What’s up with JB?

[Jvalin]

Nothing is up with JB. He's at his best when running in the open court, but he's playing for a slow-paced team. In fact, the C's have the 7th slowest pace in the league.

[Vermont Green]

What's encouraging for me is that Jaylen seems to have finally accepted that Tatum is the offensive alpha now.

Disagree that he is the "worst defender" in our starting 5. He is a plus plus on-ball defender who has reduced his foul rate this year, and causes many peripheral problems once the ball moves into the paint, better than Tatum.

He has also struggled with several injury niggles this year.

Who do you think is the worst defender in our starting 5 then?

I don't think this question is relevant.  It doesn't matter how Brown ranks against other Celtics players playing other positions.  What matters is how does he rank against other shooting guards around the league.  Or better yet, how does he rank against other SGs who score 20+ points?

SGs scoring over 20 ppg include DeRozan, Booker, Mitchell, LaVine, SGA, and Herro.  Maybe Lillard, Doncic depending on how you want to classify them.  Isn't Brown arguably the best defender of that group?  And in most cases by quite a margin?  Kawhi Leonard would be in the group and perhaps would be the one to beat Brown.

Jaylen is a a terrific defensive player for his position and has the size and versatility to defend effectively at multiple positions.  I think this is a silly fabricated narrative that serves no purpose.  Trying to compare Jaylen's defense to Horford's makes no sense.  Maybe you can try to determine that Jaylen ranks as the Xth defensive SG and Horford the Yth PF or something and if you did that, probably both are really good.  But does it really make any difference if Brown is say 7th and Horford is 4th?

[nickagneta]

What a bunch of you aren't getting about Brown and Tatum's defense is Brown is assigned the tougher player every time. Brown guards the big ball handlers/offensive engines. Tatum doesn't.

Smart and Brown cover the Cade Cunningham's, the Luka Doncic's, the James Harden's, the Jimmy Butler's of the NBA. Brown gets the tougher job. Tatum is usually on one of the weakest offensive players the opposition has. It allows him to roam and play great weak side defense.

But if the Celtics need the guy that runs the show stopped or slowed down, it's Brown and Smart that get the tough assignments.

For that reason, and his ability to guard 1-4(remember Brown on Siakam in the playoffs), I rated Brown as good as Tatum, just with different strengths. Horford too. That why I rate them all about equal in defense.

[gouki88]

What's encouraging for me is that Jaylen seems to have finally accepted that Tatum is the offensive alpha now.

Disagree that he is the "worst defender" in our starting 5. He is a plus plus on-ball defender who has reduced his foul rate this year, and causes many peripheral problems once the ball moves into the paint, better than Tatum.

He has also struggled with several injury niggles this year.

Who do you think is the worst defender in our starting 5 then?

Jaylen is clearly the worst defender in the starting lineup and he’s not a bad defender.

1) Smart
2) Timelord
3) Tatum
4) Horford
5) Brown

Tatum is the most underrated defender on the team. He can guard 1-4.

I think there is a clear delineation with Smart and Timelord and the rest but if you asked me the order of the next three, I would call it a three way draw. They each have strengths and weaknesses and I think their strengths make up for the others weaknesses.

1. Smart
2. Timelord
3. Horford and Brown and Tatum.

Disagree. Tatum is closer to Smart and Timelord in defensive ability than he is to Horford or Brown. His added strength has helped him on both ends of the court and it’s noticeable.

Horford is a clear tier above the Jays. He is perhaps the best switch defender in the entire NBA this season.

Horford has been very good, however, I just think that Tatums ability to guard 4 positions make him at least as valuable, if not more.

I simply think this is wrong. If you look at our individual match-up stats, Horford has two of our top three most shots defended by an individual opposition player. Those two players are Julius Randle and Bradley Beal, with 21 and 20 shots respectively. Their field goal %? 38.1 and 35 respectively.

He's held Trae Young to 6/17 shooting, Joel Embiid to 5/16 shooting and Ja Morant to 5/13. Al seems to better at being versatile when it comes to defending opposition stars, of all positions.

[Roy H.]

No more shooting for JB.  Dunks only.

[gouki88]

No more shooting for JB.  Dunks only.

We need someone to hit shots...

[Goldstar88]

What a bunch of you aren't getting about Brown and Tatum's defense is Brown is assigned the tougher player every time. Brown guards the big ball handlers/offensive engines. Tatum doesn't.

Smart and Brown cover the Cade Cunningham's, the Luka Doncic's, the James Harden's, the Jimmy Butler's of the NBA. Brown gets the tougher job. Tatum is usually on one of the weakest offensive players the opposition has. It allows him to roam and play great weak side defense.

But if the Celtics need the guy that runs the show stopped or slowed down, it's Brown and Smart that get the tough assignments.

For that reason, and his ability to guard 1-4(remember Brown on Siakam in the playoffs), I rated Brown as good as Tatum, just with different strengths. Horford too. That why I rate them all about equal in defense.

Yeah, Tatum is left to cover the KD’s and Lebron’s.

[liam]

No more shooting for JB.  Dunks only.

We need someone to hit shots...

NICE!