Alright, I had to dust off the blogging fingers for this one. As most of you know, I’ve been more into creating video content as of late so my fingers aren’t really used to this. So any minor typo’s or aynthing like that can be expected here. See what i did there? I just misspelled “anything” in the last sentence and you didn’t even notice. So we’re good. Let’s get into it.
What is wrong with this Celtics team you might ask? Well, the easiest answer is everything. That is the sad part. I’ve said it over and over and over again, when you can legitimately make a case that the front office is to blame, or the coach is to blame, or the players are to blame… that is when you know it is bad. For each of those layers, an actual argument can be made as to why the majority of the blame should fall on them. That is the sign of a team that is spiraling out of control.
That being said, I do in fact think there is a correct answer when trying to divvy up the blame for why this team playing as poorly as they are. I’m sure a bunch of y’all will disagree. That’s fine. As long as you can make a legitimate case for your opinions, we can just agree to disagree. But for those of you who are about to disagree with my breakdown but can’t seem to rationalize why you disagree? You gotta look in the mirror.
Alright, let’s keep on the trend of breaking it out into 3 layers. Front Office (Danny), Coaching (Brad), and the players. We’ll work our way up for least to blame to most to blame and I’l be assigning percentage as we go.
Danny Ainge and the Front Office: 17%
Why so low you might ask? I know there are plenty of people out there that say “this team just isn’t built well enough! It starts at the top!” That is fair… however, I am much more willing to hear that argument out when the Celtics are losing to good teams. If they over and over again just can’t get over the hump of beating the better teams in the league, then yeah, I am with you in crucifying Danny Ainge for not getting more talent. However, this team is losing to some of the worst teams in the league right now. They have a team that is built well enough to beat the Knicks, Wizards, not blow a 24-point lead to the Pelicans, etc. So that is where I jump off the wagon of “it’s all Danny Ainge’s fault.” To clarify, I don’t think this team is built perfectly at all… if that were to be the case, Ainge would be getting 0% blame. He still has a job to do and he hasn’t really done it lately. I just don’t think we can blame this roster construction as the majority stakeholder here.
Still with me here? Ahh… good that means you might see a glimmer of hope in agreeing with me.
Next up…
The Players: 35%
This may seem very low to many of you. I get it. “It’s a player-driven league!” I’ve heard it all before… I just think you are crazy if you want to blame a 22-year-old and a 24-year-old for what is happening to this team. Full transparency, it may be all their fault, but is it their fault that it’s their fault? Or are there other factors at play here? Confusing, I know. That is where I put my investigator hat on and start plotting this situation out. In what world would we go out of our way to give Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown all of the credit of being true NBA leaders if this team was playing well? That world doesn’t exist. If they were balling out as a team, we’d give them the credit of turning into stars right before our eyes, but the leadership nod would go to the coach, Kemba Walker, and/or then probably Marcus Smart. So when the house is on fire you can’t just blame the young guys, because you weren’t going to give them the credit if the shoe was on the other foot. Also, let’s not act like the percentage here is 0%. 35% is still substantial But those aren’t the only two players on the team, right? We still have a max contract player in Kemba Walker who is incredibly inconsistent. So there are multiple factors as to why this number is pretty high at 35%.
Now the final percentage…
Brad Stevens and the Coaching Staff: 48%
Alright, any of you Brad Stevens you-know-what suckers are probably pissed here. For whatever reason you love the coach and think he is just so perfect, right? I did too for a while. But you are just crazy if you don’t think Brad Stevens deserves the chunk of the blame here. To tie it in with the players portion. A team led by a 22 and 24-year-old is in need of a leader. Who can that leader easily be? The coach… That is just one portion of it. There is that, but then there is the clear lack of involvement and lack of engagement in games. No other coach in the league sits on the bench with their arms crossed as much as Brad does. That isn’t a joke, it’s reality. When you have a young, young, young team the coach needs to step up and be the leader. That is just a fact. If he doesn’t, guess what happens……. THIS. Exactly what we’ve seen lately is what happens. Throw the timeout issues and lack of a feel for momentum into the fire and boom… We have ourselves giving Brad 48% of the blame. Now, on this list, he holds the most blame, but I still think I am being generous here. Many Celtics fans would have him closer to 90% and want him out of the door so fast. That is not me. I don’t want Brad Stevens fired. I just want him to improve. Just like we ask and expect players to improve. We can’t have a coach that isn’t getting better year in and year out. That is why I am calling him on it.
So there you have it. The percentage breakdown of who is to blame for this mockery of a Celtics first half of a season. Again, to anyone saying it starts at the top with Ainge.. I just want to ask you: Is this team, as is, really constructed so poorly that they can’t avoid being blown out by the Wizards, Knicks, Hawks, etc.? Because that is what is happening lately. That is why this team is spiraling out of control. The bad losses…
How’d I do in one of my first blogs in a while? You love it? Great. You absolutely hate it? Even greater.