Are the Celtics being rebuilt in Joe Mazzulla's image
The "unproven Celtics" are being put through their paces.
Training camp has been underway for a week now. Boston’s new recruits are starting to find their footing — both in the locker room and on the floor. A week can feel like a lifetime when you’re the new kid, especially on a team that’s been one of the league’s best in recent years.
Josh Minott, Luka Garza, and Hugo Gonzalez headline the fresh faces. Add Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, Neemias Queta, and Xavier Tillman Sr. — each fighting to carve out a role in Boston’s new-look rotation.
And with that evolution comes a shift in how Boston will play — or at least, that’s the expectation. In fairness, the messaging coming out of training camp points to as much. From the sounds of it, this Celtics team is going to be a hard-nosed, physical and fast-paced unit.
“It’s intense,” Jaylen Brown told the media after today’s practice. “… I think it’s probably been my hardest preseason that I’ve had.”
By now, I would assume we’ve all seen the picture of Payton Pritchard, fresh off a practice session, bleeding from the neck…
These Celtics are getting after it in practice. Part of that is likely due to the competition for minutes across the board. While the roster is short on top-tier talent compared to recent years, it’s got an abundance of players who are ready to prove themselves. As such, there’s a dog fight going on each and every day. Everyone on that roster has something they’re playing for — even Brown and Derrick White.
“We’re going to play hard, we’re going to compete,” Sam Cassell said during an appearance on “Zolak and Bertrand” last week. “We’re going to be the hardest playing team in basketball and that’s how camp is going right now. I’ve been in this business 34 years, my 34th training camp and this is the hardest training camp (I’ve seen) right now. It’s only one day but it’s a lot and our players are embracing it.”
Brown echoed Cassell’s comments during a livestream on Sunday.
“I don’t even play for a basketball team — I play for a track team,” Brown said. “…Joe took it to a whole other level. Training camp has been crazy.”
When Joe Mazzulla took the hot seat in Boston, he inherited a team fresh off an NBA Finals loss. The roster was built. All that was needed were a few tweaks to how the offense and defense operated. Mazzulla optimized the talent at his disposal. In came smarter screening actions, a high volume of threes, and some subtle tweaks to the switching principles on defense. When Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday walked through the door, some minor tweaks followed and a championship roster was born.
I’ve spent all summer harping on about how this Celtics team will be a test for Mazzulla. This is the first time he’s been tasked with leading a (primarily) developmental roster. However, what I hadn’t considered until this past week is that this is also his first opportunity to mold a group of players in his image. Gritty, physical, fast, abrasive, disruptive — and any other combative adjective you want to throw in there — that is Mazzulla. And that is exactly what we should expect from this new-look rotation.
After a week of bruising practices and conditioning talk, the focus shifts to the chessboard. The biggest tactical question? Shooting. Three-point volume will be the question on everyone’s lips once the Celtics get their preseason games underway, starting on Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Unlike recent years, there’s more interior scoring talent than there are floor spacers. Sure, Sam Hauser is still there, as is White and Anfernee Simons can certainly get hot from deep. But, on the whole, there should be a more balanced offensive approach, especially if the increased pace unlocks the slashing and cutting opportunities across the board.
Of course, if Scheierman, Walsh and any of the other new guys start proving themselves as catch-and-shoot threats from deep, Mazzulla will likely be inclined to lean into the math game. It’s served him well up to this point, so veering too far from that path may not be his desired option.
Early-season games will undoubtedly be about finding the right cadence. Figuring out who complements whom within the rotation and opportunities to enhance the offense and defense using data points as they become available.
Still, two aspects of this training camp will likely become the crux of how the “Unproven Celtics” play: Speed and physicality. They will be the anchors as Mazzulla navigates a talent drain and an increase in length and youthful exuberance.
“Joe always talks about playing fast, thinking fast,” Simons said on Monday. “... It’s a very high standard.”
One of my favorite things about this time of year is imagining the changes the Celtics will make. What new playcalls will they implement? How will the rotations look? What about the defense — how will that look? Who is going to “pop?” and who will emerge as a key for the future?
I’ve spent months wondering what this version of the Celtics would look like. A week into camp, the identity is clear: relentless, fast, physical.
Wednesday’s preseason opener will tell us if “relentless, fast and physical” is actually going to be the team’s new DNA, and if so, we can start to wonder how far that identity can carry them.