Ime Udoka has been given a tough hand during his first year as head coach of the Boston Celtics. No team in the NBA has lost more player days to COVID-19 during the current season and there have been a significant amount of other major ailments (Jaylen Brown) that have left Udoka with a shorthanded roster for the majority of his first 39 games.
On top of that, Udoka has also been handed a flawed roster from jump street. Any person looking at this team’s roster during the preseason saw a group that lacked reliable 3-point shooting and the majority of this group has underperformed in comparison to their career averages. The team’s fourth quarter woes predated his arrival so it’s tough to point the finger at him for that too much either after the Celtics dropped to 2-11 on the year in games decided by five points or fewer after an ugly 108-105 loss to the Knicks on Thursday night.
With all that said, we have enough of a sample size to work with now to make some early assessments on the head coach, and it’s fair to say there have been some rookie growing pains involved. A few notable issues keep emerging and were highlighted in Thursday’s ugly loss.
Closing lineup decisions: There has been no obvious choice for the fifth man on the floor all season long. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are guys who are obviously going to play. However, for an offense that regularly stalls late in games, putting capable shooters and scorers around them is pivotal. For this Celtics team, that means one big at most with Al Horford struggling from 3-point range this year and one non-shooting point guard (Marcus Smart or Dennis Schroder). Despite that, time and time again, including against the Knicks on Thursday night, Udoka has insisted on playing Smart and Schroder down the stretch together. That combination has allowed defenses to pack the paint and double Boston’s stars routinely with no fear of retribution from the kickout to the perimeter.
Udoka doesn’t have any perfect choice to replace these guys, but Josh Richardson, Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard (when healthy) are all better floor stretchers than Schroder and Smart. One of them needs to play and one of Smart/Schroder needs to sit. Both point guards ended up hurting Boston considerably down the stretch with missed 3s (Smart) or turning down open looks (Schroder) in the closing minutes.
Minutes management: The Celtics keep playing poorly in the fourth quarter and it’s probably not a related story that Udoka is leaning heavily on all his veterans for minutes. Jayson Tatum ranks third in the NBA in minutes (36.7) and coming off a bout with COVID-19, he played him 38 and 40 minutes in back-to-back games this week. Numerous other players are also averaging career-highs (Marcus Smart, Robert Williams) even during a subpar season in the case of Smart. He took things to the extreme against the Knicks in the fourth quarter, playing just six guys total in the fourth quarter in an attempt to stop the bleeding, going away from a pair of key rotation players in Josh Richardson and Grant Williams who had solid first halves. Meanwhile, younger reserves like Romeo Langford and Aaron Nesmith didn’t even get off the bench despite things going haywire in the second alf.
There is a sense of urgency for Udoka to win games now but leaning too heavily on his stars has not paid dividends late in games. Instead, it’s created a team that looks rundown when things matter most.
Not developing the young guys: This clearly isn’t a priority for the rookie head coach, which isn’t a surprise since coaches on any level usually always have a preference for the reliability of veterans. With that said, Boston bet heavily on youth with their drafting over the past four years and the likes of Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith, Payton Pritchard and Grant Williams could play a pivotal role in Boston’s future. Knowing what they can and can’t be is crucial in the long run as Boston attempts to build themselves back into a contender.
Williams has developed nicely as a reliable top reserve big off the bench but regular minutes have been hard to come by all year for Pritchard and Nesmith when healthy. Even Langford was squeezed out of the rotation on Thursday night in favor of Enes Freedom, a journeyman center who plays no part in Boston’s future beyond being some insurance depth. Udoka has preferred using him and others (Jabari Parker) over unproven youth this year and that would be fine if the Celtics were a winning team. However, this group is far from that right now. Instead, the Celtics have turned not just into a subpar team but one that isn’t developing several recent first-round picks in the process of playing poorly. That falls on Udoka, assuming he isn’t getting direction from the front office on his playing time decisions.
Is it time for Brad Stevens to step in?
All of these factors combined with regular tough love from Udoka in postgame press conferences towards his troops means it’s time for the front office to take some action. Udoka hasn’t impressed so far but he obviously isn’t going anywhere. The team gave him a long-term deal for a reason and the team’s core is very much bought into him. Plenty of rookie coaches around the league struggle and Udoka has been faced challenging circumstances to see the least. He can and will grow in this role.
While it’s on Udoka to learn to solve some of these issues, Stevens and Boston’s front office can help speed up that process with their own moves. Lineup adjustments need to be encouraged and veterans who aren’t part of the team’s plans beyond this year should be shopped heavily. Additionally, giving Udoka some reliable veteran shooting to help solve the team’s crunch-time issues should be a priority as well if the front office isn’t going to throw the white flag on this year.
We all know cutting Garrison Matthews in training camp was a mistake but pursuing alternatives via trade needs to be considered. If the team isn’t going to buy at the deadline, playing capable shooters (Nesmith, Pritchard, Hauser) must become a priority to build a competent offense that doesn’t sputter when spacing dries up.
It remains to be seen what direction the Celtics will be going in at the trade deadline, but simplifying life for Udoka should help him get the Celtics back on right track.
