Is Jaylen Brown playing the best basketball of his career?

Is Jaylen Brown playing the best basketball of his career?

[Applause] [Applause] [Applause] round take that the Celtics Talk podcast is presented by 24 autogroup.com 11 locations across New England what’s up everybody off day edition of the Celtics Talk podcast coming to you with the Celtics on a rare two-day break this is the second to last time this season only a month left in

The regular season that the SS will have two days off so practice today they’ll travel to Washington in advance of Sunday’s game they have a break while in Atlanta later this month two days off in between a home and home with the Hawks which is kind of like an interesting

Little uh schedule caveat um but we wanted to use this rare downshift to sort of put the spotlight on a bigger picture topic and I think it’s clear maybe the biggest storyline of the last at least 10 games has been Jaylen Brown’s play which has just gone to a whole another level

Coming out of the All-Star break so here’s the plan I’m going to take you through some numbers to just accentuate how good he’s been over these 10 games we’re going to get into a little bit about his candidacy for awards whether that’s all NBA that’s kicked into

Overdrive again after winning uh all NBA second team last year and and we’ll talk about all defense because Jaylen has made that a point you’ll hear from Jaylen and we’ll have a little discussion at the end about just how much progress he’s made versus you know expectation I think one of the most

Impressive things is that Jaylen signs that contract last summer now it won’t kick in until this coming year and yet you know once you’ve secured it you have that security of the big contract it would be very easy to downshift Jaylen never does that every year he comes back

Unsatisfied by the year before and eager to expand his game develop just find new ways to improve and especially in these last 10 games he has really done that so let’s get into it with the numbers just you know you guys know I like to nerd out with net rating and all

That I’m gonna I’m going to spare you of that let’s just start at the very basic level the last 10 games 28.9 points that’s up 6.9 points from his pre-all-star uh scoring average he’s shooting 54% over those 10 games that’s up 4.8% from the first half 40.6 beyond

The three-point Arc that’s huge that’s up 6% 6.4% uh since pre- Allstar and like let’s face it we we say this all the time with Jason Tatum too like when you when when the Jays are making threes it just takes their scoring to another level it takes their impact to another

Level because it it’s just so much more dangerous we know how much the self this love threes but usually it’s like Derek white and Drew holiday that are carrying that and obviously porzingis and what Sam Hower does coming off Off the Bench but jaylen’s been really good with the

Three-point shot out of the break also six rebounds up about a half a rebound per game 3.6 assist has been sort of uh static there like they he he’s uh he’s down just barely from the first half of the season but only 1.3 turnovers and this is the number I love his assisted

Turnover ratio over these 10 games 2.77 it was down at 1.51 he is plus 148 over that span Jaylen has just put so much efficiency into his game whether it’s those nights where it feels like he’s 10 for 13 shooting where he just can’t miss from the mid-range looking up some of the

Data like I’m trying to figure out like where what is he doing better in this stretch and some of it is just he bullying his way to the basket and getting whatever he wants he’s also made a ton of tough shots along the way some circus I think about that 360 spinning

Layup he had at one point he’s making some tough turnarounds you know there is a value to having tough shot makers especially once you get into the playoffs you crunch the advaned numbers 132.5 offensive rating during his time on the court that’s up from 118.7 so A Plus

13.9 Jump in offensive efficiency uh for Jaylen Brown in this in the second half post All-Star uh portion of the Year 110.5 defensive rating that’s down from a 111.3 down about a point um and a net rating of plus 22.1 that is the best on the team now I think Luke cornette was

Second plus 20ish if I’m remembering my numbers right uh a lot of guys have some glossy numbers the Celtics have obviously outside of the two losses to Cleveland and to Denver have really been dominating teams and especially that first unit group and some of the sub lineups um have helped kind of push

Those numbers higher but uh for especially for Jaylen who hasn’t always been a net rating darling whose you know metrics sometimes lag behind that of Tatum and and others on the team especially like when you consider how good Dereck white is in that in those categories it’s really neat to see how

Like how good he’s been uh I’m eager one of the things I didn’t didn’t calculate and now I’m I’m eager to go back and look at is just maybe the the the the the numbers with Jaylen on the court and no uh Jason Tatum we saw in that that

Phoenix game celix did a great job of of of the sort of uh balancing it where I believe Jason was on the court with Drew or uh and Jaylen was with uh Derek one one of maybe I’m mixing up the paing but either way they it felt like when the JS

Were split up in the middle quarters it was a chance for them to sort of control the play in that time and it was you know ironically I think it was Jason who had the big first quarter and then Jaylen came back usually a first quarter monster dominates that second quarter

Celtics really blow the game open with both of them on the court to start the third and off they go so I I just feel like you know watching the tape he’s just so aggressive he feels like there’s a renew confidence I looked up Drive numbers thinking maybe that was uh

That’s that that might be a little bit different and is actually his drives per game are down um now it’s you know the NBA metrics are can be a little bit fluky and tracking in terms of like what is a drive and you know that is he

Posting up more is he still operating more around the basket here’s what I thought was interesting 10.1 drives per game that’s Tops on the Celtics for the season for the season he’s shooting 56.5% field goal percentage on drives and it equates to about 6.7 points per game off drives post Allstar he’s

Shooting 68.1% on drives 8.3 points per game so even though the total number of drives is down like one drive per game he’s so much more efficient when he’s doing it kicking that scoring average up almost two points per game the other part that is really obvious here he’s

Number three in the league in transition points behind only Giannis and SGA and I think that’s I I I said this on celix post up when we did some jayen numbers a couple weeks ago I think that’s my favorite part about him is like the Celtics want to play fast and

So often they’ll get the rebound and even when they’re Domina and they have these stretches where they maybe just don’t get into actions quick enough where they walk the ball up the core where you know it’s great that your defense can get stops like that but you

Got to move I’m thinking to head to the playoffs and if you run into Denver you got to make them work you got to get yic up and down the court I love that Jaylen is the one who is consistently pushing the pace trying to make good things

Happen in transition and to be number three in the league like 400 and something points in transition uh is really really impressive for also the other another that jumped out to me was that he’s shooting 49% on all mid-range shots it was in the 93rd percentile for wings per

Cleaning the glass data um that number was up something like 7% from last year he’s really done well in the short mid-range four to 14 feet so even if he’s not getting to the rim he’s just making those little floaters or you know early portion of the of the paint uh the

Shots that are that are sometimes tough when you don’t get all the way to the basket he’s just been really good and um you know the eye test and the numbers test they all tell you the same thing that Jaylen has just been super impactful that um when he’s playing like

This I don’t know exactly how you beat the sou this because if the Jays both have it gone you know we were joking last night in the studio because first half felt like we were steamrolling towards the first 3030 game in a while Celtics when they played Dallas earlier

This season got one of those um Celtics something like 26 and two in those matchups one of which was an overtime game a rare 4040 game that that that took down the Jays and so um if if you can get this sort of output from him

When he is averaging the the 28.9 points per game um yeah I don’t know if Tatum has it going as well it’s good luck trying to figure out how to beat this team because there’s so many other good players on here here too now you could factor in that there’s been no Chris

Stops porzingis out there and so they’ve needed a little bit extra boost and while the self are fully capable of spreading that out it is pretty neat that Jaylen has been able to to shoulder that and really just be the offensive uh Force for much of this stretch and uh

Every game it it just feels like there’s no slowing down and what a better time as you sort of Hit the home stretch of the season for him to be feeling confident in his offensive abilities this could be really big moving forward into the postseason after that win against

Phoenix Jaylen went to the podium talked a lot about you know I thought it was great that the first question you’ll hear is something like you know is this your best stretch of basketball and I think he says like you mean this month or this the know the season it’s pretty

Clear this is his best season overall but more importantly this might be the best stretch of this season we’ll talk a little bit about that I thought he had a better stretch defensively start of the year so the numbers were a little bit better but he’s actually been taking on more

Challenges lately so nothing about me rambling about here’s Jaylen talking about how successful he’s been this season Jaylen do you feel like this is the best you played overall in your career just combining everything most comfort that you’ve had on both ends talking about like right now or what

Yeah like right now say over the last month yeah I think this whole season um I just feel like uh I improved on a lot of the stuff that I needed to work on um I uh just overall just improve my mentality but just attack my weaknesses

And I feel like some of the stuff that you know you could say about me last year you can’t say about me this year so I’m excited to go into the playoffs and and keep it going and prove the same thing is there anything specifically that drove you to improve drove you to

Change the mindset yeah loss I mean when you lose um when you come up short um and on your home floor when things don’t go your way um it’s a quote that I like when when things don’t go your way um when you don’t get what you want what

You got was experience and uh I love that quote and I think that you know we’ve had losses we’ve had embarrassment we’ve had mistakes and you know I’ve used it all to just improve Jaylen uh feels like you and Jason have taken obviously it’s gradually over time but this season with

All the talent you guys added it’s it’s you’ve gone from just the progression of you guys as Playmakers and the ability to read defenses like the Suns just allowing you to go one-onone tonight them doubling Jays in a top three-point line what’s that progression like of you

Guys reading the game been like behind the scenes especially this season that’s I mean that’s it right there being able to recognize you know how teams are gers where the coverage is at and then playing from there and I think that night to night you know being able to

Have a focus being have the attention and detail to to shift and be humble enough to allow whatever needs to happen to happen and I think that’s where the growth is like has has been and I think that’s where it got to continue as you know teams try to guard us different

Ways you know just you know expose whatever it is that they’re giving us up and and and live with those results Jayla we talked about I think in Portland reading the passing Lanes like a DB you did it a couple times again the night what’s gone into that and Joe said

He thought your defense early led to your offense like just the the enthusiasm you showed can you touch on that um I feel like I’ve been you know doing it all year um and I’m going keep doing it just defensively you know before the season you know I made a

Commitment that I’m wanted to be first team um all defense and I feel like you know being a playmaker on defense you know also being solid making guys have tough nights being uncomfortable chasing guys around whatever it takes you know just being able to show your defensive

Versatility like we we we praise offense and we highlight offense and emphasize offense and you know basketball is two sides of the sport and have you know have a variety to have an Arsenal on the defensive end of this of of the side of the B ball doesn’t get enough praise

Because it it’s a skill set being able to guard guys being able to chase guys being able to anticipate passing Lanes switch on the bigs Chase guys off screen Shooters whatever it is you know I proud myself in being able to be versatile because everybody can’t do that

Everybody can’t chase a god off a screen then battle a big then pressure a God full court but just having a different Arsenal on defense you know I’ve been able to learn from some of the some of the best taking stuff from Marcus taking stuff from D taking stuff from Drew you

Know what I mean studying some of the guys that we had time and anticipation and this year I just been able to I feel like I’ve been having a really good s year on that side of the ball so um that’s what goes into it all right what

What I wantan to I want to I want to wrap up with one last batch of numbers um I think it’s interesting that he he continued so I got the chance to sit down with Jaylen before the season and uh he said at that point he wanted all

Five Guys in the starting lineup to be uh getting all deep defense votes and thought there was a legitimate chance that he could be in that conversation as well and like that’s ambitious because Jaylen has been especially in the playoffs last year you think about that when he was matching up with James

Harden taking on that challenge he was he was really good for stretches but he has also had times in his career where he hasn’t been the most focused Defender where if you put him on like a guy in the corner he sometimes gets caught ball watching and get back cut could just

Like lose track of a guy s have done a great job Joe maou I feel like has really tapped in into like the best how to get the most out of Jaylen in terms of finding those matchups where put him on somebody even if it’s a he’s taken on

Bigger players he talked after that Denver loss about you know he seemed legitimately angry like maybe I should have taken some turns on yic I love that confidence I don’t know if jaylen’s capable of holding up in that matchup but you know I’m not ruling out that he

Can’t and he is shown consistently that you can put him on Elite scorers on Shifty guards and he can use his size as athleticism and at least be competitive with some of the best offensive players in the league you think about him taking on Jamal Murray you think about Luca

It’s clear jayen wants to be known as a player who isn’t just an offensive force and I think this season more than any other he has shown that he is capable so what do the numbers tell us there is 124 players in the NBA so about a quarter of

The league that defend at least 10 field goals a game who have played at least 50 games so going 50 because I took sou played 66 games I wanted like 80% 75% region of the games played plus guys that are probably going to qualify like if you’re going to qualify for all

Defense you’re G you’re going to need the 65 game thing so I’m I I capped it at 50 for right now Jaylen is ninth in the NBA uh with a defensive field goal percentage of 44.5% that is 2.9% below expected he’s in the top 16 among those 124

Qualifiers for much the season like for the first like if you go back we had a Celtics post up probably a month into the season two months into the season Jaylen was number one on that defensive field goal list and was holding players down at like 41% towards the start of

The year just like an outrageous number anytime you’re you know I I think some of those Celtics defensive teams a couple years ago had maybe Rob was holding Guys near 30% but it’s harder for centers because there’s just a higher expected output at that but Jaylen really was dominating in that

Category so wrote it a little bit and I said hm is that like is that his defense slipping back a little I think it’s more that he’s just taking on the challenge and so not only are you you know maybe you’re not quite as successful going up

Against a Luca or Jamal muray so it you know you inflates your number but the expected there is also goes up and so uh to to be holding guys almost 3% below I mean that’s the same number as like I think uh uh chrisop porzingis is in that

Neighborhood um I think it’s actually ahead of Drew holiday and Derek White uh both of them were like 2.7 2.5 last time I looked same deal though those guys are taking on some some pretty Fierce challenges and so I do think jaylen’s going to get some votes here it might

Take a little campaigning towards the Finish Line it’s gonna probably take some numbers to accentuate how good he’s been but I do think there’s a case to be made that if you can pull out all the highlights of him defending Luca and taking on those challenges it it sort of

Hammers home how good he’s been think I have to go through some of the bigger games this season and uh try to hone it in like cleaning the glass does how players uh offensively perform in against top 10 teams um I’m wondering if I can Harse the numbers a little bit on

Defense and see uh exactly how good jaylen’s been in the biggest matchups might just come down to looking at some of those those head-to-head battles and just seeing you know how willing he’s been to take on that challenge a lot of possessions against elite players against other Allstar all-nba type

Players and so I think there was a point early in the season when you might have been able to convince me that that based on how good christops porzingis had been that maybe Tatum and porzingis were trending towards those all NBA spots um part of that was just like how jarring

It was to watch porzingis integrate into this offense and and fit so seamlessly and be the guy that they could sort of lean on in big spots it’s clear how much better they are when he’s out there when that whole group is out there and they

Can rely on him to break runs and just operate in that that post even the chemistry that cookies and cream got together has aided each other and it’s it’s kind of remarkable that Jaylen has been able to put up these numbers even while porzingis has missed at least the

Last four games and others um is part of this season so uh I think Jaylen is is is in that conversation for a second all all NBA all all NBA second team like he did last year um you know even if he just gets the third team I think there

Was a portion of this year where you could sit there and there was questions about whether he could could get back on that level so credit to Jaylen again the strides he made the progress that he’s made he has put himself in that position our friends over at fnatic sports book I

Asked them to give me a line for Sunday’s game against the Wizards and uh I was interested to know what it is for Jaylen like over under you know considering that he’s almost up at 29 points per game in this stretch what did they think for a line has it moved you

Know a lot of times Jaylen will come in at 2122 and I was actually surprised their initial over under uh and this could change based on injury report and all that but on Friday afternoon it was at 21 and a half points I think we all know the Wizards do not

Play a lot of defense and uh it feels like a pretty good opportunity for the Celtics to pile up some points all that said it is an interesting conundrum because uh you know will the will the starters be playing in the fourth quarter the Celtics have to look at the

Schedule and say there’s a back toback here um you’re coming back home to play Detroit a that gave you trouble in uh the first meeting in one of the meetings so uh I wonder if the Celtics will do their best to keep guys fresh uh that that’s a tough back toback you know

Having to play on the road and then come home the other thing I play here is that the Wizards are on the second night of a back toback in this game so they shouldn’t they they struggle as it is and now you’re adding the the some travel and some difficulty to that I

Wonder if that further emboldens the Celtics to build a big lead and then maybe turn it over to some of their reserves but I don’t suspect you’ll see that number down that low very often this season or the remainder of this season and especially into the playoffs

Jaylen’s minutes are going to go up once we get to the playoff stage and uh some of those over unders for his points total will as well if I I don’t have it at my house it’s stuck in the studio but if I had even even with the the caveat

Of this that the we’re not sure how long the Cela starters will be out there I’ll be pounding my over button on 21 and a half because that just feels like a number that jayen can get to all right we will be back with you Sunday night after that game for the

Next postgame pod like I said five games and seven nights postgame pod will be quite busy I will uh I will get my coffee ready for another crazy week of games go like go subscribe go check us out on the YouTube page if you want leave some comments down there on the

YouTube page about what you think Jaylen will end finishing will he will he land will he get true all defensive consideration will he get that second Team all NBA what uh how you feeling about his season in general we’ll catch you next time on the Celtics top Podcast

Chris Forsberg does a deep dive on the impressive play of Jaylen Brown this season. Later, Jaylen discusses what’s led to his success this year.

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