The Boston Celtics opened the season with a thrilling double overtime loss to the New York Knicks. Spirits were relatively high. Jaylen Brown dropped a career-high 46 points, Rob Williams only committed one foul in 40+ minutes, and Boston hung with a team despite a dreadful shooting night from Jayson Tatum. Madison Square Garden was packed. Life felt normal again.
“MSG was rocking,” said NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin on this week’s Celtics Beat. “A year of not having fans in there it was clear that all the New Yorkers were so excited to be out of the house. All the stars were out, from Dustin Hoffman to Tracy Morgan. The game lived up to the hype.”
However, through two games Boston clearly needs some time to gel. The new defensive scheme clearly needs some fine tuning. Coach Udoka has installed a switch-everything defense and it’s clear when guys do not communicate (sometimes having Rob Williams at the back end of your defense can help eradicate communication problems).
“Things are going to take time. This is not something – Ime’s just not going to show up and everything is going to change,” said Chin.
And she’s right. Two games into the season it’s clear that Boston needs reps to figure out each player’s individual role. And that’s not going to happen over night.
One of Jaylen Brown’s best attributes is his work ethic. Every offseason it’s clear Brown works on a few things to strengthen his overall game. It’s clear the past two years Jaylen’s trying to expand his role as a playmaker. He averaged a career-high 3.4 assists per game last year. Moreover, Brown notched six assists in the season opener, which should make Head Coach Ime Udoka extremely happy.
“I think the thing that’s so fun about Jaylen is that he continues to add things to his game. And when he does he does it at an elite level,” Chin commented. “He focuses on something and he brings it from the off-season and it’s part of his game.”
“And he told us postgame he wants the ball in his hands even more!”
Well, I for one, would love to see Brown take more responsibility on that end.
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