The Celtics can be called a lot of things this season, but comfortable isn’t one of them. Everyone on the roster, and on the coaching staff, is being asked to do something they're not used to. And Joe Mazzulla is here for it.
“We should be out of our comfort zone,” he said at the team’s Tuesday practice. “A new group playing a different way on both ends of the floor with a completely different roster, and then you’ve got a group of guys that are, in my opinion, doing a great job of it. They’re learning how to be consistently good in the NBA every single night.”
That's not a lesson that has set in quite yet. Consistency has eluded the Celtics so far, but that shouldn’t be that surprising. Sunday’s game was just their 17th, which means about 80% of the schedule is still in front of them. Figuring out how to be consistently good in the NBA means facing a lot of NBA teams.
“You can’t do that in training camp, you can’t do that in practice. It just comes with time,” Mazzulla said. “So it’s good that we feel that way right now, but there’s been signs of growth, signs of getting better, and there’s been signs of inconsistency at all levels. We just have to continue to fight for that and continue to execute that.”
The inconsistency is not only happening from game-to-game, but quarter-to-quarter. The Celtics have allowed five 40-point quarters so far this season, but have held opponents to less than 20 seven times. In three games, this has happened in consecutive quarters.
Inconsistent lineups with new roles have played into some of that. Mazzulla has had to mix-and-match to try to find groups that work together, leading to eight different players starting so far for the Celtics. Eleven have played in at least 13 games while averaging double-digit minutes. Luka Garza went from seven games of at least 13 minutes of playing time to a DNP against Orlando on Sunday.
“We just took advantage of the depth that we have and matched what we thought was the personnel to Orlando and how the game was going,” Mazzulla said. “And everyone's got to be ready to do that. So every game will call for something different based on our lineups, their lineups, and the games. … It's hard to execute, but it's necessary.”
It’s also necessary for guys like Derrick White to evolve in this new environment. His percentage of off-the-dribble jumpers has increased by nearly 20% according to Synergy Sports. His number of contested layups are way up, leading to an 18% drop in field goal percentage at the rim.
“I think I have the ball more, so that makes sense,” White said. “Just a different team, obviously, compared to last year. Just go out there, try to create, help us win games. That's all."
He’s also getting about two more low-quality shots, and one more medium-quality shot per game, according to Synergy (Synergy Shot Quality determines the expected points per shot, based on shot type, shot distance, and other factors). He’s shooting worse all over the floor.
“I just gotta play better,” White said. “All aspects, I gotta be better."
There isn’t a single player playing within a typical comfort zone. Every starter is doing something meaningfully different than last season. The bench is full of guys who are either getting significant minutes after not playing last season, or coming off the bench after life as a starter.
Sam Hauser might be the only guy in a mostly-familiar role. But even he has been asked to defend more than ever.
“Every night, he's targeted, and he's up for the challenge,” White said. “We got a lot of confidence in him and he can do a lot of different things."
Everyone has to do a lot of different things, and no one is truly comfortable in these new roles just yet. That means wins can turn into losses and losses can be flipped into wins, but for Mazzulla, the end result isn’t the most important thing right now.
“Everything comes to the process,” he said. “If we put ourselves in position to win the game, a win or a loss shouldn’t dictate your perspective on whether you executed those things.
“After last game, we gave up 10 more shots. Regardless of the result, that doesn’t help the process of winning. And so the last two games, losing the shot margin because of things that, when we’re at our best, we’re able to do those, we’re 1-1, and they happened in both. So to me, it’s more about, are we doing the things that we need to execute? Are we sticking to the process of winning? And how do we go about being as consistent as we can in those things?”
