5 Celtics takeaways through 5 games of 2020-21 NBA season

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5 Celtics takeaways through 5 games of 2020-21 NBA season



We still don’t have a big enough sample size to make firm declarations about the 2020-21 Boston Celtics but here’s five lingering thoughts on players not named Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown through five games.



BY CHRIS FORSBERG
20H AGO



The time is right for Robert Williams


Done wasting time: Robert Williams needs to put in the effort for Celtics

He hasn’t been perfect and there are still instances where we scream at the TV whenever Robert Williams gets caught out of position on defense. But there’s been far more good than bad through Williams' 68 minutes of floor time.

In fact, Williams leads the team in net rating (plus-19.9 points per 100 possessions) through the first five games. He’s content to run the floor and throw down lobs while shooting a ridiculous 88.2 percent. When Williams plays with energy and lets his natural talents take over, he’s been excellent. His passing skills can really help this team. Part of the reason the Celtics have been able to experiment with two-big lineups at the start of the games is because Williams has been excellent in backup minutes.

There’s still progress to be made. He needs to play with energy for his entire stint on the floor and not downshift whenever he has a defensive lapse. If he stays healthy, Williams is going to be a key rotation presence for this team deep into the season — and beyond.

One more thing on Timelord: In the 21 minutes he’s shared the floor with Tatum and Brown, the Celtics have an absurd net rating of plus-67.8. In the 87 minutes that Tatum and Brown have been on the court without Williams, that net rating drops to minus-11.3 over 87 minutes.


All aboard the FastPP hype train

The many nicknames of Payton Pritchard

The Payton Pritchard hype train has reached a dangerously high velocity but here’s why we’re convinced his fast start isn’t any sort of mirage: Pritchard plays with a poise not often seen in rookies.

He confidently probes in the pick and roll and does an excellent job creating space to get his shot off. He doesn’t pick up his dribble when attacking the basket which prevents him from getting swallowed up by bigs. Pritchard operates with the confidence of someone who has played in big games throughout his basketball career and isn’t overwhelmed by the NBA stage.

It’s still wild that he’s fourth on the team in minutes, trailing only the core of Tatum, Brown, and Marcus Smart. We’d suspect that number will come down a bit once Kemba Walker is healthy. But Pritchard is making the most of his early opportunity and there’s no reason to believe he can’t make good things happen whenever he’s called upon.


Throw him the keys & let him drive


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One more thing on Pritchard: He’s currently fourth on the team in drives per game at 7.8.

More remarkable: He’s shooting 72.7 percent in shots off drives, according to the NBA’s tracking data. Again, incredibly small sample but he’s made 8 of 11 field goal attempts off 39 drives and generated six assists as well. That’s 18 total points off drives, the third highest total on the team behind only Brown (36) and Tatum (31).

The kid can really make things happen when he turns on the jets and attacks the hoop.



Nesmith Needs Time


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Rookie Aaron Nesmith got his first extended run while playing 20 minutes in Wednesday’s lopsided win over the shorthanded Grizzlies. Predictably, he looked a little too amped at times.

He missed four of the five 3-pointers he put up but he had some very good looks, especially while Boston’s starters were still on the floor. That little shuffle-step pull-up 3-pointer he hit midway through the fourth quarter looked smooth and moments like that should help him settle in a bit.

Game reps are going to extremely valuable as Nesmith adjusts to the NBA game.  Here’s here’s hoping he gets more opportunities to grow and play through mistakes. Nesmith has to make defense a priority and he’s clearly trying to bring energy on that side of the ball. Now it’s about staying in front of his opponent on defense and being in the right spots at that end of the floor.

As Brad Stevens noted before Wednesday's game, “[Nesmith is] doing everything that he needs to do. He’s working really hard. He’s a guy that does not have the same level of experience as others but will catch up quickly because of his work ethic, his personality, who he is and everything else. The biggest key for him is just stay upbeat. He’ll get plenty of opportunities as this season goes along and whether that happens tonight, whether that happens down the road, I have no doubt that he’ll be ready.”



Big lineup experiment


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Boston’s two-big starting lineup featuring both Tristan Thompson and Daniel Theis hasn’t been particularly good to start the year. In 43 total minutes, that group has a minus-17 net rating including a defensive rating of 121.3.

There’s too much defensive talent in that lineup for those numbers not to get better and it might reflect the strength of schedule more than anything else. And while it’s useful for Stevens to know just how much he can lean on two-big lineups, it seems likely that the team will lean heavier on the more familiar smallball, particularly once Walker is healthy.

It’s hard to make any decisions on how much smallball Boston should consider when the next most common lineup this season — a five-man unit featuring  Jeff Teague, Smart, Brown, Tatum, and Williams — has played a mere 11 minutes.

Stevens noted that, with the team currently heavy on healthy 5s, that it makes some sense to lean on two-big lineups. It helps ensure that both Rob and Grant Williams get ample floor time off the bench. But when Walker and Romeo Langford are healthy, it seems likely that we’ll see more one-big pairings and the Celtics will have to make some decisions on which bigs it wants to carry and lean heaviest on.

Having Thompson at full health and gauging his fit alongside Boston’s core will help Stevens determine the best lineups to accentuate his talent.


Bob


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