I really wouldn't put this streak at all on Bradley.
1.- Moore didn't start playing D like he has been because of Bradley. Moore has been playing great d since coming, and is only now being recognized for it, because his play on offense has made his entire game more visible.
2.- Brandon Bass has had at least as much of an impact as Bradley in our wins (more of an impact in maybe all but one).
3.- Paul Pierce has darn near been the best player in the league this week. If anything has sparked our turnaround, I'd say it's the turnaround that pierce has made himself.
Really Bradley had one stellar game where he was allowed to get away with more hand checking than normal. Outside of that 1 performance he's been only slightly better than average this week.
I disagree.
Moore's defense has been average at best. His slow feet mean he gets beaten by quicker guards all the time. The last two games have been better- he has good hands and can disrupt cutting players quite well.
His offense and ball control are great though, he needs to stay aggressive and hopefully his terrible shooting will pick up.
Pierce speaks for himself.
Bass is just doing what Bass does.
I truly believe that Bradley has inspired our team to improve their defense and this is what has turned us around.
We are playing simple.
If anything outside of Bradley has helped us, it's been Pietrus' toughness and hard nosed play. He isn't afraid of anyone on the court and isn't afraid to take the last shot.
He's been about as good a replacement for Jeff Green that we could hope for.
I've said this before, but when our teams veterans see a young guy like Bradley come out in his second year and play defense like that on starting point guards, it sets a tone for every game. Opposing teams are getting less than 15 seconds to make the first pass in every play they run, and it's leading to forced errors, rushed shots, and players questioning where they should be on offense because it disrupts the timing of their system.
This defense is turning into fast breaks and wide open transition threes and easy open lanes for Pierce with our 3 point shooters on the wings.
Defense is what's winning us these games, and Bradley has sparked that defensive tenacity that we were missing in the first 15 games. Something needed to light a fire in their bellys and I think a combination of media/trade talks of moving Pierce or KG being washed up/cooked combined with the efforts of our young bench guys has set something off in the locker room.
It's only gonna get better as Wilcox and Dooling come back because they too are hungry to win after playing on such terrible teams their whole careers.
Winning is contagious, defensive energy is contagious and so is discipline.
For me though the number one factor has been Bradley's defense and the tone it's set while Rondo's been out; if a second year bench warmer can play with all his heart, why cant the 5,8,14 year veterans?
I guess it's a bit harder to prove then offense, but I think Moores defense has been about as good as Bradleys. His defense isn't as disruptive, because he doesnt pickup full court as often or play as physical as Bradley, but in my opinion he gets beaten LESS than Bradley. Often Bradley over commits on defense, and ends up behind his man. Moore gives them a bit more space, which results in less chances for stupid hand check fouls, less chance of being beaten off the dribble, and a greater chance of giving up an open shot (the 1 negative). Bradleys defense certainly looks "better" since its so in your face, but that same style of play can play into the oppositions hands by giving up fouls.
On the flip side, Bradley offers no offense. He can score on break aways, and occasional cuts, but he doesnt have any offensive skills (crossover, jump shot, floater, etc). Moore has shown a bunch of moves. It doesnt make sense to say "hopefully his shooting will improve", because it already has. The last 2 games he's knocked down his shots. If we widen the sample size to include the start of the season when he was shooting poorly, then that sample will also include all the earlier games when Bradley was absolutely atrocious.
Over the last 4 games, Bradley shot 1/8, 2/7, 3/7, 2/7. Thats horrible. Over the same course, he had 15 assists to 12 turnovers. Thats bad as well. In those 4 games, he has 4 steals, and 2 blocks (Moore had 3 steals and 3 blocks over that span despite playing far less minutes). The only reason anyone is talking about how inspired Bradleys play has been, is because his earlier play was so amazingly bad, that the standard is just that low.
I think it's a mistake to disregard Pierces turnaround as a factor as well. He wasn't "speaking for himself" in the previous games. He was playing poorly. Now he's playing like a top 5 NBA player. I dont think it's fair to Pierce, to say that change is because of Bradley, but it IS a big change.
Bass also isnt just "doing what he does". He hasnt had a consecutive streak of games where he's put up numbers like the last 4 games in years. This was actually mentioned during the telecast of the last game.
The whole team is playing much better....but it isnt because of Avery.
I disagree. Avery rarely gets beat 1 on 1 and the 3 times i have seen him get beat, 2 out of the 3 times he ends up blocking the opponents shot from behind (Collison and Nelson).
As for your previous comment, where you state he had nothing to do with this winning streak, do you deny that he was a huge part of that first Orlando victory? I dont see how you can. Obviously Doc, Paul and the whole team think he was. He hasnt made the opposing PG look like a fool since then but he still plays stifling defense whenever he comes in.
Collison beat Bradley off the dribble, with Bradley ending up behind him multiple times. And I am not saying Bradley didnt play a big part in the 1st Orlando victory. That victory was a team victory, with all of our players playing considerably better than before. If I would give anyone credit for that win though, it would be Bass. He had one of the best games he's had in years that game. That game was also one of KGs best in recent memory. It's not like it was a dominant game for Avery Bradley
Bradley went 2 for 7 the 1st ORL game (which was one of his best), missed layups, and had 3 assists in 30 minutes at PG. Moore was also 2 for 7 with 3 assists, but 4 of his 5 misses were 3's (a couple of which were a result of the rest of the teams inability to create a shot earlier in the clock). Basically, even in that game (which was one of Averys best), you could argue that Moore was more efficient than him.
The washington game before that...Bradley was horrible, going 1 for 8, with 6 turnovers, and 3 blocks against him in 40 minutes. The 2nd orlando game, Bradley was bad again, with more than twice as many turnovers as assist (5 versus 2). The pacers game, Bradley was bad again, ending with a 2 for 7 line (missing all of his jumpshots), and throwing the ball away attempting an unnecessary save when the ball was already ours.
Basically Bradley had 1 decent game (where he was still arguably less efficient than Moore), and 3 bad ones.
The reason people on here act like Bradley is shooting worse than Moore, is because he IS. He misses almost all of his shots, and theyre usually much easier than the shots Moore attempts. Moore has a low fg%, from shooting contested jumpers and 3s. Bradley misses more jumpers, but has padded his fg% on layups and break aways.
Considering his sole contribution is his defense, it might surprise some people that Moore currently has a higher steals percentage, blocks percentage, and overall defensive rating than Bradley (not to mention ranking higher in total shooting percentage, effective shooting percentgae, assist percentage, and per).
Topic: AVERY BRADLEY was the one who sparked our winning streak (Read 17575 times)