The Boston Celtics, having cleared their roster last season of their most proven veteran players, regressed the way many people expected them to. Now, can the organization begin to bounce back?
What Went Wrong Last Season?
Reality is what went wrong for the Celtics, who knew going in that they were not going to make the playoffs. It was very simple. The Celtics watched Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce leave the team after a glorious run of several seasons that began with the 2007-2008 journey that brought the franchise yet another NBA championship, followed by an NBA Finals appearance two seasons later and a near-Finals season in 2012.
After Ray Allen had left the year before to pursue a title he found with the Miami Heat in 2013, the loss of the other two members of Boston’s “Big Three” ensured that the Celtics were starting over under new head coach Brad Stevens, who led the Butler Bulldogs to consecutive appearances in the NCAA national championship game in 2010 and 2011. Everyone in Boston knew that this was going to be a season to be endured, and little more. There were no realistic thoughts of a playoff appearance. Money was being saved. A reboot was in progress.
Boston was a bottom-10 team in steals and assists, largely because Rajon Rondo was injured for a majority of the season’s 82 games. Boston was an okay defensive team, averaging roughly 100 points per game, but the team’s offense averaged little more than 96 points per game, 26th in the Association, a figure the team could not survive. This was a bad shooting team in Beantown last year. The Celtics were in the bottom three of the league (28th) in field goal percentage and three-point percentage. The Celtics were one of the five worst teams in the league in two-point percentage (26th), free throws attempted (27th), and turnovers (27th). This offense was nothing but a mess. It was a headless horseman with Rondo not able to stay on the court in good health.
Part of the frustration of last season in Boston came from the fact that this team was one of the best in the league at three-point field goal defense. The Celtics were in the top five in all of the basic three-point defense categories: made shots allowed, threes attempted, and three-point shooting percentage. Despite that great attention to detail on the perimeter and a solid defense overall, the Celtics withered on offense and could not make their defense stand up as enough to win most games. Boston won only 25 times, a sign of how bad the offense was without Rondo in the mix.
Offseason Changes
The Celtics parted with Jerryd Bayless and Keith Bogans while getting veteran Evan Turner and rookies James Young, Tim Frazier, Marcus Smart, and Dwight Powell. Smart was the team’s top draft pick with the number six selection. Smart could become a very powerful and able scorer in the NBA because of his combination of quickness and muscle. How Smart plays without Rondo in the first few weeks of the season will shape how he then plays when Rondo comes back.
Projected Finish
The Celtics are still in rebuilding mode so it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen just yet for them. They might need two years to get where they need to be. It’s definitely not going to happen in only one season.
Pick: 12th In The Eastern Conference
