What are Celtics lacking? Franchise legend sees an obvious answer

What are Celtics lacking? Franchise legend sees an obvious answer

NBC SPORTS BOSTON BY DARREN HARTWELL


Bob Cousy has played, coached and watched a whole lot of basketball over his 93 years. So, when trying to determine what's wrong with the 2021-22 Boston Celtics, the Basketball Hall of Famer and franchise icon is a good person to ask.B

The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy did just that after a recent Celtics loss and received some pretty direct feedback from Cousy about Boston's struggles.

"There’s something wrong," Cousy told Shaughnessy. "It’s just schoolyard. Run up and down and take the first shot that shows. There doesn’t seem to be intelligent direction."

Cousy also had a strong opinion about what this Celtics roster lacks.

"I think a stabilizing piece is missing," Cousy said. "They usually [expletive] it up in the fourth quarter when you need to be paying attention to business.

"I hate to bring it back to a point guard but … you don’t have that control. When we got a lead of 6-8 points, that was when I would take it home. I just would not allow us to lose the lead."

The same certainly can't be said about these Celtics, who have blown four leads of at least 15 points this season (including Thursday's 25-point collapse against the New York Knicks) and own the NBA's second-worst fourth-quarter net rating at minus-8.7.

To Cousy's point, Boston has been plagued by a lack of late-game ball movement, averaging just 4.6 fourth-quarter assists (29th in the NBA) while hitting just 41.7% of their shots (26th) in the final 12 minutes.


"Right now, at crunch time in the fourth quarter, they’re giving it to (Jaylen) Brown and (Jayson) Tatum to create for themselves and 70 percent of the time they do, but they don’t have the creating skills that a clever point guard would have, so they [expletive] it up," Cousy said.

Marcus Smart is technically Boston's starting point guard, but Cousy "(doesn't) love him as a point guard," while free-agent signing Dennis Schroder is more of a scorer than a facilitator. While the Celtics have been led by some impressive floor generals like Isaiah Thomas, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker in recent years, only Thomas had any real staying power, and this 2021-22 team seems to lack that backcourt leader.

So, is a "stabilizing" point guard what the Celtics need to maximize the talents of Tatum and Brown? If so, maybe Cousy should give Brad Stevens a call.

112288

Cousy is right by starting with getting a true point guard who is the true quarterback of the team and the team leader. Please Brad no head cases, no undersized players! He has to be a smart smart smart player who understands when to pass and when to shoot at that moment in the game. He has to know how to break down a defense with the assets (platers) he has, and to execute that plan.

Second, we have some soft players, many who show no passion regardless of how high the temperature has risen in a game. IT I have to admire. He brought a whole lot of energy and swagger to the team and was the true leader.

If you want to know where and when the turn started and the direction downward the Celtics took, look to when IT got traded. Danny was too cute in trying to fleece another GM by getting Irving. Danny was blinded by the glitter rather then seeing beneath the veneer that Irving was a nut job besides being a great player and that combo never works out. It is just a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

Tatum I believe is either not ready to be a leader like Bird, Pierce or KG, or he really does not want to assume that leadership level. Hey I can accept that, so people like to operate as #2 verses assuming the pressure of #1.

112288

112288 wrote:Cousy is right by starting with getting  a true point guard who is the true quarterback of the team and the team leader.  Please Brad no head cases, no undersized players!  He has to be a smart smart smart player who understands when to pass and when to shoot at that moment in the game.  He has to know how to break down a defense with the assets (platers) he has, and to execute that plan.

Second, we have some soft players, many who show no passion regardless of how high the temperature has risen in a game.  IT I have to admire. He brought a whole lot of energy and swagger to the team and was the true leader.

If you want to know where and when the turn started and the direction downward the Celtics took, look to when IT got traded.   Danny was too cute in trying to fleece another GM by getting Irving.  Danny was blinded by the glitter rather then seeing beneath the veneer that Irving was a nut job besides being a great player and that combo never works out.  It is just a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

Tatum I believe is either not ready to be a leader like Bird, Pierce or KG, or he really does not want to assume that leadership level.  Hey I can accept that, so people like to operate as #2 verses assuming the pressure of #1.  

112288

. Cousy is spot on. Secure that piece and all of this goes away. Sure. Easier said than done but thats what good FO folks do. Find a way.
As for Danny, No one with an ounce of competitive edge voluntarily leaves a job unfinished and we know what kind of competitor Ainge was/is. This is part of his legacy as well.

He’s right, all we need is Chris Paul and we’ll get no 18 this year.

As I mentioned in the Knicks post game thread, and with all due respect to the opinion expressed by Cooz, it’s going to take more than a PG. Even with improvement at PG, we’re still short a big and 3 - 4 quality bench players for the rotation. Those bench players need to include at least one decent shooter.

An experienced PG is a good first step, but I don’t think it gets us much farther than playing Smart there, without the other pieces I mentioned.

This roster is nowhere close to contending beyond a possible first round playoff birth, and the coach is at the beginning of his learning curve. This is going to take a few seasons yet, so I believe it’s time to take a longer term view, and enjoy watching players like Tatum, Brown, Smart, and RWIII build their game.

112288 wrote:Cousy is right by starting with getting  a true point guard who is the true quarterback of the team and the team leader.  Please Brad no head cases, no undersized players!  He has to be a smart smart smart player who understands when to pass and when to shoot at that moment in the game.  He has to know how to break down a defense with the assets (platers) he has, and to execute that plan.

Second, we have some soft players, many who show no passion regardless of how high the temperature has risen in a game.  IT I have to admire. He brought a whole lot of energy and swagger to the team and was the true leader.

If you want to know where and when the turn started and the direction downward the Celtics took, look to when IT got traded.   Danny was too cute in trying to fleece another GM by getting Irving.  Danny was blinded by the glitter rather then seeing beneath the veneer that Irving was a nut job besides being a great player and that combo never works out.  It is just a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

Tatum I believe is either not ready to be a leader like Bird, Pierce or KG, or he really does not want to assume that leadership level.  Hey I can accept that, so people like to operate as #2 verses assuming the pressure of #1.  

112288

I totally agree with your take on the IT/Irving trade. Kyrie's game is aesthetically pleasing, but fancy dribbling through a sea of taller players is not a realistic strategy for long term winning. IT worked with the Celtics - the year prior to the trade, IT had a better year by almost every metric. And we threw in that 1st round pick. While we made a couple of ecfs after the trade (one with Irving out to injury, another after Kemba replaced KI) I agree that trade set bad things in motion.

We should never have trade Jae Crowder. He is a tough player and can shoot! Another is Marcus Morris. He is a physical presence and can score. Management again was too cheap to sign great bench players.

112288

112288 wrote:Cousy is right by starting with getting  a true point guard who is the true quarterback of the team and the team leader.  Please Brad no head cases, no undersized players!  He has to be a smart smart smart player who understands when to pass and when to shoot at that moment in the game.  He has to know how to break down a defense with the assets (platers) he has, and to execute that plan.

Second, we have some soft players, many who show no passion regardless of how high the temperature has risen in a game.  IT I have to admire. He brought a whole lot of energy and swagger to the team and was the true leader.

If you want to know where and when the turn started and the direction downward the Celtics took, look to when IT got traded.   Danny was too cute in trying to fleece another GM by getting Irving.  Danny was blinded by the glitter rather then seeing beneath the veneer that Irving was a nut job besides being a great player and that combo never works out.  It is just a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

Tatum I believe is either not ready to be a leader like Bird, Pierce or KG, or he really does not want to assume that leadership level.  Hey I can accept that, so people like to operate as #2 verses assuming the pressure of #1.  

112288

I totally agree with your take on the IT/Irving trade. Kyrie's game is aesthetically pleasing, but fancy dribbling through a sea of taller players is not a realistic strategy for long term winning. IT worked with the Celtics - the year prior to the trade, IT had a better year by almost every metric. And we threw in that 1st round pick. While we made a couple of ecfs after the trade (one with Irving out to injury, another after Kemba replaced KI) I agree that trade set bad things in motion.

112288 wrote:We should never have trade Jae Crowder.  He is a tough player and can shoot!  Another is Marcus Morris.  He is a physical presence and can score.   Management again was too cheap to sign great bench players.

112288

GWill can do similar things that they both do, think his defense is better than Morris, hopefully we can keep him. Schroder, JRich and GWill is not a bad bench, hopefully PP Nesmith/Romeo can still get their games going.

Cowens

Morris is a POWER FORWARD! Get your positions on the court aligned. Williams III is a center. We are missing a true power forward that could play with Williams.

What made the 2007-2008 championship team so powerful on defense was the tandem of KG at power forward and Perk at center. KG played loose and took defensive chances knowing he had the last wall of defense with Perk.

Willams on the other hand has no power forward like KG to be that first line of defense. It is remarkable that he can still take on multiple task assignments.

112288

NYCelt is spot on.  It will take more than a PG.

But I would start with that need because of the impact on the offense.

112288 wrote:Cowens

Morris is a POWER FORWARD!   Get your positions on the court aligned.   Williams III is a center.   We are missing a true power forward that could play with Williams.

What made the 2007-2008 championship team so powerful on defense was the tandem of KG at power forward and Perk at center.   KG played loose and took defensive chances knowing he had the last wall of defense with Perk.

Willams on the other hand has no power forward like KG to be that first line of defense.  It is remarkable that he can still take on multiple task assignments.

112288

Morris is a lame PF and he sucked when he was here and I’m glad he’s gone. He is slow as a snail, can’t defend adequately or protect the rim, but has a decent jumper. A lot of top teams aren’t even using a PF, Warriors, Suns, Jazz and Heat all do not have a traditional PF.

And also, before he signed with Bucks last year, I was pining for Bobby Portis, who can also play 5. He’s a poor mans version of KG, plays with an edge and can hit the 3. If we had him with RWill, we would be set at 4-5 for the next 10 years.

I was calling for a true PG/floor general early on. Schroder is a shoot first one year rental and Smart's best use is not PG. But I have to say that lately I might be inclined to compromise. For one thing, high quality PGs who are not already very high priced are like hen's teeth. But if Marcus continues his recent habit of playing like Marcus and not trying to be Chris Paul or Harden, and the two Js continue to show some signs of passing before they turn it over, and with RWIII passing the way he is capable of, maybe we don't need a great PG. But if Schroder is leaving (and I have yet to see any reasonable scenario in which he doesn't, sooner or later), regardless of future plans for Pritchard, we will need another PG. If not this year then before next year. IT is available--again--but we have an open slot and I don't see any move to bring IT in. Maybe we have our sights set on bigger game. But it would seem we would need to dump more than just Schroder to have the money. But if we're dumping two or three players to free up the cap dollars (TPEs allow trades but they don't save money) why do we need the open slot? Oh well, time will tell.

cowens/oldschool wrote:

112288 wrote:We should never have trade Jae Crowder.  He is a tough player and can shoot!  Another is Marcus Morris.  He is a physical presence and can score.   Management again was too cheap to sign great bench players.

112288

GWill can do similar things that they both do, think his defense is better than Morris, hopefully we can keep him.  Schroder, JRich and GWill is not a bad bench, hopefully PP Nesmith/Romeo can still get their games going.

Cow

Gwill is not on the same level as either Morris or J Crowder. But if that is all we have for BU power forward depth then you have no other options.