Avery Bradley - lets give some credit where it's due

[crimson_stallion]

Since everybody is so down on Avery Bradley on this forum, I'd just like give him a little bit of praise for the way he's been playing as of late.

Before I elaborate, these are Avery Bradley's stats in the month of February (9 games in total):

23.7 points
4 assists
4 rebounds
2 steals
0.9 turnovers
48% FG
40% 3PT
64% FT

Ok so he's been in a bit of a funk with his free throws, but I have to say I've never seen Bradley play this good over such a long stretch of games - it feels like he's really taken over as one of the leaders of this team since Rondo and Green were traded out, and it seems he's really elevated his game. 

I've noticed it too - every game I've been seeing a couple of really nice assists from Bradley along with a couple of impressive dribble moves that has left me thinking "hey, I've never seen him do THAT before!". 

Sure he's still fumbled the odd dribble and thrown the odd bad pass, but when your top scorer is averaging 0.9 turnovers per game while giving you nearly 24/4/4 then I'm seriously not complaining.

Plus his jumper has been straight out deadly, and his defensive intensity has been going up again (that steal today followed by the three on the other end got me excited like a teenager going through puberty lol). 

So considering how much criticism Bradley cops around here every other day, I felt it was only fair to give him kudos for the way he's been playing lately - now lets see if (or how long) he can keep it up!

[Chris22]

Bradley has played well.

I will be the first to admit I was wrong about him.

[moiso]

It's been his healthiest season so far, too.

[Maurice98]

24/4/4/2 with 48/40/64 are elite numbers for a guard and I know they will slightly decrease.Now   I consider AB one of the best 2 way guards in the league with relentless and hounding defense and improving offense.

But he showed me that he can still improve as you can see his number in assists and steals but the thing that I like the most is that his help defense is now above average.

AB in this trip is tearing it up!

[mr. dee]

When I saw him blew by his defender, I thought it was IT handling the ball. And yeah, his defensive intensity is returning, resulting to 6 steals.

[BleedGreen1989]

Thanks for this thread. Much deserving.

His handle has seemed to improve quite a bit as well.

[Yenohb]

Bradley has played well.

I will be the first to admit I was wrong about him.

Same here. 'Been an AB skeptic for a while but he has proven us(skeptics) wrong lately.

[Granath]

I have been both supportive and critical of Bradley. I admit I was just about to give up on him a couple of months ago. He seemed to have plateaued for much of this year and at some points looked like he was regressing. He was especially brutal in December.

He's hitting .404 of his 3 point FGs in February and .483 of his 2 pointers. I don't expect that to continue. But what he is doing is contributing better in other aspects of the game. His rebounding is up to almost 4 per game. Assists are up. Steals are up. These are all good things. These show he is contributing in other ways, something he needs to do to earn his keep.

When Bradley is putting up 12/1/1 lines and playing ok defense, he's not worth a starting role or his contract. When he's putting up 14/3/3 and playing lockdown defense, he's worth it.

I don't know if this stretch of games is just the law of averages playing out to balance out his horrible December play or if the trades have freed him up to take the next step. He could just be progressing back to the mean (usually that's phrased as regressing, but in this case progressing fits). After all, he's still below his 2014 averages even with this productivity burst. Maybe as one of the more elder statesmen on the team, he's realized he can step up his game and is doing so. It could as easily be one or the other.

So I suppose we'll see in the next two months whether we have a new Avery Bradley or whether this is just a short drop of production in a larger sea of mediocrity.

[crimson_stallion]

I agree completely, and I was in the same boat about a month ago - felt like Bradley was really struggling and losing composure.  I've always had confidence and support for Bradley, but I seriously started to question whether it was about time to give up and admit that everybody else was right. 

Then the trades happened, and this recent run...and my faith is starting to come back lol

I certainly don't expect him to continue to put up the numbers he has thus far in February (if he did, along with his defence, he'd probably be a top 3 SG in the league!) but honestly if he can maintain around 18/4/3/2 while shooting 46%/40%/70% over the remainder of the season I will be absolutely thrilled.

If he can sustain numbers like that he'd be legitimately considered in All-Star talk. 

I'm really happy to see him do well, too.  He seems like a great kid - respectful, hard working, modest, and a good teammate.  I really want to see him do well probably more than any other player on this team because I really feel he deserves it. 

With AB I have always felt that the biggest thing holding him back is himself.  I've always seen flashes of the talent (even the odd flash of passing and dribbling ability) but he's one of those guys who's game seems to go as his confidence does.  When he's forced into a bigger role it's like he feels more important, and his confidence gets a boost, he starts thinking less (and playing off instinct) and then his game just goes up to a whole other level.  When his role reduces or he goes through a bad stretch and his confidence drops, it's like he starts second guessing himself and overthinking things, and then and his game really suffers. 

Maybe now he might even be feeling a higher sense of urgency/responsibility as one of the veterans on this team to take his game to another level (while before he could hide in the shadows and defer). 

All I know is that if Bradley can sustain even 80% of his recent play, and we can combine that with the extra production of Isaiah Thomas, this team will be more dangerous than people thing.

[playdream]

Yes he is in good condition but it's still too early to tell
He need to prove it's not fool's gold(again) by keeping this to season end
That's of course if he didn't hurt himself, again

[The One]

Yes, I like this thread...some rational positivity.

He's playing a lot better on both ends.

Something to be encouraged about.

[JBcat]

Should the Joe Dumars comparisons start up again? Lol

Seriously if he keeps up even 80% of what he has been doing as the previous poster stated I'm feeling really good about our guard rotation including a little bit of James Young.

[Celtics4ever]

He has played well lately, we need a leader folks.   I hope it is not the cyclical path that our guys often tread.   I hope he has taken a step forward.   Thomas is good and he serves notice both to Bradley and Smart that if you do not play, the C's have another valid option.   He may thus, make our guys play harder and better.

[saltlover]

He's hit some big shots too.  I know we didn't win against the Lakers, but those shots he made to force overtime were huge, especially the one at the buzzer off the dribble.

I still don't think Bradley will be a star.  But I do think his best years are definitely ahead of him.  It would be great if he could keep up with some of the secondary stuff he brings, since as a jump-shooter, he's going to go through streaks.  It just comes with the territory, but if you can still contribute positively on both ends of the floor, even when your shot isn't falling, that's big.

[kozlodoev]

Since everybody is so down on Avery Bradley on this forum, I'd just like give him a little bit of praise for the way he's been playing as of late.

Before I elaborate, these are Avery Bradley's stats in the month of February (9 games in total):

23.7 points
4 assists
4 rebounds
2 steals
0.9 turnovers
48% FG
40% 3PT
64% FT

Ok so he's been in a bit of a funk with his free throws, but I have to say I've never seen Bradley play this good over such a long stretch of games - it feels like he's really taken over as one of the leaders of this team since Rondo and Green were traded out, and it seems he's really elevated his game. 

I've noticed it too - every game I've been seeing a couple of really nice assists from Bradley along with a couple of impressive dribble moves that has left me thinking "hey, I've never seen him do THAT before!". 

Sure he's still fumbled the odd dribble and thrown the odd bad pass, but when your top scorer is averaging 0.9 turnovers per game while giving you nearly 24/4/4 then I'm seriously not complaining.

Plus his jumper has been straight out deadly, and his defensive intensity has been going up again (that steal today followed by the three on the other end got me excited like a teenager going through puberty lol). 

So considering how much criticism Bradley cops around here every other day, I felt it was only fair to give him kudos for the way he's been playing lately - now lets see if (or how long) he can keep it up!

Your numbers are wrong.

BR has Bradley at 19/4/2.5 in 35 minutes of action. Improved production likely mostly attributable to increased minutes. Also, this shooting percentage is probably not sustainable.