TheCeltics’ regular season opener is on the horizon after an eventful preseason for new faces across the roster. Who will make an impact when the games count? Let’s discuss it all and more in this week’s mailbag.
Hi Brian,
The new players have already been talking about how great the fan base, how passionate we are, and how it’s not like this in other cities. Our fan base eats this stuff up, but I’m curious if you have any insight into whether the current players - or agents for the new guys - simply instruct them to say stuff like this just to get off on the right foot…or if that’s generally true. Thanks. -Andy
I don’t have any specific insight into the players’ mentality on this, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know you can win over a fanbase by giving them what they want to hear. A lot of times they are asked directly by reporters about the crowd, so it’s a layup to respond like that. I do ultimately think, though, the enthusiasm does stick out to many players when they arrive here.
Some of these guys have been buried in smaller markets for years, and now they are playing in front of a packed house even for preseason games. The atmosphere at the Garden remains in the top-5 for arenas around the league and I’d expect that to remain in place this year since the Garden crowd loves an underdog and that’s something this team will be for much of the year.
Of Walsh, Hugo, and Baylor, who do you think starts the season with the biggest role in the rotation? — David M
It’s a fascinating question. Before the preseason began, my money would have been on Baylor Scheierman but he has arguably had the toughest preseason out of any rotation candidate. Jordan Walsh looked okay in his limited minutes while dealing with an injury that sidelined him for two games, but it was honestly Hugo Gonzalez who easily had the most memorable moments out of this trio. He’s also showcasing the most potential right now, fairly important for a 19-year-old.
The defensive stuff with Gonzalez has stood out the most since he has the strength and size to hang with wings and also piled up a few impressive blocks. Throw in some capable 3-point shooting and solid decision-making on offense most nights and it makes you wonder whether the team will let him get his development done in Boston as opposed to Maine for most of the season.
Scheierman showed potential at the end of last year, but his age (25) and inconsistent shotmaking stick out right now. If he’s not making shots, (something he struggled with in Summer League too) it’s tough to justify minutes for him right now given Gonzalez is already the better defender. Walsh and Scheierman obviously have the experience edge at this point, so I expect everyone to get their chances early in the year regardless, as Mazzulla holds a tight leash on the reserves in the rotation. Ultimately, I think it’s Gonzalez that ends up with the biggest role, even if Scheierman starts with more of one.
Based on preseason, it seems Minott & Gonzales are ahead of Schrerman & Walsh off the bench. How deep into the bench would you assume Mazzula goes once he settles on a rotation? — Matt Y
It’s easy to envision him going 10 or 11 players deep for a lot of the season just based on how the preseason has gone. The starters and Anfernee Simons are locks every night. I think the entire big man rotation (Garza, Tillman, Boucher) has all earned minutes to begin the year so that’s already nine players right there. Throw in Josh Minott (another lock for minutes) and one more wing and that’s 11 players there.
It’s tough to envision all of these guys playing more than 10 minutes every game, but I think Mazzulla is going to continue to mix and match with these guys in quick stints. That will allow them to continue to play uptempo and also let Mazzulla figure out which groups work together and are sustainable against real NBA competition. The Celtics didn’t see much of that this preseason outside of Wednesday night with so many starters resting, but the equation changes with a brutal schedule to start the year and tough opponents across the board in the opening two weeks. When the dust settles, I think we will see 9-10 players a night in Mazzulla’s rotation but it will probably take awhile for him to get there.
Hey B,
Soooo there’s no reason why the Celtics shouldn’t have won Friday night(10-11). It seems that regardless of who’s on the floor,
Tatum, Brown et al or new guys fighting for a spot, when it comes to crunch time the C’s have no plan of attack, set plays, etc. etc.
Is that the cause of so many turnovers in the 2nd half? It’s been going on for years. Is this on Brad & Joe and the coaching staff or what?
Your thoughts? Thanks, Peter
It’s tough to take anything out of preseason collapses against the Raptors, particularly the one Friday night when there was only two-way guys and Baylor Scheierman on the floor. Wednesday’s collapse was a little more troubling before Xavier Tillman’s game-winner since there were some rotation reserves in the game at that point including Anfernee Simons.
Ultimately, this year is going to be a fascinating test case for crunch time stuff. The Celtics have had plenty of ups and downs in this area over the years with this core and Joe Mazzulla is may get more involved in late game situations now potentially without having a default isolation creator in Jayson Tatum to go to. Based on how letting things play out in crunch time last year went at critical points, that won’t necessarily be a bad thing.
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