Celtics Win Again as Defense Continues Meteoric Rise

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/post-121714-cs-win-again-defense-continues-meteoric-rise




C's Win Again as Defense Continues Meteoric Rise

Posted: Dec 18, 2014


By Marc D'Amico |  @Marc_DAmico
Celtics.com
December 18, 2014




BOSTON – Want to know a secret about to how to morph one of the league’s worst defenses into one of the league’s best?

Guard.

Sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Not quite.

Brad Stevens put it bluntly Wednesday night when he said, “When we don’t get into the ball, we’re not very good.”

Though Stevens did not speak the following words, we’ll finish that statement for him: “When we do get into the ball, we are very good.”

That’s what this season has told us about the Boston Celtics. They’ve discovered the ability to defend over the past month and, not coincidentally, they’ve become one of the top defensive teams in the NBA.

The Celtics have limited opponents to 43.6 percent shooting from the field since Nov. 19, which ranks fifth in the entire NBA. Yes, opponents are still scoring 102.1 points per game against them, but don’t read into that. That number is simply a byproduct of the up-tempo pace with which Boston’s games are played.

The truest metric in judging a defense is defensive rating, which calculates the number of points a team allows per 100 possessions. The Celtics rank seventh in the league in that category since Nov. 19. The six teams in front of them have combined for a 106-40 record this season.

That last paragraph should tell you all you need to know about this Celtics defense. It’s playing at an elite level, thanks in large part to its ability to guard.

“Just being real aggressive into the ball,” said Phil Pressey, who on Monday discussed what has sparked Boston’s defensive emergence. “Just trying to dictate how we want [the opponent] to play.”

The Celtics did exactly that Wednesday night against Orlando. The Magic managed to score only 92 points in the game on 43.5 percent shooting. Boston’s defense picked up as the contest wore on, as it limited the visitors to just 39 points on 41.7 percent shooting during the second half. Pressey discussed that defensive improvement after the game.

“I feel like our intensity on defense really picked up,” said Pressey, who scored nine points and dished out four assists in the game. “That’s our main thing going into almost all of these games is being aggressive. I feel like we have a lot of quickness to our side.”

The Celtics have grown accustomed to using that quickness to their advantage by guarding at a high level. However, it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for Boston’s defense. It took a while to get to where it is today.

Boston did not guard over the first three weeks of the season. It’s as simple as that. As a result, it ranked 28th in the league in opponent scoring (109.4 points per game), 27th in opponent field goal percentage (48.4 percent), 27th in opponent 3-point percentage (40.2 percent) and 28th in defensive efficiency (109.4) during that time period.

Film of those three weeks shows a defense that lacked aggressiveness and ball pressure. Those missing ingredients led to compounded issues on the back end of the defense.

Those problems have since been minimized thanks to ball pressure on the perimeter and the interior. Heightened ball pressure allows the Celtics to communicate, to trust each other, and to operate as a unit.

“We’re just helping each other a lot, covering for each other, being aggressive,” Kelly Olynyk said to describe the C’s defense. “We’re going after the ball and making plays.”

In other words, the Celtics are guarding.

Boston’s upward trend at the defensive end continued Wednesday night against Orlando. That’s the biggest reason why the C’s won their fifth game in eight tries, and why many more victories could well be on their way.




bob



.

bobheckler wrote:http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/post-121714-cs-win-again-defense-continues-meteoric-rise




C's Win Again as Defense Continues Meteoric Rise

Posted: Dec 18, 2014


By Marc D'Amico |  @Marc_DAmico
Celtics.com
December 18, 2014




BOSTON – Want to know a secret about to how to morph one of the league’s worst defenses into one of the league’s best?

Guard.

Sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Not quite.

Brad Stevens put it bluntly Wednesday night when he said, “When we don’t get into the ball, we’re not very good.”

Though Stevens did not speak the following words, we’ll finish that statement for him: “When we do get into the ball, we are very good.”

That’s what this season has told us about the Boston Celtics. They’ve discovered the ability to defend over the past month and, not coincidentally, they’ve become one of the top defensive teams in the NBA.

The Celtics have limited opponents to 43.6 percent shooting from the field since Nov. 19, which ranks fifth in the entire NBA. Yes, opponents are still scoring 102.1 points per game against them, but don’t read into that. That number is simply a byproduct of the up-tempo pace with which Boston’s games are played.

The truest metric in judging a defense is defensive rating, which calculates the number of points a team allows per 100 possessions. The Celtics rank seventh in the league in that category since Nov. 19. The six teams in front of them have combined for a 106-40 record this season.

That last paragraph should tell you all you need to know about this Celtics defense. It’s playing at an elite level, thanks in large part to its ability to guard.

“Just being real aggressive into the ball,” said Phil Pressey, who on Monday discussed what has sparked Boston’s defensive emergence. “Just trying to dictate how we want [the opponent] to play.”

The Celtics did exactly that Wednesday night against Orlando. The Magic managed to score only 92 points in the game on 43.5 percent shooting. Boston’s defense picked up as the contest wore on, as it limited the visitors to just 39 points on 41.7 percent shooting during the second half. Pressey discussed that defensive improvement after the game.

“I feel like our intensity on defense really picked up,” said Pressey, who scored nine points and dished out four assists in the game. “That’s our main thing going into almost all of these games is being aggressive. I feel like we have a lot of quickness to our side.”

The Celtics have grown accustomed to using that quickness to their advantage by guarding at a high level. However, it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for Boston’s defense. It took a while to get to where it is today.

Boston did not guard over the first three weeks of the season. It’s as simple as that. As a result, it ranked 28th in the league in opponent scoring (109.4 points per game), 27th in opponent field goal percentage (48.4 percent), 27th in opponent 3-point percentage (40.2 percent) and 28th in defensive efficiency (109.4) during that time period.

Film of those three weeks shows a defense that lacked aggressiveness and ball pressure. Those missing ingredients led to compounded issues on the back end of the defense.

Those problems have since been minimized thanks to ball pressure on the perimeter and the interior. Heightened ball pressure allows the Celtics to communicate, to trust each other, and to operate as a unit.

“We’re just helping each other a lot, covering for each other, being aggressive,” Kelly Olynyk said to describe the C’s defense. “We’re going after the ball and making plays.”

In other words, the Celtics are guarding.

Boston’s upward trend at the defensive end continued Wednesday night against Orlando. That’s the biggest reason why the C’s won their fifth game in eight tries, and why many more victories could well be on their way.




bob



.

Bob,

I think Boston has been playing better defense, mostly on the perimeter.
They have been forcing their opponents guards far from the basket and have made them use up more of the shot clock which has resulted in less points being scored by Boston and their opponents since 11/19.
I am not sure whether their success recently (5 wins in 8 games) has been because they are playing so much better or because the teams they have played over the last 8 games have a combined record of 72-131. In those 8 games, they have played Detroit, LA Lakers, Washington (2), Charlotte, New York, Philadelphia and Orlando. In the 5 games previous to that, Boston was 0-5 against teams with a winning record.