Celtics to bounce back from disappointing season
BOSTON: Change is everywhere for the Boston Celtics this season. And it’s noticeable in many ways, big and small.
Point guard Kyrie Irving is gone and has been replaced by another All-Star in Kemba Walker.
The spot in the middle of Boston’s offense that once belonged to Al Horford will now be occupied by free-agent pickup Enes Kanter.
Some returning players the Celtics do have even literally look different in some cases. Fourth-year guard Jaylen Brown’s trademark flat top haircut? It’s gone, too, and replaced by a sleeker, low-cut style.
“It is a fresh start. We all see Jaylen Brown’s hair, right?” Marcus Smart joked during the Celtics’ media day on Monday.
It’s all apropos for a team that despite having All-Stars like Irving, Horford and Gordon Hayward, as well as young talent like Brown and Jayson Tatum, woefully underachieved — victims of a lack of team chemistry and public infighting.
Now Boston has gone from the team that was the favorite to take over the Eastern Conference following LeBron James’ departure to the Lakers, to a team that must discover a new identity this season.
The players that have returned say they have internalized the lessons from last season in hopes of not repeating history with this revamped group.
“I think you just learn that nothing is just gonna be given to you in this league,” Hayward said. “I think a lot of people just kind of handed us the trip to the Finals and thought we were just gonna walk our way to the Eastern Conference finals. That’s obviously not the case and didn’t’ happen.”
It’s why coach Brad Stevens said a roster that may often find itself playing four wing players and a big man will have to find a different way to play.
But he said it will start with the same principles that helped take the Celtics to back-to-back conference finals in 201617 and 2017-18.
“I just think that all I’ve ever thought and believed about the game has just been reinforced,” Stevens said. “I think this team will have to play differently on both sides of the ball than we have. Not enormously different, but we’ll have to do things here and there.”
He said he has no big plans for training camp other than creating an environment to help this new group begin to jell.
“Our focus over the next couple of weeks is just getting ready to play with the right effort and togetherness. And that’s it,” he said. “At the end of the day, that will give us the chance to be the best version of ourselves.”