The Boston Celtics suffered yet another ugly road loss on Tuesday night, hardly even looking competitive from the second quarter on in their lifeless loss to the Toronto Raptors. The Celtics have now lost three games in a row, also including a horrible loss to the Chicago Bulls.
It has been a weird season for Boston, to say the least. The C's have a number of very impressive wins to their name, but they also have a collection of embarrassing losses.
It's hard to imagine a more Jekyll and Hyde team, and while the Celtics are still considered finals contenders based on their talent alone, it's obvious that something is up with the team.
What seems blatantly obvious is that Boston's effort level is not always the same.
There are nights where the C's get to every loose ball, close out on every shot and hit every defensive rotation in stride. Then, there are other evenings where they commit silly turnovers, take ill-advised shots and go through stretches where it looks like they don't even care.
They are essentially playing like a team that already has a championship under its belt and is merely coasting until the playoffs roll around, but here is the problem: this Celtics group has accomplished nothing yet.
Sure, they got to the Eastern Conference Finals last year and pushed LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games, but for a Boston franchise that has hung 17 banners, that is nothing.
Remember: the 2009-10 Celtics had a similar season, posting some great-looking wins while also laying claim to a bunch of puzzling losses that had many wondering whether or not they were simply done. But then, once the postseason arrived, Boston turned on the jets and stampeded through the East on its way to a finals appearance.
Here is the thing, though: that C's squad was let by a championship core of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. In other words, guys who had been there and done that before.
This Celtics team does not have that pedigree, so, basically, their effort level is questionable for basically no reason.
And who should that fall on? None other than Brad Stevens.
Brad Stevens has been widely regarded as one of the best head coaches in the NBA ever since he took the reigns for the franchise during the 2013-14 campaign. He made Jordan Crawford look good in that first season, for crying out loud. He then led a talent-deprived Celtics team to the playoffs the following year, and in 2016 and 2017, Boston won 48 and 53 games, respectively, with the latter season ending in an Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Cavaliers.
Of course, then there was a last year, when the C's, sans Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis, marched through the playoffs and actually held a 3-2 lead over the Cavs in the conference finals.
But at what point do we start placing some blame on Brad Stevens for the inconsistent mess that the Celtics have been this season?
We can't deny that Stevens is good at player development, but just how good is he at managing a locker room? He has never dealt with these types of expectations before, nor has he ever coached this much talent at once, so perhaps we are finally starting to see his blemishes.
His brilliant after timeout playcalls notwithstanding, Stevens appears to have some vulnerabilities after all, and while X's and O's are a huge part of the game, so is controlling egos.
That is what made Phil Jackson so successful during his days with the Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers, and it is also been a hallmark of Gregg Popovich during his two-and-a-half decades with the San Antonio Spurs.
Brad Stevens is not a guy who is going to get in the chest of his players, and he does not have experience in dealing with a group of alpha males who are playing below expectations.
For that reason, the Celtics seem to lack a genuine direction this season and are merely winning games based off talent alone.
When you look at Boston, you see that it definitely has the most talented roster top-to-bottom in the Eastern Conference. That's why the club's current situation doesn't make all that much sense, especially when you take into account that the names on the roster are not much different from last season.
The difference, of course, is the expectations. Many felt the C's were a 60-win team going into this season and were a shoo-in to reach the finals. Maybe, just maybe, the pressure is getting to Stevens a bit?
This isn't to say that Stevens is doomed to fail and that he will never break out of his little slump or whatever you want to call it, but right now, he does not appear to be all that equipped to handle the Celtics' current predicament.
Now, being that he is still a relatively inexperienced head coach, maybe this is exactly what he needs. We all grow from our failures and we all learn from our mistakes, so perhaps this will set him on a better path moving forward.
Heck, maybe this won't even matter in a couple of months. Maybe Boston really will flip a switch in the playoffs and get to the finals.
But it shouldn't have to be this way. The C's aren't the Golden State Warriors, and they aren't an example of their 2010 selves. They are an unproven team that just happens to be very talented.
We can certainly blame the players for their questionable effort level. After all, these are grown men. However, Brad Stevens is supposed to be a leader of men, and this season, his leadership abilities have been mediocre, at best.
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