Following the Boston Celtics‘ loss to the Chicago Bulls on November 21, Malcolm Brogdon shared his thought’s on the team’s approach to the game with the media during a post-game press conference.
“I think we’re such a high-level shooting team from the arc, we rely on that. And, I think we need more balance, especially if those threes aren’t falling. If we’re not making shots out there, we gotta be able to play inside the arc and still defend for sure, that’s one thing that can’t slip regardless of how we’re shooting the ball on the offensive end,” Brogdon said.
Smart Believes Poor Offense Hurt Boston’s Defense
During his post-game press conference, Marcus Smart, who was playing his first game back since recovering from an ankle injury, noted how Boston’s inability to convert their shots from deep had a negative impact on their defensive intensity.
“We got a target on our backs so we’re going to get everyone’s greatest game”
Marcus Smart on loss to the Bulls
“When they’re hitting shots, and your not, it’s tough to beat them…It puts a lot of pressure on your defense when you’re not making shots…That’s part of it, you’re going to have nights like that. You know, we just have to find a way, tonight we didn’t. Learn from it and move on to the next one,” Smart said.
Smart struggled when shooting the ball against Chicago, going 3-of-9 from the field and 2-of-5 from deep, but he did help the Celtics keep the ball moving, registering eight assists to go along with his one steal and one blocked shot.
Analyst Questions Starters Heavy Minutes
In a game where the Celtics trailed almost from start to finish, interim head coach Joe Mazzulla decided to push heavier minutes onto his primary rotation, thus limiting the impact the bench rotation could provide throughout the contest.
Following the Celtics loss, CelticsBlog’s Keith Smith Tweeted out regarding Boston’s overuse of their star players, questioning the reasoning behind adding such a burdensome workload onto their shoulders so early into the season.
All this “comeback” did was push up minutes on a bunch of guys who didn’t need their minutes pushed up.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Grant Williams, and Marcus Smart all logged close to, or above, 35 minutes throughout the game, with Malcolm Brogdon also seeing the court for 25 minutes of gameplay. Usually, Mazzulla will spread out the workload a little more, giving players such as Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet, and Derrick White significant court time, and given that all three have been performing to a high standard over the past few weeks, it’s questionable why their roles were suddenly limited against Chicago.
Boston will have a chance to get back in the win column on Wednesday, November 23, when they face off against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
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Malcolm Brogdon Sounds Off Following Celtics’ Loss