The Boston Celtics have shown themselves to be good at helping their players become better on the defensive end of the court, most recently and notably with recent arrival Anfernee Simons. But the former Portland Trail Blazers walking bucket is not the only player the Celtics have helped become a good defender – and fans of the team might be surprised to learn some of the ways that Boston helps players stay ahead of their opponents.
Speaking after a recent Celtics win, forward Sam Hauser (himself another Boston defense success story) opened up on how the team’s coaching staff aids their defensive capabilities. “The coaches do a good job of sending us personnel edits,” said Hauser via CLNS Media.
“They send us write-ups of percentages or where they’re driving or how often they’re driving that way,” added the Celtics long-distance specialist. “What hand they like to drive with.”
“So you know for me, I’m not like the quickest player laterally, so for me to know that, and to try and to anticipate some of these things are big for me to try to keep a guy in front and make a make it hard for them to try to shoot.”
“I try my best. I don’t always do it well, but I try my best most nights to try to play off the tendencies, and then try to force them to shoot shots that we want them to shoot.”
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Sam Hauser shares how the Celtics help their players defend better