It’s the season. Jordan Walsh’s season. What still feels like a fever dream, Jordan Walsh continues to establish himself as one of the driving forces behind the Celtics’ surge over the past month. There’s a lot to like about what Walsh does on the basketball court, so let’s take a look at all the different ways he impacts winning.
We will start with the defensive side. Celtics fans have had the pleasure of enjoying elite screen navigation since the beginning of Marcus Smart’s tenure. Then the Celtics acquired Derrick White and then Jrue Holiday. Now, Jordan Walsh appears to be next in line to take over the screen navigation mastery baton.
Andre Drummond is a great man to sail. Walsh does a great job taking the bump, staying balanced, flipping his hips and sliding his feet to get back in front of Tyrese Maxey. Walsh keeps his extension arm up to dissuade Maxey from taking his patented floater, causing Maxey to pull the ball away. Walsh then executes a fantastic isolation defense against one of the best scorers in the league.
Here, Walsh shows his willingness to make life hell for opposing ball handlers. The NBA has become a pick-and-roll heavy league. Navigating screens has become a premium skill. And Walsh has it. Austin Reaves actually got a good look at the end of the possession; however, his radar malfunctions after confronting Walsh for 15 seconds. I’m also exhausted after watching this possession.
No matter how good a player is at screen navigation, they will get stuck on a screen from time to time. When you are beaten, can you still impact the shooter?
Ivaca Zubac is an elite screen fitter and getting stuck on the huge Croatian screens is going to happen. Walsh is undeterred. He lowers his hips, explodes, and gets back into the game with ease, ultimately blocking one of the best pick-and-roll operators in history, James Harden.
The defense that Jordan Walsh played against Austin Reaves in the first quarter of the Lakers game was some of the best defense I have seen play all season. Reaves attempts this three-point attempt with no urgency; he thinks there’s no chance Walsh can get back into the game after being screened by DeAndre Ayton, but again, Walsh doesn’t just put his finger on the ball — he puts his entire hand on the ball for the block. When Walsh is thrown, he uses his Gogo Gadget arms to block shots from behind. It doesn’t hurt that he’s spent his career watching GOAT competitor Derrick White show him how it’s done.
We talked about how good Walsh was at defending the ball. Let’s take a look at his help defense.
First of all, the fact that he matches up with Evan Mobley is a testament to Walsh’s versatility. Walsh reads the pass to Jaylen Tyson perfectly then swallows the shot attempt, sparking a Celtics transition possession.
Walsh guards PJ Hall who appears to be setting up a light screen, but in reality Hall is stuck in no man’s land as GG Jackson enters the lane, this allows Walsh to slide and reject the shot without having to make a play, allowing Walsh to recover the block.
The ability to provide effective help on defense and weakside protection from the wing position has been a big factor in how the Celtics have been able to get away with their small-ball lineups on defense.
This category I call the Great Wall of Holidays. Jrue Holiday has perfected the art of getting the better of an offensive player, while simultaneously getting in his hand for a steal.
It’s never a bad time to remember one of the iconic moments of the 2024 title race. Walsh began implementing the Great Wall of Holiday technique into his game.
While Walsh isn’t as sturdy as Jrue, he makes up for that with his length, the 7″2 wingspan is a problem for opposing ball handlers. Being able to take the bumps from the significantly bigger and stronger Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, not get pushed too far back, and then come away with crisp steals is impressive.
The Cetlics’ success this season has largely been based on dominating the shooting range. Walsh, who has become a turnover-generating machine, only amplifies this identity.
Let’s move on to the offensive side of the ball.
Jordan Walsh looks like he’s becoming a legit dribbling, passing, and shooting guy. Now that three-point shooting has started to decline, teams are starting to close in on Walsh, and he’s capitalizing. Walsh generates 1.30 points per possession on one-time opportunities (87th percentile).
Karl-Anthony Towns closes too hard on Walsh in the corner. As Towns tends to do. Walsh reads it, lets Towns pass, then attacks the rim with his explosiveness and length and finishes in traffic. Walsh is shooting 76.1% in the restricted area. As a reminder, Neemias Queta shoots 76.2% in the restricted area. Walsh is not a seven-foot center.
Walsh isn’t just looking to drive with reckless abandon. Here, Walsh does a great job driving the closeout, drawing the help defender and delivering an on-target pass to Neemias Queta for an easy two points. This is great composure and decision making on Walsh’s part.
A staple of the Celtics offense during the Mazzulla era has been the use of perimeter players in the short role. Whether it’s Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, or Jrue Holiday, this has been an effective method for the Celtics to get rotation out of the opposing defense.
Teams often try to change this type of action since the perimeter players are similar in size. This allows the screener to slip behind the defense, creating an advantage for the offense. Derrick White delivers the pass to Walsh, who sends a pass directly into Jaylen Brown’s shooting pocket, resulting in a huge three points for the Celtics.
If the defense doesn’t collapse, Walsh is capable of exploding to the rim to finish through contact or, in this case, throw a strong two-handed slam.
It’s clear that Jordan Walsh has a good understanding of floor balance and how to be effective with cutbacks, especially along the baseline.
Defenses are going to give Jaylen Brown (and possibly Jayson Tatum) a lot of defensive attention. When Jaylen Brown has both feet in the paint, alarm bells start to ring for opposing defenses. Walsh does a great job of reading when that attention turns to Jaylen and slides into the dunker spot for an easy two.
We talked about how Walsh helps the Celtics dominate shooting margin on defense. On offense, he put on a possession-generating clinic. Walsh has an offensive rebound rate of up to 8%. That ranks him 19th in the league for players under six-foot-ten.
Teams will often put their weakest or smallest defender on Walsh. This allows Walsh to take advantage of his size, length and athleticism on the offensive glass. In this case, it’s Jalen Brunson. Brunson offers near-zero resistance en route to a Walsh backhand.
I love this piece by Walsh. The offensive board is already another secure possession. Walsh stays balanced, gets Evan Mobley up with a pump fake and sends a pass to Xavier Tillman for a short-range floater – that’s high-level balance from the 21-year-old.
Finally, the filming. Walsh is shooting 45.6% from three-point range this season. An absurd figure. The vast majority of shots were taken with wide open eyes. Which is great, but to truly be a playoff-level offensive player, Walsh needs to take and make tighter shots. As Walsh’s confidence grows, we see signs of this development.
It’s hard to find a fault in Walsh’s game right now. Of course, if you ask Walsh to be a primary creator on this team, the Celtics will find some flaws. But when it comes to the role Walsh is asked to play, he executes it almost perfectly. The Joran Walsh era is upon us.
