Celtics Film Room: Breaking down three interesting actions

The Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets on Friday in what turned out to be a dog fight.

It’s 8 am on a rainy Sunday morning here in the UK.

I’m sitting at my desk. I’ve just finished a re-watch of Friday’s hard-fought win over the Brooklyn Nets. I took Saturday off, as, sometimes, we all need that mental break to recharge.

One thing you can’t say about this Celtics team is that they’re unable to win ugly. I mean, they’ve had more dogfight wins than comfortable endings in recent weeks.

• Pistons. Celtics won, but it wasn’t easy

• Back-to-back vs. Hornets - again two dog fights

• Nets - neck-and-neck all the way

Both of Boston’s losses, to the Warriors and Pacers, were slobber knockers, too.

Of course, there are some mitigating factors we must account for.

Jaylen Brown has missed the last four games due to a left hip flexor strain — he’s questionable for tonight’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Before him, Sam Hauser was out of the rotation with lower back issues. Kristaps Porzingis hasn’t made his season debut yet, either. Oh, and Luke Kornet wasn’t part of the rotation against Brooklyn.

Yet, somehow, some way, the Celtics keep finding ways to win — or at least be in a position to win down the stretch.

Neemias Queta and Payton Pritchard's developmental jumps have helped steady the ship. Both players have been enormous contributors. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday have taken turns stepping into a ‘second option’ role in Brown’s absence. And the big man rotation — once a point of weakness in Boston — looks like the potential bedrock of the team’s defensive identity.

Recently, on the morning after a game, I’ve been looking at some good, bad and ugly or great, good and ugly aspects of the Celtics performance. As we’re over a day removed, and, at the time of writing this paragraph, around 12 hours out from a matinee game against the Bucks, I think I will take a slightly different approach.

So, I thought it would be fun (at least for me) to look at three of my favorite plays against Brooklyn. Not all of these will end in a bucket. I’m focused on process over results. And not all of them will be pretty. Sometimes, seeing a new wrinkle being added to a staple action is all it takes to pique my interest, which, in turn, makes me want to share it with all of you.

Baseline Out of Bounds: Inverted Wedge Roll

Terminology glossary

Inverted screen: When a smaller player screens for a bigger player — Holiday screening for Hauser in this instance.

Wedge screen: A screen set at a 45-degree angle for the screen receiver to cut onto the either post. The screen usually comes diagonally through the paint and is set around or above the elbow. Holiday is the wedge screener in this action.

Wedge Roll: When the wedge screener becomes a roll man after setting the screen.

The Play

With Jayson Tatum inbounding the ball and a screen being set for Sam Hauser, the defense is likely expecting a catch-and-shoot mid-range jumper or a get action, where Tatum passes to Hauser and then sprints to get the ball back.

Hauser and Pritchard are the two players with gravity in this action, as both are reliable threats off the catch, and Holiday’s roll as the screener creates a modicum of misdirection.

Holiday sets the inverted wedge screen for Hauser, generating a switch in the process. Suddenly, Cam Thomas defends Holiday but is already behind the play when Holiday turns into the rollman.

Hauser’s cut to the weakside post and Pritchard’s re-location have opened the middle of the court, producing the perfect cutting lane for Holiday as he rolls toward the basket. From there, it’s easy inbound from Tatum and some nifty footwork from Holiday to spin off Thomas and get the easy bucket in the paint.

The Wrinkle

We’ve seen the Celtics run some wedge actions on BLOB actions before. Usually, Tatum or Brown are the screen receivers, as they can both score out of the post or make high-level passing reads for off-ball cutters or screen receivers.

However, I don’t think we’ve seen them run any ‘Wedge Roll’ from BLOB settings under Joe Mazzulla. This one caught me a little off guard. The movement of Hauser and Pritchard was the perfect amount of window dressing to get Holiday to his spot. And we all know Holiday can work it down on the baseline, which is why Boston is so comfortable when he’s in the dunker spot.

In fact, the last time I remember seeing the Celtics run a ‘Wedge Roll’ action was under Ime Udoka.

Tatum Empty Side Pick-n-Pop

The play

Ok, this one is simple. It’s a side pick-and-roll setup.

White is the ball-handler here. You have Horford in the weak side slot. Hauser in the weak side corner. And Holiday pops out to the top of the perimeter.

With no one in the strong side corner at the start of the play, Tatum has room to pop off the screen and fill the open spot. By doing this, he’s attacking space where there’s no low-man defender to rotate out and contest the shot.

As such, Tatum’s defender is under increasing pressure to recover and pressure the release because no help is coming from the weak side or across the low helpline. The beauty of this, from Boston’s standpoint, is that Tatum knows the fly-by contest is coming, so he can remain patient, wait for the contest, and then react by attacking his space.

In the above clip, you will see Tatum catching the rock in his shooting pocket, waiting for his defender to fly by, and then taking a one-dribble pull-up with a slight sidestep to align himself with the bucket. It’s a comfortable shot for him, especially with limited defensive pressure, which is rare for Tatum.

The Wrinkle

According to Cleaning The Glass, Tatum has shot 114 threes over his first 10 games of the season. 11 of them have come from the corner. For reference, he’s made 8 of those 11, giving him a 73% conversion rate.

We rarely see him getting opportunities like the one above — both in terms of limited defensive coverage and in shot location.

Furthermore, Tatum being used as a screener is something the Celtics have been using to counter a team’s aggressive pick-up points and trap defense when Tatum is the ball-handler in PnR actions. Yet, we’ve rarely seen him pop off those screens into an empty side. Considering how well this worked, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Celtics go back to this action more frequently if teams continue to try to pressure Boston’s PnR game higher up the floor.

Up-To-Touch, Peel and Roam

Terminology glossary

Peel Switch: A peel switch occurs when a help defender switches onto a ballhandler who has beaten their defender, followed by the original defender 'peeling off' to cover the help defender's previous assignment. Unlike traditional switches, peel switches typically (but not always) happen during live play when a defender is beaten rather than being initiated via contact on screens.

Drop: When a big man defender is guarding below the screen, usually a few steps behind the play, tasked with guarding the paint and protecting the rim. You can have a shallow drop -- where the big man defender is closer to the nail (free-throw line) or a deep drop, where the big man defender is closer to the restricted area. The primary goal is to protect the rim and contain drives while allowing the on-ball defender to recover. The big man's positioning creates a buffer zone that ideally forces the offense into less efficient midrange shots or contested finishes.

Up-to-touch: A style of PnR defense where the screen defender (usually a big) is within touching distance of the screener - positioned between a drop and hedge coverage. You can generally see the defender reach out their arm to touch their defensive assignment. From there, the screen defender prioritizes containing the ball handler, even if it risks letting the roller get behind them. From there, they can drop, hedge, or trap depending on the teams' defensive principles and/or how the action unfolds. This middle-ground approach is known as playing 'at the level' of the screen and is primarily used to limit pull-up opportunities for the ball-handler while maintaining some flexibility in coverage options.

The Play - aka, ‘The What’

The action starts with Horford in a shallow drop. Neemy is operating as the low man and is guarding the weakside corner shooter, which means he can be a romer protecting the rim if needed.

As Cam Thomas receives a screen, you can see Horford extend his arm, ensuring he’s up-to-touch on the action despite being a step below the level. His presence allows him to help contain Thomas’ drive while White attempts to recover. However, White takes a bump on the screen, giving Thomas some separation.

To nullify the Nets’ biggest scoring threat, Holiday initiates a peel switch, rotating over to pick up Thomas and get connected to his hip. This allows Horford to tag the roll man and get a dominant post-up position if Thomas gets his shot off. White has peeled to pick up a weakside shooting threat.

While all this is happening, Neemy’s man has cut baseline, dragging the Celtics’ latest standout project with him. However, Brooklyn learned what the Golden State Warriors did in the previous game: Neemy has quick enough feet to guard on the perimeter. He stays connected to his man on the drive, uses his length to deter passing lanes and gets the block.

The Why

Running double-big allows the Celtics to have significant size around the rim. Horford’s ability to guard in multiple defensive systems makes him an ideal partner for a more drop-centric big man. Neemy’s lateral quickness, size and explosiveness ensure he’s a reliable roamer, rotating over to protect the rim or hanging with ball-handlers as they drive off the perimeter.

Holiday and White are arguably the best defensive backcourt in the NBA. You see their value in how quickly Holiday recognizes Thomas’ advantage coming off the screen and acts to nullify the threat with the peel switch.

This type of defensive possession is why I firmly believe Boston’s identity is built on this side of the floor. Yes, they shoot threes at a high clip. Yes, they’re deep and have scoring talent coming out of their ears. And yes, they play a recognizable brand of basketball. But this is a team that held opponents to under 100 points in 11 of their 19 playoff games last year. Defense is their calling card, and possessions like this one are a timely reminder of why they’re such a terrifying prospect when everyone is locked in.

Finals thoughts

I started this week with some fun ideas on what to do with the newsletter and YouTube channel. However, car issues derailed everything, leading to an unplanned, expensive week. I must get better and ensure I’m here no matter what! I’m working on it.

I’ve kept this post open to everyone. My aim for the coming months is to move to 7-day coverage of the team. At least 5 of them will be for paying subscribers, and no less than one will be free for everyone. But, I thought this piece would be a good example of the type of in-depth coverage I like to try and bring at least a couple of times per week.

With that being said, please consider sharing this post to your friends, family, co-workers or social media channels. I’m still chasing that 1,250 subscriber mark, and would love to be chasing 2 or 3 thousand subs by the end of the season.

I hope you all have a great Sunday, catch you tomorrow for a look at what goes down between the Celtics and Bucks later today!