Could we be seeing more zone defense in the Boston Celtics‘ future? The Celtics have been experimenting with zone defense in the NBA’s 2023 Las Vegas Summer League, indicating a possible shift in their defensive strategy for the upcoming season.
Boston showed promise in their ability to generate rallies using the zone defense as Summer Celtics coach Tony Dobbins has been exploring the effectiveness of the zone, which might see use in training camp with the regular Celtics players per a recent article by the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn. In recent years, the Celtics have struggled against zone defenses, particularly when facing the Miami Heat.
But by employing a zone defense of their own, the Celtics aim to use the size, length, and athleticism of their current roster to perhaps duplicate some of the success on that end of the court that propelled Miami into the 2023 NBA Finals.
“It almost seemed like to me, truthfully, they had something going on over there,” said Vincent. https://t.co/DSNA8hIdAU
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) July 15, 2023
“With the personnel we have, the size and the length and athleticism that we have, to try to see what it looks like,” explained Dobbins. “What the strong points are, what the weak points are, what the vulnerable areas that teams may look to attack.”
“We definitely want to see what it looks like and what it looks like to teach it,” he added. “If you’re going to play zone, what are your core principles and values? Are they the same as when you build a man-to-man defense? In order to do that, we have to see what it looks like.”
“We’ve had an opportunity to do that over a few games and then we’ll see as we break that film down together, we’ll see what that looks like for us during the regular season.”
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