Green with Envy podcast: Jaylen Brown as play finisher, the Luke Kornet Kontest, and Jayson Tatum vs. Luka Doncic

Nov 28, 2022 - 1:33 PM

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With Jayson Tatum resting a sore ankle, Sunday’s game was all about Jaylen Brown. On this episode of Green With Envy (@greenenvypod), Will Weir and Greg Maneikis explore Jaylen’s development (0:00-17:00), Luke Kornet’s role (17:00-22:00), and the three headed monster of Smart, White, and Brogdon (22:00-24:00). After the break, the boys debate Luka vs. Tatum (26:00-33:00), preview tonight’s matchup with the Hornets (33:00-38:00), and end the episode with their weekly vibe check (38:00-END).

“The Play Finisher”

As CelticsBlog’s Adam Taylor recently wrote - much to the chagrin of Celtics Twitter - Jaylen thrives in a “play finisher role” and last night was no different. Jaylen led all scorers with 36 points on 56.5% shooting, but even those numbers don’t explain just how impressive he was throughout the night. Jaylen displayed poise and composure, keeping the game simple with his reads, and exploiting the slightest gaps or lapses in the defensive to streak the basket for layups or free throws. Take a look at his shot chart against the Wizards.

As Will Weir (@willbon13) says on this episode, “I think Daryl Morey would want to trade for Jaylen after seeing this.” (That’s a hard pass for us Celtics fans). But seriously, this is beautiful stuff.

50-40-80 Club?

Another under discussed topic of development for Jaylen this year has been his improved free throw shooting. He’s averaging almost 5 attempts a game (tied for a career high) and is converting above 80% for the first time in his career. JB spent the first three years of his career in the 60’s and the next three in the 70’s, so hopefully this is a sign that development is in fact linear in this instance.

In the past, when Jaylen has missed, a lot of his misses would be short, which suggests he wasn’t trusting his follow through. This season, that follow through seems more confident, and as a result he’s getting more friendly rolls when he does leave it a tad short. If Jaylen can keep this up for an entire season, he will have unlocked another level of scoring efficiency that is saved for the truly elite.

Tune in to today’s episode for an extended conversation around Jaylen Brown, a look back at Tatum’s duel with Luka, and much more Celtics discourse!