Brad Stevens believes Celtics are still capable of being a good team
The Boston Celtics have been among the NBA’s more disappointing teams sitting at 16-19 on the season and at No. 10 in the Eastern Conference. There have been plenty of reasons for it such as underperforming players and the fact that the C’s have been ravaged by COVID-19, but 16-19 is not what was expected of them.
As they move forward with the 2021-22 season, there are some decisions that president Brad Stevens will have to make with this roster. There are questions such as deciding to make any trades involving Marcus Smart or even Jaylen Brown as they look to improve the roster around Jayson Tatum.
However, the Celtics have been right there in a lot of these games. For example, they held a lead on Christmas Day against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks in the fourth quarter, but they let it slip away. These are things that can be fixed over time and Stevens still believes in this roster.
Stevens sat down with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe and he gave his perspective on this roster:
“I really believe great teams find a way to win more often than not, no matter who’s available,” Stevens said. “Good teams can really get through those patches and do so in a way that ultimately they then can take advantage of their time of good health. And mediocre-to-bad teams drop a bunch of games. We ultimately have to be a little better than we’ve been to be a good team, a team that we want to be. I do think we’re capable. We’ve seen that. But we just have to play better more consistently.”
The fan base in Boston has voiced their frustrations with the team and it makes sense. The Celtics have come oh so close to making the NBA finals in recent years such as 2018 and 2020, but they couldn’t breakthrough. Now, they find themselves struggling under .500 and things have been tough for them on the floor.
Stevens also told Himmelsbach:
“I think the thing I’d say [to fans] directly is we share that frustration,” Stevens said. “We’re also hopeful we can put together our individual capabilities and really play well collectively. But no one here is making excuses or skirting the fact that we’re not record-wise where we want to be. We’ve had moments, but they’ve been too few and far between and not consistent enough, and it’s all of our jobs to work to change that.”
The Celtics will take on the Phoenix Suns on Friday to close out the 2021 portion of the schedule and look to get end it with a win at home.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
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