This past year was the worst defensive season in the Brad Stevens coaching era for the Boston Celtics.
They ranked a putrid 16th in defensive rating, and their effort from game to game was inconsistent. They lacked the personnel to be an elite defensive team, but they gave no fight on that end for most of the season.
With the holes in their roster came the holes in Brad Stevens’ defensive scheme; switching everything and trying to have an active defense with low IQ players could not possibly work.
With Stevens now in the driver’s seat, and Udoka calling the shots, the Boston Celtics are poised to make a defensive comeback if they play their cards right.
They need more support on the defensive end regarding personnel — though bringing in Horford was a great start, it can’t be their only move.
They need to find more perimeter defenders and maybe even another big in case Williams gets hurt. All that is up to Brad Stevens, but this article will be about the scheme.
Udoka has preached defense for his entire coaching career as an assistant coach. Now, he’s in charge of both sides, but we all know what he’ll specialize in.
With the Nets, Udoka did a spectacular job utilizing Blake Griffin as a small-ball five and made Ben Simmons see the best defensive version of himself after four years of keeping his potential untapped.
Before that, Udoka had the privilege to be around Kawhi Leonard before his injury, when he was on pace to be a multiple-time Defensive Player of the Year.
Let’s take a look at a few things he might be able to do for the C’s defense.
Defensive improvement for Boston Celtics No. 1) More cognitive switching
With Brad Stevens on the sidelines, the Boston Celtics have always been comfortable allowing their bigs to switch and hold their own on the perimeter. With Al Horford, they could get away with this, but they have struggled without him for the last two seasons.
The Cs got destroyed by Bam Adebayo because he could take advantage of Boston’s switch-heavy system.
Ime Udoka is familiar with Boston’s switch-heavy scheme seeing as he employed it himself last season.
The Nets were a little different than the 2019-20 Celtics, though.
They switched because they did not have the personnel to defend the rim if someone got through. Instead of fighting over screens, the Nets would switch every action and get back in position to help as fast as possible.
Switching is a part of basketball, and it is a massive part of the NBA playoffs. The Boston Celtics need to be prepared to switch, but they should dial down how much they do—sometimes switching every matchup leads to better matchups for the opposing team.
For example, Evan Fournier getting switched onto Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart tagging Joe Harris. Ime Udoka and every Boston Celtics fan watching would much rather have Smart on Irving in this situation.
Defensive improvement for Boston Celtics No. 2) Go small
With Daniel Theis starting at center, the Boston Celtics had an abnormal amount of defensive success despite the german standing no taller than Jayson Tatum.
Their success stemmed from their speed, as they were one of the most active defensive groups in the league and hounded opposing offenses on every possession.
After trading Theis at the deadline, Boston forfeited its flexibility to play small ball.
It’s time Brad Stevens and Ime Udoka bring the small ball back.
It has its place, and it can prove to be a crucial asset for the Celtics, especially come playoff time. It’s easier to switch and counter lineups that have five shooters on the court. Boston can be more active and aggressive, knowing their five is faster and more agile.
The Boston Celtics don’t have to go out and acquire a small-ball five, necessarily.
Sure, Larry Nance Jr or Maxey Kleber would be amazing, but the likelihood of Boston netting either is slim.
Instead, the franchise can go back to what they were doing in 2019-20 and play Grant Williams at the five.
Williams would make an even more proficient five with his shooting improvement than he was his rookie season. He’s not good enough to play the four, and he doesn’t need to play a heavy amount of minutes to make an impact.
From a management perspective, Grant Williams is a cheap and proven option as a small-ball five.
He’s still on his rookie-scale contract and is looking for redemption after having a terrible sophomore season.
If Williams works out, the Celtics can either deal him when his value is highest or keep him to support the team next season when they have to be aware of how much they spend on their role players.
If he doesn’t work out, he can easily be traded, and Boston can bring in another small ball five with more experience.
Defensive improvement for Boston Celtics No. 3) Acquire elite screen navigators
If the Boston Celtics are going to switch less often, then it probably means they will drop more.
That may sound like a bad thing, but it’s not.
Having Robert Williams defending the rim instead of being stuck out on the perimeter every other possession would do wonders for the Cs, and the same goes for Al Horford. However, if the Celtics are not going to switch, they need players that can avoid doing so.
Most teams will try to target Evan Fournier Boston’s bigs to create mismatches for the perimeter stars.
Ime Udoka wants to keep his perimeter defenders on the opposing team’s perimeter creators, but he also does not want to give up open shots. A good way around this is by playing the Celtics bigs up and acquiring elite screen navigators.
Horford and Williams are mobile bigs, so playing them a bit up the floor to take away floaters and midranges is not a problem so long as they don’t get put in a two-on-one situation.
Elite screen navigators are not necessarily easy to come by. Luckily for the Boston Celtics, they already have two in Marcus Smart and Romeo Langford, but seeing as Langford won’t see the floor much due to his offensive limitations, it would be wise to search the market for a third.
Wesley Matthews is an excellent screen navigator and won’t cost the franchise much money. He is entering free agency after netting $3.6 million from the Lakers and coming off a horrid season.
He won’t receive much attention, and he certainly won’t get offered any more than what he made last season. The Boston Celtics can swoop him up for a one-year, low-cost contract to be one of their marquee defenders and shooters off the bench.