Boston Celtics Prove Good Coaching Trumps Tanking

Despite the front office’s best efforts to tank, the Boston Celtics are somehow knee-deep in the thick of the playoff race, currently sitting a mere one game out of the eighth seed.

Undoubtedly, outside of the top five teams, the bottom half of the Eastern Conference has been one big faltering crap-shoot. Teams vying for the lower seeds are either injury-riddled, like the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers, or drastically under-performing, like the Charlotte Hornets and Brooklyn Nets.

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As a result, a team like the Celtics, who had been stealth tanking the entire season, and a team like the Detroit Pistons, who managed to claw their way back in spite of a historically horrid start (thank you, Josh Smith), are suddenly contending for one the final playoff spots.

Antithetically, while the Pistons aimed to bolster their roster, and shore up their point guard position, by acquiring Reggie Jackson at the trade deadline, the C’s have spent the majority of the season selling off their most experienced and productive players, namely Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green.

To the dismay of the many lottery hopefuls in the New England area, however, Boston has, in some such way, gone 6-4 over their last 10 games, withstanding the inexperienced stodgy starting lineup of Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Evan Turner, Brandon Brass, and Tyler Zeller.

In many ways, the unforeseen competitiveness of the 2014-15 Celtics is a product of the gradual change and evolution the association has undergone over the past half-decade.

The prevalence of having a singular ball dominant star is at an all-time low, while conversely, the emphasis on team play is placed at an all-time high. The San Antonio Spurs’ dissection of the Miami Heat during last year’s NBA Finals was perhaps the perfect illustration of how modern pace and space basketball trumps the holy alliances between the league’s core of elite players.

Is that to say that talent is simply inconsequential to winning? No. Overall talent still wins out — however, when you combine sound schemes, floor spacing, and side-to-side attacks along with talent, you get the Golden State Warriors, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Atlanta Hawks.

Chiefly, spearheaded by their mild-mannered, baby-faced head coach, Brad Stevens, the Celtics play an aesthetically pleasing, ball swinging brand of equal opportunity offense. While defensively, they utilize their duo of pestering dobermans, in Smart and Bradley, to pressure, hound, and blow up high pick-and-roll actions.

On Offense

The Celtics are the textbook definition of the sum is greater than the whole of its parts. Individually, their roster-full of miscasts, journeymen and 1st/2nd year players would fail miserably in their plight to instill fear in opposing defenses.

As such, Stevens’ motion offense serves as the team’s offensive conductor/initiator most often times by placing his players in opportunistic attack situations — driven in large by the sets’ multiple side-to-side ball swings. As a result, it curates an environment in which Boston consistently faces a scrambling discombobulated defense.

Take for instance, the following play:

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To start off the play, instead of running a barefaced high pick-and-roll, in which the Knicks would decidedly ice, Boston opts to run Smart off of a quick flare screen towards the middle of the court as Turner initiates along the sideline.

As Smart receives the ball, Zeller has the option to launch a high screen-and-roll set with Smart as the entire court is nice and spaced.

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Alternatively, however, Smart swings the ball to Zeller above the break; thereby sucking the opposing big out of the paint, and subsequently sets a down screen for Bass. Meanwhile Bradley spreads to the opposite corner, and likewise, Turner clears out towards the weakside.

The action itself inspires chaos and stress on the Knicks’ defensive scheme, as Bass is an accomplished shooter from the left elbow extended area. In fact, at present, he is nailing an above average 44.8 percent of his attempts, per NBA.com.

At the same time, after making the pass, Zeller hustles to set a pin down for Bradley in an effort to spawn additional scoring options.

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Sure enough, Bass judiciously passes up on his pet shot, and instead, feeds Bradley curling down towards the top of the key.

While the spacing is less than ideal, the defense must stay closely attached to Bass and Bradley. Avery has not only developed into a fine mid-range jumpshooter, converting on nearly 47.6 percent of his jumpers from the top of the key — well above the league median — he is also a 54.2 eFG% (effective field goal percentage) scorer on catch-and-shoot situations.

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However, Knicks’ guard Langston Galloway does a solid job of staying attached on Bradley’s hip. As such, the Celtics unleash the fourth option from their read and react set. Specifically, Bradley and Bass proceed to engage in a short roll towards the middle of the paint with the court relatively spread, as Smart slides into the strongside corner and Zeller, similarly, towards the short corner.

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As the play develops, the action forces big man Lou Amundson to trap Bradley and stop his progress towards the paint. Consequently, Bradley makes the correct read and delivers the tight pocket pass to Bass in his sweet shot. By doing so, Bass can either unleash a very makeable open look, or pump fake and attack the rack.

It is worth noting, though, Turner should drop a little further down to the strongside corner area; thereby, giving Bass the option to initiate a dribble handoff with the multi-skilled ET.

Accordingly, the Celtics have been able to remain within the middle of the pack, in terms of offensive efficiency, despite the departures of Rondo and Green. In fact, the team is 15th in offensive rating, scoring over 101.9 points per 100 possessions, over the last 10 games, according to NBA.com

However, the lack of refined talent has hurt Boston offensively, especially during close end-of-the-game situations. In particular, the Celtics are the 14th worst offensive team in the NBA during crunch time, and likewise, 12th worst in eFG%.

With the addition of Isaiah Thomas, the C’s are now equipped with a qualified end of the clock and crunch time shot creator. It is imperative, though, that Thomas stays within the flow of the offense, and strike off of the secondary or tertiary swing, as oppose to isolating at the top of the key with 20 seconds on the shot clock.

On Defense

Boston’s defense is fueled by ball pressure and activity. Blessed with the luxury of having perhaps the most devastating and imposing duo of on ball defenders, the Celtics can effectively contain all pick-and-roll actions, as well as isolation sets, to one side of the floor.

Take for example, the following instance:

Even though DeMarre Carroll made the shot, the attempt was highly contested. More importantly, they denied all middle penetration and nearly forced a Jeff Teague errant pass by forcing him along the sideline.

Recently, with the injuries suffered by big men Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk, Stevens has experimented with the 6-foot-6 linebacker-built Jae Crowder at the power forward position; thereby, enhancing the C’s ability to switch everything 1 through 4.

The flexibility and freedom to switch and trap is what makes the Warriors and Bucks the two top defenses in the association this season.

Not surprisingly, the Celtics are just outside of the top 10, in terms of defensive rating, over the past 10 contests, conceding just 100.8 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com.

Most notably, over the aforementioned stretch, the lineup of Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Evan Turner, Brandon Bass, and Jae Crowder at the 4, has only allowed a defensive rating of 89.8.

Going Forward

As we approach the final two months of the NBA regular season, the question for Celtics Nation becomes whether the team should fully commit to the playoff chase, or try their luck at the NBA lottery.

To determine a level-headed educated answer, the following must be considered:

The average return of a ninth or 10th pick is expectedly more fruitful when compared to the average return of a 15th selection; however, the difference is hardly material.
If the Celtics do indeed miss the playoffs, they will most likely have a 1.1 to 1.7 percent chance of winning the lottery, and a 1.6 to 2.4 percent chance of sliding into the top three.

With that being said, the preference is really a matter of subjective opinion — does general manager, Danny Ainge, value the experience of playoff intensity/playoff basketball for his coaching staff and core group of players, such as Smart, Bradley, Olynyk, and James Young? Or does he simply want to lose more — and pray for a Hail Mary’s chance — for Jahlil Okafor?

Next: Portland Trail Blazers: 5 Trends To Keep An Eye On After The All-Star Break

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