Dissecting the Celtics' defensive issues

Brad Stevens raised the collective eyebrows of Celtics nation on Tuesday night by sounding the alarm on the play of the Eastern Conference favorites just three games into the very young preseason. The criticism was delivered with purpose in the wake of a strong message the coach sent to his team in the locker room with a string of dagger answers designed to put some pressure on the Eastern Conference favorites.

“We’re not as good as advertised right now, so at least we know that.”

“I thought we looked like a sieve defensively.”

“I couldn’t be more unimpressed after our first three exhibition games.”

Stevens also referenced the possibility of shaking up the small-ball starting five that was hyped throughout the offseason, especially when facing a starting lineup that has two traditional big men (which is the case for the Cavs in Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson).

“The difference with (Aron) Baynes and Robert Williams in the game was noticeable, and (Daniel) Theis at the rim,” Stevens explained. “We have to take that into consideration going forward.

So what exactly is going on here? Is Stevens making a mountain out of a molehill to get the attention of his guys after a putrid performance on Tuesday night? Or is this group showing enough holes (specifically with the small-ball starting five unit) to open the door for a shift on that front, something we’ve considered all offseason-long here at BSJ.

There’s really only way to find out just eight days into the season and that’s by diving into three full games of preseason game film. Here’s a closer look at what Stevens got some worked up about on Tuesday night and whether changes could and/or should be in play moving forward.

THE DEFENSIVE WARTS

This has to be the chief focus of concern over the next two weeks of the preseason for the coach. I tried to ask Stevens to pinpoint the trouble spots on this end of the floor on Tuesday night and he rattled off pretty much every single game situation you can think of.

“I would say wide-open layups, wide-open threes, wide-open shots, fouls, directing the ball, being able to get into the body of the ball handler without fouling,” he continued. “Being able to pull over a pick-and-roll and be in the right spot. Pretty much everything. I mean, we got a lot of work to do. It’s pretty clear.

So what here can we chalk up to preseason malaise and what are true areas of concern? Let’s explore a few of these subjects in order of concern.

1. Fouling: The numbers don’t lie on this one folks. Opponents are averaging 37.7 free throws per game so far against the Celtics. Some of that can be blamed on the touch fouls that officials are going due to league points of emphasis entering the preseason (grabbing the roller/screener). Part of the reason this group was the best defense in the league last year was due to their ability to get physical with opponents, something the league is trying to scale back here. Going smaller puts a great emphasis on that to improve positioning and the C’s were caught red-handed repeatedly on this front over the first three preseason games, putting the team into the penalty in nearly every quarter.

The guys will eventually adjust on this front or the officials will start letting more go. Still, the problems here went beyond the grabbing. Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward all fouled their fair share of jump shooters, a major no-no in any system. Brown has been the biggest culprit overall (11 fouls in 58 minutes) while Daniel Theis has been treated like a rookie (12 fouls in 39 minutes). Plays like this can’t happen:







If the Celtics want to be an elite defense they have to be more disciplined and aware. Fouling off the ball or in non-shooting situations while in the penalty just can’t happen. Part of that is better positioning. Part of that is awareness. Either way, it has to be addressed.

2. Trouble on the wing: The C’s starting five looks to be all about versatility on paper. However, there have been a few trouble spots early on in these contests and they aren’t exactly from the players you could have guessed. The bigs, on the whole, have been very solid. They have fouled too much but they have been great covering mistakes and playing within their means. When something goes wrong with the defense, it’s rare to see Horford, Baynes or Theis as the one responsible.

Kyrie Irving has only played two games and he’s been his usual self for those. He’s not going to get through screens much and the C’s will try to hide him away from the ball when they can. However, the C’s know what they are getting with him, especially in the preseason. By his standards, he was fairly decent over the first couple games, barring a few non-existent rotations and failed contests.

For the C’s defense to thrive this year, they need Brown, Tatum and Hayward to play at an above-average level on that end. All three have failed to do so during the first three games of the preseason. Hayward’s woes are understandable, given his adjustment back to the court, but he’s probably been the best of this bunch so far. He’s been blown by a few times by speedier guards but his rotations have been solid and he’s shown a good grasp of the scheme (minus a few communication issues).

Tatum and Brown on the other hand, have had a handful of issues. They both struggled at times with the way they handled getting around picks off the ball and that trend has continued during the first few games. Whether it’s a bad angle or lazy pursuit, they repeatedly put the Celtics’ defense in bad spots with their lack of discipline and hustle.









Other issues continually popped up as well, depending on the type of matchup each was facing. Tatum struggles with keeping smaller, speedier guards in front of him and making foolish gambles (which lead to easy baskets).





Meanwhile, Brown routinely dies on screens when guarding the ball and that opens up a lot of holes in an offense. When facing a bigger player (Love), Brown also struggled with his discipline, conceding open 3s to the All-Star while failing to stay on his feet during pump fakes in the post.





These issues crop up in games that don’t matter for any player but the lack of improvement from both over the first few games is concerning. With both guys struggling from the offensive end of the floor (Tatum 33 percent shooting overall, Brown 21 percent from 3-point range), it’s evident they aren’t good enough yet to lean on their offense to carry them through mistakes. Brown routinely was benched during his rookie year in spurts for his defensive miscues and those kinds of problems have shown up again. The same goes for Tatum. We know from last year that these guys can be better, they just need to break some bad habits and show Stevens they haven't regressed.

3. Miscommunications/preseason malaise: When the games don’t matter, it’s easy to skip steps. However, the lack of adhering to basic defensive principles was quite concerning in a few spots. This entire team has played together for a while now (minus Hayward) and so there should be little confusion about what needs to be done on every possession. Still, we managed to see quite a few possessions in the first few games that looked like this:









Lazy contests were also common for the likes of Marcus Morris and Brown. Again, it’s preseason and it’s hard for these guys to stay fully engaged with 82 games that count coming. However, this kind of effort looks even worse on any given night with all of the other problems popping up already. The Celtics can be lazy or poor defensively on any given night. They can’t get away with both and that’s what has happened for the majority of their first 12 quarters of the preseason.

VERDICT

Stevens was never going to pull the plug on the small-ball five unit this early but the difference in Boston’s defense is noticeable enough in these clips that it’s worth considering giving Baynes the nod more against a traditional front line. He does his job and is reliable and that counts for a lot in Brad Stevens’ scheme. The defense has been far better when he or another true big is on the floor anyway and the C’s offense has remained dependent on a lot of pull up 3s and isolation ball, failing to utilize all the other weapons they have around them when their most potent unit is on the floor.

Stevens will give the regular starters another shot on Saturday night in Cleveland and throw the ultimatum down: Start trying and show me that you can play defense respectably with this unit. Brown and Tatum will be the real ones put to the test here since their flaws were the most glaring. Brown is likelier to stay in the starting five no matter what (the team needs his speed against opposing guards next to Irving). Still, if they can’t figure it out, Tatum may have to sit in place of Baynes to help clean things up in some matchups against traditional frontlines going forward.

It’s hard to get excited about the final preseason tuneup in any sport but Saturday’s rematch with the Cavs will be worth watching. The fire has been rightfully lit by Stevens and now we wait to see whether this group wants to answer the bell.