Why Grant Williams Felt Celtics Lost Defensive Connectivity Last Season

The Celtics dealt Grant Williams to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for multiple second-round picks, and he took some time to reflect on his former team’s chemistry on defense.

Williams noted how the differences between the coaching styles of former Celtics coach Ime Udoka and current coach and “friend” Joe Mazzulla were felt on the defensive end of the floor.

“In terms of the connectivity on the court defensively, it’s something that’s a matter of emphasis,” Williams told JJ Redick and Tommy Alter on “The Old Man & The Three” podcast. “Coaches have their preferences on which side of the ball they want to coach.

“So I think for Ime, he understood the importance of the defensive end and understanding that if a team scores, 80 points, 90 points, no matter how many points we score, we give ourselves a really, really good chance of winning. While I think that Joe has a little bit more offensive, like, ‘If we make 20 threes in the game, we’re gonna win each game because we’ll have enough of points because we’re going to have twos and fouls of things to add up.'”

Williams mentioned that defense wasn’t a “priority” or “emphasis” under Mazzulla like it had been under Udoka. Williams made it clear that he wasn’t blaming Mazzulla, once again mentioning that different coaches tend to favor different sides of the court.

“That’s why I think this past year’s team had a little bit less connectivity on the defensive side of the ball because it wasn’t necessarily the priority or emphasis while the year prior it had been,” the former Celtic continued. “That’s not a knock or anything like that.

“I just think that different coaches in the league have different philosophies and different ideals, so I think that’s part of the reason why the difference between Ime and Joe in terms of teams.”