
Isn’t weird that a blog called “A Journalist Who Bleeds Green” barely posts about the Boston Celtics? Half of that is my own interest in other things, especially music, film, and politics. The other half of the blame lies entirely on the shoulders of one man: Kyrie Irving. I did not write a single word about the Celtics last season because it was extremely frustrating to watch, and most of it was his fault. From his excessive dribbling and hero ball tendencies on the court to his constant complaining off the court, it was always clear that this man was not the leader the Celtics hoped he could be. After all, the team performed better without him during the previous season’s playoff run. It’s pretty perplexing that adding a multiple-time All-Star to a team that’s already good can somehow make it worse, but that just goes to show that chemistry is an underrated component of the winning formula.

Disappointing/10
Thankfully, Kyrie left this offseason, and while he’s putting up ridiculous numbers for the Brooklyn Nets, their record currently stands at 4-6. I just saw them give up a game against the Jazz in which they lead most of the way, and Kyrie turned into his usual ball-hogging self at crunch time and was unable to orchestrate a comeback win.
But enough about the past. This is going to be a happy post, not a bitter one. And how could it not be? Against all odds and predictions, the Celtics are the proud owners of the best record in the NBA. Their only loss was the season opener in Philly and they’ve won 9 in a row since. That game stung a little bit (especially because my beloved Al Horford left the Celtics and signed with the 76ers this offseason), but the C’s will get a chance for redemption when the Sixers visit the TD Garden on December 12 (a game I’m seriously considering attending).

Whyyy 😭
Speaking of Al Horford, perhaps the most shocking development in the Celtics’ season is that their defense has remained solid despite losing him and Aron Baynes (not to mention Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier). Their main rim protectors for the last two years, these guys are big, smart, willing defenders with plenty of playoff experience and veteran savvy. Post defense would now be Daniel Theis’, Robert Williams’, and newly acquired Enes Kanter’s responsibility, so I can understand why most analysts thought the Celtics would regress in this area. Theis is much smaller and less experienced than Horford and Baynes, plus he’s dealt with injury issues for most of his short career and is not known as a defender. Robert Williams is a defensive-minded player and is extremely athletic to boot, but he’s a sophomore who barely played in his rookie year, and his basketball IQ and all-around skills are nowhere near Horford’s or Baynes’. Kanter is a gifted scorer in the post and consistently ranks among the best rebounders in the league, but has been considered a defensive liability in almost every team he’s played for.

Like I said: the boy can get up
So, how did the Celtics overcome this? In a word, effort. Before last night’s game against the Wizards, Brad Stevens reiterated that was the main focus in training camp because they knew their lack of size put them at a defensive disadvantage. If you’ve been watching the games, it’s evident: the team is working together on the defensive end (led by Marcus Smart, as always), and every individual is giving maximum effort (Theis is even among the league leaders in blocks, averaging more than 2 a game this season after averaging less than 1 for his first two years in the league).
This leads me back to Kyrie Irving. I don’t claim to be a body language expert, but if you’ve been paying attention to the Celtics lately, you can see how differently the players carry themselves now that they’re playing with Kemba Walker vs. how they did when Irving was around. They seemed frustrated and disengaged last year, and I can’t really blame them. That is one of the potential drawbacks of having a mesmerizing one-on-one player on your team, and the team’s young players (particularly Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Rozier) had to take on smaller roles in order to accommodate him.
Now that he’s gone, Brown and Tatum are thriving. They are both averaging a career-best 20 points and 7 rebounds per game, and instead of standing around ball-watching (which they had no choice but to do at times, given Irving’s propensity for pointless, flashy dribbling), they are attacking the basket aggressively and intelligently. Ditto for Gordon Hayward, who before going down with a hand injury a few days ago was also averaging 20 and 7.

Gordon’s been ballin’
While the coaching staff and the players themselves deserve a lot of credit for these improvements, a lot of it is directly related to replacing Kyrie with Kemba. Walker might not be as decorated as Irving, but he’s an All-Star in his own right and is known to be a friendly, supportive teammate and a hard-working professional who hardly ever complains. This is a stark contrast to Irving, who has acquired a reputation for moodiness and aloofness.
Watching Walker this season has been a treat. He strikes the perfect balance between distributing and dominating; his shots always come within the flow of the offense and never seem to be just about him getting his numbers. He knows when to turn it up but has never overstepped his boundaries, and that has made the rest of the players a lot more comfortable and allowed them to contribute more.

Winning = happiness
I know it’s still extremely early, but as a Celtics fan, I’m allowed to be pretty fucking happy with what they have accomplished so far. We’ll have to wait and see how the season progresses, but if they keep sharing the ball and defending with tenacity, I don’t see how they won’t be in an extremely favorable position by the end of the season. The fact that they’ve kept winning despite losing various players to injuries at different points of the year is extremely encouraging, but I am a little worried that this team might be a tad injury prone. Still, the important thing is that everyone is picking up the slack whenever someone else goes down. They’ve proven to be much deeper than we thought before the year started, and now that everyone seems to be happy with their role, I think this team can truly surprise a lot of people.