Out
- Holiday: 4.9 3PA at 35%
- Tatum: 10.1 3PA at 34%
- Horford: 5.2 3PA at 36%
- KP: 6.2 3PA at 41% (42 games)
- ALL FOUR COMBINED: 575 / 1598 for 35.9%
In
- Simons: 8.5 3PA on 36%
- Pritchard: 7.8 3PA on 41%
- White: 9.1 3PA on 38%
- Hauser: 6.7 3PA on 42%

Simons is a better shooter than Holiday, Tatum and Horford. Then you give increased 3PAs to our already elite shooters and we are bound to hit a ton of 3s this year if we can generate good looks.

We might get the chance to run a small ball line up of Pritchard / Simons / White / Brown / Hauser, depending on what our opponents do, and that will be really fun to see if we can pull that off.

switch1209

35 | 3 days ago

Without the spacing and gravity provided by Tatum (and to a lesser extent, Horford and Porzingis), I fully expect guys like Hauser, White and Pritchard to shoot solidly worse from 3 this season. Simons getting Holiday’s minutes will definitely be a boost to the half court offense, but the defense is going to be so much worse that I think it will greatly impact the offense (fewer stops = fewer transition opportunities = less efficient offense, including from 3).

GoatmontWaters

0 | 3 days ago

We were super successful with a non shooting big last season in Kornet.

I dont really buy that Tatum provides more perimeter spacing than Hauser/Pritchard/White/Simons all have better advanced shooting numbers.

Jaylen can provide the slashing gravity that Tatum provided last year.

switch1209

3 | 3 days ago

Jaylen has shown throughout his career that he’s just not nearly the playmaker that Tatum is (in terms of demanding double teams, making the correct pass, and limiting turnovers), and for the first time in his career, he’s going to have to go up against the opposing teams best perimeter defenders every single night, not just the one time every 3-4 weeks that Tatum sits. Downgrading from a top 5 guy to a top 20 guy is a pretty big step back, expecting Jaylen to provide the same level of slashing gravity as Tatum doesn’t make any sense to me at all.

The Celtics had a lot of success with Kornet last year, but first, it’s worth noting that the guy that got the most out of him was Tatum (the Celtics were +15.²⁄₁₀₀ with both Tatum and Kornet on the court last year, the best net rating of all Celtic duos with at least 800 minutes together), and second, Kornet played just 19 mpg last year, and rarely was on the court in crunch time. For nearly all the minutes that mattered last year they either had KP (a threat that needed attention 30 feet from the basket) or Horford (who needed to be guarded all the way out to the 3 point line, too).

lyonhawk

17 | 3 days ago

Who’s generating the open looks for these guys?
Even if they’re better shooting 3s, look at the difference in defense and rebounding.

GoatmontWaters

1 | 3 days ago

Simons, Pritchard, White, and Jaylen can all drive and dish.

iamgarron

5 | 3 days ago

Generating looks isn’t about driving and dishing. It’s about the ability to draw 2, which isn’t he most valuable skill in basketball.

It’s why Tatum makes the team run.

GoatmontWaters

1 | 3 days ago

Yeah, we will really need someone to step up and fill that void. Luckily it seems like Brown can definitely consistently draw 2, not sure on the others til the games start.

Praise_The_Fun

9 | 3 days ago

Defense is a thing

Mbanicek64

3 | 3 days ago

Defense is a thing (that this post isn’t about).

CarBallAlex

2 | 3 days ago

Actually it is relevant. Another comment pointed out less stops = less transition opportunities = harder to generate easy 3’s in the half court.

Teams will score on us and be able to set up their defense. Their poor defense is going to translate to more difficult offense.

The bottom half of defenses last year all had average at best offenses as well except the Nuggets (Nikola Jokic), Lakers (Luka Doncic and LeBron James), Kings (40-42) and Suns (36-46). The Celtics don’t have one of the best offensive engines in the game next year. It doesn’t matter how well they shoot the ball, without defense it’s not going to lead to wins.

Offense and defense aren’t totally separate entities in basketball like they are in football, the game is fluid and both things matter and can impact one another.

Championship_Chuck

1 | 3 days ago

It’s easier to score off a stop than after an opponent’s made basket. So defense is a factor

iritian

4 | 3 days ago

We might get the chance to run a small ball line up of Pritchard / Simons / White / Brown / Hauser

By far one of the worst takes I’ve ever read on this sub

GoatmontWaters

0 | 3 days ago

Depends, if our opponents go unusually small then we should give it a shot.

Anime-Freak3895

2 | 3 days ago

Did he say hauser at the 5????

loving-father-69

2 | 3 days ago

Id even argue he’s a 6 at this point

JonTheHobo | Jaylen

3 | 3 days ago

How are Pritchard, White, and Hauser counted as In for this year when they were on the team last year lol. I can see argument for increased role but doesn’t really make sense to not count it towards last years numbers

GoatmontWaters

-1 | 3 days ago

The vast majority of the 3 Pointers available will go to increased minutes and attempts by Pritchard/Hauser/Simons/White.

CarBallAlex

3 | 3 days ago

Why are you adding Pritchard, White and Hauser in when they were already on the team?

The 4 out are 35.9%

If you take Simons, Boucher, Garza and Minott that’s ³⁰⁹⁄₈₆₅ (35.7%). Same percentage on about half the volume. Scheierman was 35.5%. Walsh was 27.3%. The rest of the guys are rookies

While White, Pritchard and Hauser might get more shots because they’re higher on the pecking order, they’re going to be less efficient without Porzingis and Horford spacing the floor and the attention Tatum draws. And they already shot a lot, I mean how many 3’s do you want them taking?

Unless one of the young guys takes a leap in their shooting, we are going to be a worse 3P shooting team both in percentage and the quality of looks we get. Scheierman or Gonzalez could be that guy, I don’t have a ton of faith in Tillman or Walsh to make that kind of jump.

There’s no way with this personnel that we’ll be top 10 in 3P% like last year.

GoatmontWaters

1 | 3 days ago

Boucher, Garza, and Minot will all split minutes and have a minimal effect on our 3 PT shooting compared to Al/KP.

The vast majority of the 3 Pointers available will go to increased minutes and attempts by Pritchard/Hauser/Simons/White.

CarBallAlex

1 | 3 days ago

I’m curious how many 3P attempts per game you think White, Pritchard, Simons and Hauser will take

gavalant

5 | 3 days ago

Two smaller players aren’t replacing two centers. The Celtics will have to play big men who are not known as three point shooters in place of Porzingis and Horford. 5 out won’t be routine as it was.

GoatmontWaters

1 | 3 days ago

The smaller players can take the shots from the bigger players who left. Yes.

gavalant

2 | 3 days ago

If that happens the defense will play up on the smaller players, reducing open three point looks, which will lead to contested threes and lower efficiency. The opposition will be able to do this because the middle will be clogged, taking away driving options, so they can play tighter at the three point line.

Queta will spring some guys free with high screens though.

Angreek

6 | 3 days ago

Without Tatum on the floor, won’t be the same spacing.

GoatmontWaters

1 | 3 days ago

I disagree, our elite shooters provide similar spacing.

Praise_The_Fun

0 | 3 days ago

To add on to my previous comment, we should absolutely not be playing to live and die by the three when JB is our number one scoring option this year. I want to see more driving inside with this team and not a regurgitation of look for the best three

loving-father-69

1 | 3 days ago

If Brown is the #1 guy then you absolutely want the other guys to be able to shoot

Praise_The_Fun

1 | 3 days ago

Not saying I don’t want them to shoot, but they shouldn’t pass up a drive to take a three like they have done so much lately

RVALover4Life

1 | 3 days ago

I agree with you OP, it’s why I believe the Celtics offense has the potential to be a lot better than people think u/switch1209 is right that the Celtics were able to play with the kind of pace they were and able to be as good on offense as they were in part because of the defense getting stops and being able to push off those stops…the defense won’t be as good and it’ll mean more possessions in the half court.

They’ll have to commit to pushing even off makes, but playing with pace is not just about transition but also ball movement. Jaylen and PP are pretty heliocentric players, and I don’t really see this being a pace team. Think the Celtics are gonna be a half court team and we’ll see what Jaylen and PP can do as creators.

Heshrat

1 | 3 days ago

I’m happy hauser is staying with us

This year’s 3 point shooting is better than last year’s 3 point shooting