The Eastern Conference is very volatile this season. With the first couple of teams separated by just a couple of games, many squads in the East are hoping to be at the top of the conference for the playoffs. Unfortunately, one of these squads is not the Boston Celtics.
The team from Massachusetts has had a very poor start to the season. The Celtics don't seem to gel well with their new coach, Ime Udoka, and are even at risk of missing the playoffs—something they've done just once in the last 15 seasons. Here are two glaring reasons for Boston's ongoing struggles.
2 reasons for Celtics struggles
Rookie coach
With all due respect to Ime Udoka, he's appeared a bit overmatched this season. After Brad Stevens stepped down as coach to become the Celtics general manager, fans of the franchise knew they couldn't expect a superior replacement. What they got, however, has been much worse. Stevens was a master of in-game strategy and the team looked great playing under him. While there were some chemistry issues under Stevens, that was mostly due to how the roster was assembled. He wasn't the Celtics' architect.
Now, those chemistry issues don't really exist, but Boston's on-court state is abysmal. While no one had the Celtics winning the championship, no one expected a team with two All-Stars in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to struggle this much. After more than half the season, the Celtics are 23-24, struggling to maintain tenth place in the Eastern Conference. If they fall to 11th, with the New York Knicks only a few games behind them, they will not have the chance to even participate in the play-in tournament.
Udoka's biggest flaws as a coach come in clutch situations. Right now, the Celtics are a woeful 9-17 in games in which the score is within five points in the las two minutes. That's usually a mark of inexperienced teams, so it is logical that the San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons are also struggling in the clutch. However, the Celtics are not young. Tatum is 23, but he already has four full seasons under his belt as this team's leader. Brown is 25, but playing in his sixth season.
The Celtics have a real issue with who is finishing their games, a problem that can usually be traced back to the coach. More experienced coaches know how to calm their team down and draw up plays for easy points. With Udoka at the helm, Boston may always have to worry about collapsing down the stretch of close games.
Lack of playmaking
Surprisingly enough, the Celtics are not dead last in the league in terms of assists even though they don't have a real playmaker. However, they are still occupying the 22nd spot in assists, which is not much better. With Dennis Schroder and Marcus Smart as the only point guards on the roster, that was to be expected. Smart is a great defensive player with an expanding offensive game, but he is not a passer. His best assist average was 5.7 per game, and that was last season. This season, his 5.3 assists per game lead the team.
Schroder is similar to Smart in terms of both not being willing passers. Schroder is a scorer first, and has been that kind of player ever since he entered the league. His 4.7 assists per game are second-best on the roster, a damning indictment of the Celtics. Tatum and Brown aren't natural passers, both preferring to be finishers or involved in isolation plays.
The playmaking issue is reflected in more than just pure assist numbers. With a true facilitator and ball distributor, an offense lives and breathes much better. Without that type of player, the coach's message to the team might be lost, as stars easily fall victim to relying on their individual talents. The Celtics actually run the second-most isolation plays in the league, per NBA.com.
The Celtics need to be active at the trade deadline in search of a true floor general. With an established playmaker in tow, the Celtics would be able to get both Brown and Tatum in better scoring positions, making life easier on the offense as a whole.
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