The Celtics don’t fuel. The disaster of last year, which was an almost fatal blow to the project, continues its course without anyone being able to stop it at the beginning of the season that, obviously, It does not stop being a start of seasona, but that confirms the worst omens and gives continuity to the negative dynamics in which the project has been submerged since the elimination in the Orlando bubble. Or maybe from before, when Kyrie Irving wreaked havoc on a path that seemed headed for the fight for the ring but has stayed on the road. There is always room for improvement, correction and evolution, but the years pass without results and the gradual rise has been replaced by a plummet to an ignominious situation. The feeling is that drift is inevitable and changes, that have occurred in the structure only in part and that have not been translated to the field of play, they have not had an immediate effect.
It is obvious that time may end up straightening the situation. But weather, in an NBA that does not wait for anyone, comes to an end. The patience of the fans is less and less, the opportunities fly and the ability to correct the course becomes small as the days, months and at this point, also the years go by. Brad Stevens, dissatisfied with the work of Danny Ainge, changed benches for offices and has begun a reconstruction within the reconstruction two years from now: in this first, the objective is to clean contracts (Kemba Walker), put a new coach (Ime Udoka ) and get everything ready for the next free agency, where he will seek to strike the final blow and his ability in decision making will really be seen. But how bad can you afford to be this year?
Therein lies the real question. The start of the season for the Celtics is being an embarrassment: initial 2-5, defeats against theoretically weaker opponents, poor decisions by a rookie coach and, above all, a total absence of chemistry. That which has always characterized the famous (and longed for) green pride now shines by its absence in a loose group, in a constant search for a site that cannot be found. One that arrived in an enviable and meritorious way to those Conference finals in 2017 and, above all, 2018, but whose friction, Kyrie through, exploded in the Orlando bubble. Problems with Gordon Hayward, Stevens’ right eye, excesses of a Marcus Smart that is always a bomb about to explode and a game increasingly monopolized by Jayson Tatum and especially Jaylen Brown.
When nothing works
The Celtics fell in their inaugural duel against the Knicks, with flashes and flaws, but in a loss in overtime that is acceptable in a debut that is always complicated and that does not serve to draw too many conclusions. Behind this, beating in the Garden before some Raptors in theoretical decomposition, but they look ahead and, with Nick Nurse, they can give war to anyone; two consecutive victories against the Rockets and Hornets, and two defeats against the Wizards who finished them off in Boston and Washington, the last of them with a 2 of 26 in triples. And the first seven games are forged with a new defeat, this time against the emerging Bulls, again at the Garden, with a very poor defense (128 points received) and cross statements at the end of the meeting on how Tatum and Brown monopolize the game and the damage caused by the absence of a dealer, another Achilles heel since the project began. One that has not been fully resolved since Rajon Rondo’s departure for Dallas and that has been forged with bases with a more scoring profile: Isaiah Thomas, Kyrie Irving, Terry Rozier o Kemba Walker are the best (and clearest) examples.
Right now, the Celtics are in twelfth place in the Eastern Conference, which has gained ground from previous years and has enormous competition and several candidates for the Finals and, why not, the ring. It is no longer worth speculating as on other occasions: Now, everything you lose at the beginning of the year will cost a lot to go back. And reach, not only the eighth position, but the tenth that gives access to the play-in, It can seem very complicated for a team that right now has a huge lack of synchrony and that sees the month of February, that of last minute exchanges and market stress, still very far away. Udoka’s stay if things are not fixed can be ephemeral even in a franchise that has as a fundamental law, almost a tradition, the fact of taking care of its people. But when impatience takes hold of people and the results don’t come, traditions soon become mere guidelines that you skip in an eagerness to react Before that wind that comes face to face and does not let you advance.
The data
Among all the bad things the Celtics have this year, the defense is just being ridiculous. With five overtimes behind him (two against the Knicks, one against the Hornets and two more on his visit to Washington) the statistics are made up, but the 119.7 points they receive per night makes them the worst defense in the NBA with almost five points of difference with the second worst, LaMelo Ball’s Hornets (which, on the other hand, go 5-3 and sevenths from the East). In addition, the greens are the tenth team that tries the most triples in the competition (almost 40) and only scores 33.7%; They are the eighth with the worst percentage of field goals (just over 43%) and those with the most personal fouls (more than 22 per game). And they have the sixth worst net rating (-5,5). In this figure, they are only worse than them Pelicans, Rockets, Magic, Pistons and Thunder. Rubbing shoulders with the worst in the League in any statistic is overkill even at the start of the season. And surpassing them in, for example, points received, is even worse.
And in the meantime the Celtics allow their rivals to shoot almost 46% from the field and 37% from 3-point range, in addition to allowing an average of 52.3 rebounds per game, the second worst mark in the NBA and a data that shows that the problems in the area have not been resolved with the arrival of an Al Horford two years older than when it was. Williamses work only intermittently, the insurmountable Marcus Smart is still questioned and Brown (26.7) and Tatum (25.7), average more than 10 points more than the next one on the list, a Horford that is not precisely the problem despite not being the one of yesteryear (14.4+ 10.4 for him). Of course, Brown averages 2.5 assists and Tatum 3.7, very low figures for so much time on the ball. Only Dennis Schröder (6.4) passes 5, and his adaptability is being similar to what he had in the Lakers. In other words: room for improvement this course, but expiration date for a project that will need real movements in February and especially next summer. Of course, if you face it without even having stepped on the playoffs … Anyway. The green pride is lost and the Celtics are missing. And a ring in 35 years. Already almost 36. There is that.
