Boston Celtics: Avery Bradley Has Made Use of His Time This Season Defensively
Last season, after the Boston Celtics drafted him 19th overall in the draft, Avery Bradley saw nothing but the bench for the entire season. In fact, he was actually sent down to the D-League with the Maine Red Claws for a portion of the season.
For those who paid attention to his college career and limited time he was on the court, it seemed that he had good potential. In the last game of the season when the starters rested, he scored 20 points in his only extended court time of the whole season.
So far this season he has cracked Doc's rotation and his playing time is increasing. And he has made use of his minutes this season, wreaking havoc defensively.
Although he is still a little sheepish on the offensive end, he is gaining more confidence, and his 11-point performance against the Nets last game can only help. And he does have good offensive potential. But even if he does not ever reach his offensive potential, he still already is the best perimeter defender on the Celtics, with potential to become one of the best defenders in the league.
He has the athleticism and instincts of a great defender and the one thing he is lacking, confidence, he is gaining every game. In order to be a great defender you must be afraid of no one. A great defender will get into Kobe's or LeBron's face and have no fear when guarding them.
Slowly, with the more time he gets, Bradley is gaining more confidence and getting to that point. He still is a step away from a fearless defender though, especially against elite players. Against the Nets, for example, he had no problem getting into Jordan Farmar's face. Even against the Wizards, he was getting into Jordan Crawford's face, but the second John Wall (coming out of high school, many rankings had Bradley ahead of Wall) came into the game, he backed off. Some may think that is simply smart defense because Wall would blow by him, but not me. Bradley can defend anyone, I know it, but now he just needs to know it too.
Bradley is nearing the level of defense that Tony Allen once played for the Celtics. And with confidence, he will get there. T.A. had absolute confidence in his defensive abilities, even when guarding LeBron, Wade and Kobe in the same playoff run.
Right now, Bradley is playing a similar invaluable role to the Celtics and with only room for more improvement. When it's all said and done, I think that he will go down as one of the great defenders, and for the Celtics, they need him to continue improving. But for Bradley, in order to improve he needs more minutes to improve. And this season, he has gotten these minutes and he has improved more and more.
