http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/post-012417-lack-of-impact-on-ball-could-impact-rotation?sf52662459=1WASHINGTON, D.C. – Brad Stevens said Tuesday night that the Celtics aren’t impacting the ball enough with their defense to win games consistently.
He also quietly suggested that such a fact could impact the team’s rotation.
Following a game during which the Celtics allowed their opponent, the Washington Wizards, to score 123 points and to shoot 57.8 percent from the field, defense – or lack thereof – was the topic of interest inside Boston’s locker room.
The Celtics have talked over and over about their defensive deficiencies and how to fix them. However, their issues have remained, and that’s why Stevens is beginning to look in new directions for a possible spark.
“I’m just looking for someone that will do that consistently,” Stevens said after being asked about the extended playing time he afforded Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier and James Young Tuesday night. “There’s plenty of opportunity for those guys to take spots and to be into people and to be aggressive and to rebound for us and to make us a better defense, because we’re not good enough.”
In other words, roles are up for grabs.
Jae Crowder said that the coaches do not discuss such topics with the players, so they do not know whose playing time could be on the chopping block. However, Marcus Smart agreed that Stevens’ request for more impact on the ball extends to all five positions.
“Everyone,” he said of who must answer the call. “From me down to our bigs down to our guards. Everyone. We’ve got to get into guys and make them uncomfortable.”
Young, who played nearly 13 minutes Tuesday night in his first action since Dec. 2, believes that he is capable of providing such a spark.
“I just want to bring energy on defense,” he told Celtics.com after the loss. “It seems like overall we just haven’t been all together as a defensive unit. It’s got to start with somebody.
“I think we’ve just got to go out there and just play harder defense. Us young guys have a lot of energy, so I think if we do it when we get the opportunity, that might help us stay on the floor more.”
Crowder conceded that if Young or any of the other younger players can provide what Stevens is asking for, that they deserve to be awarded with a role in the rotation, regardless of whose minutes they would be stealing.
“That’s your teammate at the end of the day,” Crowder said. “We all play for one another, so if another guy comes in and impacts the ball the way Coach would like, he should play.”
At the end of the day, the Celtics know that they have it in them. They impacted the ball at a high level last season with nearly the exact same team; only Jared Sullinger and Evan Turner departed from the rotation, and only Al Horford and Jaylen Brown were brought in. Yet somehow, they have fallen off defensively.
“Last year we were the team that guys hated to play against,” said Smart. “This year, everybody wants to play us because we aren’t doing everything we used to do in the past at the defensive end.”
He continued, “We need to get into guys. We need to make guys feel us. We’re playing off guys and they’re feeling really comfortable”
The Celtics have won more games than not this season and sit as the third seed in the Eastern Conference despite all of the negative talk about their defense. However, they are fully aware that in order to be a real threat, they need to impact the ball at a higher level.
The current rotation has not done so at the level Stevens expects. As a result, changes may be coming.
I mean, we've heard this before from Brad with no real results, but this is the first night that he went deep into the bench playing Young and Mickey several minutes looking for an answer.
Obviously, Brad is searching for something with our D, but I'm interested in seeing who he's really talking about regarding rotation spots and minutes being up for grab.
I'd say Amir is pretty much in the doghouse at this moment, because other than a brief run earlier this month and in December, he's been terrible all season long. I'd say KO and JJ are in there, too, which shows how big of a problem our bigs have been.
But I'd like to see how he deals with IT, Al, and Jae, who all have been very questionable at best defensively lately. It's hard to cut their minutes with how much we rely on them, but they've got to be held accountable somehow.
I still find it hilarious that Amir is still starting with as terrible as he's been. We should get JJ or KO starting tomorrow with it being Houston anyways, but I'd like to see that switch long-term. Amir should primarily be going against bench players at this point in time.
Topic: Celtics (26-17) at Wizards (24-20) Game #44 1/24/17 (Read 43995 times)