addByline("Marc D'Amico","Celtics.com","Marc_DAmico");
It’s awards season at Celtics.com. We’re handing out seven awards over the couple of weeks as we roll through this year’s Celtics.com Awards Series. We may not have trophies or acceptance speeches, but we do have some top-flight Celtics performances to outline. Here we go...
BOSTON - The term ‘sharpshooter’ is typically associated with perimeter players. It’s time to break free from that mold.
This past season, it was one of Boston’s big men – in fact, the biggest of the bigs – who stood as the team’s best shooter.
Tyler Zeller was the tallest player on the Celtics roster this season but he sure didn’t shoot it like a typical 7-footer. His game was more reminiscent of a power forward, a big man who could finish around the basket and stretch the defense out to 20 feet.
Zeller led Boston’s full-time players in the three most important shooting categories: field goal percentage (54.9 percent), effective field goal percentage (54.9 percent) and true shooting percentage (59.4 percent). His field goal percentage and true shooting percentage each were top-30 marks in the entire NBA, according to Synergy Sports.
The bulk of Zeller’s shots – 369 of them, to be exact – were attempted from within five feet of the basket. He made nearly 60 percent of those attempts.
Most of Zeller’s short attempts came off of pick-and-rolls or crashes to the rim. He was one of the very best pick-and-roll men in the NBA, ranking in the 90th percentile after producing 1.203 points per possession in such plays.
Most centers specialize in finishing around the basket, but Zeller proved over the course of this season that he’s also more than capable of stepping out into the midrange. Zeller made 69.6 percent of his shots from 10 to 14 feet and canned 46.2 percent of his shots from 15 to 19 feet. Those numbers aren’t just good. They’re great.
Zeller is a very intelligent basketball player and knows his limits. That’s why he very rarely stepped out beyond 19 feet. He attempted only four shots all season from 20-plus feet, which helped him to preserve such fantastic overall percentages.
Zeller was one of six Celtics to finish the season with a double-digit scoring average. His 10.2 points per game far surpassed his previous career high of 7.9 PPG.
The beauty of Zeller’s offense and shooting, and an important factor as to why he shoots it so well, is that he doesn’t create his own offense or force the issue. Instead, he uses his speed and touch to capitalize on open shots from his sweet spots that the offense creates for him.
Not many 7-footers, or any players for that matter, are going to space the floor up to 19 feet with the type of efficiency Zeller showcased this season. There was certainly no one on Boston’s roster who came even close to his level of production.
The Celtics gave Zeller the opportunity he had been waiting for during the early stages of his NBA career. They gave him consistent minutes and told him to shoot it with confidence. He did just that, putting together the team’s most efficient offensive season and taking home this year’s Sharpshooter Award.