Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics made great strides in his second season, but there are aspects of his game that can still be improved upon.
Team goals might be pretty clear for the Boston Celtics heading into the 2018-19 season. These likely include a division title, posting a winning record on the road and, of course, bringing home banner 18.
Individual goals are more focused – varying from player to player – but the intentions are two-fold. Goals (likely) make the player better, in turn bringing the team right along with them.
And for Jaylen Brown in his third season, there are improvements to be had.
Brown made a giant leap in 2017-18, stepping up as a team leader when needed, especially in the playoffs. His scoring more than doubled, going from 6.6 ppg as a rookie to 14.5 ppg in his second season. Brown saw his shooting percentage go up by a point, his rebounds go up by two per game all while being trusted with the game on the line.
In the playoffs, he only got better. With Kyrie Irving out, Brown averaged 18 points per game. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he poured in 19.7 ppg, four times going over 20 points.
Irving and Gordon Hayward will be back and, with a on-the-rise Jayson Tatum, some of the focus on Brown will be alleviated. Still, he will be expected to continue to get better. And everything in Brown’s attitude points to him striving to improve. Here are three area which improvement might be focused.
Free throw shooting
Here we have the loneliest shot in basketball. And it’s one too often taken for granted.
Free throws are important. This was a lesson was learned the hard way by the Boston Celtics last season, losing a couple of important games that could have been won by shooting 75 percent instead of 65 percent.
Brown was exactly in this situation, shooting 64.4 percent from the line in his second season. The percentage dropped from his rookie year of 68.5 percent.
These numbers, while decent, might be expected more of your classic big man; a player who lived within six-feet of the basket. With Brown, shooting nearly 50 percent from the field should yield better results from the charity stripe.
Free throws are no doubt stressed in practices and I can imagine Brown worked on this aspect over the summer. Seeing a jump from 64.4 percent would be nice. Rising to 75 percent is a nice goal to have and, if Brown’s scoring stays steady at last season’s numbers, 80 percent would mean a jump in scoring by close to two points per game.
I think 75 percent is a doable regular season goal for Brown in 2018-19.
To reach the NBA, a high-level of athleticism is usually required. Even Brian Scalabrine must have had an iota of athleticism in him to reach the highest level.
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Brown is certainly athletic. There were plenty of times last season in which Brown delivered high-flying highlights and rim-rattling dunks.
Unfortunately, there were also moments of frustration watching as balls would be mishandled or layups missed in transition.
These turnovers and misses are going to happen on occasion – nobody is perfect – but this is one area in which Brown can make an improvement in 2018-19.
Coupled with this is attacking the basket in general. Like many players in today’s game, the three-point attempt has become the shot to be relied on, especially in transition. I like seeing the big three on a fast break as much as the next fan, but attacking the hoop still has beauty in it.
Given over the temptation to force up a shot when a path to the lane is clear will give Brown more opportunities at the line. Which, given goal number one, should lead to more scoring.
The injury to Hayward likely put a little bit more responsibility on Brown than was to be expected. He handled things like a solid pro, as evidenced by his growth and rising stat line, but there were still times his decision making skills might be improved on.
Again, there was frustration when Brown’s indecision hurt the team. Brown has confidence and the trust of his teammates. There were simply too many times which Brown’s overthinking of a play led to a turnover.
He actually averaged more turnovers (1.8) than assists (1.6), a number that isn’t too surprising, especially for a second-year, non-point guard. Even if these numbers are flipped this upcoming season, the Boston Celtics will improve overall as a team. The type of offense, plus having a big man in Al Horford who is also a good passer, means Brown doesn’t have to average five assists per game. A goal I’d like to see is Brown finishing with at least a 2:1 ratio in assists-to-turnovers.
These three goals are achievable for Brown in the regular season. And they don’t require major changes to his game, which for a player heading into his third season is a great thing.