Who is the team with the best record in the NBA at the moment? I believe everyone will answer the Celts in unison. So who is the real boss of this team? Believing the answer to this question is debated. Some people will say it's Tatum, others will say it's Brown, and of course some people will definitely say it's Boshen. Boshen, who was traded to the Celtics this season, was originally sent out by the Wizards with two more first-round picks in order to clear out the space for cultivating Poole, but now it has become an insoluble high battery for the Green Army, and even has a faint tendency to become the team's real thigh.
In the recent game against Jokic, the league's No. 1 player, the two core Tanhua of the Green Army played abnormally, and only Boshen played an advantage against the Nuggets lineup, and even repeatedly scored on Jokic's head. The outstanding performance of 15 points in the first quarter also made him directly incarnate Jokic's biggest opponent. After that, Tatum's performance against the Rockets was also unsatisfactory, hitting only 4 of 17 shots. Boshen shot 11-of-21 from three-point range and 6-of-11 from three-point range, scoring a game-high 32 points while also sending five blocks, becoming the number one contributor to the victory. A series of outstanding performances also made fans realize that before Wembanyama entered the league, Boshen was the original unicorn.
So has Boshen returned to his peak form? How has his style of play changed compared to the past? Will the Celtics be able to win the title again this year?
This season, Boshen played in 34 games for the Celtics, averaging 29 per gameYou can get 19 in 8 minutes of playing time4 points 69 rebounds 18 blocks and 52 percent from the field1% three-point shooting percentage of 358% of the free throw percentage was 839%。Among them, the shooting percentage is the highest in his career, and the number of blocks is the highest in the past four years. And at the high-level data level, Boshen's true hit rate is a terrifying 658%, which is even higher than the Bushy Eyebrows are on par with Jokic. Clearly, the stats prove that Boshen played the most productive performance of his career at the Celtics.
In addition, Boshen has achieved a big improvement in the influence of the court this season, and his usage rate is a new low of 23 after entering the NBA6%, but this season when he's on the sidelines, the team wins 5 more per 100 possessions2 points, which is the second-highest figure of a career. And the first highest season he used 314%, the rise and fall of these two figures shows that Boshen is playing the most influential masterpiece of his career with very little ball possession. Another statistic that corroborates his current performance on the pitch is EPM, which is now the most authoritative integrated data performance, and Boshen's comprehensive offense and defense is +45 ranks 16th in the league, which is even higher than Tatum, the top player on his team. And Boshen's offensive EPM is +29 is also second only to Tatum in the Celtics.
Of course, the stats can't fully show his excellence, in the high-end game against the defending champion Nuggets, when the team's two cores played poorly, Boshen scored 19 points in the first half against Jokic. His high-bay style of play made Jokic very uncomfortable for a while. Considering that the two teams are likely to be potential Finals opponents in the playoffs, Boshen's play is undoubtedly a reassurance for all Celtics fans. If Boshen can still play the Nuggets in the Finals and deliver this kind of performance, then he could likely become Jokic's biggest opponent.
In addition to this high-end game against the defending champions, Boshen also played quite well against the Rockets. Once again, he stepped up when the striker twin stars were in a slump, and even hit the away fans cheering at one point. In this game, he not only hatted the opponent's core center Shen Jing many times, but also threw three-pointers on Shen Jing's head. And the most impressive thing was his performance in the final period of the fourth quarter.
One of them asked for the ball in the low post on the right side, and in the face of Amen, who was 20 centimeters shorter than him, Boshen dribbled the ball and easily opened the defense to hit the mid-distance shot. And in the next round, Amen defended Boshen in the same position, and this time Boshen didn't even bother to get off the ball, he directly scored it with the height above Amen's head. Two consecutive rounds in the same position, ignoring the defense's mid-range shots, directly broke the Rockets. This kind of inexplicable performance made Rockets coach Udoka fall into deep thought about how to limit players who enter this state.
And Boshen's ability to regenerate with Celtics this season may have a significant bearing on his changing style of play. As a giant player with a height of 221 cm and a weight of 109 kg. In today's small-ball era when interior players are shrinking, Boshen should be an inside killer and take what he needs in the paint area. However, due to Boshen's playing habits when he first entered the league, he always made some complex dribbling and shooting on the outside. Although he became the only unicorn player in the league, the ensuing increase in injury probability also indirectly ruined his career. So when Boshen ditches those flashy and fancy techniques and focuses on using his own static talents, things become simpler.
Take the low-post offense as a comparison, and the low-post shooting rate of the Mavericks in 2019 was only a pitiful 294%。Even Carlisle, the coach of the Mavericks at the time, made a special statement: "Low singles is an outdated technique. However, this season, Boshen, who has undergone a technological transformation, has raised this statistic to the top three in the league. In fact, it is not difficult for Boshen to complete such a transformation, because he has a huge body size and good tonnage, and he can go to a deeper position in a low position. On the other hand, Boshen's own projection ability is a very good existence among big men, so simply combining the two with Boshen's innate advantage of practicing low-post back play is more obvious than other big men, and the effect is obvious.
For example, in the goal against the Nets, after receiving the ball in one step within the 45-degree three-point line on the right side, he faced a defender who was a lot shorter than him and did not find an opportunity in the basket attack, so he directly turned on the back bulldozer mode and advanced to the vicinity of the paint area, and scored 2 points on a turnaround jumper. Boshen's turnaround jumper performance in the low-post back-to-back singles this season makes people feel like they saw Nowitzki back then.
In addition to the help of the team in terms of back play, Boshen's tactical position in the team is also seriously underestimated, especially in terms of blocking and pick-and-roll. One of the Celtics' fixed tactics this season is that Tatum is holding the ball and initiating a pick-and-roll cooperation with Boshen, and the uniqueness of this blocking is that Boshen is on him. The reason for this is that Boshen, as a 221 cm big man, is also very mobile, with excellent instantaneous attack frame ability, and at the same time, Boshen has a very long range and shooting stability, and has the ability to catch the ball and shoot three points after blocking and dismantling. As a result, there are more possibilities for such a pick-and-roll combination, which will greatly test the defender's tactical reserves. For example, against Knick, Tatum advanced with the ball, and Boshen made a high block on the line and then bounced it out. Tatum broke through and returned the ball to Boshen, who hit a three-pointer from beyond the three-point line.
So what kind of transformation has Boshen undergone to become such a stable and durable appearance this season? Essentially, it is a reduction in the proportion of the ball. From his first entry into the league to his time with the Wizards last season, he has relied heavily on ball-handling offense. According to the relevant rating data, last year's Boshen was classified as a big man with the ball when the player role was classified, and this season it is a big man without the ball. The immediate impact of this change in roles is that last season the number of players in the league was above 45% of the league's ball-possession, but this season that number is about half. In this season, Boshen has really become a big man who plays mainly without the ball.
And this shift has a huge impact on the efficiency of the offensive end. Because of the innate conditions of big players under normal circumstances, they are not suitable for more ball handling and dribbling. Not only does the extra time on the ball make big players more likely to make mistakes, but it also increases the chance of injury, and the most valuable physical energy is inevitably consumed in the process of holding the ball. So the efficiency of the big man with the ball will always be worse. Last season's Boshen shot in almost the worst environment in the league, and this season's switch to no-ball has become a league average. This is naturally good news for Boshen, so after Boshen, who no longer holds the ball this season, has changed his main offensive methods to low-post singles and catch-and-throw throws, his offensive efficiency has improved significantly.
On the defensive end, thanks to the Celtics' own defensive system, the team gave Boshen the shortest defense and only needed to defend the forward player, and his defensive efficiency was further improved. In addition, Boshen's own height and arm span allow him to have a very effective frame protection effect in the Celtics' restricted area, so Boshen, who has subtracted at both offensive and defensive ends this season, can really find his own role positioning.
So what are Celtic's championship prospects this season? With the current Celtics from the lineup and style of play there are almost no obvious weaknesses, itself a solid system with the addition of Boshen, compared to the main rival Bucks this season, and the 76ers who have doubted the stability of the playoffs, the Celtics have a clear advantage, and the current Eastern Conference is far ahead of the East.
As for the Western Conference, which is more balanced this season, the Celtics have lost against the Thunder, Nuggets and Timberwolves this season, and the Clippers who are in full swing have been beaten in the third quarter at their home court. Objectively speaking, if the Celtics' stars can ensure their health and maintain the integrity of the roster, then the Eastern Conference Finals and even the Finals are achievable goals. It's just that the ownership of the championship may have to change the question mark? Because as the nominal leader of this giant team, Tatum's performance in the playoffs in previous years was really inconsistent, so maybe Boshen has played at his peak, but the ultimate height of this team lies in the younger Tatum.