Jaylen Brown looks like a 2-way star

[Somebody]

Something that I don't think is being discussed enough is that, Brown has been playing so great while basically playing the PF position. Seven of the top 8 players he has been guarding by total minutes are, in order,

Siakam
Randle
Horford
Toby Harris
Morris, Sr.
Anunoby
Knox

And he has done a very credible if not extremely good job on all those guys defensively. If he hadn't been called for some fairly terrible fouls, his numbers might be even better than they are.

I find it interesting that people debated this past summer whether Tatum or Hayward would be the team's de facto PF. First game, the C's need someone to guard the guy we played at center last year, Horford, and out of Hayward and Tatum, Stevens chose.....his starting SG to guard him. And Stevens continues to give the toughest matchup 2-4 to Brown. I think that speaks volumes for how much confidence Stevens has in Brown's defensive abilities versus the defensive chops of Tatum or Hayward.

He might be one of the few guys on the team that have been consistently driving the lane and kicking it out to create offense, something he has not done in the past. He is creating for others doing that, which is the type of offense Stevens loves: attack the basket, finish or kick it out for the open shot or rotate the ball for the open shot or rotate to another guy to attack and dry, rinse and repeat.

Brown's handle, playmaking, court vision, physicality and efficiency have all taken major leaps forward. He is becoming the star, that I have been saying for three years he would become. Way to go Jaylen.

and that is a big problem, especially as the season goes on.  Brown isn't big enough to take that abuse consistently and perform consistently while doing it.  It will start to wear on him.  The team needs a real PF.

I mean he's not gonna cover the PF's all year. There are team that dont have a good offensive PF and in those cases I imagine Jaylen with cover the best offensive wing player or guard.  We've just so happened to play a team with a) All PF size guys b) A team with an all star level PF in Siakim and C) A team of 100% PF's. I imagine he'll be covering guys like Butler against MIA, Beal against WAS, Levine against CHI, ect.

If Jaylen isnt covering the PF who is? Tatum is just as if not more important offensively and isnt nearly as physical as Jaylen (he need to gain 20 pounds) so it either needs to be Hayward or start Grant? 

Also its a good sign that we've collectively gone from "Lets trade Jaylen so we don't have to pay him" all the way to "He's too important to guard PF's all year!" in like 3 games.

If Grant keeps on showing up with these solid role player performances I'd be in favour of starting him at PF and playing Hayward as a sixth man (so the second unit becomes a passable one for a good team of Edwards/Smart/Hayward/Theis or Semi/Kanter, Rob or Theis while we beef up our starting 5).

[Somebody]

Something that I don't think is being discussed enough is that, Brown has been playing so great while basically playing the PF position. Seven of the top 8 players he has been guarding by total minutes are, in order,

Siakam
Randle
Horford
Toby Harris
Morris, Sr.
Anunoby
Knox

And he has done a very credible if not extremely good job on all those guys defensively. If he hadn't been called for some fairly terrible fouls, his numbers might be even better than they are.

I find it interesting that people debated this past summer whether Tatum or Hayward would be the team's de facto PF. First game, the C's need someone to guard the guy we played at center last year, Horford, and out of Hayward and Tatum, Stevens chose.....his starting SG to guard him. And Stevens continues to give the toughest matchup 2-4 to Brown. I think that speaks volumes for how much confidence Stevens has in Brown's defensive abilities versus the defensive chops of Tatum or Hayward.

He might be one of the few guys on the team that have been consistently driving the lane and kicking it out to create offense, something he has not done in the past. He is creating for others doing that, which is the type of offense Stevens loves: attack the basket, finish or kick it out for the open shot or rotate the ball for the open shot or rotate to another guy to attack and dry, rinse and repeat.

Brown's handle, playmaking, court vision, physicality and efficiency have all taken major leaps forward. He is becoming the star, that I have been saying for three years he would become. Way to go Jaylen.

and that is a big problem, especially as the season goes on.  Brown isn't big enough to take that abuse consistently and perform consistently while doing it.  It will start to wear on him.  The team needs a real PF.

I mean he's not gonna cover the PF's all year. There are team that dont have a good offensive PF and in those cases I imagine Jaylen with cover the best offensive wing player or guard.  We've just so happened to play a team with a) All PF size guys b) A team with an all star level PF in Siakim and C) A team of 100% PF's. I imagine he'll be covering guys like Butler against MIA, Beal against WAS, Levine against CHI, ect.

If Jaylen isnt covering the PF who is? Tatum is just as if not more important offensively and isnt nearly as physical as Jaylen (he need to gain 20 pounds) so it either needs to be Hayward or start Grant? 

Also its a good sign that we've collectively gone from "Lets trade Jaylen so we don't have to pay him" all the way to "He's too important to guard PF's all year!" in like 3 games.

um that was my point.  A SF is going to have to guard a PF this year, all year long.  If it isn't Brown as you point out it will be Tatum (or Hayward).  That is the problem.  Someone has to do it.  The team can get by for awhile, but at some point they need someone with size and talent to play PF.  And that might mean that they have to trade 1 of their 3 SF's to do it.

I imagine we'll play some combination of Theis/Grant at the 4 to help some pressure off of Hayward/Jaylen when it comes to guarding PFs. Grant "Tuckwagon 2.0" Williams seems to be a really solid player who can contribute right away ala rookie Sully, so I would slot him in as a legitimate rotation player as of right now.

[saltlover]

The thing is, Jaylen probably does have to be covering PF’s all year. I mean, how many teams are constructed like us?

If he does, there will be nights when it is easier.  There are ample teams that don’t run a lot of offense through PF-type players and/or have a lot of lineups with only one big.  Hawks, Nets, and Heat all jump to mind, but I’m sure there are others.

[PhoSita]

Jaylen has looked really good.


It's a 3 game sample, though, so hard to draw conclusions about what it is that he's doing better and what is sustainable.

[keevsnick]

The thing is, Jaylen probably does have to be covering PF’s all year. I mean, how many teams are constructed like us?

If he does, there will be nights when it is easier.  There are ample teams that don’t run a lot of offense through PF-type players and/or have a lot of lineups with only one big.  Hawks, Nets, and Heat all jump to mind, but I’m sure there are others.

Yep, this was my point. We pretty much have had the three most difficult PF matchups so far (well, non Giannis anyway). Ting is, if you wnat a true power forward then who are you taking out of the starting lineup? Would have to be hayward right?

[Somebody]

Jaylen has looked really good.


It's a 3 game sample, though, so hard to draw conclusions about what it is that he's doing better and what is sustainable.

From what I've seen I think we can expect the following things:
1. Improved decision making on offense, less whiffs when there's an opening that he can pass to and less reckless offensive possessions to increase his ball security.
2. Crisper passing, higher "good" pass conversion rate and the occasional high leverage pass like the bounce pass to Hayward against the Raptors to, unlocking high value open looks near the basket for his teammates.
3. Sharper ballhandling, less fumbles when trying to create his own offense and the use of advanced moves to break defenders off the dribble for easy looks as well as fouls to spike his scoring efficiency.
4. More methodical approach on offense by going at different speeds instead of only one to confuse defenders and open better looks for him to pass/shoot/dribble.

I'm expecting a big season from Jaylen Brown with these improvements to his game, I think he has the foundation to churn out a solid All-Star season, or even a low level All-NBA season if he can continue to hone on his skills and approach to the game as the season progresses.

[Donoghus]

Really liking the way he looks so far.  His confidence level seems through the roof and I have no problem with his aggressiveness.

[footey]

Jaylen light bulb went on: Slow down, cause you’re still quicker.

His lower body strength makes him our best multipositional defender. Surpasses Smart and Ojele.

[SHAQATTACK]

he is maturing nicely , he ll build on what he has now

[colincb]

Brown has made a big jump offensively. Seems to me that Brown is ahead of Tatum as of the moment.

Tatum is doing some very good things and with a little more discipline and skill could cause a jump in his offensive efficiency. He's also leading the NBA in steals and is 16th rebounds, so let's not bury him yet.

Disclaimer; based on a 3 game sample and preseason.

[tstorey_97]

Something that I don't think is being discussed enough is that, Brown has been playing so great while basically playing the PF position. Seven of the top 8 players he has been guarding by total minutes are, in order,

Siakam
Randle
Horford
Toby Harris
Morris, Sr.
Anunoby
Knox

And he has done a very credible if not extremely good job on all those guys defensively. If he hadn't been called for some fairly terrible fouls, his numbers might be even better than they are.

I find it interesting that people debated this past summer whether Tatum or Hayward would be the team's de facto PF. First game, the C's need someone to guard the guy we played at center last year, Horford, and out of Hayward and Tatum, Stevens chose.....his starting SG to guard him. And Stevens continues to give the toughest matchup 2-4 to Brown. I think that speaks volumes for how much confidence Stevens has in Brown's defensive abilities versus the defensive chops of Tatum or Hayward.

He might be one of the few guys on the team that have been consistently driving the lane and kicking it out to create offense, something he has not done in the past. He is creating for others doing that, which is the type of offense Stevens loves: attack the basket, finish or kick it out for the open shot or rotate the ball for the open shot or rotate to another guy to attack and dry, rinse and repeat.

Brown's handle, playmaking, court vision, physicality and efficiency have all taken major leaps forward. He is becoming the star, that I have been saying for three years he would become. Way to go Jaylen.

Will agree and add to this...

Gregg Popovich thinks very highly of Jaylen Brown...had him on his team this summer.

Been over this before, but, look at Brown's playoff stats compared to his team mates last year. He played hard in every game at both ends.

[Somebody]

Brown has made a big jump offensively. Seems to me that Brown is ahead of Tatum as of the moment.

Tatum is doing some very good things and with a little more discipline and skill could cause a jump in his offensive efficiency. He's also leading the NBA in steals and is 16th rebounds, so let's not bury him yet.

Disclaimer; based on a 3 game sample and preseason.

Agree with the bolded, knowing how to get the most out of a pretty good skillset is better than not knowing (and to an extent unable to due to a lack of strength and muscle) to get the most out of a very good skillset.

And no one's burying Tatum, I still think he has a ceiling of an MVP calibre player but the lad hasn't shown signs that he can put everything together yet (yes he put up great stats, but his performance was a mixed bag imo) so I'm not gushing over him right now.

[footey]

News flash:

Jaylen Brown is a better basketball player than Jayson Tatum. 

His athleticism has always been much better.

His handle, one of his major weaknesses, has really gotten better.

Jaylen finishes better than Jayson.

Jaylen defends better than Jayson.

Everyone has projected this future all star/all pro in Jason Tatum.  I never understood this.  Not in college. Yes, his first year was really good, especially for a young rookie.  But he was not asked to be the man.  And in the playoffs, I felt he got far more credit than he deserved. He played well. But no better than Jaylen (especially when factoring in his injury) and even Rozier was outstanding. 

I like Jayson Tatum. But now that we see how Jaylen Brown is starting to realize his potential, I think we can all acknowledge that, athletically, his ceiling is much higher than Tatum's. 

[droopdog7]

I like him.  He’s been aggressive.  But I still don’t see a star on offense.  He’s taking advantage of attention elsewhere which is good on him.  But he wouldn’t be able to handle the attention on him because of his limited offensive repertoire.

I can't disagree more with your statement, from what I've rewatched (I couldn't wake up for the games, but I did rewatch the games) his decision making and offensive skills are showing signs of what a star on offense has, while your lad Tatum has the skills but not the body and mind to use them.

His decision making has clearly improved.  And he's playing well; I'm glad Brown is on the team.  But being an important contributor to a good team and being a star are two different things.  His offense is still relatively rudimentary. 

If he had to be the alpha on a team I have no doubt he would put up some decent stats.  But that would be stats on a bad team.  He obviously isn't there yet but I don't think he'll ever reach star status.

Hope he proves me wrong.

[footey]

I like him.  He’s been aggressive.  But I still don’t see a star on offense.  He’s taking advantage of attention elsewhere which is good on him.  But he wouldn’t be able to handle the attention on him because of his limited offensive repertoire.

I can't disagree more with your statement, from what I've rewatched (I couldn't wake up for the games, but I did rewatch the games) his decision making and offensive skills are showing signs of what a star on offense has, while your lad Tatum has the skills but not the body and mind to use them.

His decision making has clearly improved.  And he's playing well; I'm glad Brown is on the team.  But being an important contributor to a good team and being a star are two different things.  His offense is still relatively rudimentary. 

If he had to be the alpha on a team I have no doubt he would put up some decent stats.  But that would be stats on a bad team.  He obviously isn't there yet but I don't think he'll ever reach star status.

Hope he proves me wrong.

I think he is in the process of doing so.