I'm getting very concerned about this team. Without Kemba they just don't have the pieces right now to run a functional offense.
Concerned this could get ugly over the next few weeks.
I know people want to blame the coaching, and Brad certainly bears responsibility to figure this puzzle out better than he has so far.
But I think the fundamental truth here is that the Celts as constructed need their two main stars to do pretty much all of the heavy lifting offensively, and so far they have not been able to do it.
Granted, both Brown and Tatum have scored the ball. But it's clear they haven't yet figured out / developed the skills necessary to be responsibility for keeping the offense operating smoothly. Neither guy can really operate as a point forward or create for others consistently.
This league is very, very tough for teams that lack a primary ballhandler who can score and pass out of the pick and roll. The Celts have managed to do pretty well in seasons past when IT, Kyrie, or Kemba was out, but back then they had guys like Horford, Hayward, or even Rozier to take over playmaking duties. They don't have anybody like that now.
I said during the offseason I expected a bumpy start but others believed we'd still end up a top seed. We've got two young talented guys who still have flaws in the their game and the players around them don't help mask those flaws at all. We've also lost a ton of ballhandling and facilitating. First Horford, then Hayward, and now Kemba's out to start the season. Danny hasn't done anything to replace that. You don't lose that much talent and not have it show eventually.
I believed they would still be an elite defense (better, if anything) without Kemba playing, and that with Tatum and Brown taking on major scoring duties they'd be about average offensively.
So far the defense is nowhere near elite (too many miscommunications and mistakes) and the offense is too easily stymied and turnover prone.
The recipe for being good (not great) without Kemba is elite, swarming defense plus efficient, low-turnover, half-court offense with Tatum and Brown exploiting mismatches plus fast break points off forced turnovers.
That's basically what they were in 2018, although back then they had Horford doing his thing too.
They haven't done that so far.
Topic: Celtics (1-2) at Pacers (3-0) Game #4 12/29/20 (Read 50080 times)