LOL, IT BEGINS!! ESPN "Celtics have a small problem … and it shows in rebound numbers"

[SalvorMallow]

Quote

Before the 2016-17 season tipped off, Boston Celtics big man Amir Johnson was asked how the team might take its defense to the next level.

"Rebounding is definitely a key that we need to focus on," Johnson said. "It just needs to be a team effort on the glass. Once we get that down pat, we will definitely be an elite defensive team."

Two games into the regular season, the Celtics have been exposed on the glass and their inability to snatch rebounds is an obvious reason why their defense has looked subpar.

Boston finished tied for fourth in defensive rating last season and that was before they signed Al Horford. Throughout training camp, players were peppered with questions about whether the Celtics could emerge as the league's best defense.

What's obvious through the first two games is that they need to be better on the glass and, while Horford was an obvious upgrade in the Celtics' frontcourt, the team does miss the rebounding efforts of the likes of Jared Sullinger.

Al Horford and the Celtics have had their troubles on the boards, which was the case Thursday against Jimmy Butler, Robin Lopez and the Bulls. Dennis Wierzbicki/USA TODAY Sports

While certainly a small sample, it's a concern for Boston that the team has hauled in a mere 67.3 percent of available defensive rebounds over its first two games. For context, the Houston Rockets finished in the basement of the NBA in defensive rebound percentage last season at 72.8 percent.

The Celtics knew rebounding might be an issue. Boston is the shortest team in the NBA with an average height of 78.2 inches. The Celtics are more than a full inch shorter than the league average of 79.3 inches. Celtics coach Brad Stevens often leans on small-ball lineups, so it's not unusual for Boston to give up size on the court.

But a size deficiency doesn't explain how the Celtics have given up a whopping 33 offensive rebounds leading to 41 second-chance points in the first two games. That includes giving up 18 offensive rebounds and 18 second-chance points to the Chicago Bulls during Thursday's 105-99 loss at the United Center.

There were other factors that contributed to the loss -- especially Dwyane Wade's out-of-nowhere 3-point shooting -- but the Celtics put themselves in an early hole thanks in large part to their rebounding woes.

Stevens said after Thursday's game that the key for Boston comes down to putting bodies on defenders and letting perimeter guys help clean up the glass. Stevens pointed to instances when Avery Bradley swooped in for a rebound while Boston's big men boxed out.

Blame tired legs on the second night of a back-to-back, but Boston got manhandled on the glass as the Bulls outrebounded the Celtics 55-36. There was one sequence in the first quarter in which both Horford and Johnson were under the basket on a shot attempt and both were haphazard with trying to box out Robin Lopez, who simply muscled his way between the two and tipped home a miss.

Boston isn't going to get much bigger. The Celtics leaned heavily on Tyler Zelleron Thursday, but he's a fringe rotation player when the team is at full strength. Boston has been playing without 7-footer Kelly Olynyk, who is rehabbing from offseason shoulder surgery, but he's a below-average rebounder even when he is on the floor.

It's condemning that, through two games, the player with the best defensive rebound percentage on Boston's roster is Gerald Green at 19.4 percent. Horford (16.7 percent) and Zeller (16.2) are the next closest but both need to be better because of Boston's lack of size. Johnson, who got moved to a bench role in the second half on Thursday's game in part because of his rebounding struggles, also needs to be better, having pulled down only 11.8 percent of available defensive rebounds through two games.

For the Celtics, it's as simple as this: It doesn't matter how good your defense is if you routinely give teams easy second-chance opportunities. Boston must make rebounding a priority for all five players on the floor.

http://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4724259/celtics-have-a-small-problem-and-it-shows-in-rebound-numbers

 

Enjoy your "Superstar center" who only got 7 rebounds in their loss to Chicago tonight.  Ours pulled down 19!!!! 

Let's show these doubters how we do it in the A!!!

GO HAWKS!!!

[DUrce1]

Hahahaha, I saw this and laughed my ass off. Everyone will realize how overrated he is. He's an average player with slightly above average leadership skills. He's not taking the Celtics to the finals.

[NBASupes]

5 hours ago, DUrce1 said:

Hahahaha, I saw this and laughed my ass off. Everyone will realize how overrated he is. He's an average player with slightly above average leadership skills. He's not taking the Celtics to the finals.

This is a very awful post. 

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

The world will see Horford for the player that he is: A big man that plays small.  Nothing more. And that picture is gold: Alice getting beat up BY JIMMY BUTLER.

 

Dwight >> Alice

[Guest]

7 hours ago, DUrce1 said:

Hahahaha, I saw this and laughed my ass off. Everyone will realize how overrated he is. He's an average player with slightly above average leadership skills. He's not taking the Celtics to the finals.

Well, here's the thing.  He's a glue guy, not a lead guy.  They paid him and spoke of him as if he was a lead guy.  That's the disconnect they'll struggle with.  They set expectations sky high.  They expect him to be a 20/10 low-post presence.  That's decidedly not what he is.  What he is ... is (huh?) an excellent facilitating presence who can knock down a shot or two when you need it.  If you're looking for him to put his stamp on a game by helping fake-Isaiah score or to lock down the paint or the defensive board, you'll be sorely disappointed.

They'll be an ok team but they're the new Hawks basically.  A well-coached, small team that'll get exposed once they reach that 1st/2nd round ceiling.  Difference is, the eggsperts have decided to anoint them where they snickered at us.

I do agree though that he's overrated as a leader.  He's a good guy who'll help the real leader along, but he's not a guy that's gonna step up and really lead.  His production betrays that.  How you gon' lead the team then go out and have 11/7 performances when they need you to score more than that?

Now lemme pull my bunker closed before @NBASupes drops bombs on me.  Wait, wait, wait .. ok, I'm ready.

[NBASupes]

6 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Well, here's the thing.  He's a glue guy, not a lead guy.  They paid him and spoke of him as if he was a lead guy.  That's the disconnect they'll struggle with.  They set expectations sky high.  They expect him to be a 20/10 low-post presence.  That's decidedly not what he is.  What he is ... is (huh?) an excellent facilitating presence who can knock down a shot or two when you need it.  If you're looking for him to put his stamp on a game by helping fake-Isaiah score or to lock down the paint or the defensive board, you'll be sorely disappointed.

They'll be an ok team but they're the new Hawks basically.  A well-coached, small team that'll get exposed once they reach that 1st/2nd round ceiling.  Difference is, the eggsperts have decided to anoint them where they snickered at us.

I do agree though that he's overrated as a leader.  He's a good guy who'll help the real leader along, but he's not a guy that's gonna step up and really lead.  His production betrays that.  How you gon' lead the team then go out and have 11/7 performances when they need you to score more than that?

Now lemme pull my bunker closed before @NBASupes drops bombs on me.  Wait, wait, wait .. ok, I'm ready.

There a lot that goes into the game. I can't expect everyone to see that. Al does a lot of those things. Raw numbers is not why Al got big money. It's clear Al was not signed to lead them to a title but to be that piece that is perfect for that final piece like Cousins, etc. 

Boston didn't sign him to be a 20/10 guy. 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

There a lot that goes into the game. I can't expect everyone to see that. Al does a lot of those things. Raw numbers is not why Al got big money. It's clear Al was not signed to lead them to a title but to be that piece that is perfect for that final piece like Cousins, etc. 

Boston didn't sign him to be a 20/10 guy. 

You can't always assume everyone else's understanding of the game is deficient.  I suppose I was moreso referring to fan/media expectations.  They all do indeed think he's supposed to be their 20/10 guy leading them to a title.

Like I said, he's supposed to be an excellent facilitating piece.  As such, it is very difficult for him to be an actual "leader".  Noah was able to do it but he did what he did at a near-MVP level.  Al's never done anything close to that.  Now, before you start yelling, I'm not saying he's not a good player.  I'm saying he's not what they've been selling him to be and they'll soon learn that.

[NBASupes]

1 minute ago, kg01 said:

You can't always assume everyone else's understanding of the game is deficient.  I suppose I was moreso referring to fan/media expectations.  They all do indeed think he's supposed to be their 20/10 guy leading them to a title.

Like I said, he's supposed to be an excellent facilitating piece.  As such, it is very difficult for him to be an actual "leader".  Noah was able to do it but he did what he did at a near-MVP level.  Al's never done anything close to that.  Now, before you start yelling, I'm not saying he's not a good player.  I'm saying he's not what they've been selling him to be and they'll soon learn that.

Fans should know what Al is at this point. 

I disagree. Boston isn't using him right at the moment. Not sure Amir is the best fit next to Al as well. 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Fans should know what Al is at this point. 

I disagree. Boston isn't using him right at the moment. Not sure Amir is the best fit next to Al as well. 

Have you not read/heard what folks have been saying about him?  There were 2 articles last week about how he's a great low post scorer and how he'll help protect the rim.  They have no clue what he is.

I imagine they pair Amir with him assuming Amir will do the dirty work Al doesn't.

[NBASupes]

2 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Have you not read/heard what folks have been saying about him?  There were 2 articles last week about how he's a great low post scorer and how he'll help protect the rim.  They have no clue what he is.

I imagine they pair Amir with him assuming Amir will do the dirty work Al doesn't.

He is a rim and paint protector. Right now, I wish Dwight could be a paint protector and stop getting beat on misdirections and PnRs. 

What fan said Al was a great low post scorer? lol. 

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

He is a rim and paint protector. Right now, I wish Dwight could be a paint protector and stop getting beat on misdirections and PnRs. 

What fan said Al was a great low post scorer? lol. 

Bro, it wasn't just the fans ...

http://hawksquawk.net/community/topic/417862-bs-article-on-yahoo/

[NBASupes]

Just now, kg01 said:

Bro, it wasn't just the fans ...

http://hawksquawk.net/community/topic/417862-bs-article-on-yahoo/

What in the Bill Simmons? 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

What in the Bill Simmons? 

Some of us speculated you contributed to that article.  Ha!  Ah c'mon, that was funny.

Anyway, like I said, the anti-wHorford stuff is probably primarily in response to that kind of nonsense.  He's a good player, but he's not what they've billed him to be and that'll be a problem for them (w.r.t expectations).

[Guest]

Al Horford....aaahhh I just wanna chuckle. Honestly, can Al contact charmin and look into doing toilet paper ads? He's sooooooofffftttt. IT is more aggressive in going after a rebound than Al. Enjoy Celtics fans.

[Guest]

I guess they didn't get the memo.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, NBASupes said:

What in the Bill Simmons? 

Also the article  about how their perimeter players will get open 3s because of all the double team Al will command. Smh.

It's like they haven't seen Al play and understand the strengths of his game.

[Thomas]

4 hours ago, Spud2Nique said:

Al Horford....aaahhh I just wanna chuckle. Honestly, can Al contact charmin and look into doing toilet paper ads? He's sooooooofffftttt. IT is more aggressive in going after a rebound than Al. Enjoy Celtics fans.

The Green have their very own "Mr. Whipple". Another contract for Al after just two games no less.

[Watchman]

The Celtics leading rebounder is a 6'2" guard (Bradley)!!!  Too funny!

[Thomas]

On 10/28/2016 at 7:14 PM, Watchman said:

The Celtics leading rebounder is a 6'2" guard (Bradley)!!!  Too funny!

Their best rebounder and best three point shooter. Even at his height Avery must be the center Ainge has been talking about. Out rebounding Al by three rebounds a game and more than doubling his three point %. Pretty crazy whether its just three games or not.  

[sturt]

On 10/28/2016 at 9:48 AM, NBASupes said:

There a lot that goes into the game. I can't expect everyone to see that. Al does a lot of those things. Raw numbers is not why Al got big money. It's clear Al was not signed to lead them to a title but to be that piece that is perfect for that final piece like Cousins, etc. 

Boston didn't sign him to be a 20/10 guy. 

I can agree with a lot of that... think there's some overlap in this and what kg01 said.