Putting This Season in Perspective

 Putting This Season into Perspective

    First off I am by no means excusing the Celtics less than stellar performance this year. I also do think that the Celtics will need to make a fairly big splash near the trade deadline in order for this team to really be able to compete in the Eastern Conference. I am mainly writing this blog to highlight the talent that is on this team as well as looking how injuries have impacted the team success. We are about halfway through the season, so it is time I reflect on our regular rotation and how they have faired so far this year. 

Jaylen Brown: % of games missed: 7%

Jayson Tatum: % of games missed: 17%

Kemba Walker: % of games missed: 52%

Marcus Smart: % of games missed: 41%

Daniel Theis: % of games missed: 7%

Tristan Thompson: % of games missed: 7%

Semi Ojeleye: % of games missed: 3.5%

Payton Pritchard: % of games missed: 21%

Robert Williams: % of games missed: 21% 

    I know that a lot of teams are dealing with similar problems that the Celtics are, but this is staggering, I think our core four of Brown, Tatum, Kemba, and Smart have only played two games together and I doubt our regular rotation has played a single game together. Eight of these guys are currently healthy, with Smart being the only one injured. we still have Kemba sitting during back to backs, so with Smart out at times we are incredibly thin at the point guard position. 

    

    Pritchard has been an absolute delight this season,  it usually isn't good when you're heavily relying on late first round rookies to play big minutes, but he has been huge for us. I still think we need to add more depth to this position or at least another facilitator because leaning on a rookie to be your main bench facilitator and scorer isn't a recipe for success. 

    Brown and Tatum have awesome this year and are both deserving of All-Star nods. I expected them to be good this year, but Brown especially has exceeded expectations. 

    Kemba has been a little bit of a let down this year, but he is certainly trending in the right direction. In January he was averaging 14 points and 4 assists in 25 minutes a game, his shooting splits for that month were 37/29/85 and he had a -11 net rating. In February he is averaging 19 points and 4 assists in 31 minutes a game. His splits for this month are 39/43/93 with a -4 net rating. His last 4 games he is at 22 points and 4 assists on 48% shooting from the field and 55% from three. Hopefully this trend continues and he continues playing like All-Star Kemba. 

    Thompson has been okay this year, he just really doesn't provide anything that Theis and Timelord can't do. Theis has continued to be a well rounded center, who doesn't excel at one thing, but is very solid all around. He provides spacing, is our best center at switching onto smaller defenders and teams are not shooting well around the rim against him. Timelord has been awesome in a bigger role than last year, he has continued to get better each year, and this year he is really looking the stud we had hoped for him to be. He can rebound, especially on the offensive glass, can rim protect and catch lobs. Stevens continues to try to figure the best way to use these three, but I think Thompson should be the odd man out. 

    Marcus Smart has been much less efficient offensively this year than last season, I'm hoping that part of that may because he was needed to step up as a scorer and playmaker. I hope when he returns to the lineup he can get more catch and shoot opportunities and get back to around league average as a shooter. 

    Lastly, we have Semi Ojeleye. Semi has stepped into the role that I thought Grant would fill this year. Semi has done a great job as a 3&D power forward. Semi has been making a killing on catch and shoot threes and has been playing great defense on some of the NBA's stars, such as Giannis. He has also looked better this year catching and driving to the basket than in years past.

    I also should mention that Nesmith has worked his way into the regular rotation and has led the Celtics in net rating the past few games. He plays with a lot of energy and has been playing with a lot more confidence. We have yet to see Romeo, and I imagine he will start to get consistent run when he is back and healthy. 

    I really hope a move is made soon for another point guard or wing that can help facilitating to really help this team out. I do think the Celtics record will start to pick up heading into the All-Star break, barring another injury to one of our key pieces. 

-@threalmattmoney