Udoka asks Tatum, Brown to think differently
Coach wants more than just scoring from young stars
As evidenced by the swings in the games of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown from game to game — witness their fluctuations from the two-game Indiana series to combining for 12 turnovers against Philadelphia Friday night — all’s not always smooth in adapting to how Ime Udoka wants his offense to function.
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
But as the Celtics coach admits, weaning his two young stars off iso-heavy basketball will take time. He’s asking them to think differently about the game.
“It’s been obviously one of the main goals coming into this season is to get them to do more than just score,” the Celtics coach said before Saturday’s game against Chicago. “At times we look really good doing it and at times we get rattled and kind of revert back to some things that make us less successful.
“So whether it’s referees or individual matchups getting, caught in that or whatever the case may be, or poor scoring in general,” said Udoka. “Sometimes they take the onus on themselves sometimes and I think just being consistent as far as that and not reverting back to some old habits obviously makes us a better team so that’s the challenge every night and an area they’ve grown. We’ve seen flashes, now it’s just putting it together more often than not.”
Joel Embiid said following the Friday loss that the Celtics, because of their isolation tendencies, are simpler to defend. Udoka said all concerned are working to change that reality.
“Obviously we do run stuff through them and it’s a matter of how teams are defending on a night to night basis,” he said. “Every game isn’t going to be a duplicate of the previous night but we do want to see that ball movement, we do want to see the team, more team aspect than isolations. If they have the advantages, take those, but it was the truth.
“It was a night where, even ourselves against Indiana and then last night were two different teams offensively. Did enough poor things defensively as well but offensively the lack of scoring and guys just taking it on their shoulders instead of continuing to stay with what worked in the past,” he said. “We all know teams that go iso are easier to guard, easier to defend, you know unless you have a Kobe Bryant or (Michael) Jordan you can put it in his hands and get 50, every team doesn’t have that so you want to play to their strengths but also encourage team basketball which makes us a much better team as we’ve seen.”
Smart remains in protocol
Marcus Smart, the first Celtic to test positive for COVID-19 — indeed, one of the first players in the league to test positive two seasons ago — was the only Celtic on ice Saturday night. He’s also the 14th Celtic to enter health and safety protocol this season.
He now needs two negative tests to return to action. In the meantime, the Celtics started Dennis Schroder at point guard in Smart’s absence.
Poor shooting
As evidenced by the recent struggles of players like Schroder and Al Horford from the floor — the latter went into Saturday’s game shooting 28% from 3-point range — the Celtics haven’t been getting much offensive
support behind Tatum and Brown. But Udoka’s message remains the same. Move the ball.
“You can’t base decisionmaking on if guys are going to make or miss,” said the Celtics coach. “I think we’re asking them to do the right thing and that’s been a little bit of a story of this year at times. I think I mentioned other than Josh (Richardson) and probably Grant (Williams), guys in general are shooting below their career averages, so you expect some of that to balance out.
“Dennis, I take that with a grain of salt. He missed some
shots early and him as well as the team never got in a huge offensive rhythm (against Philadelphia),” he said. “Al hasn’t shot it as well as he has in previous years, so it’s a matter of mixing in, not just settling for those shots, getting some offensive rebounds, getting out in transition, getting some easier baskets, and not just settling for threes, which he has done at times when his shot is not falling. He’s driven it and attacked the basket as far as that, so be confident when the open shots come but also mix in some other things to help yourself get going.”