During training camp, a team can feel siloed from everything outside its small circle of players and coaches. All the outside noise of media expectations and fan criticisms are blocked out. However, that doesn’t mean that the Celtics haven’t had their eyes on the rest of the league.
Even before their repeat title chances were quashed in May, Boston has been keeping track of league trends. After being trailblazers of the three-ball revolution, the NBA course corrected and allowed a more physical style of play that carried over well into the playoffs.
“Halfway through last year, the league made a little bit of a change where the game became much more physical and I think it’s what’s best for the league,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said after Saturday’s practice. “We just have to adapt to that…the game is in a great place, how it’s being played and how it’s being officiated.”
Since Media Day on Monday, any Celtic coach or player that’s been on a mic has talked about how the team has ramped up activity and pace. That’s presumably been on the offensive end, but they’ve also applied a more aggressive approach on defense.
“Before, we would play more of a safe defense, switching, live with contested shots, don’t foul, don’t put people to the free throw line…but that’s kinda changed,” Payton Pritchard said, sporting a bloody neck after getting scraped during Friday’s session. “The NBA evolves every year, so you gotta change your game with it. It worked for us when we won the championship, didn’t work for us so much last year, so we gotta evolve.”
The point guard has embraced the more physical play and calls being considered a “two-way player…definitely huge.” He’s brought that fire along with his teammates. They’re playing up higher on D, pressuring ballhandlers and getting into their covers.
“You see OKC who won the championship — they get away with a lot of hands, fouls, physicality, stuff like that,” Pritchard noted. “The NBA in the playoffs is allowing a lot more physicality to happen. You gotta learn to play through it and be more physical. We’re emphasizing it and it’s been good.“
On offense, their approach is more of a mystery and we’ll have to wait and see until their first preseason game on Wednesday in Memphis. Ideally though, a faster paced Celtics would mimic the Warriors or Pacers. Earlier in the week, I wrote:
The Pacers went ten-deep in their rotation and more importantly, they played a frenetic and unpredictable brand of basketball. They had their core offensive principles, but for the most part, they embraced Tyrese Haliburton’s freestyling attitude and integrated it from top to bottom.
The teams were #1 and #2 in passes and touches per game with Indiana using their whirling dervish style towards a trip to The Finals. However, the big difference between the Pacers last year and the Celtics this year is that they had veteran talent littered in their frontcourt with Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam, and even Obi Toppin. For Boston, they’re going from a center room with Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet to Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, Chris Boucher, and Xavier Tillman Sr.
Disregard Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt in TD Garden for a minute. You know when Lucky or really any NBA arena trampoline crew set up a train of jumpers that hit the tramp, do a flip, pass the ball to the person behind them and so on and so forth? Now take away the trampoline. That could be the framework of the offense.
So, don’t be surprised if the Celtics look a lot like the Bulls last season. Chicago ranked second in pace last season at 103.61 possessions per game, just a shade behind Memphis (103.69). With a guard-heavy roster featuring ballhandlers Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, Coby White, Ayo Donsumu, and Josh Giddey, they leaned into their strengths and drove the fourth most times in the regular season. For comparison, they went to the rack 4,294 times; Boston was second to last at 3,020.
You could see the same approach with Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Anfernee Simons, and Jaylen Brown as the main engines of the offense. High picks set just passed halfcourt. Before the ten seconds are off the shot clock, they could already be into their weak side options.
“It’s playing fast and playing smart at the same time and seeing the actions,” Garza said after the team’s first official practice on Tuesday. “It’s not just chuck it and shoot it with twenty seconds on the shot clock. It’s trying to get into the actions early so you can get looks earlier and if it’s not there, then you go into the second action and third action. Everything you do is at a fast pace.”
Picture the ideal possession. Garza sets a high screen for Pritchard crossing midcourt. The strong side help defender comes off of Brown to prevent the drive. Garza gets the ball in the short roll and hits JB cutting back door. Another help defender gets compromised and Josh Minott goes hard into the paint for a dunk.
That’s the new Mazzulla Ball.
