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On NBA Stats dashboard, there are 10 different types of plays listed under “playtype.” In other words, there are 10 different categories, one of which every single NBA possession must fit into. The categorization is as follows: transition, pick-and-roll (ball handler), pick-and-roll (roll man), post up, spot up, handoff, cut, off screen, putbacks, miscellaneous.
Can you guess which one of these play types has the best efficiency among the average NBA team? Which play – put more simply – gives a team the best chance of scoring the highest number of points on any given possession?
I’ll be honest and say that I would’ve thought it was transition or putbacks before investigating. But no, it’s actually cuts. And after more consideration, that makes lots of sense. Cutting to the hoop and receiving the ball usually means that the offensive player has a step on his defender and is thus in a good position to score at the rim. Cutting will always be a marker of good ball movement and passing from an offensive standpoint, because it involves a player moving without the ball and another player finding him at the right place and time. Cutting is a sign of team basketball. And if it’s the most effective form of offense, it should probably be a pillar of every team’s gameplan.
Well, the Boston Celtics bottom 5 in the league in cut frequency but 5th in the league in points per possession on cuts. They do it very rarely, but when they do it, they’re very successful at it.
The Celtics should cut more, and Jaylen Brown can – and should – be the face of that. He shows flashes of excellent movement off the ball, he’s got a great motor, and he’s an absolute menace with a head of steam and a step on his defender. If he leaned into cutting and playing without the ball a bit more, he could be one of the best cutters in the league – think prime Dwyane Wade. That doesn’t mean Brown shouldn’t continue to work on ball and play make also; it just means that having an offense where Derrick White and Jrue Holiday (in addition to Jayson Tatum, obviously) get more on-ball opportunities might make for a more unpredictable, malleable, and effective offense in the long run.
There are a couple of actions that the Celtics have run throughout the season in an attempt to get Jaylen moving without the ball. I would love to see Mazzulla and the coaching staff frequent these sorts of plays a bit more.
In this play – a zoom reject – the big man starts at the top of the key and sends Brown to go screen for the corner player in order for him to come off for the dribble hand off. It’s all a distraction, though, to get the side vacant for a backdoor cut from JB. It’s just so pretty and there are so many options off of it – if the defense starts to overplay the back cut, Jaylen can come off the DHO and go downhill at the rim. We need more of this!
Another play Boston has run for Brown has been a wide pick-and-roll flare. It allows Jaylen to catch the ball on the move and attack right away with an advantage. No waiting around and dribbling, just attacking. He’ll finish this play most of the time, don’t you worry.
Then, when the defense is anticipating the flare, Jaylen can react and change the play on the fly. With shooters everywhere, the paint is wide open for cutters. You like dunking, JB? Buy into moving and cutting.
Some of the cutting needs to be unscripted, though, with JB just reading the play and slashing when his teammates are in trouble. He does a great job of helping out Jrue Holiday here, and he can do a lot more of this while his teammates are posting up and the attention is away from the weak side.
Don’t even get me started on how much I love this attack. This is a stampede catch; Jaylen catches the ball while already essentially running at the rim, and it throws off the defenders” closeout aggressively. It’s an incredibly effective move, especially for a freight train like JB. Brown can do this anytime he catches the ball – it’s just a mindset about going quickly rather than slowing down and isolating.
So, there are ways in which Mazzulla and the staff can encourage movement from Brown, and there are ways in which Jaylen can figure it out for himself. Either way, the Celtics need more cutting in their offense, and JB should be the head of that snake.
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