Boston Celtics player improvements to watch for – Staff Roundtable

The Celtics sit atop the standings at the All Star Break. So what do they need to do between now and the playoffs? I asked the staff to take a look at individual players and offer suggestions on tweaks that they could make to their games.

Ben Dupont

I know it’s all anyone talks about, but Tatum driving to the basket is the dead horse that needs beating. He just doesn’t do it enough, and settling for bad pull-up threes isn’t going to work every time. It’s one of those things that you know is going to get better in the playoffs, but it’s frustrating that we haven’t seen it more in the regular season. Tatum is so dangerous when he’s getting downhill, and teams can pretty much be certain they’re safe from harm for three quarters of the game.

Mark Aboyoun

He may not get a lot of minutes once the playoffs come, but Queta not biting on every shot fake. For young centers (we witnessed it with Rob Williams his first two years) they try and block everything. Sometimes just staying still with your hands up can alter a shot just as much as getting a block. If we need Queta in the playoffs, it probably means someone is hurt which isn’t ideal either.

Trevor Hass

Jaylen Brown’s 3-point percentage is hovering around 34 percent. It’s a small difference, but getting it up to around 37 or 38 would pay dividends. Kristaps Porzingis is averaging around 13 shots per game. It’s more on the Celtics than it is on him, but that number should be around 15 or 16, even if Tatum and Brown take one or two fewer. If Oshae Brissett wants to log playoff minutes, he has to work on his shot and become a more consistent option offensively.

Tim Sheils

Oshae Brissett needs to hit his open shots, or more importantly, his three point shots. Right now, he’s a sub 30% shooter from deep, and one of the biggest needs at the deadline was to add another strong wing to the rotation. After adding Jaden Springer and Xavier Tillman, there’s still very much a need at the wing, but that gets mitigated if somebody in-house steps up. Enter Oshae, a guy capable of adding energy, defense and athleticism. The biggest problem is his three ball, but if he can get that up a bit, it’ll alleviate some of the Celtics rotational concerns. With other studs on the lineup beside him like Brown and Tatum, Oshae will get a lot of open looks, and that can be one of the ways Boston can punish double teams. I’m really rooting for Brissett to figure out his three ball before the playoffs, because I think his energy and defense could come up big somewhere down the line.

Sam LaFrance

My kneejerk reaction here is to complain about Jayson Tatum shooting too many threes. He averages 8.5 attempts per game, which is definitely lower than I thought. In fact, that’s a fine number. However, I’d still like to see SOME change here.

Don’t stop shooting them, even the tough ones that I despise.

What I would like to see is a better ability to read the room on these shots. Tatum is a fantastic player, probably the best Celtic since Larry Bird. But, there are times during games when he takes these shots, early in the clock, and when the Cs are on the wrong side of the momentum. Sure, it’s a gamble, and if it finds the bottom of the net then the day is saved. When it doesn’t it’s an easy defensive stop for the opposing team and that stop came a time where Boston was dying for a bucket.

To Tatum’s credit, there have been times throughout the season, when the Cs needed a spark and he brought them back from the dead by getting downhill and going to the rim.

TLDR: I don’t want quick Jayson Tatum threes to be Boston’s answer for opposing runs.

Bonus: Kristaps Porzingis needs to get position closer to the basket. He’s nails from — well, the nail — but I don’t need him posting up above the half circle. (edited)

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Mike Dynon

Jayson Tatum has been a force on both ends of the court. His shots are down slightly from last year so his scoring is too, but he still leads the team in points and rebounds per game and is virtually tied for team lead in assists per game. When he attacks the rim and forces the defense to rotate or switch, he willingly moves the ball and the half-court offense hums. However, he still tends to slow down the pace toward the end of each game, isolating and dribbling in place behind the arc. The ball stops moving and, to my eyes, the offense becomes stagnant. I’d like to see him keep the pace going for all 48 minutes, then let’s see how much that helps avoid letting leads slip away.

Adam Taylor

This isn’t for a specific player — sorry, I know i’m kind of cheating here. But, I want to see more off-ball movement from everyone on the roster. As others have said here, Jayson Tatum needs to attack the basket more. Honestly, I think the amount of interior scoring talent on this roster isn’t being utilized to it’s full potential.

Off-ball cutting opens up scoring across all three levels. Mixing in more player movement, especially in half-court sets, that doesn’t involve just relocating, could take this offense to the moon. So, everybody needs to improve that area of their game. For me, it’s an important aspect — especially in terms of defensive manipulation.

Jack Simone

More Derrick White ball-handling. Maybe this is less of a tweak to his game and more of an adjustment to Boston’s gameplan, but when White has the ball in his hands, good things happen. He’s gone from an elite 3-and-D player to a well-rounded point guard on one of the best teams in the league. His floater is smooth, he can draw contact at the rim with the best of them, and his passing abilities are arguably the best on the team. Obviously, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are going to have the ball a lot, but White should be handling most of the point guard duties.