Unfortunately I can’t post the attached gifs but here’s the Celtics part
> The Celtics are 21st in points allowed per possession, but there’s no cause for alarm. They don’t have Robert Williams III, keystone to the unorthodox scheme that turned their 2021-22 season. They are allowing few 3s and shots at the rim; opponents are on fire from midrange, which will normalize.
> Without Williams — and the scheme that hinges on him — the Celtics have committed some uncharacteristic mistakes, but the talent and fundamentals are all there. They know who they are. They’ve flashed renewed commitment to gang rebounding. Almost every member of the rotation is at or above career-high levels in defensive rebounding rate. When their wings crash back, it is really hard to generate second chances against Boston:
> There’s nothing remarkable about what Brown and Tatum do there. They spot Al Horford leaping out to challenge that jumper, and realize it falls on them to clean the glass. Tatum occupies both Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Williams. That frees Brown to catapult into the fray and tip the ball.
> Horford and Luke Kornet are 2-on-2 with the Cavs under the rim, but Tatum swoops in to make sure Boston snags the rebound.
> Nothing special, right? That should be expected of perimeter players. But it doesn’t happen enough. Boston is nailing it. It’s 11th in defensive rebounding rate, up from 16th last season — tidy work considering Boston is playing smaller with Williams hurt.
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Unfortunately I can’t post the attached gifs but here’s the Celtics part
> The Celtics are 21st in points allowed per possession, but there’s no cause for alarm. They don’t have Robert Williams III, keystone to the unorthodox scheme that turned their 2021-22 season. They are allowing few 3s and shots at the rim; opponents are on fire from midrange, which will normalize.
> Without Williams — and the scheme that hinges on him — the Celtics have committed some uncharacteristic mistakes, but the talent and fundamentals are all there. They know who they are.
They’ve flashed renewed commitment to gang rebounding. Almost every member of the rotation is at or above career-high levels in defensive rebounding rate. When their wings crash back, it is really hard to generate second chances against Boston:
> There’s nothing remarkable about what Brown and Tatum do there. They spot Al Horford leaping out to challenge that jumper, and realize it falls on them to clean the glass. Tatum occupies both Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Williams. That frees Brown to catapult into the fray and tip the ball.
> Horford and Luke Kornet are 2-on-2 with the Cavs under the rim, but Tatum swoops in to make sure Boston snags the rebound.
> Nothing special, right? That should be expected of perimeter players. But it doesn’t happen enough. Boston is nailing it. It’s 11th in defensive rebounding rate, up from 16th last season — tidy work considering Boston is playing smaller with Williams hurt.