The Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley believes that his team can become one of the top defensive teams in the NBA in the coming season. He believes that they have the potential to be in the top-10 in defense creating a lot of skepticism - as expected - and even laughed off completely by pundits after the team's defensive collapse to close out the regular season. The Celtics also didn't do anything special to improve their rim protection this offseason and it seems unlikely that they can crack the top 10 in defense while they are still in rebuilding mode.
But its not really that exaggerated to say that the Celtics can become one of the NBA's defensive elite as what Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com suggests:
The Celtics completed the 2013-14 campaign ranked 20th overall with a defensive rating of 105.2. Even still, getting into the top 10 isn't all that daunting of a prospect. Boston was essentially one defended 3-pointer away from the top 10, sitting 2.8 points shy of the Raptors and Wizards (who tied for ninth overall at 102.4 points per 100 possessions).
And one defended 3-pointer is all it takes for the team to reach the top 10 and with a motivated Avery Bradley who wants to become part of the NBA All-defensive first team, anything is possible for the Celtics.
And Bradley is not alone. He is joined by a couple of talented rookies in Marcus Smart and James young who have impressed head coach Brad Stevens during their training camp and preseason games because of their defensive prowess.
Young has the potential to become an elite perimeter defender and is a very quick learner. He watches a lot of film with coach Stevens and has done a pretty good job on perfecting his defensive game.
Marcus Smart, on the other hand, showed why his defense is already "NBA ready", as what many suggested when he entered the draft, during their preseason games against the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks. While Stevens is aware that Smart has still a lot to work on in his game, he was still pretty high on Smart's defense after the Raptors game per ESPN:
"Then the defensive side of the ball, I'm still blown away by it. We really hammered on trying to be in great body position on Saturday, even with less than 24 hours to prepare for the Knicks. And he was in it every time. He has a chance to be a great defender, and we just keep saying that, but he's really done a good job."
With Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, and James Young patrolling the perimeter, the Celtics might just be able to crack the NBA's top 10 in defense. And the trio are still young and developing which means that the Celtics future when it comes to stopping opponents from scoring is truly bright.
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