After another untitled season, the Boston Celtics make important future decisions. Do you want to keep trying with the unsuccessful team core or should a change be initiated? One franchise at the crossroads.
Highest euphoria and deepest pain – these can sometimes be very close together. How brutal this emotional roller coaster ride can be has been shown once again in the past few days NBA. “I’ve never been so happy after Boston to return”, said an overjoyed Jayson Tatum just last Saturday. His Celtics just had the sixth game of the playoffseries against the Miami Heat won. It was the third consecutive win after losing the first three games.
Another success and the East Coast team would have made history. Never before in league history has a team managed to win a series from a 3-0 deficit. 150 attempts, not a single one crowned with success. And it wasn’t to be the 151st attempt either. Despite the momentum built up in the past duels, despite all the successful tactical adjustments and despite the many star players in the team, the Boston– Season now come to an abrupt end.
“We screwed it up”
One of those star players is Jaylen Brown, who is now in his seventh year in the green and white jersey. After the final siren of the decisive seventh game, the 26-year-old was hard on himself. “We messed it up. I messed it up. It’s hard to think about anything else right now.” His teammate Jayson Tatum, who just 50 hours earlier had looked like the happiest person in the world, is now desperate to find the reason for the sudden slump. Too big the disappointment about the next season without a title.
The organization of the Celtics to be on the right track for a long time. Since the 2016/17 season, the “Kobolde” have reached the five times Eastern Conference Finals, the semifinals. Last year they even made it into the finals of the playoffs for the first time finals. Tatum, Brown and Co. failed there because of the Golden State Warriors to superstar Stephen Curry, but no one doubted that the next opportunity would not be long in coming.
Highly traded and yet deeply disappointed
And yet this season turned out to be a big disappointment. The misery started with ex-coach Ime Udoka. As it became known before the start of the season, the 45-year-old had to deal with several employees of the franchise violate team policies. The Celtics then suspended him – just days before the start of the season. He was succeeded by Joe Mazzulla, a newcomer to the position.
The lack of tactical sophistication was one of the reasons why Boston in the postseason harder than necessary. Two losses against Atlantathree against Philadelphia and now even four against Miami. Quite a few are of the opinion that the team looked much more confident last year than it does now. A clear step backwards can also be seen with regard to the results.
There they were Celtics even in the last few years, it has by no means been beyond all doubt. Too often, the big stars lacked consistent performance. Not least because of this, a debate has long flared up as to whether the core of the team is even able to play for titles. In the past season, the discussion was nipped in the bud, now it threatens to flare up again.
Prospect of well-known players big
The expected extension of Jaylen Brown’s contract should also be grist to the mills of the critics Second-All NBA Team can hope for a hefty salary increase. After the annual failures, wouldn’t it be appropriate to at least question the composition of the squad? After all, many major league competitors are facing major upheavals, and the prospect of well-known players has probably not been so great for a long time. A thought that should have occurred to those responsible for a long time.