We’re back again. It’s been a strange week of Celtics basketball; frustrating losses, Jaylen Brown’s scoring, Jaylen Brown’s hair, things of this nature. While you’re sitting in the barbershop chair with a can of spray paint hovering over your fragile hairline, or if you’re on a flight to Turkey, you might as well sit down and watch some clips with me.
Now, let’s get into the film.
The Most Dangerous (Two-Man) Game
This feels like I’m going full Mazzulla, but Jaylen Brown has been going full General Zaroff this season. Everyone is fair hunting game. But instead of hunting wayward sailors, he’s hunting the likes of Keyonte George and other defensively challenged guards. He and Derrick White have been a formidable hunting duo on the perimeter, using guard-guard screening to throw off the defense. It’s most useful when trying to force advantageous switches.
It’s a simple action, but one that demands attention and focus. Too soft a switch can put Jaylen on a smaller defender, where he can get in the mid-post and create good shots. It can also put Derrick on a slower wing that he could drive on. Both are excellent pull-up shooters from inside and beyond the arc. No wonder Boston has been using it heavily in late-game scenarios, as you can see in the Philadelphia and Utah games.
Using guards or wings as screeners in the offense is nothing new. Hell, using these two as screeners for one another isn’t new either. But without Jayson Tatum, these two are Boston’s best creators. In the clutch, sometimes the best answer is the simplest one.
Transition, by definition, is the process of changing from one state to another. Transition defense is the process of rapidly going from offense to defense. On the scale of every transition in history, this season’s defense falls somewhere between HBO becoming HBO MAX (then MAX then HBO MAX again) and Snoop Dogg changing his name to Snoop Lion.
In three seasons under Joe Mazzulla, the Celtics have finished second, first, and first in transition PPP (points per possession, not the way Tom Brady paid his employees). This season, according to Cleaning the Glass, they’ve dropped to 13th. Their last week has been riddled with poor transition possessions.
There are two distinct categories of transition defense: off live rebounds and off steals. Concerningly, Boston has taken a step back in live rebound transition defense. Last season’s team was second in live rebounds that turned into transition and second in PPP allowed off rebounds. This year, they’re 16th in rebounds turning into transition and 12th in PPP. It’s a notable slide for a team that prioritizes open floor athleticism.
If the live rebound defense is a mess, the transition defense off steals is a frat house kitchen. 78.7% of steals forced by opponents have turned into a transition chance, which is the worst mark in the league. They’re allowing 1.5 PPP off steals, 23rd in the NBA, after finishing 2nd last year by allowing 1.27 PPP.
They’re on pace for their worst defense off of steals since the 2012/13 season. If you’re in the mood for naming some guys, that was the last season of the Doc Rivers-Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce era. Jeff Green, now the NBA’s resident uncle, was on that team as a promising 26-year-old forward. You never want to find yourself in any worst since ___” conversations, and this Celtics team needs to up the communication and effort in the open floor.
But there is one thing that may be contributing to this issue.
Much has been made of Boston’s defensive rebounding woes, and rightfully so: as of Thursday night, they are second to last in defensive rebounding percentage, behind only the disastrous Brooklyn Nets. But they’ve attempted to counter this by ramping up their own offensive rebounding activities. A lot of this comes from their bigs; Neemias Queta, Xavier Tillman, and Luka Garza are all in the upper quartile of OREB% amongst big men. Garza in particular has shown some impressive effort.
The interesting change has come from the wings. By and large, it’s the reason why Boston’s 30.0% offensive rebounding rate is the highest it’s been during the Mazzulla era. Joe has let the dogs off the leash when it comes to the offensive glass. Sam Hauser, Jordan Walsh, Hugo González, and Josh Minott are all crashing the glass with reckless abandon.
Hauser, Walsh, and Minott are all posting career-high offensive rebounding rates. Naturally, the rookie González is setting his high. But it’s Minott in particular who stands out, not only for his production but the explosive way he finishes his putbacks.
Minott has the highest offensive rebounding rate on the team after the three bigs. Mazzulla encourages him to crash hard from the corners and through the slot, and let his athleticism do the work. With a motor that would make Enzo Ferrari weep, he’s making an impact on the team. Boston’s offensive rebounding goes up by 9.7% with Minott on the floor, which is the best mark on the team. Effort is contagious.
More perimeter players crashing the glass has certainly contributed to their poor transition D. But the math-ball Celtics may have decided that the extra possessions are worth trading for some transition prevention. Time will tell if the numbers bear this out.
That’s all for the second edition of my Celtics film round-up. We’ll check in next week to see what’s shaking with the C’s.
