The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot. ~Bill Russell
Public Service Announcement: OK, here we go! How bout them Celtics! Goodness gracious great balls of fire! We knew they were gonna be good. We knew they were gonna be real good. Did we know they were gonna be this good?
20-2 good? An NBA-best 20-2 good? Tying the 1963-64 Celtics for the best start in franchise history good? Nine straight good? Everybody had a hunch the New Big Three would score. Had hunches they’d score in bunches. Had hunches they’d score in knockout punches. Had hunches they’d score in the crunches. But defense?
This is a team that last year went stretches playing worse defense than Michael Redd. Worse defense than Antawn Jamison. Worse defense than Troy Hudson. So how in the world are they doing this? How are they ranked number one in the National Basketball Association in points allowed? How are they ranked number one in the National Basketball Association in opponents’ field goal percentage? How are they ranked number one in the National Basketball Association in opponents’ three-point percentage? How are they ranked number one in the National Basketball Association in opponents’ rebounds? What does it take to be number one? Two is not a winner and three nobody remembers. What does it take to be number one?
Tom Thibodeau. That’s what. Tom Thibedeau, Celtics assistant coach. Tom Thibedeau, defensive guru. Defensive maharishi. Defensive swami. In his seventeen seasons as an assistant, Thibodeau has helped his teams finish in the NBA’s top ten in team defense fourteen times. Yowza! He helped the Rockets rank in the top five in the NBA in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense in all four years he was with the team. Holy cow! In his first year with Houston, Thibodeau helped the Rockets set franchise records in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense. Whoa Nelly! During his tenure with the Knicks, New York set a then-NBA record by holding thirty-three consecutive opponents under 100 points in the 2000-01 season. How about that! Now, the Celtics under Thibodeau, are suddenly playing defense. Suddenly Susan. Like that boy from INXS, they are playing suffocating defense. Smothering defense. Asphyxiating defense.
They are cutting off the penetration. They are contesting every shot. They are trapping in the corners. They are crashing the boards. Rebounding, helping, switching, basically everything that you expect your team to do on defense. Crushing opponents on a nightly basis.
Yesterday, the Celtics’ defense held Toronto to a season low in points. Seven fewer than their previous low. Registered Decemeber 7 against, you guessed it, Boston. Friday against Milwaukee, Michael Redd was held to a season-low seven points. 17.1 below his average. And know this sports fans: The Celtics own a point differential up over fourteen. The 72-win Chicago Bulls had a differential of 12.2. The 1971-72 Lakers, who won 33 straight, had one of 12.3. The 1985-86 Celtics, the best team in NBA history, had one of 9.4. So you wanna know how the Celtics are doing it? Doin’ it and doin’ it and doin’ it well? They’re doing it with defense.
Public Acknowledgements: Jerry Lee Lewis, Nelly, Ben Bernie, Keith Jackson, Phil Rizzuto, Mel Allen, Brooke Shields, Michael Hutchence, Boston Globe and LL Cool J
Peace out homies. Six two and Even!
Need More? Boston Celtics, NBA
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