Evan Fournier is one of the best shooters in the league and
if he - just for example - was playing with Steph Curry, he'd be shooting lights out (unless he got COVID, hah hah). His shooting %s aren't like some spot-up shooters because he's asked to do a ton more with the ball.
https://www.nba.com/magic/news/evan-fournier-one-nbas-most-underrated-shooters-20201224
The Cs are losing IMO because (i) they haven't been healthy and haven't been able to establish continuity on offense or defense; (ii) are burned out of BBall and (iii) they have a super young team for a contender. Every team has bad nights - we just see them because we don't follow other teams obsessively - but the Cs obviously have a problem with playing against teams they think they should beat.
Before we do a post-mortem of the season, I'd still like to see them healthy and at full strength. I thought I read somewhere that their current starting 5 - TL, JT, JB, KW, and MS - have played something like 220 possessions together all season.
He's absolutely been a top 20 player this season but only for stretches. I don't if anyone watched the segment in what I think was the OKC game where JT talked about what he looks at when he's trying to figure out whether to drive or past, but it was really interesting to hear about what he's trying to process - where his defender's outer leg is; whether another defender is a step too close to him or step too far away; and whether a third defender is coming over to help or not. All in a split second of time.
Defenses are loading up to stop him. Sometimes he's good at beating it and sometimes he's not. Maybe that's just because he's 23 and not because he's not a great NBA player.
I don't disagree, but like, everyone would shoot better around Curry. And I also said I wouldn't be surprised if his percentages went up on a better team. As for best shooters in the league -- he's very good, but he's not great. He's been on one of the worst teams in the league for years and years and he's never even scored twenty points a game. He's never taken the kind of volume the best shooters do and he's never shot the percentages they do.
Nonetheless, I think we're basically in agreement -- I too am excited to see what difference Fournier makes for this team once he's healthy, and as Pritchard hopefully starts to emerge as a sniper. Fournier's bout with COVID is consistent with what we've seen with other players -- when they come back they not only look lethargic, but they struggled to stay on the floor and compete. I think that's probably why Langford has looked a little slow at times, too. We saw it with Tatum. Remembering too how bad Kendrick Nunn looked when he got back last year.
One more thing with Fournier: part of the problem is when we speak of elite, I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. Socrates would probably have a fit if he saw us playing with these different definitions. When I say elite, I'm talking 40% plus season after season on high volume threes. Fournier has never, ever done that. He's had the keys to that Orlando offense and has posted several seasons below 35% from three. He's good. He's not great. Khris Middleton, Malcom Brogdan, the Curry bros, Ingles, Paul George: those guys are elite, and are very frequently asked to create their own shots. I mean, Fournier has basically the same percentage of unassisted threes as luminaries like Alec Burks, Joe Ingles, Will Barton, LaMelo, and a little less than guys like Bradley Beal, and far fewer than the elite guys on this list -- Middleton, Brogdon, Paul George, Tatum, etc. Joe Harris and Danny Green are obviously men without handles and shoot the vast majority of their threes assisted. Fournier shooting more of those sorts of 3's will help, I totally agree. All these stats are per NBA.com
The 76ers, as a a team, are shooting .371 from 3 (11th in the NBA), the Celtics are shooting .370 (12th in the NBA). Some of these teams are significantly better 3 point shooting teams than the Celtics this season, but I'm not sure 3 point shooting is the issue. The Celtics are actually improved from last season where they shot .364 from 3, good for 13th place. The big difference between the 2019-2020 Celtics and the 2020-2021 Celtics is 3 point defense. They were 2nd in the NBA last year, holding opponents to a .340, now they're 18th, opponents are up to .371
This has been clear all year, they went from being an elite 3 point defense to middle of the pack. The offense doesn't feel like the issue to me, their struggles have everything to do with health and their inability to defend the three. Hard to win when you let the opponent outshoot you from three.
This is a very good point, but while I didn't address this before, the better defense wouldn't make them elite. I mean, we have to account for context here as well, which is that even once they're fully healthy, the Celtics have been a middling team on offense. Remember here I'm only referring to what they've been so far: I understand a healthy Fournier will make a huge difference, and maybe even make them competitive with the best teams in the league. But for most of the season, the Celtics ostensibly best players are all guards and wings. To be a mediocre team of shooters puts them right where they in fact are -- middle of the pack.
Better defense -- and I agree with Dejesus and others that better defense would be helped simply by being healthy, and not run down, and with more practice -- would give them a better record, but I'm not sure it would make them competitive with championship teams this year. That doesn't mean they wouldn't be more fun to watch or that I wouldn't enjoy rooting for them -- just that they'd remain what they've been. Eastern conference finalists, maybe. Upstarts.
The bottom line is that most great teams surround great players with shooting. They don't have Lebron James or Anthony Davis or Joel Embiid, who can get you a bucket at any time around the basket, so it's even more vital that they be excellent from three point distance. Losing Hayward was a major blow in that regard, even if he was limited as a Celtic.
I'm merely suggesting that I am not looking forward to Kemba and Smart taking a combined 25 shots a game in the playoffs. I hope Fournier will lighten that load substantially. If he does, and the Celtics are locked in defensively, and Rob Williams can ramp up to 25-30 minutes a game, they can go very far.