Please explain Celtics' defensive decline

[tenn_smoothie]

Living down here in Rocky Top as I do, I don't get the day-to-day details and inside discussion on the Celtics like those living in the Boston area ........... so please enlighten me -

Why are the Celtics not playing defense this year as well as they did last year ? The only big roster change has been, of course, Horford and he is supposed to be solid defensively even though he is a mediocre rebounder, relatively speaking. Bradley has been out awhile now, yes, but they were struggling defensively before his injury.

So, what is the difference. What are the beat reporters saying, what are the talk shows saying, what do you hear from players or other team sources ?

[mr. dee]

Injuries and chemistry issues. It took awhile for guys like Jaylen and Horford to get acclimated in Steven's system. Now they are starting to gel and defense is getting better despite missing key pieces.

[jdz101]

Rebounding.

Our defensive rebound percentage is 29th in the league at 74.7.

25% of the time we are not grabbing the available defensive rebound after a missed shot.

A huge part of defense is recovering the misses, and we're giving teams second chances.

Despite his fatness, losing sullinger hurt us in this regard.

[The Oracle]

Rebounding.

Our defensive rebound percentage is 29th in the league at 74.7.

25% of the time we are not grabbing the available defensive rebound after a missed shot.

A huge part of defense is recovering the misses, and we're giving teams second chances.

Despite his fatness, losing sullinger hurt us in this regard.

Last years Def. Reb.% was 74.6%.  It was 74.9% with Sully on the floor so the defensive rebounding is not the difference.

[jdz101]

Rebounding.

Our defensive rebound percentage is 29th in the league at 74.7.

25% of the time we are not grabbing the available defensive rebound after a missed shot.

A huge part of defense is recovering the misses, and we're giving teams second chances.

Despite his fatness, losing sullinger hurt us in this regard.

Last years Def. Reb.% was 74.6%.  It was 74.9% with Sully on the floor so the defensive rebounding is not the difference.

It is definitely not helping. I probably should have worded it with a better stat.

We don't worry teams on the offensive glass (obviously) which means oppositions can transition quicker. Down 20% year on year from last year.

Our Defensive rebounds overall are down 3.5%. Overall making our total rebound percentage down around 8% from last year.

Sully did help with that.

[RockinRyA]

evan turner was pretty good in defending the PnR last year, and he played significant minutes. Amir was also a bit worse than last year. Crowder I think had the most dropoff from last year but a lot of it has to do with him being not 100% at the start of the year. Add the fact that we had to integrate new guys on D (horford, brown, green) plus injuries and there you have it.

[MBunge]

1.  Lack of effort/attention.  The players are clearly not as committed on the defensive end and the coaching staff has let them get away with it.

2.  Teams are focusing more on exploiting IT.  He usually tries but his size is a real weakness on D.

3.  Our pick-n-role defense has imploded.  I don't know if this starts with playing Horford at power forward when he lacks mobility or what, but we don't seem to know what we're doing.

Mike

[Who]

(1) Coaching -- Stevens has picked some bad lineups. The 3 guard lineup was used far too much. Too much Amir + Horford together when should be separated which has cost the team in defensive quickness. Too slow to realize that Jerebko's quickness is needed at the PF position to cover the perimeter properly.

(2) Jae Crowder -- not performing defensively as well as last season. Still a good defender but no longer one of the top defensive SFs in the league. Not showing the same level of athleticism / quickness in one-on-one D or on defensive rotations.

(3) Evan Turner to Jaylen Brown -- big decrease in quality of defense at backup SF. Evan Turner was a very good defender for the C's last year and for Portland this year. Also miss Evan's rebounding which was a big aid for non-big boards.

(4) Rozier has been lousy defensively. One of the worst defensive guards in the league this year. He has talent defensively but lacks know-how.

[GreenWarrior]

Living down here in Rocky Top as I do, I don't get the day-to-day details and inside discussion on the Celtics like those living in the Boston area ........... so please enlighten me -

Why are the Celtics not playing defense this year as well as they did last year ? The only big roster change has been, of course, Horford and he is supposed to be solid defensively even though he is a mediocre rebounder, relatively speaking. Bradley has been out awhile now, yes, but they were struggling defensively before his injury.

So, what is the difference. What are the beat reporters saying, what are the talk shows saying, what do you hear from players or other team sources ?

this was the wrong place to ask this question, everything's rosey on this site... always. most here will tell you everyone's been injured.

when in reality the loss of sullinger was a much bigger impact than anyone anticipated. and not because he was a defensive stopper, this team made people miss shots  & Sully was there to grab the rebound. lack of defensive rebounding is why it looks like we're not playing D.

 

[MasterEmile]

1- Sully was a big loss both on yhe boards and with his low post defense  (he's so hard to move down there)

2-Replacing Evan turner with a rookie + a lot of injuries to key defenders.

3-As explained by Bballbreakdown on youtube, the Horford + Amir front court just doesn't work defensively both can't really guard the perimeter and Amir has lost a step this year.

4- My personal opinion: Going all out on defense last year lead to key injuries during the playoffs (Bradley and Crowder) so I think they are trying to save themselves to the playoffs.

5-Also my opinion: It is working. We are winning a lot of games with our current defensive woes so I think players don't have that sense of urgency to improve on that end.

[LilRip]

It's a tricky question and I've been wondering about that too. Here are my hypotheses:

1) effort - the effort just isn't the same as last year. We had that underdog mentality and we forced so many turnovers. This year, the C's are playing more entitled? And definitely have shifted their focus on shooting 3's than going all out to get stops.

2) Evan Turner - ET wasn't the best defender but he could hold his own. ET playing heavy minutes also meant that he could was on the floor with guys like Smart or Bradley who are strong defenders. In losing ET, we replaced him with guys like Brown and Rozier who, let's face it, aren't particularly strong defenders currently.

3) rebounding - we suck at rebounding for most of the game. Even if you play great defense, barring a charge or a shot clock violation or a steal, it's not a stop until you secure the ball.

[tstorey_97]

There hasn't been a "defensive decline" for the Boston Celtics. The NBA just spends all their money on three pointers.

The suggestion that the Boston Celtics don't play defense anymore implies that Stevens is incompetent, that he has lost control of his team and that he doesn't study the same stats we as fans have access to.

Stevens knows the rebounding and defensive numbers better than the fan base does and...he knows the NBA better. I am not a stat guy, I just watch the games and hope for the only stat that matters...648. Celtics win percentage takes care of everything doesn't it?

If stats are needed, look at last year and compare to now. (these 2015 stats are for the full season).
stats-PPG---OPPG
Cavs-104.3--98.3
TOR-102.7--98.2
MIA-100.0--98.4
ATL-102.8--98.2
BOS-105.7--102.5

Just look at that 2015 vintage defense! Dave Cowens would be proud.
As for this year? Coach Stevens and the rest of the league has gone down a different road.

stats-PPG---OPPG
Cavs-111.2--106
BOS-108.3--105.8
Wsh-107.8--105.5
Tor-109.2--105.7
Atl-104.1--104.4

Evidently, "we don't need no stinkin' defense".

The NBA doesn't have time for defense anymore and it will take all of us about three seconds to figure out the top poster boys for the new NBA all offensive game.

Why should Celtics fans be happy? W/L .648. Our coach helped interpret and execute the "new NBA" three point show and almost everyone else is trying to catch up.

[CoachBo]

A lot of good pieces in this thread.

The effort isn't there. Injuries to some of our better defenders. Evan Turner was a solid team defender. Amir is cooked - slowing significantly. Rebounding is atrocious, and will result in a short playoff shelf life for this team if Danny doesn't address it at the deadline.

[jambr380]

We all know our guards and wings have the ability to be super-intense so hopefully the defensive effort improves in the playoffs. I am fairly confident that it will - doesn't seem like a skill you forget. I agree that the loss of ET and Sully hurt, but we seem to be performing much better as a whole right now, even with AB and Crowder out.

[CoachBo]

We all know our guards and wings have the ability to be super-intense so hopefully the defensive effort improves in the playoffs. I am fairly confident that it will - doesn't seem like a skill you forget. I agree that the loss of ET and Sully hurt, but we seem to be performing much better as a whole right now, even with AB and Crowder out.

We are in huge trouble in the playoffs if it doesn't, and if we don't get a rebounding infusion.