Brad Stevens on areas C's need to improve

[GreenWarrior]

Winning. I think the Celtics should work on winning.

yeah that went well this season.

[mgent]

Honestly I think I agree with the approach. Sure I would love a rim protector, but it is always better to draft the best available talent rather than drafting for need. We need stars, regardless of position, if the C's have to choose between a rim protector who tops out as a good starter or a wing who could be an all star then you have to choose the wing.

I'm probably in the minority but I think scoring was a bigger problem (mostly for the starters) than the rim protection (although I expect this to improve internally with improvements in young players)

I'm with you.  Some people act like simply adding a rim protector could completely turn this team around.  But from what I saw by watching the games, our lack of pick and roll defense is 1000 times worse than our lack of rim protectors.  Screw the rim, what we really need is a Kevin Garnett type defender.  A big who is mobile, can play aggressively without getting beat or back-doored, and can rotate quickly enough to cover everyone else's butts.  That's what we should be focusing on; finding a guy to guard the inside of the dotted line should be no where near as close of a priority.

Who cares about the defense 3 feet from the basket?  I'd rather be looking for guys who can defend anywhere within 25 feet from the basket (or like you say, scorers).

If you're good at stopping penetration, a rim protector isn't even needed.  On the other hand, you can have the best rim protectors in the world, but if the opponent is penetrating, and those protectors have to rotate, they're completely useless (or even if they do cause a miss, everyone's out of position for the rebound).

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I wholeheartedly agree. We we're running a system in which we get open shots from the 3 but we're not knocking them down.

We need better shooters. Here's hoping Crowder improves his shooting. Heck, here's hoping everybody improves their shooting.

[byennie]

On Thomas, this is where the old "rim protector" comes into play. If your center is Olynyk or Zeller, guys are going to beat Thomas off the dribble and score points in the paint all day.

On the other hand, if you have a real deterrent under the hoop, you can play differently. Thomas can press his man, take away the 3PT shot, and gamble for steals. It won't make him a net positive on defense, but it's a much harder proposition for the opponent when they are put under pressure and forced to score 2PT shots over a shot blocker.