Bradley promised not to chuck from two. Now, He's chucking threes.

[KG Living Legend]

Good article from Kevin on the front page.

 Bradley chucked 255 deep two's. That was 87 more than any guard in the NBA. Reddick was two. Boy genius at it again, showing Avery the math.

 That should be 300 threes Bradley will be chucking this year, hopefully at 37%. If he really does decide to stop from deep two range.

 Avery's quote " Obviously that's the direction we are going in, because long two's don't make as much sense as a three pointer "

[jayk009]

This would greatly increase his value

[GreenWarrior]

wow this dude doesn't get it. it's not so much about taking long 2's as it is about when he takes 'em. jeez..

that pull up jumper is a valuable asset imo. I just would have liked to see that shot taken more when the shot clock was running down, not when there's 22 sec's left on the clock.

[Celtics4ever]

Some of guys have no business taking them but AB does to some degree.

[PhoSita]

The perimeter shots would be less of a problem if Avery had any inside game to speak of.

Focusing on taking more threes is all good and well, but those opportunities won't be there unless the threat of the drive exists.  Avery's lack of efficiency offensively is thanks mostly to the fact that he rarely gets to the rim or the free throw line.

Guys like Korver and Redick are efficient despite lacking an inside game, but I don't think it's realistic to expect Avery to turn into that type of shooter.

[greece66]

Avery's quote " Obviously that's the direction we are going in, because long two's don't make as much sense as a three pointer "

I remember having the exact same conversation this time last year.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

The perimeter shots would be less of a problem if Avery had any inside game to speak of.

Focusing on taking more threes is all good and well, but those opportunities won't be there unless the threat of the drive exists.  Avery's lack of efficiency offensively is thanks mostly to the fact that he rarely gets to the rim or the free throw line.

Guys like Korver and Redick are efficient despite lacking an inside game, but I don't think it's realistic to expect Avery to turn into that type of shooter.

Hit the nail in the head right here.

Even if he starts chucking threes, if there's no existent dribble drive game to worry about with Avery, opponents can comfortably close out on him.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Shooting 40% from Three...is like Shooting 60% from Two....not too many guards shoot 60% from 2---in fact none.

[BDeCosta26]

The perimeter shots would be less of a problem if Avery had any inside game to speak of.

Focusing on taking more threes is all good and well, but those opportunities won't be there unless the threat of the drive exists.  Avery's lack of efficiency offensively is thanks mostly to the fact that he rarely gets to the rim or the free throw line.

Guys like Korver and Redick are efficient despite lacking an inside game, but I don't think it's realistic to expect Avery to turn into that type of shooter.

Hit the nail in the head right here.

Even if he starts chucking threes, if there's no existent dribble drive game to worry about with Avery, opponents can comfortably close out on him.

I somewhat agree, If were going to rely on AB heavily for offense (which I hope isn't the case, at least not as much as pre-IT last year) I'd like to see more of the back-door cuts for easy lay-ups that were common in the late Big 3 era. The threat of that can buy Bradley that extra sliver of space he needs to shoot open 3's.

Of course, for a large portion of last season that little AB pick/one dribble/handoff play was one of the few clean, decent % shots we could regularly generate. Once we got IT, and we could start running the P&R with Zeller or P&P with KO again, we didn't rely on Avery quite so much.

So while I am not much higher on AB's ability to grow as a player with his dribble drive game, I do think our current roster will allow us to not rely so much on him. A lot of the flak he gets for shooting long 2's and 3's is unjustified, because they were mostly on set plays designed to generate exactly that kind of shot.

[Rondo9]

The perimeter shots would be less of a problem if Avery had any inside game to speak of.

Focusing on taking more threes is all good and well, but those opportunities won't be there unless the threat of the drive exists.  Avery's lack of efficiency offensively is thanks mostly to the fact that he rarely gets to the rim or the free throw line.

Guys like Korver and Redick are efficient despite lacking an inside game, but I don't think it's realistic to expect Avery to turn into that type of shooter.

I'm pretty sure he will decent it's not like he's a terrible shooter

[sofutomygaha]

It's worth mentioning that, if you do need a long two, Bradley is one of the best shooters-of-long-twos out there (43%). It's also worth mentioning that 40% of Bradley's attempts come with less than 10 seconds on the shot clock. He's not a chucker (even though we all have seen the stretches where he gets hot and start looking for that spot above the foul line).

If your offense hasn't managed to get you a good look from 3 or in the paint and the clock is winding down, the Avery Bradley 2-pointer is a relatively solid option.

[SHAQATTACK]

Promises

Promises

 

[Evantime34]

I hope Bradley isn't relied upon to create his own shots, I want him jacking 3's off penetration. I still think he can be a great 3 and d player if his teammates around him allow him to be.

If Smart is able to get to the hoop more Bradley will reap the rewards.

[crimson_stallion]

Honestly, AB gets so much hate on these forums and I really think he deserves a bit of slack. 

If you look at this team over the past two seasons (since KG and Doc left):

1) Avery Bradley has been the Celtics' undisputed defensive leader.  Not only does he frequently accept responsibility of defending the opponents top perimeter scorer, but our lack of a legit rim protector means he is essentially the Celtics first and last line of defense (quite literally). 

2) He has been forced into the role of a top 3 scorer for the past two seasons (something that isn't a natural role for him), and had to take on a far greater offensive load then he's ever had in the past.  No longer can he score quietly in the shadows while the stars do the heavy lifting - now he is doing the heavy lifting, and the defenses' attention is all on him.

3) He is one of only three Celtics players (the other's being Rondo and Green, who are now gone) who averaged over 30 MPG over both of the past two seasons.  So not only has he got far greater responsibility than anybody else on the team, he's also playing more minutes.

4) He's had to make the mental transition from Padawan to Master - going from the comfort of being able to sit back and learn from a bunch of hall of famers, to being forced to take charge and become a leader of a group of guys even less experienced than he is.   

There is honestly no player on this Celtics roster who has had to deal with more pressure over the past two seasons (both physical and mental) than Bradley has, so it's only reasonable to expect that a number of aspects of his game are probably going to drop off as a result.  In this case it's been primarily his defensive intensity and his tendency to attack the basket.  Both are understandable given the amount of physical energy he's had to expend on both ends of the court the past couple of years, as well as the mental energy of all the extra responsibility on his shoulders.

This year Bradley is going to have some help all year long.  He's got Thomas and Lee to help take off a lot of the offensive load, and Smart and Johnson to help take off some of the defensive load.  He also now has other vets on the team (namely Lee and Johnson) to help lead the team emotionally. 

All of this should take a LOT of pressure off Bradley, so I'll be to see if his defense and his offensive efficiency start to improve again, and get closer to where they were in 2011/12.

Either way I applaud Bradley because he has never come across to me as a natural born leader (or a natural star talent) yet he has taken on so much load and responsibility these past two years, and I've never once heard him complain about it.  He never complains about pressure, about role, about responsibility - he just goes out there and does whatever the coach asks him to do. 

I seriously don't get how anybody could criticize this kid - if you look up the term "team player" in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Avery Bradley smiling back at you. 

In fact I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there has probably never been a better "team guy" in a Celtics uniform than Avery Bradley.  On par maybe, but not better.  He works his tail off every single night, plays every possession like it's his last, and does everything he's asked to without question or complaint. 

[10610786d]

I'm guessing one of the main (perhaps the only) reasons he's getting so much hate is because he's not a difference maker.

I have never hated on the kid. But admittedly I have lost some of the love I've had for him over time for his lower level of play.

TP. Thank you for reminding me once again of Avery's utmost professionalism and pointing out what's been lost in all this turmoil. When I first saw Avery play, his defence was absolutely transcendent. Here's to hoping his reduced responsibilities overall and his retooling gets him some love from our tough fellow Celtics fans.