Brad Stevens just took a page out of the Bill Belichick handbook: the Boston Celtics are on to 2019-20.
Although the Celtics were a mess last season, with locker room chemistry issues going a long way toward derailing their NBA Finals aspirations, Stevens insisted Wednesday that Boston no longer is thinking about its dismal campaign. The C’s are focused on the future rather than the past, channeling their inner New England Patriots as they look to overcome their 2018-19 dysfunction and climb atop the Eastern Conference.
“It’s funny because I think, on the outside, because there’s not much to talk about for two months in the summer, that’s kind of been the consistent story,” Stevens, who’s entering his seventh season as Celtics head coach, told NBC Sports Boston while visiting Team USA training camp in Las Vegas. “On the inside, we moved on past it a long time ago. It’s been a great vibe in our building. We have a great group of workers.
“Jaylen (Brown) and Jayson (Tatum) are here, but they were in Boston last week working all the way up until this point. Obviously, we’ve had a ton of our young guys through. We turned that page a long time ago. That’s what you should do after a season. I think, whether you had success or it wasn’t as good as you want, you learn from it and move on.”
While Celtics players, coaches and executives refuse to blame Kyrie Irving for last season’s issues, it’s hard to argue against his leadership (or lack thereof) having an adverse effect on Boston’s young players and the team’s quest to meet its lofty expectations. Irving decided to join the Brooklyn Nets this offseason, though, and the Celtics replaced him with fellow All-Star point guard Kemba Walker, who already seems to be fitting in just fine while suiting up alongside Brown, Tatum and Marcus Smart at Team USA training camp.
Whether the roster shakeup will translate to improvement on the court is anyone’s guess at this point. The Celtics also lost Al Horford, one of their best all-around players and most trusted leaders, to the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency. But it’s fair to assume Boston’s chemistry will be better in 2019-20.
That’s a good place to start, all things considered.
