BOSTON – No one will confuse Brad Stevens and Doc Rivers’ offensive coaching style as being one of the same during their time in Boston.
When you start to analyze the data, the differences between the Celtics’ past and present head coaches is especially noticeable when it comes to scoring the ball.
And while Stevens has yet to win at the level of his predecessor here in Boston, there is no mistaking the Celtics are on an upward path to being one of the better teams in the East and their offense – very different from Rivers – will be key.
Here we take a look at some key offensive categories to illustrate how different Stevens and Rivers’ are when it comes to shooting the ball.
FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS
The Celtics are once again leading the NBA in field goal attempts this season under Stevens, with 89.4 per game. If they can maintain that average, it would be the highest league average since Golden State’s 2007-2008 team took 90.3 shots per game. The Celtics are a team that’s focused on creating great pace on the nightly basis. In doing so, this often leads to a high number of shot attempts.
Meanwhile, Rivers’ teams in Boston weren’t as focused on playing at a fast pace. Instead they were more consumed by getting the highest quality shots which often meant very few opportunities. During his time in Boston, Rivers’ teams averaged just 77.6 shot attempts per game which is significantly fewer than the 86.8 shot attempts per game Boston has averaged in Stevens’ two-plus seasons on the job.
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Because Boston now shoots a high volume of shots under Stevens, their percentage from the field naturally isn’t going to be all that great. In fact, the Celtics have ranked in the bottom-10 shooting the ball every year under Stevens and are currently ranked 22nd in the NBA.
Boston Celtics
Under Rivers who as we all know had better scorers (Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen just to name the future Hall of Famers) than Stevens, Boston was a regular among the league’s best shooting teams.
In his nine seasons as the Celtics head coach, Boston finished in the top-6 shooting the ball eight times.
3-POINTERS
The Stevens-coached Celtics have placed a high value on the 3-point shot from Day One. They’re currently ranked 7th in the NBA with 27 3-point attempts per game. While they don’t rank nearly as high in 3s made (10th, 9.1 per game), the 3-pointer is a weapon that has given them a chance to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference due to its positive impact – most nights anyway – on helping space the floor.
Rivers’ Celtics teams were built to play more inside-out (with a greater emphasis on ‘in’) due to the personnel and the advantage that they had in the frontcourt most nights.
Because those Celtics were a more physical, grind-it-out group, the 3-pointer wasn’t nearly as important a weapon for them to need in order to be successful. During his time in Boston, Rivers’ teams averaged 16.2 3s per game.
Just to put that in perspective, shooting that few 3s this season would rank 28th in the league.