One of the biggest surprises this far in the NBA season is the performance of the Boston Celtics. A team many people thought would contend for an NBA Championship has yet to find its footing.
The Celtics currently sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 14-13. They are as close to 12th place in the conference as they are to first. One of the reasons for the poor performance is the inability to build chemistry and cohesion on the court despite having talents like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker.
Boston has dealt with numerous injuries this season and also had some COVID issues. They had three games postponed from January 10th-13th because they did not have enough players eligible to play. Jayson Tatum missed five games on top of that for a positive test.
In addition to the COVID issues, the Celtics have been trying to re-acclimate Kemba Walker, who had offseason knee surgery, into the rotation. Marcus Smart is battling a calf strain. Romeo Langford has yet to play this season because of offseason wrist surgery.
Recently, Celtics President of Basketball Operations, Danny Ainge, was asked what was wrong with the team. He does not believe it is the coaching of Brad Stevens. Instead, he took responsibility for the team’s shortcomings.
“I don’t think this has anything to do with coaching,” Ainge said Monday.
What about you, Danny? Is it time to start ripping the president of basketball operations?
“Sure!” he said. “We’re not playing with the passion that we need. I think that’s on the players. And the players on the team are on me.
“There are things I could have done better, but I’m not going to mention names. I’ll take this responsibility. This is a team that was put together by me, and we’re not playing with enough consistency and urgency, and it’s my job to look to see what we can do to improve the team, but that’s always much harder than improving from within.”
It is encouraging to see Ainge not throw his head coach under the bus. At the end of the day, he is right; he is the one who put together the roster. With so many injuries and holes currently on the roster, Ainge was also asked if any changes would occur.
Are changes afoot?
“Just changing faces doesn’t always change things,” Ainge said, “but it may have to come to that.”
This is something Celtics fans have heard before. Ainge talks a big game about making trades to improve the roster but nothing ever comes to fruition.
For years, Boston has been mentioned as the landing spot for All-Stars looking for a new team to call home. Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis and numerous others were connected to the Celtics but a move was never made.
Again, that responsibility falls on Danny Ainge. It is great to have assets, but if you are not going to use them to upgrade the roster around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, then what is the point?
