Random thoughts after two Boston Celtics preseason games

I once determined running the offense through David Lee was a good idea based on what we saw in preseason games.

Yes, that’s me dumping a bucket of cold water on the hype of two preseason games against the Charlotte Hornets. The Boston Celtics look good, even though they haven’t looked good. The things the Celtics are doing wrong are early-preseason mistakes that will get cleaned up. Meanwhile, there don’t seem to be egregious mistakes being made.

That’s all great. The Celtics are supposed to be a good team this season and this is what that’s supposed to look like at this point.

Here are a few random thoughts on what we’ve seen so far.

I hope they can keep up this pace

After getting 95 and 104 shots up in the first two games, the obvious question is, can the Celtics keep this up?

Today’s NBA teams tend to somewhere around 85-88 shots up per game. To see 100 per game would get us back to the 1960’s where it was nothing but running and gunning (the 1959-60 Celtics hold the record with 119.61 shots per game. Wrap your head around that for a second).

I hope they can get close, though. Even to get into the low 90’s would mean the Celtics are running off misses and creating opportunities for everyone.

Jaylen Brown is super aggressive

We spent a lot of energy on the rest of the starters. I have said that all Jaylen needs to do is catch and shoot from the corners and occasionally attack closeouts.

Instead, he’s bringing the ball up off misses, probing, searching for his shot, and being as active a participant in this offense as anyone. That shouldn’t be shocking, per se, but it’s just not expected. Along with the overall offense, I’m curious to see if this continues from Brown.

Cool it with the 3’s Aron Baynes

I enjoyed his explosion against Philly as much as the next guy, I’m just not sure I want him shooting above the break threes.

I’m especially against it if, as has happened already, it’s Gordon Hayward passing up a shot to work the ball around only to have Baynes take the shot.

Let Kyrie work himself back into shape

He’s not out of shape, necessarily. He’s just behind others because his surgery didn’t let him work out the same as everyone else this summer. He’ll just need more time. I like that he’s getting longer stretches and a few extra minutes.

Brad is still cooking up magic

the brilliant simplicity of the Yabu game winner: Wanamaker gets it at the top, Williams & Dozier play pnr on the left wing to occupy 2 defenders. Semi pops out & his guy chases leaving Yabu all alone. Great seal. Pass is perfect. Beautiful drop step. Layup. pic.twitter.com/tAvZxPTUPJ

— John Karalis 🇬🇷🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) October 1, 2018

We discussed a lot of these things on the latest Locked On Celtics podcast. Check it out.

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