Celtics lost their defense identity, and that was ultimate death of promising season

Celtics lost their defense identity, and that was ultimate death of promising season  


C’s relied too heavily on shot-making


By STEVE HEWITT | stephen.hewitt@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
May 30, 2023 at 6:26 p.m.



When the Celtics suspended Ime Udoka for the season and promoted Joe Mazzulla to become a first-time head coach, they did more than simply make a coaching change. They changed their identity.

The C’s were two wins away from a championship under Udoka behind the strength of their defense, but they came up short because they didn’t have enough offense. With Mazzulla in charge, the style shifted to an offensive-first approach.

Ultimately, the Celtics fell short of expectations because of that lost defensive identity. It’s what dug them in an 0-3 series deficit to the Heat that was too much to overcome even after they rediscovered their defense to reel off three consecutive wins and force an unthinkable Game 7.

“It was the issue,” Malcolm Brogdon said of their lost defensive identity. “I think this was a team in the last year that prided themselves on defense. I think defense was our calling card. This year offense was our calling card. I don’t think you win championships with a…better offense than you have a defense.”

Mazzulla’s offense was unstoppable to start the season as the unit performed at historic levels in October and November. The coach prioritized spacing and shooting 3-pointers, and it worked at the beginning. But when it reverted back to the mean, when nights came that their 3-point shots weren’t falling, the C’s couldn’t rely on anything else to win games.

Including the playoffs, the Celtics had a 52-9 record when they shot 35 percent or better from 3-point range this season. When they shot below that mark, they were 16-25.

Asked if his team was too reliant on 3-point shooting, Mazzulla was defiant.

“No,” the coach said, flatly.

But on poor shooting nights, the Celtics’ defense often wasn’t there like it was a year ago. Robert Williams’ absence for the first 29 games of the season loomed large, and while the Celtics still had a top-five defense in the regular season, it was ultimately too inconsistent.

Their 3-point shooting doomed them in the most important games of the season. The Celtics shot 20 percent from deep – their worst mark of the season – in Game 6 against the Heat and barely survived thanks to Derrick White’s miraculous buzzer-beating tip-in. They followed that up with a 21.4 percent effort – their second-worst mark of the year – in Game 7 as they missed their first 12 attempts from three, and it haunted them. It put too much pressure on their defense as they dug a hole they couldn’t climb out of to end their season.

“Defensively, I thought we had the versatility, I thought we have the talent defensively,” Brogdon said. “But on any given night we would let go of the rope and have a lot of breakdowns on that end.”

Now, as they head to the offseason full of questions, how they fix those inconsistencies and flaws will be among the biggest.

“That’s definitely a Joe question,” Brogdon said. “But for us I think we can be better. I think we can – I think defensively is where the difference is for us more than anything, whether or not you make shots.

“(Game 7) was a game, whether or not we made shots, if we got stops, we could stay in that game. That’s not a team that’s going to score 120 points. It’s not a team that’s going to get out in transition and beat you that way. They’re going to slow the game down and play in the half court. So, if we can get stops, that’s a game we can stay in, even if we’re not making shots. But the fact of the matter is we didn’t get stops. That ultimately was the death of us.”


Bob
MY NOTE:  Contrary to expectations I am not going to use this article as a launching pad against Joe Mazzulla, but what he's written makes sense to me, as does what Malcolm Brogdon said.  Here's the numbers:

In the 7 games of this series the Heat shot 54.1%, 45.7%, 56.8%, 43.6%, 51.3%, 35.5% and 48.8% in Games 1-7.  If you  pull back a bit and look at the series as a whole they averaged 48.2% over 7 games.  Their regular season fg% was 46% and our regular season average fg% given up was 46.3%.  In other words the Miami Heat offense was not only more efficent compared to their own record they were better than what we had shown we were capable of all year.

It gets even worse when you look at the numbers from 3.  

They shot 51.6%, 34.6%, 54.3%, 25%, 43.6%, 39%, 46.7% and 50% from 3 over 7 games.  As a series they shot 43.4% from 3.  Their season average was 34.4% from 3, good for 27th in the league.

Was our offense weak in this series?  Yep, noooo doubt about it, but our defense was just as bad.  We had the 4th best defense during the season and that just disappeared.  Why?


.

Lack of effort and focus on D. Improper mindset.

I blame management for suspending and then firing Ime. They threw away a chance for banner 18 right there. Does anyone think if we had Udoka or Spoelstra as a coach that the season would have ended this way?
Too many bone-headed plays by players and coach. I really feel sorry for Horford. This might have been his last chance for a ring.

Berlin-T

Berlin, we see eye to eye on all this. 100%.

Berlin-T wrote:I blame management for suspending and then firing Ime. They threw away a chance for banner 18 right there. Does anyone think if we had Udoka or Spoelstra as a coach that the season would have ended this way?
Too many bone-headed plays by players and coach. I really feel sorry for Horford. This might have been his last chance for a ring.

Berlin-T

They had to fire Ime. He had an affair with a staff person and that is against written company policy. I heard it was with the wife of a higher up, but thats not confirmed. Regardless, there was no choice even though it obviously screwed up the season.

Berlin-T wrote:I blame management for suspending and then firing Ime. They threw away a chance for banner 18 right there. Does anyone think if we had Udoka or Spoelstra as a coach that the season would have ended this way?
Too many bone-headed plays by players and coach. I really feel sorry for Horford. This might have been his last chance for a ring.

Berlin-T

From a coaching standpoint, yeah, there's no way the C's lose this series to the Heat with Ime.

And it does seem like the firing was more for the optics than anything else. It spares management the cloud of scandal as well as the necessity of having to answer ongoing questions.


KJ

Pumpsie Green wrote:

Berlin-T wrote:I blame management for suspending and then firing Ime. They threw away a chance for banner 18 right there. Does anyone think if we had Udoka or Spoelstra as a coach that the season would have ended this way?
Too many bone-headed plays by players and coach. I really feel sorry for Horford. This might have been his last chance for a ring.

Berlin-T

They had to fire Ime. He had an affair with a staff person and that is against written company policy. I heard it was with the wife of a higher up, but thats not confirmed. Regardless, there was no choice even though it obviously screwed up the season.

Absolutely true. No choice in the matter.

Not aimed at you, Pumpsie, but anyone who makes the comment the season would have been better with Ime at the helm; How do you know that?

Please tell me what magic vision you possess that you can accurately make that statement and I will listen. Could have been worse, better or the same. Right?

I am writing my opinion based upon intuition and not data crunching.  So, it is possible that I may be way off.

1) Youthful leaders: JB and JT. I remember that when I was much younger, the world was a mysterious place. If you watch their talk and progression, it is dominated by self improvement. Body, strength, skills and such.  They have not reached a point where they have the experience, belief and intuition to grasp and navigate the subtleties of the game.

2) Unattained personal goals. “I want to be a top 10 player in the league.”  “I want to be a bonafide all-star.”  “I want to be a legit MVP candidate.”

3) Youthful coaching staff. Again, a dogged focus on system and strategy, etc. “We will smash our way through the game with our philosophy.”

Essentially, our players and coaching staff seem to be way too focused inwards. That is one way to win games.

Another way, perhaps easier if feasible, is to understand the weakness in the other team and devise an adjusted plan, offensive and defensive. That will require adaptability and that goods and glory are more distributed.  Miami plays that way.  I have used the term “game prep” for that.

There were games this season that just drove me mad, games where we just could not connect with the needed defensive plan and got blown out. Chicago did that. Nets did that. We lost at Houston.

Our problem is not philosophy. Our problem is game prep.  I am finding all philosophy based analysis to be simplistic and noisy.

Pumpsie Green wrote:

Berlin-T wrote:I blame management for suspending and then firing Ime. They threw away a chance for banner 18 right there. Does anyone think if we had Udoka or Spoelstra as a coach that the season would have ended this way?
Too many bone-headed plays by players and coach. I really feel sorry for Horford. This might have been his last chance for a ring.

Berlin-T

They had to fire Ime. He had an affair with a staff person and that is against written company policy. I heard it was with the wife of a higher up, but thats not confirmed. Regardless, there was no choice even though it obviously screwed up the season.

They didn't have to, they chose to. Again my favorite German saying;"Legal, illegal, scheiss egal".

Berlin-T

prakash wrote:I am writing my opinion based upon intuition and not data crunching.  So, it is possible that I may be way off.

1) Youthful leaders: JB and JT. I remember that when I was much younger, the world was a mysterious place. If you watch their talk and progression, it is dominated by self improvement. Body, strength, skills and such.  They have not reached a point where they have the experience, belief and intuition to grasp and navigate the subtleties of the game.

2) Unattained personal goals. “I want to be a top 10 player in the league.”  “I want to be a bonafide all-star.”  “I want to be a legit MVP candidate.”

3) Youthful coaching staff. Again, a dogged focus on system and strategy, etc. “We will smash our way through the game with our philosophy.”

Essentially, our players and coaching staff seem to be way too focused inwards. That is one way to win games.

Another way, perhaps easier if feasible, is to understand the weakness in the other team and devise an adjusted plan, offensive and defensive. That will require adaptability and that goods and glory are more distributed.  Miami plays that way.  I have used the term “game prep” for that.

There were games this season that just drove me mad, games where we just could not connect with the needed defensive plan and got blown out. Chicago did that. Nets did that. We lost at Houston.

Our problem is not philosophy. Our problem is game prep.  I am finding all philosophy based analysis to be simplistic and noisy.

Interesting take on things.

Refreshing to see someone come at it from a unique angle.

People can agree or disagree, but I don't see anything but positives in having an original angle to add to what will be a long offseason discussion. Well done.

NYCelt wrote:

Pumpsie Green wrote:

Berlin-T wrote:I blame management for suspending and then firing Ime. They threw away a chance for banner 18 right there. Does anyone think if we had Udoka or Spoelstra as a coach that the season would have ended this way?
Too many bone-headed plays by players and coach. I really feel sorry for Horford. This might have been his last chance for a ring.

Berlin-T

They had to fire Ime. He had an affair with a staff person and that is against written company policy. I heard it was with the wife of a higher up, but thats not confirmed. Regardless, there was no choice even though it obviously screwed up the season.

Absolutely true. No choice in the matter.

Not aimed at you, Pumpsie, but anyone who makes the comment the season would have been better with Ime at the helm; How do you know that?

Please tell me what magic vision you possess that you can accurately make that statement and I will listen. Could have been worse, better or the same. Right?

How do we know that they HAD to fire Ime?
We still don’t know all of the details.. Only what they allowed out.
The launching pad out the door is not always the solution. Ive learned that firing should always be the last resort. No alternative. Unfortunately we are in the dark as to whether there were other alternatives.

Ktron wrote:

NYCelt wrote:

Pumpsie Green wrote:

Berlin-T wrote:I blame management for suspending and then firing Ime. They threw away a chance for banner 18 right there. Does anyone think if we had Udoka or Spoelstra as a coach that the season would have ended this way?
Too many bone-headed plays by players and coach. I really feel sorry for Horford. This might have been his last chance for a ring.

Berlin-T

They had to fire Ime. He had an affair with a staff person and that is against written company policy. I heard it was with the wife of a higher up, but thats not confirmed. Regardless, there was no choice even though it obviously screwed up the season.

Absolutely true. No choice in the matter.

Not aimed at you, Pumpsie, but anyone who makes the comment the season would have been better with Ime at the helm; How do you know that?

Please tell me what magic vision you possess that you can accurately make that statement and I will listen. Could have been worse, better or the same. Right?

How do we know that they HAD to fire Ime?
We still don’t know all of the details.. Only what they allowed out.
The launching pad out the door is not always the solution. Ive learned that firing should always be the last resort. No alternative. Unfortunately we are in the dark as to whether there were other alternatives.

Ktron,

I'm going by the statements the team released when they suspended him last year. They said it was in his contract, and as I recall all of the team's administrative deals, that relationships among employees that could be considered subordinate were not allowed. Yeah, stuff happens. Yeah, I'm a guy too, and I know we can sometimes think with something other than our brain. But the fact is, if it was in his contract, and they don't terminate him, they now have a big issue around favoritism. I think that in the strictest sense, could they have left him suspended for a year and brought him back? Possibly yes; I get your question and point there. In this case, however, I'll agree with Pumpsie's take that they had to fire him. First, because it was a contractual violation, and second because of the possible problems they would open themselves up to otherwise.

NYCelt wrote:

Ktron wrote:

NYCelt wrote:

Pumpsie Green wrote:

Berlin-T wrote:I blame management for suspending and then firing Ime. They threw away a chance for banner 18 right there. Does anyone think if we had Udoka or Spoelstra as a coach that the season would have ended this way?
Too many bone-headed plays by players and coach. I really feel sorry for Horford. This might have been his last chance for a ring.

Berlin-T

They had to fire Ime. He had an affair with a staff person and that is against written company policy. I heard it was with the wife of a higher up, but thats not confirmed. Regardless, there was no choice even though it obviously screwed up the season.

Absolutely true. No choice in the matter.

Not aimed at you, Pumpsie, but anyone who makes the comment the season would have been better with Ime at the helm; How do you know that?

Please tell me what magic vision you possess that you can accurately make that statement and I will listen. Could have been worse, better or the same. Right?

How do we know that they HAD to fire Ime?
We still don’t know all of the details.. Only what they allowed out.
The launching pad out the door is not always the solution. Ive learned that firing should always be the last resort. No alternative. Unfortunately we are in the dark as to whether there were other alternatives.

 

Ktron,

I'm going by the statements the team released when they suspended him last year. They said it was in his contract, and as I recall all of the team's administrative deals, that relationships among employees that could be considered subordinate were not allowed. Yeah, stuff happens. Yeah, I'm a guy too, and I know we can sometimes think with something other than our brain. But the fact is, if it was in his contract, and they don't terminate him, they now have a big issue around favoritism. I think that in the strictest sense, could they have left him suspended for a year and brought him back? Possibly yes; I get your question and point there. In this case, however, I'll agree with Pumpsie's take that they had to fire him. First, because it was a contractual violation, and second because of the possible problems they would open themselves up to otherwise.

Understood. I wish him much success. This thing could have turned out worse.