A Closer Look at The C’s Defensive Dominance & Philosophy

Posted by Brian Robb on Jan 2, 2011 137282 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2011%2F01%2F02%2Fa-closer-look-at-the-cs-defensive-dominance-philosophy%2FA+Closer+Look+at+The+C%27s+Defensive+Dominance+%26+Philosophy2011-01-02+16%3A18%3A54Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D13728

As many of you surely know, former CelticsHub writer Zach Lowe has been doing a tremendous job writing about the NBA since the folks at Sports Illustrated wisely gave him his own blog The Point Forward With Zach on vacation this past week, I was asked to contribute a guest piece for the blog about the C’s.

The topic I decided to focus on wasn’t a tough decision. It’s something I feel has been overlooked despite all the recent turmoil surrounding this squad. Say what you want about the team’s offensive woes with all the injuries. The fact is despite all the lineup shuffling, this squad is playing Championship caliber defense. 2007-08 level defense.

Leading the league with a 99.3 defensive efficency number, I decided to invesigate just exactly how they were doing it, despite injuries to one-third of the roster. So with a little help from Doc Rivers, I did some decoding and took a closer look at this team’s defensive resurgence, led by Kevin Garnett’s return to form (before the injury):

Through 30 games, the team is allowing an anemic 91.3 points per game, fewest in the league and an incredible four points fewer than their top-five points allowed number last year.

With so many moving parts for Rivers though, (five different starting lineups), it’s fair to ask: Just what exactly is the formula for the team’s defensive resurgence?

“We defend the three,” Rivers said. “Our whole thing is no threes and no points in the paint, so basically your left with contested twos.

A look at Boston’s numbers proves Rivers’ philosophy to be consistent with the team’s performance. The Celtics allow the fewest shot attempts from inside 10 feet of team in the league at 31 per game. And while the Celtics don’t allow many chances close to the rim, they’re the best at defending the basket, allowing opponents a 58-percent conversion rate at the rim, the stingiest in the league, and nearly five points below the league average.

With such discipline at the rim, Rivers and new top defensive assistant coach, Lawrence Frank, push Boston’s defense to force its opponents to the toughest area of the floor for many shooters: just inside the three-point arc.

‘There’s not a lot of in-between game players is our belief,” Rivers said. “So if we force teams to the in-between game, we have a chance to beat them.”

With Boston allowing just 15.7 looks from downtown per game (third fewest in league), opposing offenses have been stuck in no-man’s land against the Celtic defense, being forced to take more 30 shots a game from 10-23 feet, three shots more than the league average.

Not only are opposing teams shooting more from just outside the paint and inside the arc, they are shooting worse against the Celtics, hitting just 35.6 percent of their attempts from that range, far below the NBA average of 38.6 percent.

To read the full piece over at The Point Forward click here

And while you’re over there, be sure to check out Brendan Jackson’s take on the new-look Magic at The Point Forward

Also check out Ryan DeGama’s look at the C’s month ahead here at CelticsHub, (where accurate monthly record predictions are made regularly) by clicking here

Much more today on the way, including a classic box score and full preview and recap of tonight’s tilt in Toronto. It’s the start of a crazy week for Boston as the C’s embark on a schedule that includes five games in the next seven nights, including two back-to-backs.

Don’t worry though folks because unlike the Celtics sometimes, we are always reliable here at CelticsHub on the second night of a back-to-back and will have you covered all the way through.