Building on yesterday's newsletter, where we looked at 3 Ways Luka Garza Can Help The Boston Celtics Offense, Billy Calabrese and I jumped into the podcast-verse to peel some additional layers off of his fit with the Celtics.
Building on yesterday's newsletter, where we looked at 3 Ways Luka Garza Can Help The Boston Celtics Offense, Billy Calabrese and I jumped into the podcast-verse to peel some additional layers off of his fit with the Celtics.
During the episode, we looked at the idea of a potential double-big lineup, where Luka Garza would play at the four with Neemias Queta at the five. In this instance, Garza would operate as a floor spacing forward with the remit to attack closeouts off the bounce. However, we also countered that idea with the limited defense that would be on offer across the low-help line.
Of course, we also dove into some of the concepts explored in yesterday's newsletter, especially Garza's scoring versatility and how that could help Mazzulla with some system continuity, especially in terms of a five-out offense.
What I enjoyed about this segment is that it gave me a chance to share some of my concerns over Garza, too – primarily his single-mindedness when in scoring positions, regardless of defensive coverages – and his willingness to take risks, rather than making the right reads.
Another fun part of the conversation is where we began to look at what he brings on defense. As this is the next part of our deep-dive into Garza, it was fun to share some initial thoughts from the filmwork I've been doing, as that will allow us to see how those opinions and thoughts evolve as I get the chance to consume more footage of his defensive possessions from the last season or two.
We identified his fit within some defensive systems and concepts, as well as some drawbacks and unanswered questions.
Of course, we also tied in Garza's potential role to how it could help plug some of the void left behind by Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet. A cool side discussion also emerged about the potential for a two-man game with Jaylen Brown and/or Derrick White, and what could allow or limit those partnerships.
The episode is out across all major podcasting platforms. To make life easy, you can find direct links to YouTube, Spotify and Apple below.
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Some final notes...
- I'll be releasing a podcast promotion newsletter after each episode moving forward. They will be like this...Quick...To the point...A broad idea of the topics discussed.
- The audio version is in the process of being rebranded to "The Celtics Chronicle" to ensure continuity between the newsletter and my audio/visual content.
- Please consider supporting this stuff, as it's another avenue that can help The Celtics Chronicle continue to grow :)