Boston Celtics: Diving deeper into Carsen Edwards

Pick-and-roll

Over the course of 36 games for Purdue, Carsen Edwards was involved in 262 possessions in which he was the ball handler in an pick-and-roll situation. From these he took 193 shots and made just 69 of them, meaning he put up 124 missed shots.

This equates to just 35.8 percent from the field when shooting out of the pick-and-roll as the ball handler, not great but not awful either. The cause for concern is the 43 turnovers out of those 262 possessions, amounting to  a 16.4 percent turnover percentage.

For all of his ups and downs, Edwards was able to finish the college season ranking in the 73rd percentile for this play type. Certainly an encouraging area to be ranked, but far from a sure thing when taking the next step.

Furthermore, his ability to draw 26 fouls bodes well for a Boston Celtics team that was severely lacking players that could draw contact last year.

Summer League changed that perception for Edwards, who played with new teammates of a higher talent level able to stretch the floor. This made the world of difference, Edwards was now able to use his pace and power to create more opportunities for himself and his teammates.

You saw as the games went on that his confidence in his ability to run this play type grew.

Turnover still persisted though, meaning his decision making needs to be a focus point heading into training camp and beyond. It is said that the longer a player is in the league, the slower the games develops in front of them.

Should this be true, i expect to see his passing numbers increase and turnovers decrease over time — it will not be a quick fix.