We are going to be one of the WORST defensive teams next year......

[nickagneta]

I know so many on this board are frustrated armchair GM's, and you'll probably be correct about DTheis, but since DA could have signed hundreds of players from the US to guaranteed two year contracts, why did he go all the way to Germany to sign this one, specific, untalented player?

You mean that great player he signed to a minimum contract?

[mmmmm]

we were bad defensively last season with 2 so-called great defenders.

I think we were bad defensively mainly because we insisted on playing three 'smalls' on the court so often.

Our 2-guard lineups were dramatically better on defense than our 3-guard lineups.

[ThePaintedArea]

Boston was NOT a bad defensive team last year - though a disappointment after the previous season. Could Sullinger really have had that big of an impact?

But two things about the most recent season:

1)
The Celtics were 12th last year, so, middle third.  They were basically an average team - if you are calculating for the whole year. You might remember that Brad Stevens made a remark around New Year's (?) that they'd been so bad that no matter how much better they got they weren't likely to be one of the top teams. Jerebko was briefly in the starting lineup because of Stevens' complaint that his guys weren't staying in front of opponents. But as the season went on, they got better.

2)
Defense has four distinct areas - if you believe Dean Oliver: Opponent's eFG%; Defensive Rebound Rate; Opponent's Turnover Rate; and FT Makes/FG Attempt.

If you break down the Celtics' defense last year into those four areas, one thing stands out: Boston was fifth in Opponent's eFG%.  That's really good! Combine that with the fact that they were 16th in Opponent's Turnover Rate and you can see that they were good at causing missed shots. They played physical to do that, one consequence of which was they fouled a lot and put opponents on the line: 23rd in the league.

If you have a tradeoff, the best thing to do well is be good at Opponent's eFG%. That's good news. The bad news was Defensive Rebounding Rate:  27th in the league. That was their downfall - they didn't finish enough good defensive possessions. The fact that they put opponents on the line a lot meant that their DRR stats were padded by easier FT rebounds.

AND giving up more offensive rebounds likely fattened the FT/FGA stat - you foul more when a big gets the ball under the basket.

Let's keep Offensive and Defensive rebounding separate. It confuses the issue to collapse them together.

The elephant in the room: it looks like defensive rebounding could easily be worse this season. 

Kind of weird to keep seeing people undervalue Crowder's defense! He got the toughest cover every night, defensive rebounded at an impressive rate (and upped his game in that area when it was badly needed), and guarded both quicker and bigger players.

This season? A crapshoot at this point. The bigs rotation is thin, there are a lot of rookies, and no one stands out who can get a defensive rebound when you need one.  Even Aron Baines was about on a par with Kelly Olynyk in that area last season, which was not bad but not the solution, even if he can get in for more than 16 minutes a game.

The offense should come together pretty quickly, on the other hand, and it says here that they won't really confront their mediocre defense until January, since their well-oiled offensive machine will outscore most opponents.

Mediocre defensive teams don't win championships.

[Somebody]

Boston was NOT a bad defensive team last year - though a disappointment after the previous season. Could Sullinger really have had that big of an impact?

But two things about the most recent season:

1)
The Celtics were 12th last year, so, middle third.  They were basically an average team - if you are calculating for the whole year. You might remember that Brad Stevens made a remark around New Year's (?) that they'd been so bad that no matter how much better they got they weren't likely to be one of the top teams. Jerebko was briefly in the starting lineup because of Stevens' complaint that his guys weren't staying in front of opponents. But as the season went on, they got better.

2)
Defense has four distinct areas - if you believe Dean Oliver: Opponent's eFG%; Defensive Rebound Rate; Opponent's Turnover Rate; and FT Makes/FG Attempt.

If you break down the Celtics' defense last year into those four areas, one thing stands out: Boston was fifth in Opponent's eFG%.  That's really good! Combine that with the fact that they were 16th in Opponent's Turnover Rate and you can see that they were good at causing missed shots. They played physical to do that, one consequence of which was they fouled a lot and put opponents on the line: 23rd in the league.

If you have a tradeoff, the best thing to do well is be good at Opponent's eFG%. That's good news. The bad news was Defensive Rebounding Rate:  27th in the league. That was their downfall - they didn't finish enough good defensive possessions. The fact that they put opponents on the line a lot meant that their DRR stats were padded by easier FT rebounds.

Let's keep Offensive and Defensive rebounding separate. It confuses the issue to collapse them together.

The elephant in the room: it looks like defensive rebounding could easily be worse this season. 

Kind of weird to keep seeing people undervalue Crowder's defense! He got the toughest cover every night, defensive rebounded at an impressive rate (and upped his game in that area when it was badly needed), and guarded both quicker and bigger players.

This season? A crapshoot at this point. The bigs rotation is thin, there are a lot of rookies, and no one stands out who can get a defensive rebound when you need one.  Even Aron Baines was about on a par with Kelly Olynyk in that area, which was not bad but not the solution, even if he can get in for more than 16 minutes a game.

The offense should come together pretty quickly, on the other hand, and it says here that they won't really confront their mediocre defense until January, since their well-oiled offensive machine will outscore most opponents.

Mediocre defensive teams don't win championships.

That's why I'm hoping that we sign a vet big with our last roster spot to shore up our defensive rebounding, also Yabu needs to learn fast to give us some more beef up front, he's our backup PF rn with Morris starting.

[ThePaintedArea]

Boston was NOT a bad defensive team last year - though a disappointment after the previous season. Could Sullinger really have had that big of an impact?

But two things about the most recent season:

1)
The Celtics were 12th last year, so, middle third.  They were basically an average team - if you are calculating for the whole year. You might remember that Brad Stevens made a remark around New Year's (?) that they'd been so bad that no matter how much better they got they weren't likely to be one of the top teams. Jerebko was briefly in the starting lineup because of Stevens' complaint that his guys weren't staying in front of opponents. But as the season went on, they got better.

2)
Defense has four distinct areas - if you believe Dean Oliver: Opponent's eFG%; Defensive Rebound Rate; Opponent's Turnover Rate; and FT Makes/FG Attempt.

If you break down the Celtics' defense last year into those four areas, one thing stands out: Boston was fifth in Opponent's eFG%.  That's really good! Combine that with the fact that they were 16th in Opponent's Turnover Rate and you can see that they were good at causing missed shots. They played physical to do that, one consequence of which was they fouled a lot and put opponents on the line: 23rd in the league.

If you have a tradeoff, the best thing to do well is be good at Opponent's eFG%. That's good news. The bad news was Defensive Rebounding Rate:  27th in the league. That was their downfall - they didn't finish enough good defensive possessions. The fact that they put opponents on the line a lot meant that their DRR stats were padded by easier FT rebounds.

Let's keep Offensive and Defensive rebounding separate. It confuses the issue to collapse them together.

The elephant in the room: it looks like defensive rebounding could easily be worse this season. 

Kind of weird to keep seeing people undervalue Crowder's defense! He got the toughest cover every night, defensive rebounded at an impressive rate (and upped his game in that area when it was badly needed), and guarded both quicker and bigger players.

This season? A crapshoot at this point. The bigs rotation is thin, there are a lot of rookies, and no one stands out who can get a defensive rebound when you need one.  Even Aron Baines was about on a par with Kelly Olynyk in that area, which was not bad but not the solution, even if he can get in for more than 16 minutes a game.

The offense should come together pretty quickly, on the other hand, and it says here that they won't really confront their mediocre defense until January, since their well-oiled offensive machine will outscore most opponents.

Mediocre defensive teams don't win championships.

That's why I'm hoping that we sign a vet big with our last roster spot to shore up our defensive rebounding, also Yabu needs to learn fast to give us some more beef up front, he's our backup PF rn with Morris starting.

I agree about Morris starting. I would hope that with his weight, Yabu could actually guard backup 5's as well, and with his length switch 1/5 pick and rolls.  Can you run offense through him? If so, the departure of Kelly Olynyk leaves an open slot for him to step into.

[kozlodoev]

I know so many on this board are frustrated armchair GM's, and you'll probably be correct about DTheis, but since DA could have signed hundreds of players from the US to guaranteed two year contracts, why did he go all the way to Germany to sign this one, specific, untalented player?

No idea. Why did he draft JR Giddens or trade for David Lee?

[CFAN38]

The defense will take some time to come together and may not have elite potential but will be fare from one of the worst in the league.

Looking at the individuals in the primary rotation. Irving is a poor defender but BS will likely hide him on the other teams worst perimeter player and at 6'3 he will be harder to exploit then IT was. At SG I suspect Brown and Smart will split the minutes and guard the other teams best players. Hayward while not as good a matchup on Lebron as Crowder is still a very solid defender who will be fare from a liability. Morris is a good defender of big 3 and small 4s. Horford is not a flashy defender but plays great team defense. The rest of the roster will have to prove itself. I suspect Rozier will make a nice jump in effectiveness with more consistent minutes this season. Baynes is a key role player in that he needs to provide rim protection and a body to go against other large centers. Tatum will certainly have his issue early on defensively but as long as he can play solid team D his physical profile will protect him from getting exposed. 

[CFAN38]

Boston was NOT a bad defensive team last year - though a disappointment after the previous season. Could Sullinger really have had that big of an impact?

But two things about the most recent season:

1)
The Celtics were 12th last year, so, middle third.  They were basically an average team - if you are calculating for the whole year. You might remember that Brad Stevens made a remark around New Year's (?) that they'd been so bad that no matter how much better they got they weren't likely to be one of the top teams. Jerebko was briefly in the starting lineup because of Stevens' complaint that his guys weren't staying in front of opponents. But as the season went on, they got better.

2)
Defense has four distinct areas - if you believe Dean Oliver: Opponent's eFG%; Defensive Rebound Rate; Opponent's Turnover Rate; and FT Makes/FG Attempt.

If you break down the Celtics' defense last year into those four areas, one thing stands out: Boston was fifth in Opponent's eFG%.  That's really good! Combine that with the fact that they were 16th in Opponent's Turnover Rate and you can see that they were good at causing missed shots. They played physical to do that, one consequence of which was they fouled a lot and put opponents on the line: 23rd in the league.

If you have a tradeoff, the best thing to do well is be good at Opponent's eFG%. That's good news. The bad news was Defensive Rebounding Rate:  27th in the league. That was their downfall - they didn't finish enough good defensive possessions. The fact that they put opponents on the line a lot meant that their DRR stats were padded by easier FT rebounds.

AND giving up more offensive rebounds likely fattened the FT/FGA stat - you foul more when a big gets the ball under the basket.

Let's keep Offensive and Defensive rebounding separate. It confuses the issue to collapse them together.

The elephant in the room: it looks like defensive rebounding could easily be worse this season. 

Kind of weird to keep seeing people undervalue Crowder's defense! He got the toughest cover every night, defensive rebounded at an impressive rate (and upped his game in that area when it was badly needed), and guarded both quicker and bigger players.

This season? A crapshoot at this point. The bigs rotation is thin, there are a lot of rookies, and no one stands out who can get a defensive rebound when you need one.  Even Aron Baines was about on a par with Kelly Olynyk in that area last season, which was not bad but not the solution, even if he can get in for more than 16 minutes a game.

The offense should come together pretty quickly, on the other hand, and it says here that they won't really confront their mediocre defense until January, since their well-oiled offensive machine will outscore most opponents.

Mediocre defensive teams don't win championships.

You make a great point about defensive rebounding. The loss of Sully really stood out in this regard. We often saw AB crashing the defensive glass for rebounds while the bigs boxed out. Not having bigs who go after rebounds could hurt this team however I think having an over all bigger rotation will help neutralize that some. Hayward is 2" taller then Jae, Irving is 5" taller then IT and is starting Jayen (rumored to be 1" taller then draft) is 4" taller then AB.   

[Diggles]

I hope we are not.  Coach is to talented to let that happen.  He will figure out how to keep us in the middle of the pack.   He always does. 

[drogbagarnett]

No, we are actually a better defensive team!!

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=93529.msg2386726#msg2386726

[iadera]

But we were not ideal defensive team last year either. Am I right?

Take a look: http://stats.nba.com/teams/defense/#!?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1

 And if our offense will be better and we all expect it to be much much more versatile with Kyrie and Hayward, that means that we should not worry about defense a lot.