The Boston Celtics have had some chemistry issues all season long. In order to find a solution, Brad Stevens realizes it’s all on him.
A preseason favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics find themselves looking up at the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers going into the All-Star break.
Not ideal for a team as talented and deep as the Celtics, but that depth and talent is proving to be too much for the team to handle and is certainly challenging the coaching talent of one Brad Stevens.
Just when it seems like this team was putting everything together, winning nine of the last ten games, a last-second shot by old friend Rajon Rondo and a 28-point collapse against the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden Saturday night has resurfaced some inner team issues that were never solved.
As veteran forward Marcus Morris bluntly stated after the game, the 2018-19 Boston Celtics aren’t having fun and it hasn’t been fun for a while despite the winning. With the trade deadline gone, this is the team Stevens has to rock with and it’s up to him to find an answer before this season of high promise becomes a complete disaster.
"“I think I need to look at myself first and figure out what I can do to help that not happen,” Stevens said following the game, via Masslive.com. “If that means we need to play different rotations, call different things, start differently in quarters than we are, whatever the case may be there’s an answer out there and we just have to find it.”"
Stevens also recognizes the issues on the court but getting this team to believe in the system and believe in each other appears to be the most challenging issue. Despite the struggles and despite Kyrie Irving missing games, the Boston Celtics are still 35-21. The urgency comes with how the other top teams are playing.
Add to the fact each team got better at the trade deadline while the Celtics stood pat adds to the frustration the team has with every loss. This is where Brad Stevens has a chance to show what kind of coach he is. Here are three things he can do better to stop a sinking ship from going under.
Play the players who want to play
The problem with the 2018-19 Boston Celtics is that there are not enough minutes to go around. Therefore, it’s not that the players don’t want to play, it’s that there appears to be players who don’t want to play the way Brad Stevens wants them to play.
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With that being said, Stevens has to simply go back to what made him one of the best coaches in the NBA. He needs to put the players on the court who will stick within the system and contribute to the total team effort, especially on the defensive end.
Offensively, the Celtics are scoring at a high rate, especially when Kyrie Irving is in the game. When he is not in the game, there is some offensive struggle. In those times, the Celtics should be able to lean back on the defensive pressure they were known for a season ago.
They need to get tough and play with attitude. They all need to play with the same intensity Marcus Smart plays with by treating every trip on the defensive end as an important one.
As deep as the Boston Celtics are, Stevens simply has to play the players who are buying in and sit the players who are all about getting their own shot. No matter how much money they are paying the player or how talented that player is, if they are not buying in, they are simply hurting the team.
Time to let them spend some time at the end of the bench Brad Stevens.
Recognize rotations that don’t work
Finding the right rotations is something Brad Stevens has been trying to do since the start of the 2018-19 NBA season.
The first move Stevens made at the beginning of the season when the team was struggling was move Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown to the bench and inserting the energy of both Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris into the starting lineup.
That change did help catapult the team into an eight-game winning streak, but there are certain combinations that seem to struggle, and Stevens has to recognize that because the momentum of the game changes too drastically.
The Boston Celtics head coach has mentioned how the team struggles during the second and third quarter and it is no coincidence that those are times when players like Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier are on the court.
This is not to put the blame solely on these players, but there are times when Stevens stick to certain lineups way too long. If Hayward is hurting the defense during certain stretches, take him out. If Rozier is hurting the offense by throwing up quick shots, sit him. If Al Horford does not have the energy during certain points in the game, take him out.
It’s all easier said than done, but the depth the Boston Celtics have does not mean they all to need play big minutes. Brad Stevens needs to find a way to manage these lineups based on matchups and what’s working in that particular game.
Don’t let the stars run the team
This one is directed at Kyrie Irving and solely Kyrie Irving.
Brad Stevens cannot allow the superstar player run or ruin the direction of the team. Not to say that is what Irving is doing, but his pending free agency and outspokenness about the team’s struggles has brought even more attention to the team.
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Irving is an extreme talent, so of course Stevens is going to give him his share of power on the court, but off the court it’s time for the Celtics head coach to take command of the locker room and be a leader of men.
The Boston Celtics simply have too much talent to lose the kind of games they have already lost this season. There has been too much finger pointing going on amongst the players and Stevens has to find a solution fast.
That solution may be getting Kyrie Irving to completely buy in and do the things to make his team better. To Kyrie’s credit he has done that at times by increasing his assist numbers and playing well on the defensive end. The talking off the court is where the superstar point guard can help this team, particularly the young players, strive.
He has admitted that calling out those players was wrong, but now he has to show his confidence in those players. That is one of the keys to stabilizing the cohesion of this team, rest stems on the shoulders of Brad Stevens.