Stevens' Celtics Understand The Power Of 3

by **bobheckler** Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:28 pm

http://www.csnne.com/blog/celtics-talk/stevens-celtics-understand-power-three

Stevens' Celtics understand the power of three
October 23, 2014, 6:30 pm

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WALTHAM - When you look at the Boston Celtics 2014-15 roster, you see a lot of players that can take three-pointers.

And they will take three-pointers.

They've been instructed to by Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who has a team of brainiacs working around the clock in hopes of proving that three points is in fact worth more than two points.

Kidding, of course.

But the point is that Stevens, whose lean towards the analytics of basketball is no secret, is a fan of those high-percentage shots at the rim, and the three-pointers. Get those 18-foot jumpers and awkward floaters outta here.

"If we're open we've got to shoot it," Stevens said of the three-pointer. "And if we're not we've gotta drive it. That's about as complicated as it needs to be. There doesn't need to be a, 'Hey we have to shoot this amount of threes,' or, 'Hey we have to limit it to this amount of threes.' You play basketball, you take the first best shot and then you get back, guard, and do it again.

The Boston Celtics went into Wednesday's game averaging 29.0 three-pointers per game, tied for second-highest in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and behind the Dallas Mavericks, according to Elias.

They took 27 three-pointers Wednesday night, and that was with normal starters playing less minutes than normal. Avery Bradley actually didn't take any that game playing just over eight minutes, but he only took one shot in total.

Bradley has averaged 4.0 three-pointers per game in the preseason, fifth highest on the team behind Marcus Smart (5.5), Marcus Thornton (5.1), Jeff Green (4.5), and James Young (4.5). Jared Sullinger averaged 3.8 while Kelly Olynyk averaged 2.9. Even Brandon Bass (0.5) is getting in on the fun this year. So yeah, the three-point line is a popular hang out spot.

"I know that's what our coach wants us to do is shoot threes and shoot twos at the basket," Bradley said. "I can't really say [if the preseason numbers will carry over] but I know that we have a lot of great three-point shooters. If we continue to shoot the ball the way we've been shooting I think that's going to continue and we're going to continue to put up a lot of threes every single game."

Bradley also said that his last coach, Doc Rivers, didn't stress that same offensive approach that Stevens does now.

"Every coach is different," Bradley said. "One thing about Brad is he likes to go by stats. Stats don't lie. I know it is a better shot and it's something that I needed to improve on because it helps my game and it helps my team. So that's what I'm going to continue to do."

While the Celtics may become known as a team that loves the long-distance shot on offense, Bradley wants to make sure they remain a team known for their defense too. Boston didn't allow any team to score over 100 points against the in the preseason.

"That's our identity," Bradley said. "That's what kind of team we want to be; we want to be a defensive team and in preseason we wanted to build every single game and that's what we did.

"We want to be the best defensive team we can be because we know we have to be a great defensive team to have a chance every single night."

bob

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by **Sam** Sat Oct 25, 2014 1:13 am

I suppose all the three pointers will be acceptable is (1) they hit a high percentage and (2) if added emphasis on shots at the rim is at least the equal of shots behind the arc. It's boring basketball, but that hasn't been a major concern of the league in years.

Sam

Stevens' Celtics Understand The Power Of 3

Stevens' Celtics Understand The Power Of 3

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