As Kyrie is noting more openly, Celtics still lack a full buy-in

https://www.bostonherald.com/2018/12/28/bulpett-as-kyrie-is-noting-more-openly-celtics-still-lack-a-full-buy-in/




Bulpett: As Kyrie is noting more openly, Celtics still lack a full buy-in




Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving, right, looks to pass as Houston Rockets guard James Harden defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)



By STEVE BULPETT | stephen.bulpett@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
PUBLISHED: December 28, 2018 at 3:48 pm | UPDATED: December 28, 2018 at 3:50 pm




MEMPHIS — The issue has followed the Celtics since the beginning of the season. At times, wins have masked the matter, yet through two and a half months and 34 games, it has remained — a thief of the club’s grand expectation.

It was thought prior to the season that Brad Stevens would have his most difficult task trying to find time for all those worthy of minutes. Now the trouble is getting those people to perform as needed.

As needed this season.

As needed in a season that is different from last year.

We’ve spoken here about the struggles of those who achieved some measure of acclaim last season when given additional opportunities with the injury absences of Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving. Now a few of those people are being asked to do less, and it’s looking like that’s a more difficult task for them.

Irving didn’t get personal after Thursday’s 127-113 loss in Houston, but it was impossible not to catch his pass.

“I just try to exude as much confidence just in whoever’s out there,” he said, setting up his play.

“I think the next step for us is just knowing that there are just other opportunities for you to be a basketball player other than having the ball in your hands. You don’t need the ball to just dribble, dribble and shoot a fadeaway every single time. You can cut backdoor. You can screen for a teammate. There are other things to help an offense flourish rather than just standing out on the perimeter.

“I think sometimes we get stagnant, even when I’m out there sometimes. So I’ll crash the offensive glass, or I’ll screen in, screen here, or fade, or I’ll play the dunker spot just so we have balance.”


Irving spoke about the Rockets and how the Celts could have had better success with more attention to detail and some plain old hard work.

“Some teams get very lazy on their (defensive) switches and we don’t take advantage of it,” he said. “Just not hard cuts, not hard screens. I keep harping [on the point], just those little things that matter of just going from a four-point game to a two-point game, a one-point game, and you’re physical on offense and defense and you’re able to dictate how you want the game to run and manage.”

As we quoted Irving in the Houston game story, “Yeah, we have the talent, but it’s not enough in this league, man. It’s not.”

The preseason hype for the Celtics was based on the returns of Irving and Hayward and the fact that young players who’d done well in getting the club to game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals would now be in support roles. That, on paper, would — and still should — make the Celts a deep and powerful outfit capable of keeping the hammer down all throughout the rotation. But too often players have broken away from the smooth ball movement game to see their own shot. And it hasn’t worked.

The opinion here is that the Celtics have just one player able to succeed in isolation on a truly consistent basis, one player you can ride for a quarter or longer — Kyrie Irving . One could easily make an argument that Marcus Morris is entering this territory with his versatile, hard-nosed game, and Gordon Hayward probably could be one of these guys, as well, but he is far more apt to find a teammate with a pass than zero in on himself. You may even want to introduce Jayson Tatum into this equation, but his team isn’t always happy that many of his isos end with a turnaround fallaway mid-range shot — a tough attempt to make and one that does not lead to many fouls and, thus, free throws.

Others can easily go off for big nights when the circumstances allow, and Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown have had big nights in big games. And when the offensive is clicking properly, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Al Horford and Marcus Smart pile up some numbers.

But the Celtics would starve on a steady diet of isolation basketball. We know this because people trying to take it on themselves to make a play in the playoffs against Milwaukee led to head-down drives and a bushel of blocks by the Bucks. The same thing — only with more rushed outside shots — led to a shouldn’t-have-happened loss to Cleveland in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a non-Cavalier NBA person who doesn’t believe that game was the Celtics’ to win — or to lose.

Most of the time, the C’s need others to help them score, and they shouldn’t be ashamed to admit it. When someone like Jaylen Brown drives in hard for a dunk, the crowd oohs at the athleticism, but chances are a screen allowed him to get the needed step on his man and an inside player (Horford, Baynes, Morris) sealed away the help defender which left the path clear.

“I think that a lot of our guys are capable,” Horford told the Herald, “but I do feel that when we play together and the ball is moving, that’s when we’re at our best. No question, that’s the way that we want to play. I think that you can play the one-on-one game, but I feel like we’re much better when we play the team game and we pick our spots when we’re going to do the one-on-one stuff.”

Added Marcus Smart, “Everybody is good at getting their own shot. It’s just the simple fact that we have so many guys that are good at that that it sometimes causes a problem, because we all can either go get or create for others, and guys don’t know where to be. They’re used to doing this, and when you’ve got another guy that can do it, as well, you don’t know where to go. But that just comes down to the whole point of just trusting one another and believing in everybody. We do. It’s just we’ve got certain guys that we didn’t have last year, and guys are still just trying to find their way.”

The Celtics still have time to find it. But if they don’t, they’ll be finding themselves with a longer summer vacation than planned.



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