Most Celtics fans will tell you that the first problem we need to address with this team is getting a “rim-protecting center.” I was one of those guys, but it got me wondering how Tyler Zeller stacks up statistically among some of the other centers in the game. So I took all of the centers on current playoff teams in the East Coast and compared their body of work to Tyler Zeller.
Right off the bat the first thing we looked at was how big Zeller is compared to all the playoff centers. This list included Al Horford, Marcin Gortat, Jonas Valanciunas, Joakim Noah, Timofey Mosgov, Zaza Pachulia, Chris Andersen, and Brook Lopez. Out of all of these guys, Zeller was only one of 4 guys that was actually a true 7 footer, and he was the fourth heaviest only behind Lopez, Pachulia, and Valanciunas. Also at 25 years old, he’s younger than all the other centers except for Valanciunas. In terms of wingspan, he does rank at the bottom of the pack, but he has right around the same wingspan as Al Horford, something we’ll touch on later. So all things aside, Tyler Zeller at least has the physical makeup of a legit NBA center.
Let’s look at some of the statistics now. We looked at Points, Rebounds, Blocks, and PER to determine how far off Zeller was from the playoff centers, here’s what we got. Zeller ranks 5th in points behind Horford, Lopez, Valanciunas, and Gortat. He ranks 8th in rebounding (only ahead of Chris Andersen) and 8th in blocks (only ahead Zaza Pachulia). Most will credit the lack of blocks to his unimpressive wingspan, but keep in mind that the short-armed Horford ranks 4th (1.4 bpg). In terms of PER, Zeller does rank 4th behind Horford, Valanciunas, and Lopez which speaks volumes to his efficiency.
But where does that leave us after all is said and done? Although Zeller has the physical tools to be successful, his defense is still a step behind, and he’s not much of a rim protector (yet better than advertised). At 25, one could argue he could still develop, find a way to be an excellent team defender and always put himself in great position – like Al Horford does. You could also argue that all of those centers have highly efficient frontcourt mates that help in defending and rebounding. I’m talking about Paul Milsap, Nene, Amir Johnson, Pau Gasol, Kevin Love, Chris Bosh, etc. As good as Jared Sullinger can be on the boards, it’s fair to say that he’s still not on the level as most of those guys quite yet. Though you can also turn it around from Sullinger’s point of view and say the same thing about Zeller. Though Boston is one of the worst in points allowed in the paint (ranked 28th), they are about average when it comes to Defensive Efficiency and Rebounding Rate. Where they really struggle is on the offensive end; they rank 3rd in Pace, 23rd in offensive efficiency, 20th in true shooting percentage, and 18th in effective Field Goal percentage. This basically says they have no one that constantly scoring for them. If they were able to add a consistent scorer to this team, chances are they would be a playoff team, and the talk of getting a new center wouldn’t feel that serious.
When you look at the Celtics roster one thing you see is a lack of playmakers or guys that can either consistently create for themselves or others. Going into the trade deadline or offseason that needs to be our main objective. Though having a great center would be nice, without a real playmaker we won’t be able to expand on the potential we have already. So to the people who believe getting a defensive-minded center is our first problem, the numbers do say otherwise.
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