Boston Celtics: 2 keys to winning the title once the season resumes

Boston Celtics’ keys to a championship: Kicked up intensity from center rotation

Though we are incredibly excited about the idea of NBA basketball resuming this year, the concern over how sloppy the play may be is, in fact, very real.

We’ve all heard the stories, even by those on the Boston Celtics: many players across the league have had little access to a hoop during their time in self-isolation. Many, if not all NBA players have not gone as long without playing ball as they have during this unfortunate hiatus.

With this, it’s very likely that a large portion of shots will be off, handles will be wonky and stamina will be low during this return to action, which could translate into some really hard to watch basketball.

Because of this, players will likely go back to a more attack the basket/ old school ground and pound style of play which, in turn, will give a team’s center rotation a lot of responsibility on the defensive side of the ball — at least, in the early stages of the return.

All season, one of the biggest weak spots within the Boston Celtics’ rotation has been their center spot. Though Daniel Theis has actually played well in his first season as a full-time starter — 9.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game on 57 percent shooting from the floor and 32 percent shooting from deep –, frankly, when it comes to the high level of interior presences the team will have to face come the postseason, he will not be able to hold the fort down alone.

And this was the popular thought process before the hiatus.

Now, the interior will likely be attacked twice as hard, which means the rest of the pivot rotation needs to step up their focus and intensity if they wish to have a legitimate shot at a title this year.

That means we need a fully healthy Robert Williams — something we hope will be guarenteed to come what with the team’s facilities reopening — to run the floor and protect the rim and a far more productive Enes Kanter to crash the boards and flourish in the post.

With the Cs likely having to go through the towering Milwaukee Bucks lineup of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez and Ersan İlyasova in order to even get to the NBA Finals, their own bigs are going to need to be fully locked in during this upcoming return to action.