need those 3-point shots to fall considering the way in which LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, Keldon Johnson, and others were attacking the rim.

In an effort to combat San Antonio’s interior scoring, the Celtics switched to a 2-1-2 zone defense during the final six minutes of the third quarter, which ultimately helped them claw back into the game. But Jayson Tatum admits that having to do so wasn’t ideal.

“To have to go zone to get some stops, that's not what we want because we should be able to guard,” stated the All-NBA wing, who finished with game-highs of 25 points and four steals.

Stevens added that he wants this team to able to play multiple styles of defense and to play each of those styles well. “But to be able to do that, I think you have to do one well and we’re just not.

“We’ve talked about it; we’ve got a lot of work to do. And I think that’s something that if we’re gonna play small, we’re gonna play big, whatever we play, we’ve got to defend at a high level to have a chance to win because we’re going to have our droughts just like everybody does. I thought we had way better looks in the second half because we moved the ball and we tried to play side-to-side a little bit more. But when we didn’t, we usually struggled.”

Curbing such struggles can only happen if they fortify their defensive DNA.

“Obviously people know what we’re capable on the defensive end, but we just gotta figure it out,” said Tatum. “We’ve got more than enough guys that are I guess elite defenders. That’s kind of what we hang our hat on being on the Celtics, is competing and defending. And honestly, we’re just not doing that right now, so we’ve got to figure it out.”

But they’ve also got to be patient. As noted at the top of this page, this was Boston’s first game having their core guys all healthy on the court at the same time. Kemba Walker is only three games back from his knee rehab and Tatum just returned from missing two weeks due to COVID-19. On top of that, there are also a couple of new additions and role changes within the rotation, so there are numerous adjustments the Celtics are dealing with.

“It’s been an interesting season,” concluded Jaylen Brown. “We’ve had guys out, guys hurt. Now guys are back and we’re still just trying to put everything together.”

So there have been a lot of uncertainties. But one thing is for certain, which was emphasized Wednesday night.

“We’ve definitely got to be a lot better on that (defensive) end of the court if we want to be a good team,” said Brown. “And tonight wasn’t our best night.”


Bob
MY NOTE: I mentioned in my post-game post that it was a layup drill for San Antone, but you cannot shoot 42.9% for the game like we did and express surprise we didn't win. Winning with a fg% that poor is the exception, not the rule, unless you are elite defensively. We only had 15 assists, total. That's all ME-ball.


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Only the first game of the season with the expected starting lineup and it was close. San Antonio is tougher than their record shows and they have an experienced coach that's among the best ever at in-game adjustment.

I'm not forgiving the overall performance so much as saying the rotation is still a work in progress. Given the total time key players have missed due to injury and illness, the team is higher in the standings than I would have expected.

The shooting is something to be concerned with of course, but given the interior defense, can I beat that same old dead horse and suggest a dinosaur center needs to be found? Yes, I know, I should get a tattoo of a dinosaur in Chuck Taylor's. I'm not saying they can't ever leave the paint and shoot from range, but a lunch-bucket, dirty-work defender and low-post scoring threat would compliment the wing-heavy lineup. It won't be an easy task to find and maybe the hunt is already on. In the meantime I'd like to see more RW3 since I think he's still the closest thing we've got. I believe if he's not going to be the guy, he can still be the guy behind the guy.

I think the shooting will naturally improve as playing time resumes for Tatum and Walker. Improved ball movement will help get it there. A return of Pritchard and continued improvement and minutes for Nesmith could be plus factors too.

Did I really just use 'improve' three times in three sentences? Improve rather than 'replace' still shows cause for hope that the right pieces are mostly in place, right?

The 2-1-2 zone worked!

There is nothing wrong with playing more zone defenses.  Miami would never have beaten us in the playoffs without the zone defense.  

Tristian Thompson is < than a good defender.  

RW really needs to get more playing time.  

KW is not a very good defensive player.  

Teague has been a disappointment at both ends of the court.  

Teams are scoring more points this year and I think that is tied to the volume of 3 point shots.

The Celtics are not playing defense at the same level as last year.  Here are a few stats to consider.

Boston is ranked 11th in defending 3 point shots at 36.2%.   Last year we were ranked #1 at 33.4%

Boston is ranked at 18th for giving up points in the paint (47.3 PPG) Last year we were ranked #3 at (42.8 PPG)

This team is just not defending the perimeter or the paint at anywhere close to what they did last year.

This gets us to the central question or more specifically the center question.  Danny probably does not make a move to add or exchange a center but he definitely needs to tweak the minutes.

Robert Williams may be our best option to start at center right now.  Here's why.

He has has a net rating of 3.3 PPG as compared to DT at 2.2 and Tristian Thompson at 2.3.  The big eye opener is on the glass where Robert has a rebounding percentage of 21.4% as compared to TT at 12.4 and Theis at 10.4.  Robert does not get many scoring opportunities but he has proven that he can make baskets at a very high percentage rate.  It is up to coach Stevens to develop this underutilized scoring option.

I think Brad should start Robert at center and use Theis at the 4 and play them together.  I think Smart should return to the bench as the 6th man (who will still play starter minutes).  If the offense bogs down I would still start RW along with the J's, Kemba and Marcus Smart.

It may seem a bit too premature but I believe the Celtics miss rookie Peyton Pritchard.  I would not hesitate to pull Kemba off the floor and insert PP into the game when Kemba is not being productive.

The PG situation is going to change.  PP is clearly the future starting PG for the Celtics.  Think about this.  Kemba Walker is a career 41.9% shooter from the field.  PP is shooting 48.8% from the field, 42.5% from deep and 90% from the line.  PP is the new guy on the block and his NBA resume is not close to completion but I bet on him from day one and have seen nothing that alters my perception that he will be our starting PG up the road.