Celtics shooting percentages as a team

[MikeB12]

First, I want to say what a great win for the Celtics last night against the Warriors.  Surprising to beat the champs on their home court and stop the NBAs longest home winning streak but great for the Celtics.   Showed a lot of poise and heart to not give up and hang on for the win.

In an earlier post, about whether Brad is responsible for the Celtics poor shooting as a team and struggles on offense, I mentioned it was tough to watch them at times because of their shooting troubles.

BitterJim posted that the Celtics have the the 11th most efficient offense.  Not sure where that stat came from but I did some research.

On NBA.com, the Celtics shoot an overall 43.9% from the field (includes 2 and 3 pointers) which is only better than 5 teams in the entire league.   On 3 pointers the C's shoot 33.5% which is only better than 4 teams in the league. 

I think those statistics confirm that the Celtics are not a good shooting team so I can't see how they have an "efficient" offense.  The Celtics do shoot 78.8% from the free throw line which is 5th in the league which does help because when they miss a shot and get fouled they can make up for the miss by making free throws.

If the Celtics can play defense like they did last night against GS they have a chance to win their 1st round playoff series.  But the poor shooting as a team I believe will eventually result in either a first or second round playoff loss.  If they can draft a few players this year and next that have more offensive skills they will be able to improve and advance farther in the playoffs.  If not, I don't see how the current team can ever advance to the East finals or the NBA finals.

Having said this, Brad should get a lot of credit for this years improvement and this season has been a success and hoping for at least a first round playoff win.

MikeB

[BitterJim]

First, I want to say what a great win for the Celtics last night against the Warriors.  Surprising to beat the champs on their home court and stop the NBAs longest home winning streak but great for the Celtics.   Showed a lot of poise and heart to not give up and hang on for the win.

In an earlier post, about whether Brad is responsible for the Celtics poor shooting as a team and struggles on offense, I mentioned it was tough to watch them at times because of their shooting troubles.

BitterJim posted that the Celtics have the the 11th most efficient offense.  Not sure where that stat came from but I did some research.

On NBA.com, the Celtics shoot an overall 43.9% from the field (includes 2 and 3 pointers) which is only better than 5 teams in the entire league.   On 3 pointers the C's shoot 33.5% which is only better than 4 teams in the league. 

I think those statistics confirm that the Celtics are not a good shooting team so I can't see how they have an "efficient" offense.  The Celtics do shoot 78.8% from the free throw line which is 5th in the league which does help because when they miss a shot and get fouled they can make up for the miss by making free throws.

If the Celtics can play defense like they did last night against GS they have a chance to win their 1st round playoff series.  But the poor shooting as a team I believe will eventually result in either a first or second round playoff loss.  If they can draft a few players this year and next that have more offensive skills they will be able to improve and advance farther in the playoffs.  If not, I don't see how the current team can ever advance to the East finals or the NBA finals.

Having said this, Brad should get a lot of credit for this years improvement and this season has been a success and hoping for at least a first round playoff win.

MikeB

http://stats.nba.com/league/team/#!/advanced/?sort=OFF_RATING&dir=1

They've now dropped into a tie for 12th (with the Timberwolves), although they're just 0.1 behind the Heat (103.9 vs. 103.8 ).

(Offensive rating is the points scored per 100 possessions)

[mctyson]

The Celtics are a bad shooting team, by NBA standards, but they have a decent offense because they put up an ton of shots due to the pace they play at (some of this is also due to them being good defensive team, and getting turnovers).

The Offensive Rating that people use to measure "efficiency" takes that into account since it looks at how many points they score per 100 possessions, which is roughly how many you would expect in an NBA game.

Like Doc said, it is a "make or miss" league.  At the end of the day guys have to put the ball in the basket to win games.  Recently the Cs have done a lot more missing, hence the losing.  Last night, they shot better and voila - they won.

[PhoSita]

The stat referred to is Offensive Efficiency.


The Celts are a poor shooting team, it's true, but they are one of the best offensive rebounding teams, they play a fast pace, they get lots of assists, and they don't turn the ball over much.  They're top 10 in all of those categories.


Imagine if the Celts were also an above average shooting team on top of all of that.  They'd have an elite offense.