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Al Horford Call Out Focus of Boston Celtics

By Joshua Bateman

BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 25: Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics looks on during game against the Washington Wizards on December 25, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 25: Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics looks on during game against the Washington Wizards on December 25, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Al Horford calls out the focus of the Boston Celtics after another difficult loss to the Washington Wizards

The Boston Celtics are in the midst of their worst stretch of the season, and there have been a lot of factors contributing to their struggles. The brutal recent schedule has amplified all the problems, but they have serious issues that need to be addressed.

A few days ago, we heard Brad Stevens call out the team for the amount of energy they were playing with. Following a difficult collapse in the final minutes against the Washington Wizards, Al Horford had this to say about a Celtics team who is seeing their number one seed disappear: “I felt like guys were really, really focused [earlier in the year] and now here and there we have too many ‘my bads,’ and that’s a thing we need to address” (Via Adam Himmelsbach).

Ever since Stevens was brought in, he had players that were defined by the energy and effort they played with, and how successful they were at using that to make up for talent issues. Now that the team has the talent to compare with almost anyone.

The frustrating part is how much focus the Celtics were playing with during the start of the season. Losing Gordon Hayward gave everyone a different edge, and they played harder than every single opponent in almost every single game.

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Right Now, that is rarely the case. The Celtics have their moments, but are far too inconsistent in playing with that kind of focus. When you add on the lack of practice time, it is easier to understand why they have not been able to focus for an entire game.

The lack of practice time does not help, but it cannot be used as an excuse. The Celtics are watching that number one seed disappear, and the one problem common among all these difficult loses has been that lack of focus and energy.

The Celtics have not been able to play their best, and the rebounding problems are being exposed in a terrible way. There are a lot of different ways the Celtics could bounce back from this kind of play, but improving that focus and energy is the only way to address all their problems.

The Celtics were masterful at finding all kinds of different ways to win games during their 16 game winning streak. The problem is not that the Celtics were playing so much better on both ends during that stretch. The difference is that they are no longer making up for any of the areas they struggle in.

They are playing with the mentality that they are talented enough to stay around in any game, and then they can beat any team on any given night in the clutch. The problem is how difficult it is for the Celtics to win it in the clutch every time like that.

We saw against the Wizards that the Celtics will not always be able to close teams out. They may be one of the best clutch teams in the league this season, but they will inevitably be throwing game away if they they they can pull themselves out of poor play late in games.

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The Celtics need a chance to regroup and figure out what adjustments need to be more. More important is that they find the focus that Horford was talking about. It should be a tight race for that number one seed all year long, but the Celtics know they need to get that focus back if they want that home court in the playoffs.

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