The Boston Celtics have come a long way since the beginning of last season.
Not only has Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens bolstered the supporting cast around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but Boston’s superstar tandem also has made tremendous strides, especially when it comes to dissecting opponents in-game and capitalizing on that knowledge.
The Athletic’s Jay King explained Boston’s offensive evolution in a piece published Wednesday, and one simple, yet important question head coach Joe Mazzulla asked Tatum and Brown near the beginning of this season speaks to how the Celtics now approach that end of the floor.
The question, per King: “What would an opponent walk through at shootaround on the day of a game against the Celtics?”
Mazzulla told King that Tatum and Brown “didn’t have an answer,” a reality that clearly served as a jumping-off point for what the Celtics soon would learn and develop while marching toward the NBA playoffs. There’s no denying the talent on Boston’s roster — with Tatum and Brown, of course, leading the charge — but there still was room for growth in terms of understanding the game.
Here’s more from King’s piece, which you can read here:
From there, the Celtics continued enhancing their awareness of what teams would want to take away from them. Once they understood what teams would prepare to stop against them, they needed to figure out their own counters to the strategies. Mazzulla wanted his players to see the game through the lens of “if-then” scenarios. If an opponent used one coverage, then the Celtics would handle it a certain way. If an opponent pivoted to a different plan, then the Celtics would adjust themselves. Mazzulla said he sees the game as a string of problems on both ends of the court.
“And you have to be ready to just solve problems,” said Mazzulla. “And those two guys are very open-minded to problem-solving. Once the game became if-then — if this, then that — I think that’s where they really grew.”
The Celtics already were one of the league’s best teams, advancing to the NBA Finals last season before losing to the Golden State Warriors in six games. And few, if any, can match their depth and collective ability. It’s a truly enviable roster that Mazzulla has at his disposal.
But experience and continued progress, including alleviating potential pain points, ultimately could determine whether this group raises Banner 18 or lets a golden opportunity slip away. The good news for Boston: Mazzulla and company are taking steps to avoid complacency.
