Overall Height -- The New Roster Measures Up on Wing Defense

“Jaylen has to become a lockdown defender for us," Brad Stevens said on the Vertical Podcast with Chris Mannix, earlier this summer. "That's where, as you go into an offseason and you are an individual player, there's a ton of things that you want to get better at, and there's a ton of things you want to add to your game. But ultimately, when you get back to your team, it's what do you do that's different to make your team unique to give yourself the best chance of adding value to winning. We need him to become that."

If one were to add up the total height measured in inches of last year's squad and divide by 15, how much taller on average do you think this year's squad will be? Surely, anyone searching to identify the biggest (pun intended) differences between the two teams would need to count overall height as one of them. IT, of course, was 5-9, and is now being replaced by someone six inches taller. But it is easy to forget that IT's backcourt mate last year was 6-2 because Avery Bradley was such an outstanding defender.

Nonetheless, as the old adage goes, you can't teach height, and as good as Bradley was, he was sometimes forced to guard much taller forwards. That won't happen to this year's squad. The closest thing you have to Avery Bradley in terms of stature on this year's team is Marcus Smart (I refuse to believe Terry Rozier will see any time guarding 3s, and Shane Larkin will be used exclusively as a 1). Smart is 6-4, and much more of a physical presence than Bradley, having spent a decent chunk of his career guarding 3s, 4s, and even the occasional 5.

Smart is now the Celtics' low-end defender in terms of height. As Abdel Nader recently observed, Boston has "like six or seven wings who are 6-6 or taller." The importance of this difference can't be overstated. Instead of Bradley and Smart being forced to guard the other team's much taller wings (and typically best player) for indefinite periods, the Celtics will now have an entire stable of guys who can be used interchangeably.

Gordon Hayward, Marcus Morris, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Daniel Theis, Semi Ojeleye, Guerschon Yabusele, and Abdel Nader.

That's eight players.

Last year?

Count them however you want, but let's be honest. Roster space was being consumed by the likes of Amir Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, and Tyler Zeller who couldn't guard a wing if their lives depended on it. Even Jonas Jerebko was typically challenged when the wing he was guarding had even the slightest bit of quickness and mobility. Gerald Green? James Young? They score points for height, but not for stellar defense. Meanwhile, six-foot-eight Marcus Morris, by some statistical measures, is the best LeBron defender in the  league (though, admittedly, it's hard to play defense from a jail cell). If several of the other wings turn into more than capable defenders, the quality of defensive upgrade will be noticeable.

And then, of course, there is the point guard position.

Do we really think Kyrie Irving will pass up the chance to become a two-way player? If he moved to Boston to evolve as a player and reach his potential, few would say he accomplishes this goal unless he starts to play better D, especially when we all know the real goal Kyrie has set is to become historically great.

That's a lot of potential defensive upgrades Boston added to the roster.

Thus, as you are contemplating the ways Boston's roster may have improved over the summer, don't discount the very real possibility that Boston's defense will markedly improve as well.

Known Unknowns

So when we acquired Isaiah, nobody knew he was going to be this Isaiah. Going into it nobody knew he was going to be the player that he was last year. When we got Jae Crowder in the trade for Rondo, nobody knew who Jae Crowder was. They just knew he didn’t play very much in Dallas. You have to let these things transpire. It doesn’t do any good to talk about it or predict who they are going to be. You have to let them earn who they are going to be. Part of that is earning their teammates’ trust and their coach’s trust, like Isaiah and Jae did.

-- Danny Ainge


There is more to what Danny is saying than meets the eye.

Look at the Celtics' bench. What do you see? Well, one answer might be "not much."

Barry, er uh, Shane Larkin. Abdel Nader. Terry Rozier. Semi Ojeleye. I can tell you right now these names aren't striking fear in anyone. Now let's say we start Marcus Smart at the 2, and move Gordon down to the 3. This means we've got Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Daniel Theis, Aron Baynes, and the Dancing Bear coming off the bench. Maybe they all disappoint. But maybe two, three, or more of them surprise and turn out to be beasts. Maybe Shane Larkin is IT coming off the bench. Maybe Rozier has a break out season.

You don't know.

In 2008, did we know that Eddie House and James Posey were gonna kill it in clutch time? Did we know that Big Baby and Leon Powe were gonna exceed expectations? Did we know that Rondo and Perkins would be perfect complements to the Big Three?

No, no, and no.

We do know one thing, however.

Brad Stevens is an optimizer.

And there's plenty of talent on the bench to be optimized.