The Celtics are taking the day off from practice after a few days of training camp (though they still get into the weight room and on the floor for light shooting), which gives us a little bit of time to digest what we’ve been told over the week.
I’ll start with this: Covering the team is better than it was last year. The media is back to being there in person, though access is still more limited than it was before the pandemic. The media doesn’t have access to the practice floor, so instead of being able to stand at the baseline and chat with coaches, staff, and players as they wander by, we have to watch from a media section upstairs. While that’s not ideal, we are still getting one-on-one opportunities, so we’re starting to get back to normal, which I like.
All of us want to tell you good stories and be as accurate as possible when we share our opinions. When I come to a conclusion, I’m trying to consider all the information available to me, whether it’s from an interview, an anecdote, or just observations from being around the team. The more information we all get, the more informed our observations can be, so I’m excited to start this season in the arena and practice facility rather than at my desk on Zoom.
With all that said, here are a few observations from this week.
IS IME UDOKA TRYING TO PROVE A POINT ABOUT AL HORFORD?
The new Celtics coach has been most glowing about Al Horford this week. Maybe he didn’t expect Horford to come in and look as good as he has right away, which is leading to a bit of gushing, but it’s obvious Udoka has big plans for Horford.
Part of that is because he probably feels like it can lead to good things for Boston. Having Horford on the floor, especially in a lineup with Robert Williams, could force opposing defenses to make a choice: put length on Jayson Tatum and dare Horford to attack a mismatch on offense, or go big to defend Horford and let Tatum or Jaylen Brown try cooking against smaller wings.
It’s something that didn’t work in Philadelphia, but Udoka has said on a few different occasions now that he thought it could have.
“A lot of teams put their big players on Ben (Simmons), and then obviously save one for Joel (Embiid). So a lot of times they had 2-guards and small forwards on Al a lot,” he said. “I felt we could’ve taken advantage of those, not only putting him in positions, but also getting his mentality right to attack those mismatches.”
Now that he’s in Boston, he has a chance to prove himself right. I don’t know how deep those conversations about Horford got with Brett Brown, but Udoka has a real “I told you so” opportunity brewing.
If he starts Horford and Robert Williams in the frontcourt along with Tatum, Brown, and Marcus Smart, the Celtics can loosely recreate the Horford-in-Philly scenario. If the Celtics can get Horford the same mismatches and capitalize on them, it would send a message to the Sixers that they blew an opportunity to make the Horford signing work.
Honestly, it would be some grade-A trolling of the Sixers if Horford can flourish in a two-big situation with Robert Williams, who can’t even space the floor like Embiid can. If Horford can operate in that space with Williams, then you can bet on Sixers fans and writers revisiting the mess of the year Horford had there and reassign the blame for how it went down.
I got into it a lot more on the Locked On Celtics podcast. You can watch the segment here:
SO FAR, SO GOOD ON THE “ROLES” FRONT ... BUT WILL IT LAST?
Everyone is so happy in the first few days of camp. Everyone is running hard, playing fast, hitting the weights hard, executing the plan, and willing to play whatever role necessary to win a game.
“I see myself being versatile with this group,” Josh Richardson said of his role here in Boston. “I think I see eight or nine guys that can really play two, three good positions. As long as I'm playing, I'm fine. I know everybody wants to play. Roles will be defined eventually and we'll just have to go from there.”
It’s easy to say that in the first week of camp before a game has been played. If things go well all season, then reserve players really can’t say much. If the plan is working, then they have to just roll with it.
The hard part is when the team is losing or maybe struggling at a position one of the reserves plays. That's when a player might have enough of the waiting and start itching to start and solve the issue.
Coaches don’t generally like to have hair triggers when a situation isn’t working. They want to see if a player can figure things out, because a benching can erode confidence and there’s a risk the team can lose that player for the year. Look at the Juancho Hernangomez situation in Minnesota or Richardson’s situation in both Philadelphia and Dallas. The Celtics certainly don’t want to have something similar happen to one of their guys, or even these same guys. That’s when they end up in another city saying things like ...
“Yeah, I think clean slates are always good, so just being able to come in here and do the right things every day has been good for me. But I’m just really trying to figure out the best way to help this team win games.”
That was Richardson on Thursday in Celtics practice gear. He and the rest of the C’s newbies are hoping this is the last time they have to say something like that.
HARD COACHING
Let’s start constructing the 2021-22 Boston Celtics drinking game. Take a drink every time you hear the following phrases:
- Pillars
- Play with pace
- Versatility
- Hard coaching
Yup, we get it. Jaylen and Jayson are the future, you want to play fast, and you want to throw different lineups at other teams.
The players are also ready to be “coached hard;” a little more direct talk from the head man, maybe a little less of the diplomatic mumbo jumbo and maybe a little more MF’ing around practice.
“I think ‘hard’ looks different for some coaches than other coaches,” Brown said at media day. “Getting coached hard from Brad (Stevens) is not really getting coached hard, that wasn’t his coaching style. It depends for sure, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Stevens wasn’t a shrinking violet, and the “aw shucks” demeanor he displayed with the media certainly wasn’t how he handled the team, but Udoka comes in with a little more of an edge to him with the team.
That stands to reason. He was a player at a high level and he gets what resonates with NBA players a little better than Stevens did.
“I'm a guy that is not going to sweep stuff under the rug. I'm going to be straightforward, blunt and direct with them,” Udoka said. “They've asked for that but it's just who I am in general. I can't come in and not be what I am. They know that about me already. With me coming in and me having worked with a lot of people before, they know I'm going to be honest with them, be upfront and it's a lot that's required of you that we are.”
Much like the acceptance of roles, the hard coaching isn’t going to be an issue now. If there’s any chance of it chafing a player, it’ll be in January or February when the league is in its doldrums, guys are nursing nagging injuries, and the coach is riding them for more than they want to give.
It’s just like a married couple sniping at each other when they’re exhausted after a long day. A simple “hey did you take out the trash?” can spark a deep sigh or exaggerated answer that leads to a fight.
It’s similar with “hard coaching.” Yeah, players say they want to be pushed and held accountable, but there will inevitably come a time where one of these guys starts thinking “will you get off my ass?” That’s just human nature. Just like those moments in a relationship where you might start wondering how your ex is doing, there will probably be a moment somewhere where one of these guys misses how Stevens used to handle things.
How that’s handled is when we’ll see how truly receptive players are to the hard coaching they’ve asked for.
By the way, feel free to add your own overused terms we’ll be inundated with this year. The list will certainly grow.