Shane Larkin’s Heroics and the State of the Celtics Youth Movement

The Boston Celtics have been looking to their secondary players for a boost all season long

Being the “next man up” is something that the Boston Celtics youth strives to towards. Adversity is seen only as opportunity, not as a disadvantage. But, the stage wasn’t set that way. It was set for an all-star point guard showdown to decide the fate of Boston’s 10 game winning streak.

It started with an elbow from the All of Australia straight to Kyrie Irving‘s face. I could hear the record scratch from miles away. One dozen games into the season, the Celtics youth were already being thrown to the wolves without the help of their new Big Three, courtesy of two stray elbows and a shattered leg.

It was an opportunity for players like Shane Larkin to prove they belong in the league, and an opportunity for everybody to see what the league’s youngest squad is capable of. With unlucky injuries to veterans as context, let’s check in on the state of the Celtics’ latest youth movement.

Shane Larkin, the night’s savior, was the most likely to emerge from the pool of unlikely heroes. Larkin was a decent player on notably horrible Knicks and Nets rosters before taking an overseas NBA hiatus. Larkin is one of the oldest among the young at 25 (same age as Daniel Theis), but he fits in perfectly with the forest of scrappy, young forwards assembled by Ainge last summer. How the Celtics managed to snag him before a team like New Orleans, who desperately needs the wing and guard depth, I have no idea, but he’s clearly a serviceable backup NBA point guard.

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Guerschon Yabusele, known as the Dancing Bear, was waltzing to the wrong tune early against the Hornets. He was playing key minutes in the first half with the specific purpose of fouling Dwight Howard, who ended the game 2-of-9 from the line. Had Guerschon remembered to foul on one possession, it could have been 2-of-11. It’s not much to dwell on, but it’s Guerschon in a nutshell. Plays harder when he needs to play smarter.

Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart played a brilliant few seconds on defense that may have been buried by the late game drama. It was a simple sequence:

• Walker dribbles to his left, guarded by  Smart
• Charlotte forced Boston to switch Tatum onto Walker, and Smart onto Kaminsky.
• Just so we’re clear – 6’8″ Tatum is guarding 6’1″ greased-lightning Walker, and 6’4″ Smart is guarding Kaminsky.
• Kaminsky tries to back down Smart, who gives no ground.
• Kaminsky gives the ball up, Smart and Tatum seamlessly switch back to their original defensive assignments
• Walker now has to take a late shot clock shot over Smart and misses.

It was beautiful.

Jaylen Brown, if we’re being honest, has been flat out terrible on offense lately.

Still, the Celtics have won 11 straight with Brown playing big minutes (his 35 minutes vs CHA led the team). Brown has made up for it on the glass – his 94 rebounds leads all shooting guards (the next closest is Denver’s Barton with 70). He’s still a plus on defense, we’ll just have to wait and see if he can settle in on offense.

Brad Stevens – he’s pretty young for a coach, right? Stevens is the king of second half adjustments, and has guided the Celtics to two comeback wins from 18 point deficits this season.

Two key observations about the dramatic win over Charlotte:

1. Larkin only played 17 minutes.
2. Yabusele was +9 in 7.5 minutes.

Yabusele was yanked after a clumsy 50 second run in the second quarter, but was given vital fourth quarter minutes alongside Larkin for a five minute span where a 12 point deficit was cut to six.

Next: Takeaways from big win agianst Hornets

Now, Stevens was forced to dig deep into the bench with three injured starters, but siphoning Ojeleye’s minutes in favor of Yabusele is an adjustment none of us expected. And give him credit for not trying to over-use Larkin. 16 points in 17 minutes is great, but obviously unsustainable, and the Celtics went back to their starters to close the game.