He still doesn't bring a lot to the table if his shot isn't falling, but so long as he's shooting flames it doesn't matter.
I get what you are saying, but I also feel that sometimes people get too caught up on the whole box score thing.
Every Bradley has been, for years on end, a solid offensive player and a very good defensive player. Those two things don't often go hand in hand.
This year he has lifted his offense from "solid" to "very good" and his defense from "very good" to "outstanding".
It's easy to get caught up on a player's ability to stuff stat sheets, but then look at Rajon Rondo in his last season with the Celtics. He was averaging a near triple double Per-36 (9.4 points, 12.2 assists, 8.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals) before the trade and yet the Celtics were clearly a significantly better team after he got traded away (his real plus minus of -3.21, one of the worst among NBA PG's, tells us this is no surprise).
While it's nice to have guys who can surprise you every night with a triple double, it's not always necessary for a player to help you win. At the end of the day basketball is about scoring, and stopping your opponent from scoring. If you are an individual who can score and defend at a high level, then you're doing a lot to help your team win.
Avery is now the team's best three point shooter...better than Isaiah.
Bradley - 2.4 made per game
Thomas - 2.2 made per game
Bradley - 41.8% on threes
Thomas - 32% on threes
I have to admit...I didn't see that coming.
This doesn't really surprise me to be honest.
Last year Bradley averaged 4.6 3PA per game and shot them at pretty respectable 35.2%. In 2013/14 he averaged 3.3 3PM per game and shot them at 39.5%.
If you follow the trend over his career, Bradley has increased his 3PA Per Game by at least 25% every single season since he's been in the league (0.0, 0.8, 2.5, 3.3, 4.6, 5.7) and has shot 36.6% for his career.
If he continues at this rate, it will be the third time (in 6 seasons) that he has averaged around 40% from three.
He's only had two seasons in which he's shot under 35% from three - on was his rookie year, the other was 2012/13 (after returning from double-shoulder surgery). When he's been
Last year Bradley shot 35.2% on 4.6 attempts, and Thomas (as a Celtic) shot 34.5% on 7 attempts. If you factor in attempts Thomas looks like the better shooter that year, but if you just look at percentages Bradley was actually more accurate.
Kid has been a quality shooter for a long time now, he just hasn't ever really received the recognition because he has been pretty inconsistent from one game to the next.
That seems to have changed this year, though. In the 14 games he has started he's shot > 45% from the field in 9 of them, and has scored 15 or more in 10 of them. That means this year he has had far more good games than bad ones.
I've seen AB go on runs before, but I don't think I've seen him go on one this long/strong.
I still am holding out hopes that Bradley's greatest value to the Celtics is whoever comes back to us in the trade he is involved in.
You do realise that (aside from Thomas) Bradley is looking like about the only consistent bright spot on the team this year, right?
He and Thomas are probably the only two guys on this team who have contributed with any kind of consistency. Everybody else has been up and down like a yo-yo.
Yet Bradley isn't the type of household name that's likely to bring back a great piece in a trade. I'd suggest he's probably much more valuable for us on the court, then he is as an asset.
D Wade
Giv me dat block
By Bradley is my favorite Celtics play so this year . .....caused a fist pump,......yeah that felt good !
I have to say that so far...he has been the Celtics best player.
It's a close call between Bradley and Thomas, but Bradley's better shooting percentages and defensive ability ice it for me.