Through 5, Celts are 29th in Defensive Efficiency

[Evantime34]

It is very early, so hopefully most of this will smooth out over time.

But ...

Celts are 29th in Defensive Rebounding Rate.

Celts are 23rd in Opponent 3P% (36.1).

Celts are 27th in Opponent 3Pers made per game (11.2).

Celts are 29th in Opponent 3P attempts per game (31.0).


It's hard to control how well your opponents shoot from beyond the arc.  A lot of that is statistical noise.  But giving up a lot of attempts from deep is a bad look, just as giving up a lot of attempts inside is a bad look, though at least the Celts are top 10 in opponent points in the paint.

Giving up a lot of shots from outside AND not rebounding misses is a really bad look.

The rebounding should be terrible all season, but I expect improvement in terms of 3 point defense.

Last year everyone on our defense was in lock step. This year they added Green, Brown, Rozier, Zeller and Mickey to the rotation. It's hard to build defensive continuity with that much turnover, especially when none of those guys are plus defenders.

 If it doesn't get better when Crowder, Horford and Olynyk are back I'll be worried, but as of now I'm only slightly worried.

[alldaboston]

I'm a little worried right now. Not too much though. Let's wait till we're healthy

I do have to wonder though: regarding our pace, what pace did Atlanta play at? Does adding Horford have an effect on that? Do we play a bit slower with a legit big?

I think it's our lack of defensive rebounding. It's hard to push the pace when you have the whole team looking for the rebound instead of running in transition, plus the pace slows down when the other team keeps the ball for a minute or more with all their offensive rebounding

That's a very good point. I hadn't thought of that.

[CelticGuardian]

I got 3 theories on this:


-We are missing Sullinger's butt to limit second chance points
-Teams have figured out our defensive schemes.
-Smart is really our defensive anchor and things will get better as he gets his sea legs back

[loco_91]

I'm also concerned. Rebounding is the #1 concern but the overall defensive numbers, too. Accounting for injuries and sample size, it's too early to say that the Celtics will be mediocre on defense, but not too early to worry about it.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Well, our 2 losses have come on the 2nd night of Back to Back Road games---so I'm not too worried---and we have been Out-Foul Shot in EVERY game this year---kind of ridiculous how the Refs let other teams get away with fouls that they call on the Celtics.

COMPLETE BIAS by these Refs....Last night's game was another example. They let the Cavs play with force and aggression, but not the Celtics.

[CFAN38]

What's going on?

Is it just small sample size theater?  I would point to Jae Crowder's absence in one game, and Horford's absence in two, but the defense hasn't really looked good in any game so far this season.

Is Kelly Olynyk that important to our defense?  Are we under-appreciating what Sullinger and Turner did for the team defensively?

The team is also playing at a league-average pace, rather than leading the league in that category.  Regardless, the Celts are 2nd in Offensive Efficiency (significantly behind the leader -- the Cavs).  So they are doing very, very well on the other end.

This team's calling card was supposed to be defense, though.  What gives?

Give it a couple of weeks.  The whole team still needs to mesh defensively, especially with Horford, and Brad needs to get the rotations figured out (unfortunately injuries have messed up both of these things).  This team has too much defensive talent to be doing as bad as they are.

Another possibility is that our defensive rebounding is just that bad and has that much of an effect

I think your last statement is a good possibility.   After 5 games we are 5th in DFG% holding teams to 43.1%.

This was my first thought when I saw this post.

I think the combination of new key pieces jelling, early injures, and the lack of a rebounding anchor are effecting this team. The first two pieces will take care of themselves and DA may have to address the rebounding with a trade.

[Snakehead]

Good point on the rebounding, yes.  I think the rebounding will continue to get better.  It will require our guards to hit the boards pretty hard and I think that adjustment will take some time.  Not that we will ever be some strong rebounding team but I think we will be fine.  The team was -9 without Horford and Crowder last night against the Cavs, who are strong rebounders, which I think is pretty encouraging.  I know some will just hate that number but that's going to be the weakness of this team and you can work around a number like that with other strengths.

[The Oracle]

With Horford on the floor the C's have a Def. Rat. of 99.7, without Horford 115.4.  When the whole team is together the C's will be excellent defensively.  So far Horford has missed 2 games, Crowder 1, Smart 3, Olynyk all 5.  The bench has been terrible defensively with a 114.3 Def. Rat., this will improve greatly when Olynyk returns and now with Smart back.  As for now the defense is going to be terrible without Crowder, Horford and Olynyk.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Last night, our group did a terrible job at forming a wall in defensive transition. Our rotations were off as well.

We just seem out of sync defensively. I do think that a healthy Smart, Olynyk, Crowder, and Horford will help that. Hopefully by January our defense will be rounding into shape.

On a side note, even though our offense is not clicking perfectly, our guys are putting up stats with impressive efficiency.

As far as rebounding goes, defensive rotations are a big part of that. Our lackluster defensive rebounding is at least partially due to bad rotations that put us out of position to box out or get rebounds.

But Golden State and Cleveland are both in the bottom five of the league in opponent's offensive rebounds too.

[chilidawg]

The rebounding concerns me more than the Defensive Efficiency.  4th in blocked shots is surprising though.

I do think we're still in that small sample size realm.

[JOMVP]

Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding. Our defensive rebounding has been absolutely atrocious so far. This leads to tons of second chance opportunities, more field goal attempts and since the guards have been trying to help out on the glass, the kickouts to open 3 point field goals have not helped defensive 3 point field goal percentage and 3 point field goal attempts.

[jpotter33]

Missing Smart 3 games...

Missing Horford 2 games...

Missing Crowder 1.5 games...

I think that's most of it right there, combined with it being a small-sample size, early in the season, and teams hitting a ridiculous percentage against us.

I thought you could tell a significant difference once Smart came back on the defensive end, but almost immediately Horford and Crowder went out, screwing us over. We'll be back to normal when we have all of our guys healthy again. Luckily, we've been 2nd in offensive efficiency to make up for this.

[GreenWarrior]

C's fans can't use the "injury excuse". because before the season started they were the 1st to tell you how "deep" they are.

we can't rebound. good defensive teams work to force a bad shot which leads to a rebound. do the math, it's really that simple.

that and AB's been overrated defensively for the last few seasons, he's made a career on that block on Wade.

[alldaboston]

C's fans can't use the "injury excuse". because before the season started they were the 1st to tell you how "deep" they are.

we can't rebound. good defensive teams work to force a bad shot which leads to a rebound. do the math, it's really that simple.

that and AB's been overrated defensively for the last few seasons, he's made a career on that block on Wade.

This whole post...what? Aside from the rebounding, you're off on most of it.

[ThaPreacher]

I'm a little worried right now. Not too much though. Let's wait till we're healthy

I do have to wonder though: regarding our pace, what pace did Atlanta play at? Does adding Horford have an effect on that? Do we play a bit slower with a legit big?

I think it's our lack of defensive rebounding. It's hard to push the pace when you have the whole team looking for the rebound instead of running in transition, plus the pace slows down when the other team keeps the ball for a minute or more with all their offensive rebounding

Yeah, and I have been surprised with the poor perimeter defense when players first receive the ball.  Hands are down and we are giving them too much time.  Conversely, I think we are doing a good job with help defense from the weak side.  But rebounding. No one has stepped up to that role.  I wouldn't be surprised to see a minor trade to shore up the interior defense if no blockbuster occurs. If this team had a rebounding big that could throw the outlet, we'd run more.