Tim Legler is Blown Away by Jaylen Brown’s Game Right Now

Tim Legler is Blown Away by Jaylen Brown’s Game Right Now

You know we spend so much time well I don’t know if I’m going to include we in that but I get sometimes put into these discourse conversations we spend so much time talking about Jason Tatum and the pressure of you know never having won the big one and you

Know he seems almost unflappable at times like it doesn’t bother him I I think I I’ve talked about this a couple times already this year he’s not fighting the game anymore and he’s he’s for the most part just making it easy he’s making the right read we we probably haven’t spent enough

Time on the season that Jaylen Brown has had and on the play of Jaylen Brown since the All-Star break you have a pretty strong opinion right now of of sort of where Jaylen Brown is at as a player I think it’s the best basketball he’s played and the guy’s been great and

And I’ve always loved Jaylen Brown because he I mean he really likes to play defense he takes on that challenge they don’t they don’t hide him he’s going at whoever that is on that end of the floor and so the question with Jaylen Brown has always been about like

The super high level consistency the shot selection um being able to make plays for people going either Direction that’s been a problem for him at times having balance in his game with all three phases you know four really to count post-ups Rim catch and shoots off the

Dribble stuff like just balance there in his game so he’s making the right reads counter moves to being guarded a certain way like the these were the things and areas of growth that he needed to see out of him I think he’s put it all together JJ I think it’s all happening

For him right now as we’re watching him um since the All-Star break he’s LED them in scoring six times Jason Tatum five times and there are nights I’ve watched them and you and I know look if I listed right now and I think I’m pretty sure

Any one of the 30 teams in the league I could just say the team right now and immediately I’d say who’s their best player you’re immediately gonna have a name and it’s gonna be the same name as mine and the same name as most people because it’s an easily clearly

Identifiable person and it’s the same thing with Boston like you’re going to say Jason Tatum you know what I mean you’re not gonna you’re not going to hesitate on you’re gonna say Tatum right off the bat and and my point with this is but lately when you’re watching them

If you didn’t know anything about the Boston Celtics but you knew the game of basketball but you’ve never seen them play and you were watching the Celtics here over the last couple of weeks since the All-Star break there are nights you go this just looks like that guy’s team

Jaylen Brown the way he has played like the self assuredness that he has played with and the way that things are funneling in his Direction and to some to put it in perspective of what we’re talking about here since the break 26 points per game that’s several points

Above his his season average 54% from the field 41% on threes and here’s to me one of the most two two these last two or two maybe the most important his assisted turnover ratio in that stretch jaylen’s like three to one three to one that’s not jayen brown strength so he’s taking care

He’s never going to be a guy that’s out there getting you 68 10 assists like Reg l l that’s that’s not really who he is but there were a lot of nights where he’d get three assists and have four turnovers you know four assists three turnovers like that was like a typical

Statline for him he’s almost three to one assisted turnover since the All-Star break so like his decision making and where he’s taking the ball is just so much better right now it’s clean and then the last one you remember the game against Denver that they lost in Denver

Now Denver you know two and0 against them on the year two of the best games I’ve watched all season those two matchups uh they lose the game Tatum struggles could have redeemed himself if he makes a corner three late didn’t on a wide openen look just had a rough

Night well you know Jaylen Brown did in that game 41 points 14 rebounds that’s what Jaylen Brown did in this super highlevel Marquee game everybody’s watching it it’s going to be scrutinized to the ends of the Earth knowing that Boston they already lost once they wanted this game they come in there and

And Jaylen brown maybe has his best game of the year 41 points 14 rebounds against that team that defense on the road on a night when his partner struggling so I just look at it all and I say it’s it’s come together right now for Jaylen Brown I think at a higher

Level than at any point in his career um I’m enjoying watching him I think more than I have you undersold it a little bit by the way he’s averaging 29 since the allstar break he’s played he’s played in 10 of the 12 games it’s okay it’s okay Tim all the other stuff was

Correct I think what’s interesting too is like since the All-Star break he’s taking obviously everybody on Boston has had to sacrifice a little bit uh in terms of their their usage rate there’s a you know there’s a little bit uh with with Tatum and brown for sure but those

Two guys are still going to take the most shots on the team on a on on average right porzingis little bit sacrificed Drew probably is the one guy that has had to sacrifice the most just in terms of his on ball usage uh he’s fitted into this role now as a spot up

Guy where he’s shooting the highest percentage of his career but since the All-Star break uh Jaylen Brown is averaging uh two more shots per game than Tatum and you brought up his partner you said his partner and I think this is where the partnership between

Them is so solid right now yeah I don’t think it’s a stretch to say there were times over the last six years uh I guess it’s seven years now but you know in the previous six years where it it felt like they fought it a little bit not that

There was internal strife but within a game oh I I I I haven’t taken a shot in a while I’ve got to get my shot you know Jaylen just took four shots or Tatum Tatum’s taking shots I I need to take my I need to get my stuff right it doesn’t

Feel that way right now for either of them there’s like a confidence a self-confidence and a comfort level with the partnership you C you feel it watching the game Tatum now has just said all right you know what if they’re going to put two on the ball early in

The game I don’t need to take eight shots in the first quarter to get myself going I know the ball is going to come back back around on this team and so at times I think I think Jaylen has just been the beneficiary of that and obviously he can self-create he brought

Up the defense to me uh when I when I watched the Celtics this year it’s the best he’s been defensively in terms of engagement on the ball and engagement off the ball like he’s lock he’s locked in defensively um I I you know I brought him up last week with the dunker spot

Guys I think there there’s probably n said 33 guys that are you know in consideration for the for the 10 for the 10 all defensive team spots I think we got to like 15 names and and Jaylen Brown was one of them I think he’s been excellent defensively of course they

Have a number of guys who’ve been excellent defensively it’s interesting because you bring up Jaylen Brown and and this is the best he’s looked and like Jason Tatum over his last five games is averaging 30 points six rebounds almost six assists shooting 45% from three it’s like we’ve just

Gotten numb a little bit to Tatum we just like to highlight oh he had a bad game against Denver can he do it it’s like all right there’s 82 games this guy is durable he’s going to play almost every night he’s he’s he’s really [ __ ] good Jason Tatum is really

[ __ ] good I I brought up at the turn of the year uh back on January 1 we did a Islands In The League episode and we did New Year’s resolutions and my New Year’s resolution for Jason Tatum was just to drive more and stop taking pull-up threes uh he’ shot I think 29%

Uh on pull-up threes up to that point uh last year he was one of the worst in the NBA in terms of the high volume pull-up three-point Shooters he’s now shooting since January 1 he’s now shooting around 40% on pull-up threes when he’s making off the dribble threes this is a tough

Team to beat uh it really is and the last two points I want to make just because I looked it up this morning so I mentioned the Records Denver 11-2 since the break Celtics 10-2 they’ve they’ve got the two best records in the NBA since the break the Celtics

Offensively over the last 12 games since the All-Star break have an offensive rating of 27.8 now per for some perspective here right the number one offens of League this year about 120 the number two offense in the league since the All-Star break so this is not like an anomaly all anybody’s

Talking about you brought the physical all everybody’s talking about right now oh scoring is down scoring is down the off the officials are now letting them play which again they are like it this is a real thing that the officials have decided the league has decided we’ve got

To give some balance we got to allow a little more physicality great the Celtics are averaging 100 or have a offensive rating of 128 coming out of that All-Star break when it’s been mandated uh we need we need more balance we need more balance 128 offensive rating over the last 12 games that’s

Insane it’s insane last point I want to make on Jaylen Brown think about the playoffs right and I think about Boston one of the slowest teams in the NBA uh in terms of pace actually I think they are the slowest team in the NBA in terms

Of pace in the fourth quarter I think about how the game in general slows down in the playoffs and officials allow more it’s just natural it happens every year I think one of the keys to the Boston Celtics playoff run and it’s this is obvious but I I just want to point

This out one of the keys to me is Jaylen Brown in transition and at times that’s maybe where he’s at his best Jaylen Brown in transition in the playoffs if he can create those opportunities whether it’s through stops long rebounds throw ahead passes whatever it may be Jaylen Brown

In transition is going to be something that I’m I’m legitim Ely watching for in the playoffs I completely agree with that and and that when he gets opportunities where they Advance the ball out of the back court up the sideline to him against a back pedaling defense and sometimes that’s after makes

And I saw this when I was out there at Phoenix I completely agree with you his ability because he is so strong and like you don’t you don’t realize I think maybe even just watching him if you’re just a fan of the game watching the Celtics on TV how this dude’s put

Together he is so strong that when you throw it to him and he he gets that downhill you know Advance when he gets into any sort of Gap like his his like force field with his shoulders and the way he can just get into people’s chest and then explode off the ground and

Finish it’s an enormous part of his game and I think it gets him going gets him going especially if he can get something early in the game get something like that in the first quarter it seems to like unlock him to where he then now the whole thing he puts the whole package

Together you know what you’re talking about that with with them offensively JJ it’s it’s just what they’re doing to teams right now last night another example they played a bad team but Hower Hits 10 threes it’s like 10 threes in 23 minutes yeah they’re just you know and

They’re just having the time of their lives like offensively what they’re doing to people they’re absolutely destroying people and I always say like the three-point shot is how they end people because they’ll string together other four or five of those like and it’s just like Boom game over it was a

Pretty good game thans were coming out it went from four to 18 in a three minute stretch because that’s how they end you but I also think that’s like the one thing that make if you’re going to nitpick that’s that’s their one vulnerability right will they hunt that

Too too often too early too quickly and bail teams out of having to guard guys like Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum oneon-one off the dribble because they’re when they get into the paint first and then they they move the ball you try to catch up to it there’s

Nothing you can do to slow them down with the number of guys that are shooting that shot at a high percentage but to get into the paint to get to the rim to get up the floor early to attack early it sets a lot of that stuff up

Even the way the teams then have to think about retreating and getting back to stop that early attack and it leads to really good stuff on the secondary breaks so I I agree with you it’s it’s a huge part of his game there I’m not gonna say that I’ve always loved

Watching Jaylen Brown play I do now right now I love watching this dude play because he seems like it’s all come together for him you know and I think I’ve always said like I think like 25 to like 31 those are your best years man because you’re mature maturing

You’ve gotten some money you probably got some personal accolades at that point you know if you’re on a good team you’ve had some team success you seem to be so you get comfortable with who you are yeah but as long as you’re a grinder you’re still continuing to add stuff

Like that’s what it looks like right now for me when I watch Jaylen Brown it’s all coming together for him and that’s why there’s just such to me clear separation with the Celtics and and like everybody certainly in the East like I said if it wasn’t for the Denver Nuggets

Being out there I don’t think there’s any team that we would say can stand in the way of the Boston Celtics right now

In this clip, Tim Legler talks about Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and The Boston Celtics and specifically how much better Brown has been playing recently.

Subscribe to The Old Man and The Three podcast w/ JJ Redick (ESPN / First Take) and Tommy Alter YouTube channel today for more NBA analysis, player interviews and highlights.

#nba #bostonceltics