Should the Boston Celtics Slow Down the Pace?

Apr 22, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) reacts after his basket against the Atlanta Hawks in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 22, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) reacts after his basket against the Atlanta Hawks in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /
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Looking into whether or not the Boston Celtics could benefit from slowing down

There is no doubting that the fast pace the Boston Celtics played at last season was essential to their success. They did not have the shooters that could lead to any kind of successful offense, and Brad Stevens found the best way to mask those issues. They used great ball movement to try and preserve the quality of their opportunities, but the priority remained the quantity of opportunities.

The Celtics finished the season with the third highest pace in the league, and that is the biggest reason why they were the fifth highest scoring team in the league. Another key to the Celtics’ success in their incredible pace was the fifth best assist to turnover ration in the NBA.

The Celtics sacrificed a lot of quality in their opportunities for the sake of the pace, and there is no telling how poorly they would have shot, or how much lower scoring they would have been had the turnovers began to pile up and the assists gone down.

That assist to turnover ratio was the key to balancing their incredible pace, the problem is that they are in a difficult position with a real possibility of regression in that area. There is little worry about Isaiah Thomas. He found the perfect balance as the only player in the league with 22+ points per game 6+ assists per game and fewer than 2.8 turnovers per game. Thomas will continue to be a position presence in terms of ball movement. Unfortunately, that does not mean he will be as good as last year, especially in this particular area.

It gets even more concerning for a second unit that lost its primary ball handler in Evan Turner, and are replacing him with two suspect offensive players in Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier. If the Celtics do not establish the phenomenal ball movement that gave them the sixth most assists per game last year, then that fast pace could start to hurt them in more ways than it helps them.

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One of the biggest edges the Celtics should have on any team is transition. The Celtics were the best in the league at generating turnovers and the easiest place for them to finish was in transition. If the Celtics start to run into turnover issues then that will take them out of transition and put their opponent in the one phase of the game where their aggressive defense can be neutralized.

Pace was what allowed the Celtics to overachieve on the offensive end last year, but that does not mean that it is necessarily the long term answer. Now that the Celtics should be an improved shooting team, with far better floor spacing thanks to the presence of Al Horford, they may not need such a high volume of opportunities.

If the Celtics continue to move the ball well, they can start to establish a more balanced attack between the quantity and the quality of their opportunities. Even though the Celtics used ball movement to preserve a lot of their opportunities, they still threw far too many away. In order for the Celtics’ offense to be optimized to the fullest, they need fewer lost possessions.

On top of the fact that the Celtics took far too many ill advised three pointers, particularly from players that were not good three point shooters, they also rushed things in the paint far too much, making things much easier on the defense. The Celtics saw far too any of their shots get swatted out by the rim. The Celtics need to find a way to force fewer of their opportunities, but that may be impossible with the pace they play at.

Apr 28, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder (99) shoots the ball against Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) and center Al Horford (15) during the first half in game six of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 28, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder (99) shoots the ball against Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) and center Al Horford (15) during the first half in game six of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports /

Even if the Celtics may need to adjust their pace in order for their offense to reach their max potential, they are still not in a position where they can start changing what they know works. Horford drastically changes their talent level, and they have many different players that are expected to become improved shooters. The Celtics should be a much better shooting team, but they still have far too much ground to make up.

For the starting unit, they may be at a point where they could slow things down, but Thomas does change things. If Thomas can prove that he is capable of recapturing the balance he found last season, then the lost opportunities will not be too much of a concern. If the starting unit can share the balance between attacking and passing that made Thomas so successful, then they will certainly be able to maintain their pace from last season, while improving their overall shooting.

On the second unit, the pace may actually be more important this season. With Smart and Rozier at the helm, the number one offensive advantage they have will be aggressiveness. Both Smart and Rozier have established a certain level of trust with the ball in their hands. They have not fallen into turnover troubles. The troubles have been all about their shooting.

The quality of the shooters on the starting unit should be at a point where they do not need to compensate with an increased pace. Instead, the pace can now be used to compliment better shooting. On the second unit, however, the Celtics do not have the necessary shooting. Even if Smart and Rozier are improved from last season, they are a long ways from being quality shooters.

Ball movement will not be enough to optimize the offense of the second unit and with Rozier and Smart’s style of play, they are in a position to even increase their pace from last season.

There are downfalls to the Celtics’ pace and they will hold the Celtics back from reaching their true offensive potential. That being said, they are still too far away from the kind of shooting they need in order to reach that optimized offense. A high pace is where the Celtics are comfortable. It is how their ball handlers know how to succeed and it feeds into their high energy that is necessary all over the court.

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For now, a high pace will remain the answer for the Celtics. A lot can change on a team as young as the Celtics, but Stevens found a system that brought more than it should have out of the talent. Now that the talent is starting to catch up to where it should be, the system will start to yield the results is needed to be a true contender in the eastern conference.