This might be the first Celtics column of the year where I didn’t spend a bunch of time perusing stats or “analytics” to support my thesis. I don’t really need a bunch of stats to relay my frustration.
The Boston Celtics remind me of the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors.
You know, the back-to-back-to-back Western Conference champions and a team that was a Draymond Green suspension away from three straight NBA titles.
The Warriors coasted on their accomplishments heading into the playoffs of year No. 4 of their dynasty. The Boston Celtics? Boy, do they have some nerve to be acting the same way.
The loss to the OKC Thunder last week is the worst loss by a Boston team since I moved here in January 2019. The Thunder are a glorified G-League team with maybe 2-3 players from that game that would make the Celtics roster.
"We've got to play with more of a sense of urgency," Jaylen Brown said after the loss. "Tonight I feel like we didn't have the sense of urgency that we needed across the board. A team that has some young, talented players came ready to play. And we got beat."
Maybe Danny Ainge is at fault here with his endless references to Boston’s amount of regular season wins. Or nonsense like this: “We have a lot of guys that have been to the conference final three times. I think sometimes you don’t realize how hard winning is every night.”
And you wonder why we see a lack of urgency often with this team. If there is no fear of losing your job and being held accountable or respect for your opponent, you play inconsistently and in a maddening fashion.
"We've got to come and have some pride and play with some urgency," Brown continued last week after OKC’s upset victory in Boston. "I didn't think tonight we played with urgency, especially after a tough game against Charlotte two days where we got our ass kicked, everybody should've came ready to play with more urgency and we didn't for whatever reason."
The 2020-21 Celtics remind me of a selfish team that expects to be playing its best basketball come playoff time. Teams often reflect its leadership. In college basketball, it's almost always a reflection of the head coach. In the NBA, it’s more of a hybrid with players leading the way followed by the coach.
This team is led by… who? Jayson Tatum and Brad Stevens. Too passive. Good luck grilling your team when it needs it. That’s not in Tatum or Stevens’ makeup.
Kemba Walker? He’s been a cheerleader in 40% of the games this season.
Marcus Smart? The Celtics' longest tenured player feels like he’s worn out his welcome in the eyes of some in Boston.
Speaking of Smart, how the hell does he allow himself to get suspended for “threatening language” toward an official before AND after the embarrassing loss to the OKC Thunder?
Because Smart, like many other players on this roster, is selfish.
I’m probably going to killed for that one. The heart and soul of the team is selfish? Yep. I already knew that based on his unwillingness to change his shot selection over the years and it only has gotten worse.
Threatening language before AND after the game is not an example of the NBA officials becoming soft like I had witnessed Celtics fans claiming on social media. You guys will make an excuse for everything regarding this team. It’s pathetic.
This team needs its “heart and soul” for every possible game, especially after missing 21 games earlier this season. Smart got so caught up with what he perceived to be one-sided officiating either against him or his team that he needed to threaten an NBA official multiple times.
Don’t send me headlines of Kobe or Kevin Garnett getting suspended for similar reasons. You get a leash just for being those guys. Marcus Smart is the longest tenured Celtic and that type of garbage can’t be tolerated.
Jayson Tatum is coming off an incredible week where he scored 42 points per game en route to being named the Eastern Conference player of the week. Great! Boston needed an all-time individual offensive performance just to come back from 32 points down to beat the Spurs.
This season, Tatum and Jaylen Brown have improved their assist percentage -- an estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while he was on the floor -- from 2019-20 to 2020-21. It’s still not nearly good enough for two players with the ball in their hands a ton.
But here is something concerning that I came across…
Usage rate is defined as “an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor.” To explain it like you are five, that means Tatum would get credit toward “usage” if he has a shot attempt, free throw attempt or a turnover on a given possession.
There are 49 players with a usage rate of 25% or more. Tatum is 16th with a rate of 29.8% while Jaylen Brown is 22nd at 29.0.
Of those 49 players, Tatum is 30th in assist percentage while Brown is 38th. More than half of the players below Brown are big men like Andre Drummond, Kristaps Porzingis and Anthony Davis.
Tatum and Brown are far too talented on offense as scorers to be impacting the game so little as passers. If Tatum and Brown are going to continue to have similar usage rates, they need to either A) increase their efficiency or B) create more assist opportunities for teammates.
If the 2020-21 Boston Celtics are going to make any noise in the playoffs, they need to pull their head out of their butts ASAP. I’ve been betting on that happening all season long due to the talent on paper. I’m no longer expecting them to “get this right.”
There could be some major changes in Boston this summer if they don’t. Let’s hope for a miracle.