The Boston Celtics will flourish with fluid ball handling and ball movement
Ever since Brad Stevens took over, the Boston Celtics have always been a strong passing team. Bad shooting has held them back in the past, but they have always been able to generate a lot of great looks.
The odd part is that the Celtics have never had any player that is even close to the assist leaders, and just reaching five per game would put someone in position to lead the team.
Ball movement on the Celtics has never been about any individual making a lot of plays. They are always at their best when every player on the court is a capable passer. No one is out there looking to create an assist, they are using fluid ball movement to wear down an entire unit and open up shots all over the court.
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With that, the Celtics also use ball handlers in many different ways. Kyrie Irving is the primary instigator, but they make sure all players have options when they have the ball in the hands. Al Horford is right there behind Irving as a ball handler, and they have three wings that can do tremendous things as ball handlers.
The Celtics are in a position to be generating offense through all five players on the court, giving them all kinds of options with how they want to attack. Jaylen Brown is probably the least effective right now. That being said, he still has tremendous strength and athleticism, and they can always use him driving to the paint and generating contact.
Jayson Tatum has issues with turning the ball over, but his ability to navigate through traffic is remarkable. His length and athleticism also gives him all kinds of different ways to attack.
We still have not even seen how the Celtics will use Gordon Hayward, but you know Brad Stevens is going to figure out exactly how to get as much as possible out of his ball handling.
The Celtics have dynamic threats on offense at every single position on the court, and defenders will be tormented by the fact that anyone of them will be trusted to hit an open shot, and all of them can be the one instigating the offense. The Celtics will have their preferred options, but no team in the NBA will be able to account for all these options, who can be creating for anyone at any point.
The Celtics have always won with defense, but that has been because they lacked the players to finish the opportunities they generated. Now, they have all the finishers they need using the same time of fluid ball movement and ball handling that continually puts players in great positions on offense.
The Celtics will be able to lean on their offense more than even this season, and they could be the most dominant force in the NBA.
The key will be figuring out how all these pieces will work best together. There will be a lot going on, so it could take time for them to really reach their peak.
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The Celtics also have the talent to still be great when they are figuring things out. The Celtics really do not have any weaknesses on offense in their starting five, and defenders are not capable of really keeping up with that.