Stevens Still Not Happy With Celtics Defense

http://www.csnne.com/blog/celtics-talk/stevens-still-not-happy-celtics-defense


Stevens still not happy with Celtics' defense
November 11, 2013, 7:15 pm




BOSTON — As you look at the Boston Celtics' numbers defensively, you'll find that they are at or near the top in several categories.

But Celtics coach Brad Stevens isn't trying to hear that, not even after a 111-110 win over Miami.

Most folks remember the big shot made by Jeff Green at the buzzer.

Stevens is more concerned with how the Heat battered the Celtics on several fronts for most of the game.

"I'm probably the wrong person to ask about how good we are defensively right now," Stevens said. "I'm not as sold."

Even with the struggles Boston had defensively against the two-time NBA champion Miami Heat, the Celtics still rank sixth in the league in scoring defense (95.1), sixth in defensive rebounds per game (29.7) and tops in 3-point percentage defense (29.3 percent).

Rookie guard Phil Pressey said the players being able to effectively communicate has been a major factor in their defense.

"We're trusting in our coaches now; whatever they're telling us to do," Pressey told CSNNE.com. "We're really dialed in to what they're saying."

Pressey added, "but we can get a lot better."

Said Stevens: "We've tried at times to be really together and defend the way we need to. At other times, we just haven't been as effective as we need to."

Areas of improvement in Stevens' eyes, are plentiful even as the Celtics enter tonight's game riding a season-best three game winning streak.

"I would like to see us do a better job on the ball; I'd like to see us do a better job helping off the ball; I'd like to see us do a better job in rebounding," Stevens said. "There's so much room to improve. The last thing we can do is think that (Miami) game is anything more than we found a way to win.  We really didn't guard well enough to win that game 99 out of 100 times."

That's why Monday's game is more than just an opportunity to extend their winning streak, but also provides them with a chance to play the kind of defense that Stevens knows they need to win consistently.

"I don't think yet we've defended for a game, 48 minutes," Stevens said. "Maybe we can put that together soon."



bob


.

Staying humble. That's a good formula. They'll keep getting better.



KJ

Hi,
I don't think Celtics can improve their defense much with the current roster. Perhaps its intensity. And, as Stevens said, its duration - 48 minutes would be ideal.
OTOH, it's a bit early to judge. Let's wait until they play a few games against the top teams.

AK

Sinus,

I agree it's still early, but I look for defense to be the area of greatest improvement as the season goes along. It's the area where a coach like Stevens can have a great impact, turning a bunch of misfits into a cohesive unit playing impactful team defense.

Despite Faverani's nice start, they don't have a great stopper at the post and will depend on perimeter pressure and execution of a team defensive strategy to be effective. Stevens never had a great defensive center at Butler, yet his teams were effective defensively. It will take a while for the system to become second nature, but once they learn it, I expect them to be noticeably better on defense.

Rondo, Bradley, Lee, Crawford, Green, Bass, Wallace, and Sullinger are a good group to build a swarming defense on. Who knows, maybe even Bogans will become useful before the season is out.

The defense can still improve somewhat. But you also have to consider that when you play a faster pace, yes, your team is getting more possessions and chances to score, but then again your opponent is well.

It may be that if Boston scores 110-120 a game that their opponents would average about 100-105 if Boston played a full game on both ends.



KJ

KJ,

Great observation, and you hit it right on the nose. One of the benefits of volume basketball is that the opponent becomes enticed to fight fire with fire. You get of more FGA, but so do they.

It could be argued that the Celtics of 1960-61 were the greatest team ever. The same could be argued for many of those Celtics teams, but I picked 1960-61 because the Celtics averaged 124.5 points per game—the most in their history. They were noted as a superior defensive team as well, including the greatest defensive weapon in NBA history. Yet their opponents averaged 116.2 points per game.

The dirty little secret of that period was that the Celts weren't just trying to outscore their opponents. They were so deep that they were trying to dupe other teams to operate at the Celtics' pace, which typically meant the opponents would be nearly or entirely spent by the 4th quarter. There were numerous games in which those Celtics were outscored by the end of the 3rd quarter but simply blew the opposition away in the 4th.

Sam

KJ,

That's why a better measuring stick is points per 100 possessions.

Here's the team data for the season to date.

http://bkref.com/tiny/BD4Ux

If you click the PTS column in the Opponent Per Game section to display it in ascending order, Boston is ninth best at 96.4 points allowed per game.

If you click the DRtg column in the Miscellaneous section, you'll see that Boston is 11th best as 103.1 points allowed per 100 possessions.

If you click on the Pace column in the Miscellaneous section, you'll see that Boston is 18th with 93.5 possessions per game.

So right now, their defensive ability as measured by points allowed per game looks somewhat better than it actually is because they've played at a slower than average pace. Ninth best sounds pretty good, and 11th best isn't that much worse, but 11th best is closer to middling than it is to the top, and my guess is that Stevens aspires for this team to be much closer to the top in the DRtg column.

They also have the advantage of having played a relatively weak schedule so far with the best teams they've played (Detroit, Memphis, and Miami) playing less than stellar basketball. So I think Stevens has all that in mind when he seems less than satisfied with the state of the defense.