Boston Celtics: 3 ways to fix C’s most glaring issues in 2021-22

A slow start that triggered harrowing emotions for fans has now transitioned into a recent surge that sees the Boston Celtics winners of four straight and, in turn, boasting a 10-8 record which has them slotted into the sixth seed out in the Eastern Conference standings.

Taking part in an unbelievably active offseason, one that saw a bevy of front office shakeups and perceived roster upgrades, their success of late, though perhaps taking a bit longer than many had expected, should come as no surprise.

However, despite their hot streak, Boston still finds itself struggling in quite a number of areas.

Though no team is flawless, the problems and hardships in which the shamrocks face could prove to be detrimental to their season-long goals should they not be addressed.

Today, we come up with solutions for how the team can fix some of their most glaring issues:

Boston Celtics issue No. 1) Inability to convert on potential assists

Coming into the year, it was stated that the new coaching staff for the Boston Celtics wanted to improve upon the team’s distribution game, as they finished off the previous season ranking 26th in assists per night.

A way in which Udoka wished to go about fixing this issue was to make stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown focus more on facilitating and serving as playmakers for those around them rather than continue to heavily lean on their well-documented scoring abilities.

Now, while it’s been apparent that they’re certainly trying to address this area of the game, as a whole the team still places in the bottom half of the league in assists per game (rank 18th at 22.7) while the Jays, despite showing an increased emphasis in looking to facilitate, have only regressed in their assist numbers.

Solution: Use a TPE to bring on a reliable catch-and-shoot contributor

When watching the Cs, it’s evident that a way in which Ime Udoka is looking to help boost the team’s assist numbers is by having their main ball handlers like Tatum, Brown, Marcus Smart, and Dennis Schroder drive the lane, draw one or two defenders, and ultimately kick it out to an open teammate for a catch-and-shoot attempt.

In theory, this is a rather textbook method of looking to try and improve a team’s/ player’s assist numbers however, there’s just one small problem — the shamrocks don’t appear to be having all that much success on the conversion side of this equation.

As things currently stand, the Boston Celtics find themselves putting up the seventh-most catch-and-shoot attempts in the entire league at 29.2 per game (a major increase when compared to their second-to-last ranking of just 23.5 attempts last season), yet are only cashing in on 39 percent of them from the field and just 34 percent of them from deep, both of which fall into the bottom-10 of the league’s rankings.

Far too often have we seen a good look attained via this type of play fall short or have too strong of a velocity and rattle out, which is why we believe it is within the front office’s best interest to use one of their several TPEs to bring on a true catch-and-shoot difference-maker.

Said difference-maker doesn’t have to be anyone too flashy or costly, but, rather, someone who has a trusty shooting stroke.

From San Antonio’s Doug McDermott (boasts an effective field goal percentage of 70 in catch-and-shoot attempts) to Houston’s D.J. Augustin (effective field goal percentage of 66.7) there are plenty of players out there who could become available at some point this season that could be of great service to the Celtics in this area and, in all likelihood, would only help boost their efficiency in the distribution and scoring department.