The query was about his loud spotlight dunks, however Jaylen Brown wished to speak about one thing else.
Brown threw down three loud jams within the Celtics’ victory over the Magic on Friday night time – together with a one-handed poster slam over Anthony Black – however the C’s star was centered on a subject that wasn’t getting as a lot consideration.
“I also had a couple of steals, couple of blocks,” Brown mentioned. “I’m gonna begin having to run my very own marketing campaign for first workforce all-defense, nevertheless it’s cool. I’m actually locked in on either side of the ball, however the place I’m actually feeling comfy and I really feel like I’m excelling, making performs on the rim, taking the ball from individuals.
“And I’m doing my job and more on the defensive side, whether people want to pay attention to it or not.”
It was the second consecutive night time Brown went out of his technique to deliver up his protection. After Thursday’s win over the Cavaliers, he took a query concerning the Celtics’ workforce defensive versatility and lauded his personal capacity on that finish.
“I feel like I’m playing some of the best defense of my career,” Brown mentioned. “I made a commitment before the season, I wanted to be first team and I feel like I’ve been living up to that. I think just continuing to be the best versions of ourselves on that side of the ball, I think is going to be key for us going down in the future.”
Brown has grow to be among the finest gamers within the NBA totally on the power of his elite scoring capacity, however now in his eighth season, it’s clear he needs extra credit score for his protection. He’s backing up his speak.
Two performs from the weekend stood out as examples of Brown’s elevated defensive focus. After his first monster dunk early in Friday’s win, Brown took a second to flex. But then his consideration shortly turned to the opposite aspect. He hustled again to the defensive finish, the place he met Orlando’s Mo Wagner with excellent timing on the rim for a devastating block.
On Sunday, Brown had a terrific defensive possession that will have been ignored within the first quarter. On a second likelihood for the Magic, he recovered effectively to stop a possible 3-pointer from Black. Moments later, as Caleb Houstan beat his man and drove into the paint, Brown had the attention to assist and deflected Houstan’s move meant for Goga Bitadze.
The ball bounced and finally discovered Bitazde below the basket, however his shot try was blocked by Derrick White and Brown was there to smother him and end the job, corralling the ball after which discovering Jrue Holiday for a landing move down the court docket for a layup. That spotlight play wouldn’t have occurred with out Brown’s protection that led to it.
Brown’s protection has all the time been a bit ignored however his enhanced focus appeared to start this summer time. At his press convention asserting his supermax extension, Brown made it some extent to deliver up how necessary the Celtics’ defensive identification could be after they traded Marcus Smart.
“I want to make sure that’s where we hang our hats this year and that starts with me, that starts with Jayson (Tatum), that starts with guys,” Brown mentioned. “With Marcus gone, we don’t want our defensive identity to go out the door as well, so we have to really emphasize that at the start of training camp.”
About one-third by means of the season, there’s a case to be made for Brown’s personally-driven All-Defensive marketing campaign. Entering Tuesday’s sport at Golden State, Brown already had 17 blocks, effectively forward of the tempo to surpass his profession excessive of 32. He has the second-most shares (steals + blocks) on the Celtics with 45, behind White. He’s tied with Holiday for eleventh within the NBA with 3.6 defensive win shares, a complicated defensive metric tracked by the NBA. Tatum is ninth with 3.8 DWS.
Brown’s largest competitors for an All-Defensive nod might come from his personal teammates. Holiday is a five-time All-Defensive choice, together with a primary workforce nod final season, White has backed up his first All-Defensive choice final season with one other robust begin on that endand Tatum has improved defensively, too. But it’s clear Brown’s taken better delight in his protection, and has taken it upon himself to guide the league’s second-rated defensive unit.
“I think we’ve got to set the tone on defense, first and foremost,” Brown mentioned. “We’ve got to continue to lay that as the groundwork and the foundation for success, and I think we’ve got the opportunity and the potential to be really great on that end. I think all of our guys are striving to be all-defense type of guys, and I want to be the head of that snake.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com