The key to fixing the Boston Celtics offense is in the paint

brad painter

You’re probably sick of hearing how much trouble the Boston Celtics are having on offense. We are sick of telling you about it.

The reality is that Boston actually does get good looks early in games and they often just miss open shots. Then they devolve into an isolation mess and things really start to fall apart.

There’s a way for the Celtics to get on track and stay there, though. They just need to get aggressive. I laid out the simple plan on Boston.com… get into the paint and let the rest just happen naturally.

One issue for them is they’ve got a lot of players who know they can hit the types of open shots they’re getting. They are all too willing to settle for shots they think they can make.

Even if they do eventually make those shots, they’ll never make enough to make this offense good. The only way it can get as good as it needs to be is for the ball to move and get into the paint. Paint touches destroy defenses and generate great looks. They can lead to free throws, easy baskets, and open threes. The Celtics will eventually start hitting open shots, but the first step to getting them is trusting that this kind of aggressive offense will be good for everyone. If they start hunting paint touches, we’ll start seeing a dramatically improved Celtics offense.

Here’s one example.

The key to fixing the Boston Celtics offense is in the paint

Head on over to Boston.com to see other and a stark example of how much guys stand around when one guy isolates.

The Celtics have a bunch of guys who can drive the ball. They need to take advantage of everyone’s abilities, trust each other to make the right play, and GET INTO THE PAINT.

If they do, they’ll be fine. If they don’t, then they’ll be a lot easier to guard and these problems will persist.

We talked more about this on the latest Locked On Celtics podcast. Check it out.

[protected-iframe id=”4528fbe5250c278c5a5b6e541b5d0fa6-142507471-1227608″ info=”https://player.megaphone.fm/LKN6925288316?” width=”100%” height=”200″ scrolling=”no”]
Arrow to top