Hi is in control of the rebounding ball and is in control of destiny.
There is no doubt that this season's Celtics are still the favorites for the championship in the new season, and in the first stage of the new season, the Celtics have played a record of how many wins and losses, and currently occupy the Eastern Conference seats.
As a team that has brought in two strong players in the off-season, Porzingis and Holiday have a good record for them. But if you think that they have been on the road to the championship in recent seasons without results, this season can almost be said to be a desperate situation of not winning the championship or losing, it can be seen that it is not easy for them to play the current results.
In the offseason, the management added Charles Lee, Sam Cassel and other excellent assistant coaches to the assistant coaching team of new coach Mazzulla, which can be regarded as making up for the obvious shortcomings of the coaching team last season. Judging from the content of the new season, the Celtics have not made too many adjustments on the tactical basis of the existing lineup, and the most direct change is that they have given more playing time to the main players and made a certain number of streamlined selections in the substitute second lineup. Allow existing players to quickly adjust and get the team into playoff mode with short rotations in advance.
Combined with the team's lineup, the Celtics signed Brisset, Mikhailiuk, Banton, Stevenson and other substitute options in the offseason, although the overall playing time of these people is not stable enough, but the key is that they can bring stability to the team in their limited playing time, and the chemistry between them and the team's core six is becoming more and more tacit.
Here we have to focus on the Celtics' eight-man stable rotation, new signing Porzingis is naturally the team's main thigh, Tatum has experienced individual offensive skills this season, and Jaylen Brown has hit the wall but can still contribute steadilyVeteran Horford still has gas available on the defensive end, and Holiday and White on the perimeter also make up for the team's perimeter defense. It is not an exaggeration to advance, the Celtics' main core lineup will not fall behind in the face of any team in the league, but outside of these people, the remaining Pritchard and Sam Hauser are likely to be the key points that will ultimately determine the Celtics.
Here we would like to highlight Sam Hauser, who was eyed by the new management after the 2016 Summer League, and after half a season with the team on a two-way contract, he was subsequently awarded a three-year, 3.56 million contract in 2022.
Under the coaching system of former Bishop Udoka, Hauser did not get many opportunities to play, and most of the time his role was only that of a perimeter three-point shooter, so most fans' impression of him may be limited to this.
In the summer of 2022, Gallinari, an important reinforcement for the Celtics, was reimbursed for the season due to injury before the season even began, and Hauser became a key firefighter outside the rotation, along with head coach Mazzulla.
Probably as a former assistant coach, Mazzulla is well aware of the abilities of these role players, and he has designed a lot of tactical starting offensive routines around Hauser, and even gave him a lot of offensive tasks with the ball. Although the overall speed is not fast and the offensive skills are not comprehensive, with an excellent basketball IQ, Hauser still brings a lot of support to the Celtics in individual passing.
Combined with this season's stats, in the Celtics' first 19 games, the Legaries have made as many as 52 three-pointers, 12 more than last season, in addition to five dunks, more than the 128 regular season and playoff games he played in the previous two years combined. This is a very clear sign that he is starting to gain more trust from the manager, and his individual team role is also increasing significantly.
Combined with his offensive characteristics, Hauser is actually a very obvious magic ball offensive player, with a total of 396 shots in the regular season last season, only 21 of which were not outside the box or outside the three-point line. In this season's shots, the number of shots outside the non-restricted area and outside the three-point line is also low to a handful, and under the same shot ratio distribution, in addition to the shooting percentage has been improved again, the finishing grasp in the restricted area has also been greatly improved.
Outside of offense, Hauser is also a good knife player defensively.
According to our common sense, most white shooters are seen as having poor defensive skills, so they are very easy to be the breakthrough point of the opponent's attack. But Hauser is different defensively, not only is he not a defensive hole for the team, but he is even a key defensive option for the team in some mixes.
Combined with the stats, under Hauser's defense, the three-point shooting percentage of the player opposite him will go from the expected 371% to 41% is not a good sign. But when Hauser's opposing player tries to shoot less than two meters from the basket, the opponent's shooting percentage will go from 598% significantly ** to 507%, even if we widen the distance a little more than three meters from the basket, the opponent's expected shooting percentage will still be from 572%** to 511%。
As you can see from the above stats, Hauser is not a particularly good perimeter defender, which may have something to do with his shortcomings of moving slowly and not being good at getting around screens. But if the ball carrier wants to break him down with a solo shot, Hauser can instead rely on his solid defensive center of gravity and excellent reach to cause significant disruption to opponents.
On top of that, Hauser conceded 92 points per 100 overs last season when he was singled by an opponent, a statistic that has slipped to 86 this season, an improvement that is quite noticeable for a role player. In other words, Hauser's defense is definitely better than expected and is a seriously underrated quality defensive point in the Celtics lineup.
Of course, it must be emphasized here that although we keep mentioning that Hauser is not a simple shooter-type player, it is undeniable that his biggest feature or strength is still in the three-point shot, and even many times Tatum and Jaylen Brown's individual offensive skills are not mature enough, Hauser is put on the court as a role to dismantle the explosive bag, and his presence is the most powerful response point for the Tanhua brothers to create assists.
For the Green Shirts, who have dominated the 5-out lineup this season, offensive space is a crucial part of the team's overall system, and when there are enough firepower threats on the periphery, the ball carrier can get more offensive space. It can also create more open opportunities for perimeter shooters after breaking through the ball, looking for the first chance to attack or launch a second wave of attacking after the opponent's defensive system has been disrupted.
According to the league's standard for open shots, the defender at a distance of 1A shot from 8 meters away is an empty spot. And Hauser shot 58 from the field in that open position1% and 57 three-point shooting6%。That's the kind of stats that are absolutely excellent for a role player like him.
Sam Hauser has played in 20 games so far this season, averaging 22 per game9 minutes of playing time, the personal average per game data table is 10 points 36 rebounds 09 assists. Three of these shooting percentages were achievable. 5%, is the well-deserved bench scoring champion in the Celtics' current lineup.