Seton Hall
The Boston Celtics have upgraded significantly this season
Date: November 18, 2019By: Justin Morris
The Boston Celtics are currently the best team in the Eastern conference right now, and who would’ve thought we’d be using that sentence at any point during this season after the departure of their six-time All Star, and likely future Hall of Fame point guard Kyrie Irving? In a conference that – while still paling in comparison to the juggernaut that is the West, still has tons of talent from top to bottom, it is Boston who has unsuspectingly emerged atop them all in the early stages of this young NBA campaign.
And part of what makes this all so intriguing – this Celtics roster is one of the youngest in the league with an average age of just 24-years-old, and they’re led by one of the games’ youngest coaches at the helm. Their coach is where their success starts. Upon his hiring, Brad Stevens was the youngest coach in the NBA after thrusting his name into the national spotlight among the college ranks. He led mid-major Butler to two consecutive NCAA championship games during his time there – one which they would’ve won hadn’t Gordon Hayward just missed a prayer of a half-court shot in the game’s closing seconds against Duke.
It didn’t take long for Stevens to transform himself from a budding college star to one the NBA’s brightest. He immediately turned the ship in Boston from what was a fledgling franchise after the departure of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, into a perennial playoff contender. It was Stevens who was critical in guard Isaiah Thomas’ acceleration into an All-Star caliber point guard in his first few seasons, and for their playoff runs with Thomas running the show.
When they traded Thomas for Irving in 2017, and reunited Stevens with his favorite player from his Butler days, Hayward, championship talk immediately swirled throughout New England. Hayward went down with a gruesome leg injury just minutes into the 2017 season, and Irving would be limited during the final stretch, eventually missing the playoffs because of a knee problem that had hampered him since his Cleveland days. What looked to be a lost season was revived by their young guns though, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who guided their shorthanded squad to an Eastern Conference finals appearance.
The next year was marred still, with discussions surrounding Irving’s ability to lead them to a Larry O’Brien trophy, and whether they could take that leap into an elite unit. He started strong on the court, but it was his performance off it, to take a turn for the worse. He became known for mental issues that plagued the year. After promising Celtics fans that he would be in town for the long run, even highlighting his desire to see his jersey in the rafters, his relationships with teammates began to sour.
News swirled that he had a tendency to criticize them heavily for mistakes or missed shots, and oftentimes developed an alpha mentality in an environment that emphasized team basketball. This made his relationship with Stevens inconsolable, and Irving, in a move best for everyone, moved on to the Brooklyn Nets.
You can’t win basketball games on pure talent alone, and Irving proved this. He’s currently averaging just under 30 points per game, but rumors continue to circulate concerning his ability to win as a team player. The Celtics’ replacement for Irving was former Charlotte guard Kemba Walker, and with that came exactly what they needed, which was a culture shift. Walker is the vocal leader and personality mitigator that a Stevens-led team needs. He’s paced the team with consistent 24 points a night, but adds a tremendous value that cannot be seen in the stat sheet.
This is evidenced by his leadership with Team USA in the Pan-American games, and Walker has the ability to run any group of talented players. Tatum looks ready to truly break out into All-Star form, and his game-winner against the Knicks is all the proof Celtics fans needed that he can be a reliable closer. Brown is averaging just under 20 points-per-game in Stevens’ system, and Hayward looked to be back in his All-Star form, giving them what seemed to be an easy 18-plus per night before succumbing to a hand injury.
They’ve got the bench to contend with anyone, and while play has not generally been their main hampering issue, they now have the culture that can truly vault them into one of the league’s top contenders. And they haven’t even reached their peak yet.
Justin Morris can be reached at justin.morris@student.shu.edu.
