Why Jaylen Brown, Celtics are emphasizing defense at start of training camp

Long before this Celtics training camp started, Jaylen Brown wanted to make something clear.

The Celtics star, accepting his record-breaking contract extension back in July, was asked about the team’s championship expectations. This was before Jrue Holiday was acquired, but shortly after Marcus Smart was traded. Brown went out of his way to emphasize defense.

“I want to make sure that’s where we hang our hats this year and that starts with me, that starts with Jayson (Tatum),” Brown said. “With Marcus gone, we don’t want our defensive identity to go out the door as well, so we have to really emphasize that at the start of training camp.”

Brown’s messaging has stayed consistent, and there’s been a clear emphasis on the defensive end to start training camp. He talked at media day about maintaining the energy on defense.

So why has Brown felt the need to make improved defense a goal this season? It all started with Smart’s departure.

“Before we got Jrue, (I) wanted to make sure we didn’t slack on that side of the ball,” Brown said Saturday. “Smart was our defensive emphasis, our defensive quarterback, and I think we needed that going into the season. So I took that as a challenge to myself that I could be better on that end of the floor.”

It’s a mindset most players in the Celtics locker room should take. While the C’s finished last regular season with the No. 2 defense by rating in the NBA, it wasn’t consistent enough. There were too many lapses and breakdowns at critical moments, which were exposed during the playoffs. Players admitted they lost their defensive identity during the Eastern Conference Finals when they fell in a 3-0 series hole.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has admitted multiple times in the first week of camp that the team didn’t make defense its foundation – a calling card of the 2022 Finals squad – and he didn’t make defense enough of a priority last season. It’s one of several lessons he learned.

“Defense is what gets you in the door, defense is the admission ticket, but it’s toughness, it’s mindset, it’s the ability to just be physical on both ends of the floor,” Mazzulla said. “So you just have to do it, like you don’t have a choice. …

“That’s something I can get better at as a coach. Talking about this the other day, when something is so obvious to me, I have a tendency to not emphasize it as much. Maybe it’s because I sucked at offense, so I had to play defense. Nobody had to remind me to play defense, because I couldn’t do anything else. If you want to be great, you have to play defense, and you have to be anticipating on that end of the floor.

“But there are times that I don’t always say that because it’s obvious. But I think that’s a thing I learned this year, is it’s not that obvious. So you just have to talk about it all the time, and defensive toughness gets you in the door.”

The Celtics are doing some experimenting during training camp and preseason as they bring some new faces into the fold. One thing Mazzulla has stressed is a need for a curveball on both ends of the floor, something he can turn to in different situations that don’t necessarily and not relying on fastballs, or strengths, all the time. In that spirit, the Celtics have been testing it out some zone defense – which they tried during summer league – that could serve as one of those curveballs.

But whatever style of defense the Celtics choose to play, the core basics – connectivity, trust, focus and toughness among them – need to stay the same. And while they want to play connected as a unit, they also want to play to their personnel’s strengths and vast skill sets, too.

“Being great defensively is a great thing as a team,” Brown said. “It puts you in games. It allows you to — even if you do make a mistake, you got somebody there to cover your back and everybody is just making reads and playing off each other. And that’s the environment we want to build.

“We want to bring what guys are good at. We want to bring it out of them. You know what I mean? On-ball pressure. (Kristaps Porzingis) blocking shots. JT being long in those passing lanes. Me blowing up screens. Al (Horford) being long in contests.”

Brown is taking on the challenge personally, and perhaps he can set the tone.

“I think that when I’m dialed in and I make sure that I’m challenging myself, I think I can be one of the better defenders in the world, and that’s something I’m challenging myself with,” Brown said. “Meet more guys at the rim, make more plays, have more of a presence defensively, something that I’m looking to do, so I’m excited about the year in general. I’m excited about our guys. I think we have an excellent group of guys, let’s do it.”

Tip-ins

Mazzulla said every player on the training camp roster – including Holiday and Porzingis –should be available for Sunday’s preseason opener at home against the Knicks.

As for the starting lineup, Mazzulla emphasized that it will mean “absolutely nothing.”

“I almost thought about starting someone way off the bat just to throw you guys off but I was talked out of it,” Mazzulla said. “So don’t read anything into it.” …

The Celtics have an unusual back-to-back to start their preseason schedule, with a game at Philadelphia on Monday, but Mazzulla is taking it in stride.

“I don’t really care. Just gotta play,” Mazzulla said. “To me it gives you the opportunity to just — we’re gonna have 15 or 20 of those or something like that during the season, so if you gotta go through one now I think it’s a good opportunity to work out stuff, be flexible, have guys available, not available, that will happen. So whatever they give us, we’ll do.”

Mazzulla expects to give light minutes for most of the players and they’ll see how they feel before determining their availability for Monday’s game.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/Gd7zPDZ