Robb: Terry Rozier and the importance of knowing your limitations

The Celtics offense can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride on any given night and the same can be said of Terry Rozier’s shooting acumen.

With Marcus Smart and Shane Larkin sidelined, the third year guard has seized the opportunity to gain a greater slice of the shot pie over the past few weeks, for better and worse. While Rozier posted a career-high 31 points in one game last week and a triple-double in another, there are also games like we saw on Friday night against the Pacers in which the guard weighs down Boston's offense.

Rozier missed 10 of his 11 shot attempts on the night, and it would have been a true 0-for if not for a buzzer-beating prayer at the end of the third quarter. The 23-year-old was surely due for some regression, particularly from beyond the 3-point arc. He’s still shooting 50 percent from 3-point range in the month of February despite going 1-of-6 from downtown in the 97-91 defeat.

Outside shooting really hasn’t been a problem all year long though for Rozier. He’s hitting a career-best 37 percent from 3-point range and that’s despite doubling his 3-point attempts (4.4) since last season. The biggest problem with the undersized guard as far as Boston’s offense goes is Rozier’s finishing and shot selection from inside the arc.

The 6-foot-2 reserve uses his athleticism to his advantage in other aspects of his game (defense, rebounding) but it causes him to get out of control a lot when he attacks the basket. Rozier ranks a hideous 12th on the team at field goal percentage inside 3 feet (51 percent). He’s shooting 41.9 percent from inside the arc overall, which makes him one of the worst high-volume shooters from two-point range for the second-straight season (right next to Smart).

The 23-year-old has never been able to finish layups well at the NBA level and that problem proved to be a major issue in the closing moments of Boston’s attempted comeback Friday night. Look at how out of control Rozier was on these three drives in the fourth quarter of a one-possession game.







A Celtics offense that was struggling all night can’t afford to throw away possessions with low-percentage looks like these. Much like Smart, Rozier needs to understand his role and play to his strengths. Taking open 3-point jumpers off the dribble or via catch-and-shoot are going to keep happening, but driving the paint without a plan needs to stop if the Celtics’ offense wants to start looking like a league average offense again. Rozier ranks second on the team in shot attempts (13 per game), a tie with Marcus Morris (which is another whole problem in itself).

Despite this kind of uneven shot distribution, Brad Stevens tried to take the heat for the team's scoring woes.

"I think that our biggest issue as a team is we aren’t crisp," he said. "We don’t crisply do things on offense. We are probably more of a shortcut-taking team then we need to be, to be the best version of ourselves, and I thought that hurt us in the first half more than in the second. But, certainly, then you’re digging such a hole that it can be a number of things why you can get back over the hump. But, you know, in the first half, I mean, maybe it’s their speed, maybe it’s the force they were playing with, but for (whatever) reason we were ... we were behind on everything. And I think it starts with our desire to really, really execute.”

Stevens can try to take the blame all he wants but a big part of execution is putting yourself in a position to succeed. A guy like Rozier needs to know his weaknesses and limitations and ensure he doesn't shoot the Celtics out of games with low percentage looks like we saw against the Pacers.