Boston Celtics: Three Improvements Semi Ojeleye Can Make Next Season

3) Driving Closeouts & Finishing at the rim

In order to make a leap in Stevens’ crowded rotation, Ojeleye will not only have to improve his outside shooting but he will also have to diversify his offensive game.

As a rookie, almost 70 percent of Ojeleye’s field goal attempts came from beyond the three-point arc, and practically all of them were after zero or one dribble. If Ojeleye wasn’t open immediately, chances were he was going to pass the ball to a teammate right away, without doing anything to attack or compromise the defense.

If Ojeleye improves his three-point shooting as we expect this season, he will have the chance to use the threat of the open three-point shot to drive by his defenders and score in the paint–particularly if he is playing the power forward position. However, Ojeleye shot only 47.6 percent on shots inside of five feet, a very low number, especially for a player of his frame and athletic ability.

In college, Ojeleye almost always had a physical advantage against his defender, so his finishing at the rim required only brute power and less technique. In the NBA, of course, his athleticism doesn’t stand out as much and he’ll have to develop different strategies to finish effectively.

Take this typical play for Ojeleye as an example:

Here, Ojeleye has a distinct quickness advantage against his defender, Myles Turner, and he blows by him to the baseline. However, once Ojeleye gets into the paint, he allows Turner to recover by jump-stopping in the lane and double clutching his missed layup attempt. If Ojeleye had instead picked up the ball as soon he got a step on Turner, he could have easily finished with a layup off the glass.

If Ojeleye can improve his outside shooting, and learn how to finish against NBA size at the rim, he will make big strides in his second season in the league.