Banner 18 Is Clearly Next Step For Celtics: ‘We All Feel That Way’

BRIGHTON, Mass. — The Celtics aren’t oblivious to what needs to be accomplished after an ongoing trend of underachieving has become the expected end result in recent seasons.

With hopes high entering the upcoming year, as they’ve been ever since Jayson Tatum first entered the NBA in 2018, there’s still the daunting memory of last season’s finish. Boston lost in seven games after falling in the first three to a No. 8-seeded Miami Heat team, getting embarrassed in front of its home crowd. No fight, no grit and no heart. Just a team willing to accept whatever fate comes its way with no pushback.

Therefore, the Celtics aren’t, nor should they, walk into a clean slate content with how last season ended.

“We should all feel like we gotta do a little bit more because we didn’t win, right?” Jayson Tatum said Monday during Celtics media day. “So, whatever we’ve done has been great, but it hasn’t been enough. So from myself on down the line, everybody has to sacrifice or be willing to do more, whether it’s going from eight rebounds to 11. We all gotta be willing to do more because we haven’t accomplished what we’re trying to do. I’m looking forward to doing more and so should everybody else.”

Tatum added: “It was at a 10 out of 10 last year; it’s at a 10 out of 10 this year. It’s what we’re trying to do and we all feel that way.”

For the past few years, the Celtics have only been able to lean to the growth of Tatum and Jaylen Brown. That’s it. Both went from going head-to-head with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers when their tandem was birthed, to then hiding under the covers when Jimmy Butler and Miami strolled into town. There’s nothing to be proud of there. All-Star appearances and All-NBA nods don’t hang banners or help repair Boston’s winning tradition.

It’s up to the Celtics to prove themselves as something more than a team that’s all bark and no bite. And with redemption in place, it seems as though a collective message is beginning to spread with training camp underway.

“We just wanna be on the same page and achieve the ultimate goal,” Kristaps Pozingis explained. “We’re gonna put all our stuff to the side and it’s not what we’re here for. We’re gonna figure it out. It’s a lot of talent, a lot of players that can put up crazy numbers. One night it’s gonna be Jrue (Holiday), one night it’s gonna be JT, whoever. All these guys can score the ball and for me, it doesn’t really matter as much. The most important (thing) for me is that we find our rhythm as a group and we work towards what we are brought here to do.”

The front office did its part, adding Porzingis and Holiday to upgrade Boston’s front and back courts. Porzingis can both protect the rim and score better than any of the big men options played by the Celtics last season while Holiday slides in as a Marcus Smart replacement with an upgraded scoring ability. Not to mention the C’s also added a whole new staff to support head coach Joe Mazzulla as well.

“We know the end goal is to win a championship,” Mazzulla said. “That’s why everybody does what they do, that’s why we spend the entire season away from our families, that’s why we have positive emotions, negative emotions. At the end of the day, we’re all trying to achieve something that’s really, really hard. And so the expectations are the expectations. I always say I’d rather be in a city like this that has high expectations than go to a city where there are no expectations.”

To put it simply, it’s make or break for the Celtics. That’s it.