2018-2019 Quarterly Report

Guys and Gal,

At halftime of the NOP game tonight, we will officially be 1/4 of the way through the season. (That blew by a the speed of light for sure!!) This might be a good place to assimilate and summarize all the positives/negatives/proposed solutions to date on the Celtics 2018-19 Campaign from other threads/games, etc.

I'll take a couple of the easy ones to get the ball rolling...

1) Reverse Outside-In Basketball to the proven tried and true...Inside-Out Basketball.
2) Continue to have Hayward come off the bench in his rehab until he can be promoted to starting lineup.

On the positive side,

1) Kyrie is back in full form, creating off the dribble and scoring ridiculous points regularly
2) Hayward continues to improve, slowly but surely

In most cases, these have been discussed and detailed in other threads so no need to go too deep into the details to back up your statements unless it hasn't been noted to date elsewhere.

db

Some of what I have to say is redundant.

At 10-10 the Celtics are an average team.  

On offense, the Celtics have increased their volume of 3P FGA  from 30.4 per game to 35.8 which represents an 18% increase in attempts.  The Celtics have increased their FGA by 5 and they have increased their 3PFG attempts by 5.  (rounding up numbers)  Their 2PA, rebounds, assists, free throw have all remained  relatively the same.  The stat that pops out at you is 3PA and 3P accuracy.  Last year the Celtics shot 38% and this year they are shooting 34%.  That's a big drop off.

They say you cannot let your offense effect your defense but that is not really true.  If you are taking ill advised shots that miss your defense will find themselves on their heels.  A tremendous amount of pressure is put on the defense when you are not scoring the ball at the other end.  The defense is giving up more PPG than last year but that seems relative to the league emphasis on offense.  Despite the flaws Boston is still a top defensive team through 20 games.

The trend however is not favorable as Boston has surrendered 108.2 PPG over the past 5 contests.

The lack of chemistry has been identified as a source of their problems.  Brad Stevens has not figured out the best starting unit nor the rotations (who comes out who goes in)  We are still waiting for Gordon Hayward to play like a $30 million per year investment.  He has not played poorly as he is rebounding well and distributing the basketball and is 3rd on the team in steals.  His ability to put the ball in the basket from any of the three levels has been very poor.  He should be able to snap out of it but it is going to take time.  

In retrospect Brad probably should not have started him.

Al Horford is a player that we have come to appreciate.  He is not great at anything.  He has been good at a lot of things.  The intangibles.  But now it appears that his game is on he decline which is really a continued decline from a few year ago.  Al is not a true center and cannot be expected to matchup with bigger stronger and more physical centers.  Baynes is more physical but he is also challenged athletically and is limited on offense.  Neither Al or Aaron are effetive in defending the pick and roll and neither have the quickness and athleticism to be great help defenders when one of our guards or wings gets taken off the dribble.  

Jaylen Brown has been tasked with difficult defensive assignments all year.  Last year he shot the ball well from deep but this year he is horrible.  To his credit he is getting to the rim more and finishing.  The other night he did not take one 3 point shot but went 7-9 from the field.  He needs to do more of that.  I expect to see his shooting percentage increase.

Terry Rozier looks like a guy that has lost his focus.  His body language is not good.  He has seen a reduction in his minutes and he has also struggled offensively.  He is still rebounding well and has less then 1 turnover per game.  He needs to improve on his 44% AFG %

Morris has shot lights out all year.  Defensively he is not as good as you might think.  He deserves his share of starting assignment as he is our 3rd best offensive player.

Tatum is clearly our #2 guy.  After struggling early in the season he has settled in nicely while shooting 40% from deep and leading the teams in rebounds.  He needs to get better at scoring mid-range and on drives to the rim.  I do not like it when Brad takes him out halfway through the first QTR especially when he is shooting well.  I think Brad needs to play both Irving and Tatum the first 10 minutes of the QTR.

Baynes is not a reliable 3 point shooter.  If there is work to be done let him learn how to finish at the rim.

KI is KI.  He is our ultimate offensive weapon.  He has done a good job figuring out when to be a scorer or when to distribute as his 6.4 APG is a career high and he leads the team in steals also a career high.

Smart is who he is.  He continues to set the tone on defense.  His minutes are down quite a bit from last year.  He remains a poor shooter from deep but still takes too many each game.

The rest of the roster gets a few minutes here or there.  Theis and Semi get 10 MPG when they get a chance to play but there is no way to know when or if that will happen.

Our rookie Williams has not been given a chance to play.  We are not getting enough production out of Horford and Baynes. William may inject our frontcourt with some energy on defense.

Coach Stevens continues to search for the right combinations.  He needs to do a much better job with the offense.  He needs to make sure the top 3 or 4 guys are getting enough shots.  He needs to address the lack of athleticism in our frontcourt.  He needs to figure out how to play the high screens.  He needs to instill the need for a balanced offensive attack with less reliance on 3 point shooting.  He needs to be more mindful of his substitution patterns.  Let your top guys play 8-10 minutes to open the game.  

Fans need to give the teams more time.  The talent is there and the coaching is there.  This is a .500 team record wise but I feel that are mush much better.  

Don't give up on the team.