Don't know whether those words by Brown made the Celtics play with a different vibe against the Cavs. Obviously an inferior opponent to the 76ers, but the defensive intensity was great.
In particular
his intensity was higher. He didn't say that
we can do better, he said that
he could. That's why I'm making a big deal about leadership here. Words do matter, but what he said is more than pointing out what the team is not doing, it's committing himself to being a 'villainous' defender, as he put it.
And even Edwards and Nesmith had great performances.
Fans are quick to judge, aren't they?
During the off-season I posted about what Carsen needs to do to get in an NBA rotation. People are looking at his 3-pt%, which is important, but I think that that part of his game will be fine; he just needs reps.
What I said was really holding him back was two things: 1) getting to the rim and finishing off the dribble; and 2) making plays for teammates.
His early results with getting to the rim and finishing are small-sample sized but impressive: he's 8/9 in the restricted area. This is night/day difference from last season.
Also important for his game is being able to stop and pop short of the rim when he can't get all the way; he's 2/3 on those. Those were jump shots; he needs to add a floater.
As for making plays for teammates - we could charitably call it a work in progress. On the plus side, he's got the lowest TOV% on the team, down there with Ojeleye. Part of that is excellent handles, part is that he's looking to score. Last year he had 10 turnovers - none of them on bad passes, because he wasn't giving it up. That's got to change.
Nice to see. Let's hope that they can keep this intensity, pace and teamwork the following games.
That's the key, isn't it? It's all very well to say you'll work harder, and doing it for a few days against Cleveland and Chicago is at least encouraging. But in March, when everybody's banged up and the team needs him to keep scoring?
To be continued.
