From now until the start of the NBA season later this month, we are going to be running our season previews. Each day, we are going to look at two teams and talk about one thing they did well last year and one thing that they did poorly last year. Then, we are going to talk about the chances of maintaining what they did well/changing what they did poorly. In this edition we will look at the Charlotte Bobcats.
One Thing They Did Well
Closing Out On Shooters
The Charlotte Bobcats were one of the best defensive team’s in the NBA no matter how you define “best.” According to Synergy, they were tied for 1st (with Boston) in opposing points per possession, and Hoopdata.com has them tied (with Orlando) for first with a 100.2. The Bobcats really excelled holding opponents to low shooting percentage, especially from the three point line. The Bobcats were 6th in opponent shooting percentage (holding teams to 44.8% shooting),and 2nd in opponent three point shooting percentage (holding teams to33.8% shooting from behind the three point line).
The main reason behind their success in this area was the fact that they close out on shooters very well. In my opinion, the best way to determine how a team closes out is to look how teams defend spot up jumpers. According to Synergy, the Bobcats were the best team in the league when it came to “Spot Up” situations, holding opponents to .93 points per possession on just 36.7% shooting (and just 34.8% from the three point line). Part of the reason they are able to close out well is that they have a lot of long armed athletes on their roster:
Here at NBA Playbook, I have dedicated a post or two to Dwight Howard’s post up game. I didn’t plan on doing another one until the season started, but while working on something for another project I noticed something wrong with Dwight’s post up game that I haven’t discussed here.
We all know that Dwight Howard doesn’t get good position in the post, and this can be attributed to a lot of different things. The fact that he has tiny legs and relies on using his upper body to get position and the fact that defenses are allowed to be very physical with him are all major reasons why. However, something I have noticed recently is that Dwight actually gets good initial position, but then he gives it up:
From now until the start of the NBA season later this month, we are going to be running our season previews. Each day, we are going to look at two teams and talk about one thing they did well last year and one thing that they did poorly last year. Then, we are going to talk about the chances of maintaining what they did well/changing what they did poorly. Today we are going to be looking at the Boston Celtics.
One Thing They Did Well
Trusting Each Other On The Defensive End
According to Synergy’s points per possession system, the Boston Celtics were the best defense in the entire NBA last year, allowing just 0.87 points per possession. A lot of this comes down to trust on that end of the court. Trust is incredibly important on the defensive end of the court especially when it comes to knowing where everyone is on the court. Knowing where the help is during ISO situations is important because it allows for increased ball pressure:
In the above clip, Paul Pierce (who isn’t really noted for his foot speed) is able to pressure up on the man he is covering, Carmelo Anthony, because he trusts that his teammates will be in perfect help position (which they are). Anthony picks up his dribble, and Paul Pierce is able to force the turnover.
So why is that trust there? Because when Celtic defenders do get beat off the dribble, the help seems to always be there:
Here, Nate Robinson is beat off the dribble by Deron Williams, but the Celtics are still able to force the turnover when the help defense steps in to take the charge.
