“I want to be a team that Boston can really get behind, that plays with a great edge, that plays with the grit and toughness that’s necessary to compete at the very, very high level.”
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Brad Stevens set his expectations for this year’s Boston Celtics during his media availability last week, essentially describing the team we all wished last year’s could be. Loss after frustrating loss, the Celtics could never muster the “edge,” “grit,” or “toughness” necessary to overcome the large obstacles in their way.
Steven has responded this year by moving upstairs and slowly dismantling every possible excuse players might have going into this season.
He started with himself, stepping away from coaching the team before the “tuning out” could begin. While so much from last season was out of his control, Stevens removed the excuse of coaching fatigue that certainly would have found its way into season previews heading into this one. There is no “hot seat” discussion, only whether they can come out hot for their new coach.
The pressure is now on the players to perform for Ime Udoka. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have been vocal in their advocacy for more opportunities for African American candidates. Udoka comes into town with as impressive a resume for an assistant as you can find, and his time as a former player, along with adding a new Black head coach to the NBA fraternity gives Boston and their two stars the chance to back him up.
This team needs to play as hard as it can to make sure their new coach can succeed.
The next excuse to be eliminated was Kemba Walker. No longer does this team have to figure out how to move Walker off the ball. Tatum and Brown get to eat first, and there’s no one on the team with a bigger salary and longer tenure to challenge that.
Gone, too, is the lineup flux that goes along with Walker’s knee management. There’s no more excuse that Walker has Marcus Smart shifting from point guard to shooting guard and back again. Smart is now the starting point guard for every game he’s available. Yes, there’s a lineup issue to solve in the preseason as the team tries to figure out a fifth starter, but the shifting of Walker in and out is over.
Smart doesn’t have the issue of money hanging over his head. Neither does Robert Williams. There will be no questions of them playing for contracts. There will be no barrage of “do you hope to come back” questions, or prodding from opposing media about how much either likes a certain city, or maybe the folks in Dallas or New Orleans begging for a homecoming of sorts. The excuse of financial distraction has been eliminated.
Stevens was even able to pull the “we don’t have much help” excuse off the table with the late signing of Dennis Schröder. Sure, there are still questions about Josh Richardson and whether he can return to his Miami form, but the expected steps forward from Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith are expected to take some of the pressure off him. Al Horford can have a calming effect on the second unit, and Boston could be looking at a solid nine-man rotation. Maybe 10 if Romeo Langford can show something.
There are no excuses for not giving their all now. They still won’t be true championship contenders, but they can certainly make the case for inclusion in the “puncher’s chance” category, especially if Tatum and Brown rise even higher. And Boston can deal with not having a contending team so long as they know the team they’re watching is giving it their absolute best.
Boston is a tough, demanding city. People who wake before sunrise to clear a foot of snow off their cars and then get home after sunset because it gets dark at 4:30 don’t want to hear excuses. The Celtics, to their credit, never tried to give any last season, but they won’t get a chance to this year.
That is, if they at least stay healthy.
Stevens has plucked the easy excuses off this team like the blood-sucking ticks they could be. The onus now is on the players to perform after getting most of what they want. They need to repay Steven in grit and toughness now.
“We’ll see how it all shakes out,” Stevens said. “I’ve just tried to keep my head down and do the role I’m in as well as I can. Certainly not perfectly. I don’t think this will be without its hiccups, But we’re focused on trying to be the best version of ourselves for Boston.”