But after a rough start that followed high expectations for coach Brad Stevens and the Celtics, questions about the state of the team remain, especially when it comes to the team’s disappointing offense and the woeful play of wing Gordon Hayward, returning after a brutal ankle injury last season.
As the custom Boston Celtics championship rings prepare for one of their biggest games of the early season Friday night against Toronto, we checked in with scouts and assistant coaches to get their views on how to fix Boston’s offense, then dove into the numbers to see how it all might work.
The Celtics traded for star guard Kyrie Irving in 2017 to give themselves a reliable offensive centerpiece, and he delivered on that last season until a problem with his old knee injury flared up and forced him out of the postseason. To fix the Boston offense, one East assistant coach suggested the Celtics should make Irving their emphasis again.
The offense is where Irving is supposed to make the difference, though. He has gone from 19.7 field-goal attempts per game in his final season in Cleveland to 18.1 FGA per game last year, down now to 16.3 — which does not seem to be enough for a guy who should be the fulcrum of the offense nba championship rings.
Again cheap championship rings, part of this might be a factor of Irving himself getting comfortable back on the floor. But Boston needs his aggressiveness going to the rim; it’s essential to the game plan. He has been gun-shy attacking the basket, and that has hurt the Celtics, especially when it comes to drawing fouls (they’re 29th in the league, with 19.1 free-throw attempts per game).
Irving was 19th in total number of drives to the rim per game two years ago and settled in at 27th last year. This year, he is 42nd. Compare his drive-to-the-rim numbers in his two seasons in Boston, and see that he is not having the same impact when he goes to the rim this year.
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