Video breakdown of the Celtics offense with Al Horford
With the addition of All-Star center Al Horford, coach Brad Stevens and the Celtics enter the year with the tall task of integrating their big man into the offense. Sometimes it can take a few weeks into the season before a team fully hits their stride, certainly more so when adding in new key pieces to the roster. This could potentially be the case for Boston as they work out the early kinks to begin 2016.
Even with this in mind, it is possible that because Stevens' system is similar enough to Mike Budenholzer's motion offense in Atlanta, Horford may in fact feel comfortable from the start with his new team. Especially if he and Isaiah Thomas mesh well together in the pick and roll game.
Horford ranked in the 77th percentile as the roll man for the Hawks, while Thomas was well into the 70th percentile of the NBA as the ball-hander for points per possession. Hopefully the team as a whole can improve in this area, as they were only in the 34th percentile last season.
While the Celtics offense was in the top 10 of the league for overall scoring (105.7 ppg), the C's clear weakness was shooting efficiently, an area where the team ranked in the bottom 10 of the NBA with a poor overall field goal percentage (.439).
In their first few preseason games thus far, the Celtics have shown glimpses of the many possibilities that this offense possesses. Whether its with the big man taking the ball up the court on a fast break, or IT and Horford opening up the floor for everyone on the court.
Photo Credit: Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images
Follow Spencer Tawes on Twitter: @SWTawes