Phil Pressey proving that he belongs
Pressey's been doing a lot of things on the floor very well for The Celtics lately as ESPNBoston.com's Chris Forsberg reported:
In his last seven appearances for the Celtics, Pressey has posted 21 assists against a mere four turnovers in 86 minutes of floor time. As Boston navigates the early part of the 2013-14 season without a pure veteran point guard as Rajon Rondo rehabs from ACL surgery, 22-year-old Pressey has been a calming influence. That's unusual for a rookie, particularly one that every team in the league essentially passed on twice in June.
That's not to say Pressey hasn't had his offensive struggles. He is shooting just over 27 percent from the field for the season and is 19 percent from beyond the three point line. However, these numbers might speak even more to the "intangibles" as coaches like to say that Pressey brings to the team considering these stats:
For the season, Boston's offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) is 99 when Pressey is on the floor -- that's nearly three points higher than the team's season average (96.3) and 4 ½ points better than when he's on the bench (95.5). Likewise, Boston's defensive rating is 98.5 with Pressey on the floor, which is 3.3 points lower than the team's season average (101.8) and 4.3 points lower than when he's off the court (102.8). Not surprisingly, Boston's assist-to-turnover ratio bloats from .96 without him to 1.3 when he's on the floor and the team turnover percent dives nearly three percent (to a crisp 15.6 percent).
For a basketball analytics geek like coach Brad Stevens these numbers are truly music to the ears and should allow Pressey to still receive some time upon the somewhat impending return of Rajon Rondo.
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