New Year’s resolutions for the Boston Celtics (Part 2)

It’s been 2023 for a pair weeks now, and if you happen to’re inclined in the direction of New 12 months’s resolutions, yours is probably going in full swing by now. The identical is true for the Celtics, who probably needed to kick off 2023 in a greater means than they ended the yr earlier. So far, they’ve — the crew is 5-2 for the reason that flip of the yr, and hanging onto the very best document within the NBA.

There’s nonetheless room for enchancment, after all, which is why we’re again with Half 2 of our collection itemizing out New 12 months’s resolutions for every participant on the Celtics’ roster. Right now, we’ll begin to dig into the crew’s principal rotation. Should you missed Half 1 detailing the again finish of the bench, you possibly can test it out right here.

Derrick White: Play with confidence offensively

After a sizzling begin that noticed him shoot higher than 40% from three for the primary couple months of the season, White — together with a lot of the roster — got here again all the way down to Earth in December. He was about as frigid as a participant will be, capturing simply 24% from behind the arc with a real capturing share threatening to dip beneath the 50% mark.

With greater than 60 video games below his belt as a Celtic, everyone knows by now who Derrick White is as an NBA participant. He’s a tremendously versatile defender and a priceless connecting piece in most lineups, however a restricted and streaky offensive participant. White is neither nearly as good of a scorer as he was to open the season, nor as dangerous of 1 as he was in December. He’s a profession 34% three-point shooter, which places him barely beneath the league common.

The Boston offense is simply higher when he’s placing up photographs. It’s tough to outlive in opposition to good groups with lineups that includes a non-factor on one finish of the court docket, whichever finish that could be. Nicely-roundedness is simply too necessary in in the present day’s NBA — ask the Philadelphia 76ers, with their struggles to include restricted offensive gamers like Ben Simmons, Matisse Thybulle and PJ Tucker. White is a extra helpful offensive participant than any of these three (relying on how you are feeling about Simmons); he simply must develop some assertiveness and consistency.

One place to begin: getting downhill and attacking the basket. White is trying twos at far and away the bottom fee of his profession, together with simply 2.8 photographs in floater vary or nearer per recreation. Between San Antonio and Boston final season, that quantity sat at 5.1. You possibly can by no means have an excessive amount of rim stress, and giving White some extra alternatives to get downhill may assist him play extra assertively on the offensive finish of the ground.

Grant Williams: Sport-to-game consistency

On the entire, Williams has had an efficient “prove-it” season as he approaches the top of his present contract and restricted free company this summer time. He’s capturing higher than 40% from three for the second consecutive season, and he continues to be a vital a part of the Celtics’ defensive scheme along with his malleable skillset.

Sport-to-game, although, it’s been a bit tough to inform which form of Williams you’re going to get. Uncooked factors scored is a stat of restricted usefulness, particularly for a job participant with low offensive utilization, however itemizing out Williams’ level totals over his final ten video games paints an image: 9, 3, 12, 9, 20, 2, 12, 0, 9, 3. He’s been a boom-or-bust offensive participant for a lot of the season.

The Celtics want to see extra “increase” coming from their bench. As a gaggle, the reserves have had an up-and-down season, with their influence incessantly lapsing because the crew has cooled off from their blazing begin to the yr. After the blowout win over the Mavericks, Williams mentioned how interim coach Joe Mazzulla challenged the bench to step up and have Tatum’s and Brown’s backs.

“He’s referred to as out these two guys sufficient,” Williams stated after the win. “I really feel like he’s maintaining all people accountable … It’s important to reply, and if you’re challenged, it’s a matter of stepping up. Whether or not you step up or not, that’s depending on how a lot character and the way a lot exhausting you will have.”

So far in January, Williams has continued to be an on-again-off-again participant. No person’s anticipating him to turn out to be a nightly 20-point scorer, however bringing a constant 10-12 would go a great distance in the direction of making the Celtics much less unstable.

Malcolm Brogdon: Help the Jays off the bench

The opposite facet of the Celtics’ bench struggles has been Brogdon. Introduced in to be the anchor of the second unit and assist carry the offense alongside Tatum and Brown, Brogdon’s season has trended a bit extra in the direction of “fairly good” than the “nice” we’d wish to see. The counting stats look wonderful: he stays one of many NBA’s greatest three-point shooters (fifth within the NBA in three-point share), and he’s recording the very best all-around capturing line of his profession (48-45-89) since becoming a member of the 50-40-90 membership in his remaining season with the Bucks.

But it surely appears like there’s nonetheless fruit on the tree. His workload has been surprisingly low, as he’s averaging simply 23.7 minutes per recreation, which has led to his lowest quantity of shot makes an attempt (9.7 per recreation) since his rookie season. He closed out December with 4 consecutive single-digit performances, and all of them noticed him document eight or fewer shot makes an attempt — together with a 16-minute, four-shot efficiency in opposition to Minnesota during which he was almost invisible.

A part of this might be deliberate; this crew has its eyes on the postseason, and coming into the playoffs with the injury-prone Brogdon totally wholesome is extra necessary than mid-regular season basketball. The Celtics beat the Timberwolves handily; they didn’t essentially want extra from Brogdon that evening.

However there’s nonetheless room for a greater stability to be struck. Brogdon is the one participant on this roster in addition to Tatum and Brown with a confirmed observe document of high-volume offensive manufacturing (Blake Griffin however). In Indiana, Brogdon confirmed he was able to shouldering a bigger offensive workload than he did early in his profession. His utilization fee ticked up from the high-teens in Milwaukee to the mid-20s in Indiana, whereas enjoying essentially the most minutes of his profession. He doesn’t want to hold fairly that a lot of a load (his utilization fee this season at present sits at 23%), however he may actually assist ease the burden on the crew’s stars if he will get on a roll.

The upcoming stretch with out Jaylen Brown, who will miss as much as two weeks with an adductor pressure, creates a chance. With additional touches up for grabs, Brogdon could have an opportunity to step into a bigger function and construct a rhythm as a shot creator.

Robert Williams III: Seem in each playoff recreation

The Celtics made the NBA Finals regardless of Williams lacking almost two full collection. After returning in Sport 6 of the second spherical in opposition to the Bucks, he performed in each recreation save one — the Sport 3 loss to Miami, resulting from knee soreness. Upon his return, he didn’t look near 100%, however nonetheless managed to place efficient minutes on the court docket. He was a reputable difference-maker within the Japanese Convention Finals in opposition to Miami, and though the Warriors had been capable of exploit him (together with the remainder of the Boston protection) a bit extra, he nonetheless blocked a boatload of photographs and competed exhausting within the NBA Finals.

For the previous two seasons, the Celtics have appeared like the very best model of themselves with Williams on the court docket. They’re considerably simpler defensively and on the boards (particularly the offensive glass) when he performs. He elevates the offense along with his ending skill and passing, whereas remodeling the protection along with his skill to play free security on the opposite finish. What he can do on the court docket isn’t in query at this level — it’s his skill to remain on it.

So let’s maintain it easy: Robert Williams must play within the postseason. It’s as much as him and the Celtics’ employees to make sure that he stays recent sufficient to document the primary wholesome playoffs of his NBA profession.

Subsequent up, within the third and remaining set of our Celtics New 12 months’s resolutions, we’ll talk about the ultimate 4 gamers on the roster. Keep tuned!