Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Boston has been on a steady and steep climb up the defensive rankings all season long, as Brad Stevens indicated Monday afternoon before practice at American Airlines Arena.
“[Since] the Washington game (Nov. 9), I think I looked at our defensive numbers and we’re top-five in the league,” Stevens said. “So if you take those first seven games out… I’m kind of looking at the whole.”
Stevens hit the nail on the head. Boston ranked dead last in the league in defensive rating (112.3) through the first seven games of the season, including that matchup with Washington. Since that date, the Celtics rank fourth in the league in defensive rating (100.8).
That’s pretty darn good.
The rebounding numbers have been on a steady climb as well. The Celtics ranked last in the league in defensive rebound percentage (73.4 percent) through their first 18 games of the season. Over its last nine games, Boston has jumped all the way up to seventh in the league in defensive rebound percentage (76.8 percent).
That’s also pretty darn good.
Here are a couple of other juicy numbers: Boston is 5th in OPP FG% (44.3%) and 3rd in OPP 3FG% (33.8%). And those numbers are to date.
But as the immortal Winston Wolf once said, “Let’s not go…” There’s still plenty of room for improvement with steals and forced turnovers.
If you read the entire story, you’ll learn about Stevens’ approach to rebounding. He wants his bigs to focus on the box out and not grabbing the ball. Might not sound like a big deal, but when you think that these guys have to suppress their natural reaction to jump for the ball, it makes sense.
On Page 2, the 76ers aren’t going to get squat for Nerlens Noel.
The Philadelphia 76ers have conceded that center Nerlens Noel will not be part of the rotation going forward, at least for the time being. Noel has changed agents recently, and his representation and the 76ers are working together toward a trade and a solution. While there is some urgency to getting the public dispute resolved, there is not a sense that a trade is close. Noel is a pending free agent, so that complicates a deal value; then, factor in that opposing teams know that the 76ers need to make a deal and it’s easy to see why the team may be having a hard time extracting real value when one team is a motivated seller.
There are a couple of teams to watch on the Noel front, the biggest being the Toronto Raptors. It is unlikely that the Raptors mess with their team chemistry in moving a core player, but if the 76ers want some of the Raptors’ young players or non-core parts, Toronto would have interest in Noel, according to sources close to the situation. It’s also believed the Portland Trail Blazers have eyes on Noel, but they may be unwilling to give up much in a deal.
I guess Philly had to wait on the health of Joel Embiid before determining Noel was indeed the odd man out, but this is really blowing up in their face.
Noel’s looming free agency is driving his price down more than his public bitching. They can’t let a former #6 pick walk and not get anything for him, can they?
I’d like to see Noel’s athleticism and shot-blocking ability in Boston (and hate to see him end up in Toronto). I think he could slide into the rotation seamlessly and replace Amir Johnson. But would you trade a (late) 1st round pick for a player who might end up being a 3-month rental?
The rest of the links
Globe – Marcus, IT hold unique shooting contest | Herald – Grizzlies present road test | CSNNE – Celtics vs Grizzlies preview
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