Is Semi Ojeleye turning into a consistent 3-and-D piece?

It only took two weeks of Semi Ojeleye’s Celtic career for him to carve out a meaningful role on the 15-man roster: Giannis Antetokounmpo defender. The second-round pick showed off his strength and defensive instincts against the Greek Freak back in October 2017 and has been an ace in the back pocket for Brad Stevens on that front for much of the past two years.



Finding a consistent role outside of defending Giannis on this C’s team against 28 other franchises around the league for the past two seasons has not been easy for Ojeleye however. Consistent playing time was hard to come by last year due to a loaded depth chart and Ojeleye wasn’t exactly playing his way onto the floor either with his minuscule production (7.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per 36 minutes) along with a career mark of 32 percent from 3-point range. For all of Ojeleye’s defensive strengths, he was still a major liability on the offensive end most nights, failing to live up to the 3 in the ‘3-and-D’ label the C’s had hoped he could develop into consistently as an undersized big.

The 25-year-old Ojeleye started his third NBA season with another defensive savvy power forward (Grant Williams) looking like a strong threat to take his bench minutes even after last year’s veteran logjam was cleared out at the power forward spot. This happened in the opening 10 games as Ojeleye wasn’t showing much improvement on the offensive end and Williams’ had a better all-around offensive skillset (passing, screening, etc.) that made him look like a more versatile weapon at times for this group.

However, Gordon Hayward’s broken hand opened the door for more playing time for the bench group in the past month. Opportunity knocked again for Ojeleye as the C’s rookies started to flounder, with Williams in particular unable to knock down a 3-point shot.

Slowly but surely, Ojeleye has pushed his way back into the rotation as evidenced by the 24 straight minutes (+21 in plus/minus) he played against the Heat on Wednesday night in the second and third quarters. He’s finally making it tough for Brad Stevens to take him out of games.

“He plays with good physicality and he got a number of deflections in the paint just by being in the right position,” Stevens said Wednesday night of Ojeleye’s performance. “He was really good. I don’t think it was a coincidence that those 24 minutes were our best 24 minutes defensively tonight.”

As Stevens continues to tinker with his bench over the first two months of the NBA season to figure out what exactly he has to work with, one thing is becoming demonstrably clear over the past few weeks: Ojeleye is one player that he should be counting on more.

For the first time all season, Ojeleye is getting some consistent playing time, having seen the floor for 10-plus minutes in seven of his last nine games, including five straight overall. It has taken Stevens awhile to get to Ojeleye in some of these games due to the number of potential alternatives but it’s hard to argue with the team results when he is on the floor. Boston’s last two game-changing runs (wins over Knicks and Heat) have come with Ojeleye serving as a stellar defensive influence and the defensive numbers with him in the game over the past few weeks are staggering.

Ojeleye off/on defensive numbers last 9 games

On court (174 minutes): 95.2 points allowed/per 100 possessions (2nd on team)
Off Court (263 minutes): 105.2 points allowed per 100 (worst on team)

The impact goes beyond the numbers according to Ojeleye’s teammates.

“He was really loud, talking behind the defense, making sure everyone was in the right spots and that's who Semi is for us as well,” Kemba Walker said after the Heat win. “He's a great player and we need him to be great defensively, make open shots like he's doing, making the hustle plays. He's always the first one to the floor and that's what we need from him.”

“Communication,” Jaylen Brown added when asked about Ojeleye’s impact. “Semi, you can always hear him talking. Semi does a great job of being communicative on defense. He’s an anchor down there and he helped us out a lot.”

Consistent defense has never been a surprise with Ojeleye since it’s his inability to be a threat on offense that has kept him off the floor for most of his career. However, in his third NBA season, there are signs that his 3-point shooting is starting to turn a corner over the past few weeks.

Ojeleye is knocking down 37 percent of his 3s (1.4 attempts per game) on the year and has knocked down 3s in five consecutive games for the first time in his career since 2017. The steady playing time of late has seemed to get him into a bit of a groove on that front and his teammates and coaches are taking notice.

“I’m happy for him,” Jayson Tatum said. “He works his tail off every day in the gym, in the weight room. He was bound to hit some, hopefully he keeps it going.”

“I just think he’s really improved,” Stevens added. “I feel really good when he shoots the ball, he’s worked really hard on his shot, no one spends more time and we’ve talked about that.”

Ojeleye is still only taking a career-low 2.4 shots per game, fully realizing that he’s on the floor for his defense more than anything else. However, the C’s are going to need him to hit open 3s when he’s open and if he can do that enough to be a net neutral player on offense, his defensive presence becomes a lot more valuable. A hot stretch in five games may not mean much in the big picture but for a guy grinding day in and day out, it can be a big confidence boost.

“When you’re not making shots, it’s tough but, for me, the big thing for me right now is just letting go,” Ojeleye said. “Letting the work speak for itself. Knowing that God has got it under control. And if it goes in great, if not, great. At this point, (offense) that’s not what’s going to get me on the court. I know I need to bring the energy and talk. The offense for me is just extra.”

The best news of all for Boston? The Celtics’ offense has shown no drop-off with Ojeleye on the floor over the last nine games with his increased minutes. In fact, it is actually above-average (107.3 points per 100 possessions) over his 174 minutes compared to team's overall mark (106.6 points per 100 possessions), a sign that he’s proving to be less of a liability out there.

With his defensive rebounding (career-high 7 boards on Wednesday) also showing some gains of late, it’s getting easy to look at Ojeleye as an appealing late-game center option on the defensive end in close games, especially before Hayward returns. That’s been a weak spot for the C’s lately as Rob Williams has struggled on D in those spots while Daniel Theis or Grant Williams have both not shown an ability to stretch the floor this year.

Ojeleye has his size limitations but his outside shooting has been the best among the ‘bigs’ on this roster and his versatility is as good as anyone from a defensive standpoint.

As tough decisions approach with the bench rotation with Hayward’s eventual return looming next week, Ojeleye looks like a piece worthy of remaining in the mix, especially if the C’s want to commit to a high level of defense on a nightly basis.

For the first time in his career, his outside shooting may be good enough for Stevens to feel comfortable rolling with that look.