Celtics were good in New Orleans; here's how they can be better

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2018/11/celtics_were_good_in_new_orleans_heres_how_they_can_be_better




Celtics were good in New Orleans; here's how they can be better



Stephen Bulpett
Tuesday, November 27, 2018





Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving, front right, goes to the basket against New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, front left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)



By New Orleans standards, the Celtics had themselves a very good night Monday. They didn’t lose their lunch (or their 20-point lead) on the side of the street, and there were no embarrassing videos, excepting Jayson Tatum's missed lob dunk.

More importantly, the Bostonians were significantly closer to what they'd like to be. But they should know by now not to think their ills are cured after this one nice 124-107 victory. The last time they had the temerity to believe they had their shot together, a 123-116 triumph over Toronto was followed by three straight losses -- a dozen-point Garden goring by Utah, a crushing by Kemba Walker in Charlotte and a 117-109 home debacle against the Knicks.

It helped against the Pelicans that Marcus Smart got the start in place of the injured Jaylen Brown (bruised tailbone), and, while Brad Stevens said, "We won't be settled on a starting lineup until forever," it'd be hard to see the coach going away from this one until it fails.

But the thinking here is that if the Celts want to take an even larger stride away from their 10-10 start, the best way would be to shake things up fully and commit even further to an up-tempo game. I'm not talking about just pushing the ball up the floor when the numerical advantage presents itself; I'm saying extend the defense and force the pace. You'll be running your guys like crazy, but that just means you'll need to go deeper into the bench -- and isn't the Celts' depth supposed to be one of their major strengths.

The benefits can be many, but in the main it gets the Celtics out of their own collective head, which is where they seem to have gotten stuck on too many occasions this season as players try to deal with lesser roles than they had last year now that Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward are back.

Create a faster game, and instead of guys over-dribbling in a halfcourt set, let the ball find energy. Let the people who move best wind up with it. And get the defense back into an attack mode.

Al Horford was on board late Monday night.

"This was a good start," he said. "I think that we can always play quicker and faster, but I feel like we took a step in that direction, and that was good to see."

As for upping the ante, pressing more on defense and going deeper into the bench, he said, "It's a long season, and we need to. And the more that our bench guys can develop and have experience in situations, I think it's all beneficial for our group."

So, if they buy in, the starters play harder (more running), but fewer minutes.

"That's what I'm all about," said Horford. "That's the way that I like to play."

Earlier that day, Irving alluded to the same principle.

"The other night I said I don't know, but for us I think it's just a mindset, as well as the way we approach the game starting off," he said. "We can’t ease into it. We're not necessarily a veteran team that has guys that are just 30-plus.

"Like we should be running guys out of the gym, as other teams are trying to run us out of the gym. Our youth should be our advantage, rather than something that we use as an excuse at this point. There's no more time to be using that as an excuse. It's just go get it and go compete, and when we do compete, then most teams, like I said, fear us."

According to Horford, Brad Stevens has been advocating a quicker game, but the coach clearly hasn’t been getting everything he wants from this team thus far.

As he put it before tipoff Monday, "I'd love to play with more pace than we're playing... You know, you can't throw the ball all over the gym, and everybody's got to commit to doing it. I don't think there's anything worse than three guys running and two guys walking, but when we do play that way, we are better. So hopefully we can play that way more."

To do so might keep some of those human nature individual concerns out of the Celts' game. Brown was asked about the issue of guys having to adjust their roles this year.

"It’s definitely been a challenge," he said, "and that’s a part of this league, a part of life, challenges and things like that. Just coming out every day and trying to do what’s best for the team, but also balancing what’s best for yourself and your family. Ultimately if we win, that’s number one. And everybody knows that."

Yet it doesn’t see the Celtics have always put that knowledge into action this season. Maybe running more would help.

I don't want to get caught up in semantics here, but basketball is not a thinking game -- at least not a game of conscious thought. It's a game of instinct. The thinking has to largely be done before you step on the court. Certainly, altering a cut on an out-of-bounds play your opponent has been defending well require in-the-moment recognition, but mostly good basketball is about instinct.

The reason why people like a Larry Bird or Steph Curry get up hundreds of shots after practice or early before games is that they want the motion on their internal computer chip. They don't have to think through the process; it's just... THERE.

This is also why the Celtics of very old had just a handful of offensive sets. Each had variations off the initial theme based on how they were being guarded or the opponent's personnel, but by having few basic plays they could learn by rote, their reactive minds were free to act.

Perhaps the success in New Orleans will snap the Celtics out of the funk that has seen them be less than the sum of their parts on many nights. But possibly they need to run themselves back toward the status everyone was bestowing upon them prior to the season.

"I think it has a lot to do with the pace, ball movement," said Horford earlier Monday. "You know, we need to play at a better pace, and if you look at a lot of these teams, they’re playing much faster and their ball movement is very crisp. And if we don't do those things, I think we're not going to be able to reach how good we can be."

And what's most important is the long RUN, so to speak.



bob
MY NOTE:  ABSOLUTELY!!!  With our athletes and youth we should just RUN, BABY, RUN!!!



.

I have mentioned this approach in the past.  Pressing more on the defensive end and running more on offense.  This would allow better utilization of a deep roster.

Brad has not implemented this approach.  Fast break basketball is not part of the Celtics current DNA.

Teams bring the ball up the floor with little to no resistance.  By pressing more it will take a few seconds off of the shot clock.  That can disrupt the flow of your opponents offense.   On offense ,even though the team is loaded with athletes that can get up and down, the team still does not look to push the pace at every opportunities.  

Brad has a philosophy that anybody can bring the ball up.  That is not how those old Celtics teams did it.  In the old days the rebounder looked for one or two guys, everybody filled a lane.  everybody ran and the ball handler was responsible for making the right decision.

If Brad is really interested in fast break basketball and extending pressure defense he should sit down with Tommy.  Give Russell a call or Cousy.  Call Havlicek.  Call Dave Cowens.  Consult with the masters.

The fast break got all the notoriety during the Russell years but it was the Celtic defense that made those teams near invincible. And who on the Celtic roster is prepared to become the new Bill Russell - who, because of his superior rebounding, led his team in his 13 seasons to be ranked # 1 in team rebounds 8 years, 2nd once, 3rd 3 times, and 4th once. By the way,the 3rd and 4th place finishes were in his last 4 years in the nba when age was taking it's toll. It sure helps to have a great rebounder to trigger the fast break.

swish

Curiously, Brian Scalabrine was the last Celtic who consistently would inbound the ball immediately after a made basket, pushing the action up the court quickly. So many of our guys are lackadaisical about getting the ball back into play, given the opponents time to set their defense. Not so in the 60's.

True dat.

The team idea of utilizing the fast break must come from the head coach. Fast break basketball work for some team and not so well for all teams so it is a coaching philosophy type of decision. It is the head coach who "pushes" the fast break concept to his players by emphasis and practice time. So far in his NBA coaching tenure, Brad Stevens has not seemed to place a high priority on the fast break, but I am sure that he has given it plenty of thought.

For some reason(s) he has chosen to not make his team a fast breaking outfit, but he may change his mind at some point as it does appear that he has 'fast break' type of talent.